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Discussion Guidelines
Everybody should feel free to post and ask questions–it’s what makes book clubs fun! But please do not post until you are familiar with Spoiler Courtesy!
Spoiler Courtesy
Please follow these rules to avoid inadvertent ネタバレ. If you’re unsure whether something should have a spoiler tag, err on the side of using one.
Any potential spoiler for the current week’s reading need only be covered by a spoiler tag. Predictions and conjecture made by somebody who has not read ahead still falls into this category.
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Example
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Proper Nouns
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Example:
Name
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キヨ
きよ
Main character
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I was under the impression that this story took place in perhaps the 70s or 80s, but this scene confirms the time period. Though perhaps I missed a previous scene that hinted at it.
I have to say the relative sparseness of the dialogue in general really helps balance out how difficult it is when it comes around. Though this chapter was quite breezy.
p60
I didn’t really understand what the maiko are helping Kiyo do … I think they’re de-peeling the stems from string beans maybe (I do this with mum sometimes)? I think that fits with 筋 in this case (fibre or string in this instance, not muscle) ピーっとね confused me, couldn’t figure out what onomata that was.
Definitely one of the 舞妓. I’d even posit that it’s the one who keeps coming into the kitchen before breakfast, but they are kinda uniform. And nameless.
おかあさん’s hair doesn’t have a topknot. And I’m not sure if she’s currently doing anything besides being the house mother.
Yah, definitely much easier than last week.
I did enjoy the parallel of the girls checking to make sure they hadn’t woken Kiyo up, the same way she’d checked to make sure she hadn’t woken them up.
Exactly.
Yeah, normally ピ represents a beep or a bird tweet or something, but you sorta get a feel for the idea of it, right? Like, it starts with a small pop, and then a long drawn-out scrape, sorta thing.
Sorta. It’s in the same こそあど tetrad with どう (i.e. こう そう ああ どう)
It’s been an interesting chapter not least because of the Hey! and バーイ interaction. I’m having trouble figuring out whether my interpretation of p.68 is right, though.
Summary
Is she talking about how she can make breadcrumbs and then use them in croquet since she did a lot of croquet that day? Also, why the し after 使った?
This week’s chapter of Kiyo is Cute was fun too! And now I’m officially caught up
The vocab list and all the questions and answers in the threads are quite useful - thanks, everyone!
I thought the microwave on page 29 looked rather modern, but then again, I don’t much about the history of microwaves.
Also, it’s fun to recognize places you’ve been to in manga! I might be wrong, but unless there’s a second street that looks like this in Kyoto, she’s walking here:
...except the buildings of the street she's coming from don't seem to quite fit with the ones in the bottom of panel of page 65, so I suppose that part is fictional, buildings changed, or I have the wrong street after all.
Yah, I pondered trying to look places up. I’d say you’re probably correct as to the locations, considering Gion is right there on the other side of the river. Perhaps on page 65 she’s at the next bridge upriver.
On page 59, she’s at Shinkyogoku shopping street - not sure exactly which supermarket she’s shopping at without checking every shop on the street, though.
I can’t believe we’re already about halfway through this volume!
Chapter comments
I could be wrong, but I thought it took place in the present day. Those phones look pretty modern to me. And I feel like being reminded that the series doesn’t take place long ago in the past always feels just a little surprising, like:
That’s actually really cool I’ll keep an eye out for that place when I get the chance to go to Kyoto. I love seeing real places depicted in fiction like this.
Looking it up now, honestly some microwaves from the 80s do look surprisingly modern. Eh, the more you know I suppose.
Yeah from the smartphones we saw this chapter, it’s definitely within the past decade at least (those look like iPhone 6/7s to me).
AH, didn’t even see that. I love the idea of someone in traditional Japanese clothes just using an iMac lol.
Well, you might enjoy Yuru Camp then, because aside from (most!) of the characters’ houses, every location in the manga is completely real. I’ve been posting map links for all of them in the book club threads here
This weeks chapter was really cute! I gotta say, the detailed illustrations of the city and the interior of the houses have been my highlight so far. I kind of wish we had more characters, or at least more information on the few we have so far.
Wow I hadn’t noticed, but definitely looks like a little oopsy there.
Really liked the real-life pics, thanks @TobiasW and @Belthazar
I also did an image search for 舞妓さん, was curious to see how they look in real life (I guess I only know a bit thanks to the Geisha movie that I saw forever ago). And that’s how I found out a Netflix trailer for an upcoming 舞妓さんちのまかないさん series :o
Chapter comment
Reason #1 to not become a 舞妓: to sleep on a real pillow
Please do! Gion (which is around this street) is worth a visit either way with its traditional houses, and there’s lots of delicious things to eat. It’s in a great area too, with superb temples like Kiyomizudera and Kennin-ji right next to it.
Presumably these are the いんげん (green beans) she refers to on the last page of the chapter. If you do an image search for いんげんの筋 you get lots of pictures like this:
So, I did a bit more research into the bathhouse she visits on page 63. The internet suggests there’s a fairly high probability that it’s 錦湯, located here. According to the marker, it’s closed down, sadly.
In the drama, Kiyo frequents a very similar-looking one with signage identifying it as 柳湯 - it’s definitely not this building, though, because that one’s on a corner. Internet research suggests 柳湯 has also closed down, however. Establishing shots imply 柳湯 is to the east of the maiko house, whereas the manga rather strongly imply the bathhouse is to the west, as 錦湯 is.
Posting more for my own accountability that I read the chapter and I am plugging along. I need to do a re-read of the chapter after reading the conversation thus far. I was excited by the dialect in the early chapters but now I am feeling a bit discouraged D: E.g. I had really no idea at all what was being discussed in the course of the conversation at the beauty salon…
I do just really love the story and the art though…sigh!
Book Club!
