舞妓さんちのまかないさん・Kiyo in Kyoto (Home Thread - Beginner Book Club) - Volume 1

[snowwater]

Join us for the 舞妓さんちのまかないさん・Kiyo in Kyoto 👘 Reading Club !

Welcome to the 舞妓さんちのまかないさん・Kiyo in Kyoto Book Club!

This is the main thread for reading the manga 舞妓さんちのまかないさん・Kiyo in Kyoto with the Beginner Book Club (BBC). It’s suggested that you have a solid understanding of N5 grammar and at least some of N4. If you have finished Genki 2, or have finished an Absolute Beginner Book Club and thought it went rather well, this might be at a good next step for you!

We’ll be reading together according to a weekly schedule, ask and answer questions in weekly threads, and we’ll have vocabulary and grammar sheets we’re building together to make this easier for everyone.

View the nomination post here!

Natively - Level 27
A preview is available on Bookwalker

Where to purchase

Physical: Amazon JP | CD Japan | Verasia EU
Digital: Kindle | Kobo | BookWalker .

Proposed Schedule

Week	Start Date	Chapter	Page Numbers	Page Count
Week 1	30th of September	Chapter 1 (1st half)	5 to 21	16
Week 2	7th of October	Chapter 1 (2nd half)	22 to 36	16
Week 3	14th of October	Chapter 2	37 to 54	18
Week 4	21th of October	Chapter 3	55 to 70	16
Week 5	28th of October	Chapter 4	71 to 82	12
Week 6	4th of November	Chapter 5	83 to 97	15
Week 7	11th of November	Chapter 6	98 to 110	13
Week 8	18th of November	Chapters 7 and 8	111 to 137	27

Vocabulary

舞妓さんちのまかないさん Volume 1 Vocabulary Sheet

Please read the guidelines on the first page before adding any words.

Description

This is a geisha district in the middle of Kyoto. Maiko comes home after working late at night, and lives in a shared-house called a yakata. Kiyo, a 16-year-old girl who prepares daily meals for the maiko at a certain house as a makanai-san. There is an unexpected reason why she became a makanai-san.

A warm human pattern is drawn through the backstage of the gorgeous entertainment district and the meal of an ordinary day. (translated from amazon.co.jp)

Kiyo Nozuki and Sumire Herai are childhood friends who share a common desire to become maikos—apprentice geishas. When they join a maiko house, Kiyo is deemed unfit to be a maiko and ends up employed as a live-in cook. (From MAL)

Discussion Guidelines

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.

1. 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.
2. Any potential spoilers for external sources need to be covered by a spoiler tag and include a label (outside of the spoiler tag) of what might be spoiled. These include but are not limited to: other book club picks, other books, games, movies, anime, etc. I recommend also tagging the severity of the spoiler (for example, I may still look at minor spoilers for something that I don’t intend to read soon).
3. Any information from later in the book than the current week’s reading (including trigger warnings that haven’t yet manifested) needs to be hidden by spoiler tags and labeled as coming from later sections.

Instructions for Spoiler Tags

Click the cog above the text box and use either the “Hide Details” or “Blur Spoiler” options. The text which says “This text will be hidden” should be replaced with what you are wishing to write. In the case of “Hide Details”, the section in the brackets that is labelled “Summary” can be replaced with whatever you like also (i.e, [details=”Chapter 1, Pg. 1”]).

Hide Details results in the dropdown box like below:

Example

This is an example of the “Hide Details” option.

The “Blur Spoiler” option will simply blur the text it surrounds.

This is an example of the “Blur Spoiler” option.

Posting Advice

• When asking for help, please mention the page number, and check before posting that your question hasn’t already been asked. As the threads get longer, it becomes more convenient to use the Search function, which is located in the upper right corner of the forum. It is the magnifying glass which is near your profile picture! The best way to search is usually to type part of the sentence you are confused about, and select “in this topic”. This will show you all posts within the current thread which has that string of text.

• Be sure to join the conversation! It’s fun, and it’s what keeps these book clubs lively! There’s no such thing as a stupid question! We are all learning here, and if the question has crossed your mind, there’s a very good chance it has crossed somebody else’s also! Asking and answering questions is a great learning opportunity for everyone involved, so never hesitate to do so!

Names

Feel free to add to this as new characters / places get introduced throughout the book.

Example:

Name	Reading	Notes
キヨ	きよ	Main character

Membership

Will you be reading with us?

• Yes
• Yes, but I might start late
• Maybe
• No

Which version will you be reading?

• eBook
• Paperback
• Hardcover

Don’t forget to set this thread to Watching in order to be notified when weekly threads get posted!

Ps. Feel free to suggest a nice emoji for this book club! It could be something related to cooking, maikos, Kyoto… (I thought of , but don’t know if that’s very Kyoto-ish）

[snowwater]

This is a short manga, meaning that we’re expected to take less than 8 weeks to read. The (physical) volume has ~137 pages divided into 8 chapters (and a short omake of ~4 pages), so in theory we could to a chapter a week. Chapter lengths are as follows:

Chapter 1 - 32 pages - 21 pages with text
Chapter 2 - 18 pages - 12 pages with text
Chapter 3 - 16 pages - 9 pages with text
Chapter 4 - 12 pages - 9 pages with text
Chapter 5 - 15 pages - 13 pages with text
Chapter 6 - 13 pages - 10 pages with text
Chapter 7 - 12 pages - 10 pages with text
Chapter 8 - 11 pages (+4 omake) - 13 pages with text

Please comment below with suggestions/proposals for the schedule. By the middle of next week, I’ll set up a poll with all schedule proposals so that readers can vote on their preferred one. I have 3 suggestions for now

1. Read a chapter per week, taking 8 weeks to read the whole volume
2. Read a chapter per week, except for chapters 3 and 4 (which are shorter), which would be read in a single week. That brings us to 7 weeks total
3. Read 2 chapters a week, except for chapter 1 which is slightly larger. So we would have Ch 1 + Ch 2 and 3 + Ch 4 and 5 + Ch 6 and 7 + Ch 8. That would bring us to 5 weeks total.

I am personally not inclined to divide chapters in half to have a equal number of pages per week, nor to divide chapter 1 (even though its a bit larger), but feel free to suggest it if you believe it’s helpful

[Akashelia]

I think it would be nice to have a ramp up period so people have time to get used to the new manga, new style, new story, new characters etc.
Even more so since the first chapter is so many pages. So I would cut it in two, week 1 chapter 1 part 1, week 2 chapter 1 part 2, and after that one chapter a week.

[aamunoz]

I agree. To get it down to 8 weeks, maybe we can combine chapters 6 and 7. Since it would be the second to last reading, maybe having more pages at that point would be okay. The other option is combining chapters 3 and 4, which are fewer pages total than 6 and 7. But that would be the fourth week of the club. Not sure if that’s too fast a ramp up.

[Clovie1]

Thanks @snowwater ! I’m excited to read this with everyone!

For the emoji, maybe or to be related to cooking? Or to be related to the maikos?

[MissDagger]

For emoji, I like or or . At least those are the ones I was choosing between for my own private use.

As for schedule, having a ramp up period is usually good. So I agree with everyone else that chapter 1 should be split in two.

My fuller suggestion would probably be:

1. Chapter 1, part 1 - ca 10 pages
2. Chapter 1, part 2 - ca 11 pages
3. Chapter 2 - 12 pages
4. Chapter 3 + 4 - 18 pages
5. Chapter 5 + 6 - 23 pages
6. Chapter 7 + 8 - 23 pages

If that schedule feels a bit fast (considering Natively level of 27 currently), then maybe divide week 5, so it becomes seven weeks, and only one week with 20+ pages.

[snowwater]

@MissDagger

If that schedule feels a bit fast (considering Natively level of 27 currently),

It’s something I thought I’d mention, since I’ve read the first 2 volumes of the manga already, but the main difficulty is basically the Kyoto dialect, and how certain words are different (in a way, it’s similar to the experience of reading the way of a househusband). I know it’s something a bit personal, but I honestly don’t consider this to be harder than Behind the Supermarket, Smoking with You, which is rated level 24 in Natively.

[TobiasW]

@snowwater

the main difficulty is basically the Kyoto dialect

Do you think that’s something that can be taken care of by the vocab sheet? And is that something that you got used to by, say, chapter 5, or is it always throwing new curveballs?

[ChristopherFritz]

@TobiasW

Do you think that’s something that can be taken care of by the vocab sheet?

We could utilize a couple of options in the vocabulary sheet to help with this.

One option is to use the notes/comments column.

A word like おおきに can be listed as meaning “thank you” with a note that it’s Kansei dialect.

For a verb, such as 許されへん, we’d enter 許す in the spreadsheet but could note that —へん means the same as —ない. (The question here becomes: How often do we repeat this comment each time —へん is used?)

The other is to have a separate dialect sheet that lists the common Kansai dialect encountered (and maybe the first chapter/page where it’s encountered).

[snowwater]

Those are some great suggestions, I think we can definitely implement some of those, especially for terms such as おおきに. For verbs, it might be a bit more challenging, but I think we’ll only be sure once we start reading. But a separate sheet would also be interesting.

@TobiasW

And is that something that you got used to by, say, chapter 5, or is it always throwing new curveballs?

Personally I got used to it (to be honest, sometimes I’d just gloss through it or figure from context what it meant); some terms appear quite often, though there may be one or two new ones popping up each chapter.

[ChristopherFritz]

@TobiasW

And is that something that you got used to by, say, chapter 5, or is it always throwing new curveballs?

At the very least, some items will come up often enough that many readers should be able to get used to them.

For example:

おおきに

あかん (volume 2; shows only once in volume 1)

I expect we’ll see だ や (だけど やけど, etc.) and ない へん often.

[Belthazar]

@ChristopherFritz

expect we’ll see だ や (だけど やけど, etc.) and ない へん often.

ほうやで。関西弁はほんま変やけんど、練習すればええや。みなはん、がんぼうとくれやす 。

[ChristopherFritz]

We will be seeing some ほんま as well.

Likewise ええ.

I don’t see any はん honorifics, though!

@Belthazar

がんぼうとくれやす

This one I’m completely not familiar with, but I do see やす mentioned on Wikipedia’s Kansai dialect page. (Edit: Well, 近畿方言 rather than Kansai. It links to the English Kansai article as the English counterpart. I don’t know if there’s a difference.)

It looks like it may not show up until volume 2 and later.

[Belthazar]

How about まいど? すんまへん? かまわん?

おこしやす?

@ChristopherFritz

I don’t see any はん honorifics, though!

It’s probably more Osaka-ben than Kyoto-ben, to be fair.

@Belthazar

がんぼうとくれやす

@ChristopherFritz

This one I’m completely not familiar with

It’s がんばってください, but がんばって becomes がんぼうて, and ください becomes おくれやす, and then ～てお～ becomes ～と～.

@ChristopherFritz

(Edit: Well, 近畿方言 rather than Kansai. It links to the English Kansai article as the English counterpart. I don’t know if there’s a difference.)

They’re roughly synonymous, though there’s one or two prefectures that get included in either Kansai or Kinki but not both. (Fun fact: the 畿 in 近畿 is the only kanji which appears in any prefecture or region name in Japan that isn’t taught by WaniKani.)

[ChristopherFritz]

@Belthazar

How about まいど?

That depends; does this count?

(It looks like it doesn’t show up in the first few volumes of Kiyo in Kyoto.)

@Belthazar

すんまへん?

I haven’t seen it before, but it’s gonna show up in volume 1!

@Belthazar

かまわん?

This one I’ve encountered a few times! But not from a Kansai character, just your regular run-of-the-mill Tokyoites or people who speak “standard” Tokyo Japanese.

But we won’t be seeing it in this volume.

@Belthazar

おこしやす?

I don't know this one, but for those who continue reading through volume 6...

I’m sure I’ll be learning some new things along the way…

...as it seems the Great Detective of the West didn't prepare me thoroughly.

[javerend]

TIL yomichan has a 関西弁 tag on entries, neat! (or at least, the dictionary I use does)

Don’t think I’ve seriously tackled something using it for any extended period of time, so this will be a fun experience I’m sure

[Akashelia]

Phew this is reassuring!
Thanks for sharing, I was starting to get a bit anxious that it would be very hard, but that will help a lot!

[Belthazar]

@Belthazar

かまわん?

@ChristopherFritz

This one I’ve encountered a few times! But not from a Kansai character, just your regular run-of-the-mill Tokyoites or people who speak “standard” Tokyo Japanese.

Wait, I got my dialects mixed up. かまへん is the Kansai-ben version. Or even かめへん.

@Akashelia

Thanks for sharing, I was starting to get a bit anxious that it would be very hard, but that will help a lot!

Aye, don’t worry, I was deliberately exaggerating the accent. The actual dialogue is certainly Kansai-ben-flavoured, but not quite that strong.

[purplestar]

I love this story! I watched this anime and bought physical manga afterwards. I still haven’t read the manga yet, so now is a good chance to start!

Very excited to read this manga with you all!

[snowwater]

Please vote on the poll below for the schedule

I will close the poll next Sunday, so everyone has about 10 days to think and vote. You can vote on as many options as possible. I tried to include as many options as suggested by everyone, but bear in mind it’s supposed to be s “short” club, so we should stick to 8 weeks reading max.

Schedules:

A. Read a chapter per week, taking 8 weeks to read the whole volume
B. Read a chapter per week, except for chapters 3 and 4 (which are shorter), which would be read in a single week. That brings us to 7 weeks total
C. Read 2 chapters a week, except for chapter 1 which is slightly larger. So we would have Ch 1 + Ch 2 and 3 + Ch 4 and 5 + Ch 6 and 7 + Ch 8. That would bring us to 5 weeks total.
D. Divide chapter 1 into 2 parts, read half of the chapter on Week 1 and the other half on Week 2. Read chapters 3 and 4 together in Week 4, than a chapter a week. (8 weeks total, with a fast ramp on Week 4)
E. Divide chapter 1 into 2 parts, read half of the chapter on Week 1 and the other half on Week 2. Read chapters 7 and 8 together in the last week (8 weeks total, with only the last week being longer)

F. (6 weeks total)

1. Chapter 1, part 1 - ca 10 pages
2. Chapter 1, part 2 - ca 11 pages
3. Chapter 2 - 12 pages
4. Chapter 3 + 4 - 18 pages
5. Chapter 5 + 6 - 23 pages
6. Chapter 7 + 8 - 23 pages

G. (7 weeks total)

1. Chapter 1, part 1 - ca 10 pages
2. Chapter 1, part 2 - ca 11 pages
3. Chapter 2 - 12 pages
4. Chapter 3 + 4 - 18 pages
5. Chapter 5 - 13 pages
6. Chapter 6 - 10 pages
7. Chapter 7 + 8 - 23 pages

Thank you everyone for your feedback.

Vote on the Schedule

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G

Chapter lengths

This is a short manga, meaning that we’re expected to take less than 8 weeks to read. The (physical) volume has ~137 pages divided into 8 chapters (and a short omake of ~4 pages), so in theory we could to a chapter a week. Chapter lengths are as follows:

Chapter 1 - 32 pages - 21 pages with text
Chapter 2 - 18 pages - 12 pages with text
Chapter 3 - 16 pages - 9 pages with text
Chapter 4 - 12 pages - 9 pages with text
Chapter 5 - 15 pages - 13 pages with text
Chapter 6 - 13 pages - 10 pages with text
Chapter 7 - 12 pages - 10 pages with text
Chapter 8 - 11 pages (+4 omake) - 13 pages with text

Also vote on the emoji we should use
I don’t know if I can include them in the poll as options so:
#1 = ; #2 = ; #3 = ; #4 = ; #5 = ; #6 =

Vote on the emoji

• #1
• #2
• #3
• #4
• #5
• #6