We are reading at the pace of one page per day. If a sentence crosses two pages it is read as part of the first page.
Daily reading schedule
Page turns at midnight JST.
Date
Page
Last Line of Page
Apr 10
165
Chapter title page
Apr 11
166
こん虫図かんを 見ていて、「オサムシ」と
Apr 12
167
サインするように なったのです。
Apr 13
168
治虫は ずいぶん 長い 間、
Apr 14
169
おわった とき、治虫は 十六さいでした。
Apr 15
170
さっそく まんがの 売りこみを はじめ、
Apr 16
171
十七さいの、学生まんが家の たん生です。
Apr 17
172
えい画も すきでした。まるで、えい画を
Apr 18
173
まんがに おどろき、お手本に しました。
Apr 19
174
しごとと、どっちが すきなの？」
Apr 20
175
せい長する すがたが えがかれます。
Apr 21
176
やさしい 心を もっていて、
Apr 22
177
と、よばれるように なりました。
Apr 23
178
テレビアニメ番組、「鉄腕アトム」は、
Apr 24
179
End of chapter
Resources
These spreadsheets are put together by the bookclub to help other readers. Feel free to contribute but do read the vocab sheet guidance on the first page before adding any words.
The next manga pick generated huge buzz with almost 250 people interested. So I checked the drop out rate for this pick. On the first chapter participant poll there were 57 people “reading along”. Now it is 10.
Drop off is always to be expected. Manga probably attracts more people than novels/non-fiction, but even so, we’ll likely have less than 250 at the end of the volume. I hope a lot hang in there tho!
I’m happy that I created a habit in the last two months to read one page in the evening, post the next morning, have some questions answered and little friendly chat. I plan to read the next pick with the club, bought the manga, and watched anime (absolutely adorable). But I’m a bit afraid that weekly dose of reading (as opposed to daily) and the inevitable change in book club atmosphere with that many new people may disrupt my habit. Of course it’s on me to persevere.
I’ll be reading a different manga on my own after this. Would like to hear your thoughts on the 3rd grader book @2000kanji once you finish! I was considering picking it up sometime in the future.
I bought that 3rd grade biographies book too! And volume 2 of Kiki, since I already read the first book in English
I was thinking I’d still post translations every day, 2-3 pages at a time. But the club might have a different feel, so I’ll roll with what everyone else decides to do.
At first sight, the font is smaller, I guess there are about 50% more contents per page than in the 2nd graders books. There still seems to be furigana for each kanji.
I definitely haven’t been keeping up with other book clubs, I’ll have to be better about that. With this book almost done, I should start doing more independent reading too. I didn’t keep up with the レンタルおにいちゃん clubs but I’ve been meaning to read the other 3 volumes since I bought them all in one batch.
Maybe reading about Tezuka will help encourage me to explore some of the free manga (and paid…) that I’ve accumulated on BookWalker.
I’ve fallen in and out of my reading habit with all other aspects of Japanese I’ve been doing during the span of this bookclub. For the next one I’ll try and be a bit more diligent.
手塚治虫は、今から九十年ほど前、昭和の初めに大阪府で生まれ、五歳のとき、兵庫県に引っ越しました。
Osamu Tezuka was born about 90 years ago, at the beginning of the Shōwa era, in Osaka prefecture and moved to Hyogo prefecture at the age of five.
小さな頃から絵が得意で、似顔絵や、漫画を描いて、友達を楽しませていました。
Since he was a little boy he was good at drawing, he drew portraits and manga to entertain his friends.
また、虫が大好きで、昆虫採集や、虫の標本を作るのも、得意でした。
He also loved insects and was good at collecting insects and making insect specimens.
手塚治虫の本当の名前は、「手塚治」です。
Osamu Tezuka’s real name is Osamu Tezuka (written without 虫).
小学五年生のときでした。
It was when he was a fifth grader.
治は、昆虫図鑑を見ていて、「オサムシ」という虫が気になって、仕方がなくなりました。
Osamu was looking at an insects field guide and he couldn’t help being fascinated by an insect called “osamushi” (ground beetle).
手塚治虫は、今から九十年ほど前、昭和の初めに大阪府で生まれ、五歳のとき、兵庫県に引っ越しました。
Osamu Tezuka was born about 90 years ago at the start of the Showa era in Osaka prefecture, and when he was 5 years-old moved to Hyogo prefecture.
小さなころから絵が得意で、似顔絵や、漫画を書いて、友達を楽しませていました。
Since he was small he was good at drawing, drawing things like portraits and comics, and entertaining his friends.
また、虫が大好きで、昆虫採集や、虫の標本を作るのも、得意でした。
Also, he loved bugs, and was good at things like insect collecting and also making specimens of bugs.
手塚治虫の本当の名前は、「手塚治」です。
Osamu Tezuka’s real name was Osamu Tezuka (different spelling).
小学五年生のときでした。
It was when he was a 5th grade elementary student.
治は、昆虫図鑑を見ていて、「オサムシ」いう虫が気になって、しかたがなくなりました。
Osamu was looking at an illustrated insect guide, and a bug called “Osamushi” (ground beetle) caught his eye, and then it was inevitable.
Im reading the last chapter of なぜ？どうして？身近なぎもん for third graders right now and then will go on with the one for fourth grades. But now I really want to read Kiki‘s Delivery Service as well, just because I like the cover you posted. But Im not sure Im ready for longer texts, I really enjoy reading shorter ones like these biographies.
手塚治虫は，今から九十年ほど前、昭和の始めに大阪府で生まれ、五歳の時、兵庫県に引っ越しました。
Tezuka Osamu was born in Osaka prefecture about 90 years ago, in the beginning of Showa era, and moved to Hyogo prefecture when he was five years old.
小さなころから絵が得意で、似顔絵や、まんがを書いて、友達を楽しませていました。
Since young age, he was very good at drawing, creating face sketches and manga to amuse his friends.
また、虫が大好きで、昆虫採集や、虫の標本を作るのも、得意でした。
He also loved bugs, and was good at insect collecting and making samples of insects.
手塚治虫の本当の名前は、「手塚治」です。
Tezuka Osamu’s real name is Tezuka Osamu. (lost in translation
小学五年生の時でした。
When he was a fifth grader,
治は，昆虫図鑑を見ていて，「オサムシ』という虫が気になって、仕方がなくなりました。
Osamu saw illustrated book of insects, and become very interested in ground beetle (“osamushi”).
Like the story so far. Like that some things are impossible translate to English - the play about his name spelling in Kanji.
The last sentence has this incredible stack of conjugation at the end:
治は，昆虫図鑑を見ていて，「オサムシ』という虫が気になって、仕方がなくなりました。
expressing that his interest could not be helped and also with extra なりました, so we have 成る twice.
