Advanced Japanese Book Club // Now reading: 国宝（上）// Next: BUTTER (Jan 31st, 2026)

Japanese Language Book Clubs
1210

Now I‘m giggling at the thought of people googling for porn and ending up with this discussion instead.

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1211

And then starting to learn Japanese :rofl::rofl:

I hid the words because Akashelia did so and also because I thought they might trigger some people and I wanted to avoid that, but I don’t know whether this makes sense after all :woman_shrugging:

To answer your question: I am not aware of such a rule and I don’t mind you using such words without hiding them.

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1212

Also one more reason: there are young people around :slight_smile: the minimum age required around here is 13 I believe

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1213

People in my country have no problem using words like the ones that got censored around 13 yos. If they don’t already now them, something went wrong with their education and it’s high time they got taught. But it’s a good extra reason for removing the actual nomination.

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1214

I think it makes sense. Maybe for some people it’s a trigger, and for others, it means you don’t have to worry about reading the forum in a public space like a train. I don’t particularly mind myself, but it feels nice that people use spoilers for trigger words, or NSFW words, it contributes to the community feeling that people are watching out for each other :hugs:

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1215

As my previous proposal had some “flaws”, I would like to propose this book instead:

女坂

Author:円地文子 (Fumiko Enchi)

Summary

English

The Waiting Years is a beautifully written tale of suffering set in Meiji Japan. Tomo, the novel’s female lead, struggles through her life and marriage to her unfaithful husband, with each new woman that enters the picture reaffirming the protagonist’s powerlessness to change her situation. Fumiko Enchi was one of Japan’s most respected novelists, and her books portray the plight of women in a patriarchal society. While the novel is set during the Meiji period, the characters and their torments remain relevant for a modern readership.

Source: https://theculturetrip.com/asia/japan/articles/10-japanese-books-you-need-to-read

Length: 226 (followed by 20 pages of footnotes plus two postscripts)
Category: Hard
Natively link: 女坂 | L44??

Availability

Only available in paper form (see Natively page).

English translation: The Waiting Years

Personal Opinion

When I started studying Japanese, I came across the website 10 Japanese Books you need to read and I got interested in the books listed there! So far I’ve read a few of the mentioned books, and other books by the mentioned authors, and they didn’t disappoint. Now I feel like it’s time to approach one of the older and harder books on the list.

Pros and Cons for the Book Club

Pros

  • Won the 10th 野間文芸 prize (notable contenders were Mishima Yukio and Tanizaki Jun’ichirou, among others)
  • Has an English translation for those who are interested

Cons

  • Not available digitally
  • Probably heavy contents at times

Pictures

First Three Pages of Chapter One

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Additional Pages

Disclaimer: I picked these pages at random - they might contain spoilers… :sweat_smile:

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1216

As previously announced, here is

Our Next Poll !!!

Have a look at the List of Proposed Books section in the first post for details on each book. If you are interested, you can have a look at the books’ Natively levels through this list. The Natively level is also annotated in the poll in square brackets after each book’s name.

Do not rely solely on the levels when making a choice. Please have a look at the nomination posts and text samples if you haven’t already.

Expected reading pace: The proposals fall into two categories, Fast and Hard. We aim to read fast books at 30-50 pages per week and hard books at ~15 pages per week (that number might vary a bit throughout, depending on the book’s breaks and chapters). For manga, depending on difficulty and chapter length, we will probably read one to several chapters per week. The pick’s exact reading schedule will be negotiated before the book club kicks off.

Start of Book Club: We will start the next book on Nov 15th (after a one-week break).

Poll duration: The poll will be closed on 2025-10-06T19:00:00Z. You can choose up to 5 options.

Oh, and if somebody could update the thread title to “Now voting!” that would be great. Thanks!

0 voters
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Intermediate Japanese Book Club // Now Reading: 怪人二十面相 (Jan 4th)
1217

I’m still in “only vote for books you already own” mode, but there were three of those so maybe I’ll be lucky :slight_smile:

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1218

So far it looks quite promising, with one of your books being in the #1 spot :smiling_face_with_sunglasses: but to be fair there are three other books in that spot as well :weary_face:

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1219

I don’t participate in my current book clubs actively right now (I’m in the constant mode of catching up lately), but I hope I’ll overcome my reading pile before the next book club starts. I liked the last 2 picks very much, and I’m excited to see what’ll come up next.

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1220

We have a new winner! It is

国宝（上）

:tada: :partying_face: :raising_hands:

@Magyarapointe would you like to run this club for us? It should start on November 15th.

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1221

Sure ! I’ll have a thread set up later tonight :partying_face:

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1222

And the thread is up!

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1223

If you’re looking for an easier pick to read on the side, why not hop over to the Intermediate book club? You can even grab the chance and help choose the next book in our poll :grin:

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1224

Hey all, just a quick heads up that I will run the next poll late next week or so, so please get your nominations in before the end of December 10! (I promise I’ll be tolerant regarding timezones :crossed_fingers:)
We have plenty of slots for easy and hard books, so don’t hold back and fire away!

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1225

天空への回廊

Author: 笹本 稜平

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Summary

Japanese

エベレスト山頂近くにアメリカの人工衛星が墜落！ 雪崩に襲われた登山家の真木郷司は九死に一生を得るが、親友のフランス人が行方不明に。真木は、親友の捜索を兼ねて衛星回収作戦に参加する。ところが、そこには全世界を震撼させかねない、とんでもない秘密が隠されていた。
八千メートルを超える高地で繰り広げられる壮絶な死闘！ 大藪賞作家、渾身の超大作！！

English (machine translated)

An American satellite crashes near the summit of Mount Everest! Climber Goji Maki narrowly escapes death after being caught in an avalanche, but his best friend, a Frenchman, goes missing. Maki joins the satellite recovery mission to search for his friend. However, a shocking secret that could shock the entire world is hidden there. A fierce battle unfolds at an altitude of over 8,000 meters! A masterpiece by the Oyabu Prize-winning author!

Length: 662 pages
Category: Fast
Natively link: https://learnnatively.com/book/9d37c1fc26/

Availability

Available in ebook and paperback from the usual places. See the Natively page for links

Personal Opinion

I don’t remember how I found this exactly, but it’s an adventure/thriller set on Mount Everest. Several of the Amazon reviews say it’s like a Hollywood movie. It sounds fun.

Pros and Cons for the Book Club

Pros

  • Starts with multiple pages of maps

Cons

  • It’s a bit long

Sample Pages

Sample on Bookwalker

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1226

Thanks for the nomination @Escalus ! And without further ado, here is our next

Poll!!

Have a look at the List of Proposed Books section in the first post for details on each book. If you are interested, you can have a look at the books’ Natively levels through this list. The Natively level is also annotated in the poll in square brackets after each book’s name.

Do not rely solely on the levels when making a choice. Please have a look at the nomination posts and text samples if you haven’t already.

Expected reading pace: The proposals fall into two categories, Fast and Hard. We aim to read fast books at 30-50 pages per week and hard books at ~15 pages per week (that number might vary a bit throughout, depending on the book’s breaks and chapters). For manga, depending on difficulty and chapter length, we will probably read one to several chapters per week. The pick’s exact reading schedule will be negotiated before the book club kicks off.

Start of Book Club: We will start the next book on January 31st (after a one-week break).

Poll duration: The poll will be closed on 2025-12-19T14:00:00Z. You can choose up to 5 options.

Oh, and if somebody could update the thread title to “Now voting!” that would be great. Thanks!

0 voters
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Intermediate Japanese Book Club // Now Reading: 怪人二十面相 (Jan 4th)
1227

Thank you for everybody who voted! The winner is:

Butter

It was nominated by @omk3 who has been inactive for quite some time, so I guess we are looking for a volunteer to run that club instead. If you would be interested in doing so, please speak up :blush:

Sadly, we have to say good-bye to another nomination at the same time:
少年H scored poorly in the last 3 polls and will be removed. :cry:

Which means more space for new nominations! If you would like to propose a book, please feel free to do so any time.

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1228

Aww I miss omk :smiling_face_with_tear: I can run this one on their behalf

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Yeah same :cry:

That’s super nice of you! Thanks a lot :blush:

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