🍁 Autumn Equinox 24-hour Readathon (Now!)

The Autumn Equinox 24-hour Readathon

:mushroom: :fallen_leaf: :tea:

Date: Sunday, 21st September

Is that a chill in the air…? Maybe just wishful thinking :thinking: Or maybe it’s the Readathon coming back for the autumnal equinox! Equal parts day and night, and what better way to celebrate than with the first cozy reading day of the new season :relieved: This is the perfect time to bring out any books, manga, visual novels, news articles, non-fiction, and more to join in on a special day with the community. If you can read, you can participate!

How it works: On Sunday the 21st, whenever it begins and ends in your local timezone, read as much in Japanese as you can! The day before or after are also acceptable if scheduling conflicts arise for you. Keep track of your progress in a way that makes sense for what you’re reading: pages or characters, along with the time spent reading them – when you’re finished, report your final numbers in the community “results” reply below and we’ll tally our collective amount together.

There is no expectation for the amount you read, or the difficulty, and anyone is welcome to join!

:mushroom: Participation:

Set your goals, make a post if you’d like to
Read during your 24 hours
Add your results to the community tally

Set your goals: Are there any series you’d like to start/complete? How many pages do you think you’ll read before time is up? Add some personal challenges if you’d like, or simply try to squeeze in a few extra pages to add to our numbers. There is a list of participants and links below, add yours if you make a post, too!

Choose your Readathon time: Will you be reading day-of? Need to defer to the day before or after? Throughout your 24-hour period, post updates with your progress. Let us know when you finish something, reach a milestone, or simply can’t read another word without your brain melting.

Add your results: When your 24 hours come to a close, show off your final numbers! Compare them to your goals: did you exceed your expectations, or were you too ambitious with your plans? Did you finish anything that was mind-blowingly good? Did you catch up to a book club you were behind in?

Add your final numbers to the “Results” post in the next reply below. It will be opened to the community at the start of the event – don’t forget to add your time and pages before it closes again!

FAQ

Do I need to read for 24 full hours?

No, this challenge takes place over a 24-hour period, but you are only expected to read for the amount that you’re able during that time. Some of us may make it a personal challenge to read for as many hours within that period as possible, but even 1 hour of reading is an admirable feat.

Can I combine my time from the day before and after, too?

No, the addition of multiple days allows flexibility for those who want to participate but would otherwise be inconvenienced by a strict date. Please do not add reading stats that did not occur during your 24-hour reading period.

Do the books need to be in Japanese?

Yes, this challenge is meant to encourage us to read more Japanese. If you read other language books, please do not count them in the overall tally.

Am I required to post updates?

No, updates are simply a fun way for us to create a community event, but they are not necessary for participation.

:mushroom: Goals:

After each Readathon event comes to a close, I like to add the results together in different ways to watch our growth across all events! The primary standings come from averaging together the final numbers. This is to benefit readathons that have fewer participants and therefore lower raw numbers, as well as to celebrate our community’s efforts. We are reading together, after all! The previous average then becomes one of many goals to beat in our next event.

While the event is taking place, when averages can’t yet be calculated, we also try to beat the raw numbers from previous readathons. For example, if we read 1000 pages together in the last event, can we read 1001 next time? If we read for 10 hours before, can we make it to 10 hours and 1 minute? I always like to say that the numbers are just an added bonus to having fun and reading together, but I can’t stop myself from watching the Results post with bated breath :eyes:

:fire: New Goals:
Previous Year (Autumn '24): 160 hours, 6.4k pages, 405.3k charas
Previous Event (Summer '25): 251 hours, 11.6k pages, 151.6k charas

And here are the per-reader averages from the three top-ranking events:

:checkered_flag: Event Avg. Time Avg. Pages Avg. Charas
:1st_place_medal: :snowflake: Winter '24 6hr 10min 210 11.4k
:2nd_place_medal: :sunny::birthday_cake: Summer '25 5hr 21min 247 3.2k
:3rd_place_medal: :tulip: Spring '25 5hr 8min 256 5k
?? :maple_leaf: Autumn '25
All Results

Chronological raw numbers and thread links:

Event Finishers Time Pages Charas
:sunny: Summer '24 16 43hr 50min 2574 56.5k
:maple_leaf: Autumn '24 33 160hr 42min 6426 405.3k
:snowflake: Winter '24 22 137hr 26min 4632 252.3k
:tulip: Spring '25 32 164hr 29min 8204 161.8k
:sunny::birthday_cake: Summer '25 47 251hr 50min 11607 151.6k

Per-reader averages from all events:

:checkered_flag: Event Avg. Time Avg. Pages Avg. Charas
:1st_place_medal: :snowflake: Winter '24 6hr 10min 210 11.4k
:2nd_place_medal: :sunny::birthday_cake: Summer '25 5hr 21min 247 3.2k
:3rd_place_medal: :tulip: Spring '25 5hr 8min 256 5k
:maple_leaf: Autumn '24 4hr 50min 193 12.0k
:sunny: Summer '24 2hr 40min 156 3.5k

Can we do it?? :star_struck: Let’s read!


Interest Poll
  • I will participate! :books:
  • I will try to participate :handshake:
  • I’ll wait for the Winter Solstice :snowman:
  • Never heard of something called “book,” source? :face_with_raised_eyebrow:
0 voters

Want some seasonal inspiration? Add something spooky into your goals! Any stories or nonfiction passages with a scary element fulfill this extra challenge :jack_o_lantern: :maple_leaf: :books:

31 Likes

:mushroom::tea: Results (Now Open!)

Please update when you complete your Readathon day :fire::open_book:

This post will close on 2025-09-23T09:59:00Z
If you would like your results to count toward our final standings, please make sure they are added no later than this time.

FAQ for Adding Results

I don’t know the exact amount of time I read. What do I add?

No problem! Rounding your time to a general amount is still helpful for calculating our final results. It can be hard to measure reading time if you’re often tumbling down unrelated rabbit holes during look-ups. But if you stay aware of those moments and stop the clock for impromptu research/breaks, a general number is very helpful!

I didn’t read anything with “character counts” – should I try to calculate it?

No, please stick to the page numbers printed in the book you’re reading, or provided by the e-reader/browser reader you use. If you’re reading something like an online article, which has no page numbers and infinite scroll, you can copy and paste the text into a counter website like this one to get a character count.

One of my books has page numbers and the other book has a character count. How do I post my results?

Add your results together! It’s perfectly fine to have mixed counts, as long as each source (book/VN/etc) is only counted one time. Do not use calculations to turn the character counts into page numbers, or vice-versa. This skews the results in the direction of one result type. A diversity of results showcases the many ways we read!

I’m bad at math! I think I messed up the total on the bottom / I don’t want to mess with any of the numbers

All good :smile: I check the numbers a few times per day to make sure the many results add up to the total at the bottom. If you don’t want to add your results for fear of breaking the table, please don’t hesitate to ping me (@taiyousea) to add the numbers for you!

Pages vs. Characters

Pages - Individual pages of a book or manga
Characters - Individual Japanese symbols (はるみ is composed of 3 characters)

Pages are the most common method of counting the amount read. They often show up in the corners like below:

If I spent 30 minutes reading this manga, I would add 00:30:00 and 27 pages to my results.

However, sometimes characters are auto-counted by e-readers or other browser readers instead of pages. Like below, the e-reader does not tell me pages, it only shows me characters and percent completed:

If I spent 4 hours reading this, I would add 04:00:00 and 40.1k charas to my results.

Altogether, my results would look like this:

User Time Pages Characters Sources
taiyousea 04:30:00 27 40.1k 2

User Time Pages Characters Sources
Redglare 10:22:00 0 155.2k 2
taiyousea 08:13:00 665 0k 6
Ditto20 6:46:00 0 120.52k 1
Total: 25:21:00 665 275.72k 9
Goal 1: 160:42:00 6426 405.3k :maple_leaf: '24
Goal 2: 251:50:00 11607 151.6k :sunny: '25
21 Likes

:mushroom::tea: Participants

Add a link to your Goals post here to make referencing easy.

Participant Goals
Akashelia :ghost: :spiral_shell:
araigoshi :100::school:
danyramdas
Daisoujou :100:
dunlewy 10:23 38 pgs :skull_and_crossbones:
eefara :feather: :rat: :cricket:
GolyBidoof :beaver:
hotdogsuplex :alien_monster:
Izabelle :raccoon::cow::hedgehog:
javerend :wastebasket:
Lisaveeta :wind_face:
LouBin :litter_in_bin_sign:
Malinkal :jack_o_lantern::coffee:
mitrac :jack_o_lantern: :snow_capped_mountain:
monlitt
Neon_Kitsune ?!
polv :house:
prath :rocket:
Redglare :maple_leaf: :eyes:
shuly :one: :two: :three: :four: :five: :cry:
SpiderWeb :magic_wand: :rock:
taiyousea :fallen_leaf::books::tea:
WeepingWeeb :yellow_heart:
YandrosTheSane :kitchen_knife: :rice_ball:
shitsurei :green_salad:
19 Likes

Libraries aren’t very loud so it kind of makes sense if you haven’t heard of them. :shushing_face:

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I can’t participate this time… :pensive_face: :sob: Farewell readathon friends… Until next season…

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Maybe the first reply on a readathon thread should always be a dad joke :relieved:

SOGGY…

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[said with a dying breath] remember me…

Actually I’ll probably just be looking at all the updates like this:

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Well, I have been debating buying the full set of ハピネス; it’s going to be well into my reading range by then. :eyes: might be a good way to kick off spooky season early.

Updated On 09/19/2025:

Goal:

Going to try and read through the books I have on hand:

Character Count Total:

21 Likes

Shuly’s Home Post/Planning/Etc :maple_leaf: :jack_o_lantern: :ghost:

(18-Sept : last planning before starting to read tomorrow afternoon)

w/past readathon stats was able to plan a little better…
still ambitious but better planning this time around

Will do the usual bookclub reading and depending on where things are with reading ahead or partial chapters might need 3-4 hours for those…

Usual Bookclub Reading

Title Pages/Char Read Time
:joker: からかい上手の 元 高木さん 10 30 pages 3 chap < 1 hr
:woman_mage: 葬送のフリーレン 7 19 pages 1 chap < 1 hr
:wolf: 人狼サバイバル 1 20 pages/5700 char 1 chap ~ 2 hr
:clap: 夏目友人帳 1 37 pages 3/4 chap 1-2 hr??

Finish during Readathon

Finished GLT (last week) - removed from list
Finished 僕が夫に出会うまで (a bit ago) - removed from list
Didn’t finish painter but I’ll finish it during readathon.
Given how busy I’ve been (2 out of 3 isn’t bad)

Title Pages/Char Read Time
:artist_palette: 夜画帳 1 85 pages 7 chap ??? Physical ???

Read a Chapter or Two (or 3 or 4?)

Title Pages/Char Read Time
:school: GJ部 1 TBD TBD TBD

Since my primary focus is on bingo squares
(black out is a possibility leaving only GJ here for now)

Books to ??MAYBE?? start for remaining bingo squares … depending on my energy/mood during readathon could be any of these - Really should work off bingo square backlog (will see how I feel during readathon)

Maybe Start Other Bingo Books

(possibly depending on mood, snacks, how the stars are aligned…whatevers…)

Title Notes
:1234: 40までにしたい10のこと Been on my list for a number of years just sitting here
:relieved_face:事情を知らない転校生がグイグイくる Super cute anime so bought the manga
:vampire: くノーツバキの胸の内 Same author as our teasing master - just sitting here not started
:cupcake: 冴えない僕は、君のヒーロー Been wanting to read for a long time and the cover is cute
:ear: 小説 聲の形 上 Plan this year was to read more shoetsu but haven’t gotten to this one yet

and of course could throw some dojins into the mix for fun science :no_one_under_eighteen:

Past Readathons

Readathon Results Sources
:snowflake: Winter 2024 6.75 hours / 281 pages / 1526 char 5
:tulip: Spring 2025 8.6 hours / 272 pages / 13914 char 7
:beach_with_umbrella: Summer 2025 6.75 hours / 262 pages / 7609 char 6
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Staking out a place for a home post

yuru-camp-laid-back-camp

I have no idea what i’m gonna read this time, honestly.

I have been slowly working through 一度読んだら絶対に忘れない日本史の教科書 | L31 recently, but that’s not really binge worthy material, and a lot of the games and visual novels I’ve been playing don’t have convenient stats tracking (which I don’t mind normally, but for this I do like number go up)


I have decided, looking back at my previous events, that there is actually a new dimension for me to work with here!

Thus far, all of my readathons have focused on things that I really cared about reading: a series that means a lot to me like donuts under the crescent moon, the manga version of utena which I wanted to critically compare to the show, book club reads, a highly rated visual novel that I wanted to really be engaged with, that kinda stuff.

So what happens if i just read a whole bunch of the trash instead? Stuff that I want to read and can get a kick out of, but that kinda good stuff you can just turn your brain off and really power through without spending a whole lot of time concerned with nuance or social commentary or any sort of critical thought passing through your head :laughing:

To this end, I’ve selected a manga series and a visual novel, both of which I’ve already partly read, have easy ways to track, and I will just be hopefully able to use the excuse of this event to blitz through the remainder of:

  • ラブひな | L22 - Which I’ve read the first two volumes of, and have the other ones just sitting on a shelf. This is slapstick raunchy harem, some characters speak funny sometimes, it’s good brainless early 2000s shonen manga
  • Neko Para Vol.1 Soleil Kaiten Shimashita! – Prebuilt decks – jpdb - which I have played an indeterminate amount of the steam (sfw) release of. If memory serves I think I’m at about 20k/90k, so not actually very far in. I think I bought this because it was kinetic, fully voiced, and supposed to be pretty easy, but then just got distracted at the time when it would’ve been actually useful to me as a learner

What mix of those and how much time I’ll be able to spend reading before my eyes give out is anyone’s guess, but I think due to the lack of intended mental exertion it would be cool to set a new personal reading time record, which would be any time over 9 hours!

Previous Results and Links

Summer '24
Fall '24
Winter '24
Spring '25
Summer '25

23 Likes

WOO READATHON

Goals post

I’ll be reading on Sunday, and I have 2 things I’d like to do.
Either A: beat daily novel pages record by tons
or B: read ひぐらし VN for like 9 hours straight

Haven’t decided which of these it’ll be, but either way, this one I want to read a lot lot lot lot.

21 Likes

I’d definitely like to get back in one of these, and it’d be good to chain myself to Hundred Line for some hours and get closer to finishing it up :sweat_smile: . I haven’t texthooked it because I just don’t really need it with the frequency of lookups I’m doing, but I think it’s available for this VN, for stat tracking purposes… we’ll see, can’t promise but I would like to join if things work out!

18 Likes

Me the past two readathons. Finally gonna be able to join this time. Just barely missed my moving weekend this time and I would have been so annoyed :laughing:

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Goals:
I want to read 攻殻機動隊 1 | L42?? this year but I still haven’t gotten around to it, so I think that will be the perfect opportunity!

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Oooooooo how fun!

Either I’ll try a newspaper or read my history book. Or both!

I work that day but I can read at work also

Ooooooooo

20 Likes

:leaf_fluttering_in_wind: mitrac’s goal post :fallen_leaf:

We’re on!

I’ve been pretty chill in the last readathons. But this time a challenge could be quite fun!

I’ll choose from one of these

  • Read a whole manga volume like 山を渡る or, maybe even go for a whole Harta issue!
  • Read something on soggy’s wishlist (how are we supposed to cope without you!?)
  • Catch up with all book clubs (just assuming I’ll be behind :innocent:)
  • Choose one book from my reading pile and finish it
25 Likes

Fav day soon!!


Goals

This time I want to test my reading stamina, so I’ll be ambitious and set a time goal of:

:hourglass_done: 8 hours

A page goal of:

:page_facing_up: 400 pages

And some specific goals to achieve the above two:

Finish Nana volume 5
Finish 世界から猫が消えたなら
Finish 50% of イケメン王子

Other goals if I’m magically doing the best:

Finish サイレント・ウィッチ
Continue また、同じ夢を見ていた

21 Likes
... Readathon mode activated ...

… Canceling all other processes for the 21th of September…

… Post reservation in progress …

… Excitement levels nominal …

… We are locked in ! …

Goals:
I have chapters 7 to 10 of Higurashi mostly prepared and 11 badly prepared.

Last readathon was

Total of 4400 chars in 3h42min

Minimal goal: chapter 7 and 8 => total of 5190 char
Strech goals:
1: chapter 9 => total of 7190 chars
2: chapter 10 => total of 9020 chars
3: chapter 11 => total of 10270 chars

Breaking the 10k barrier would be a dream…

25 Likes

Yay, thanks for hosting another Readathon, @taiyousea! :durtle_hello:

I’ll make a home post later, for now I need to find books and goals. And plan what snacks to prep :eyes: It was super helpful during the previous challenge. Snacc post

Book suggestions
お探し物は図書室まで - 300 pages, L30
穏やか貴族の休暇のすすめ。 - 333 pages, L32
拝啓見知らぬ旦那様、離婚していただきます series - L32, currently reading book 3
NO.6 book 3 - 216 pages, L32
Watanare 1 - 296 pages, L28 huh? It’s just lvl 26 :eyes: Can that be right ※Edit: It wasn’t

Manga? My tsundoku is yabai :eyes: :sweat_droplets:
It’s been a while, how long does it even take to read a volume? :laughing:
Honzuki part 1
Spy x Family - Got 11 volumes at home
風の谷のナウシカ - This would be interesting to complete :eyes: Joined book club, but DNF

Goals
Hmm… What to make goal this time? Previous goals:
– Autumn 24: “Read more characters than the previous Readathon total: 56k”
– Spring 25: “Read more characters than last time: 66.8k”
– Summer 25: “Read Kusuriya 14 within 24h” (408 pages, 134k)

・Maybe 150k? …I’ll collapse :laughing: That’s like 75% of an average Honzuki book. I spent 10h finishing that Kusuriya book. Hmm, avg reading speed 13,4k/h. Would need 11h+ for 150k then. Would highly depend on the book difficulty. …Wait, 11h+ in a day, that’s the entire day. I’ll collapse :laughing:

・Read a ton of manga? I don’t read much manga anymore, so I don’t know how long it takes. I know Detective Conan takes forever because of text density, but 参考にならない. I’ll probably prioritize “complete volumes” over “read that many pages”.

Will probably pass on the 150k for now and either just read as much book as possible or read as much manga as possible. Will think more about it later.

24 Likes

:pleading_face:

Ok this made me go look at my wishlist and wow I have a lot of random stuff in there :joy: It feels like I need to do some cleanup, like company is coming over

Maybe you would like this manga, it was even originally a Harta series!

20 Likes