I used Google maps for my Amazon.jp account, it works fine so far even though I use no VPN and a European CC.
To be clear, I have Amazon JP with another email, just can’t purchase Japanese-limited items. Though, the problem with this one is not using a different email for Amazon Global.
If I were to try Audible I’d have to use a different account to not risk my main account getting closed. But their pricing is just so stupid that it’s hard to justify. 1500 yen per month is totally reasonable if you listen a lot, but I doubt I’d get through enough books for a subscription to make sense. And yet purchasing a single audiobook is 3500 yen. I’d buy one audiobook for 1500 yen, but 3500 is just absurd.
We only just started reading our most recent pick, but it’s a pretty short book and so we will run the next poll in about two weeks! I’m eyeballing September 2nd or thereabouts.
Thus, if you have any books (ideally with a length of no more than 300-350 pages, and around Natively level 30) that you’d like to nominate, now is the time 
Thanks to @Redglare for leading the way into our new nominations round - we still have 5 spots left as of now!
How about Yoko Ogawa’s 妊娠カレンダー?
Has that been nominated/read before?
If it works the same as audible in the UK, …
[edit]
I have updated my reply - Audible Japan works on an 食べ放題 model. You can listen as much as you like, but only while subscribed.
There is no option of takeaway, so unlike the UK, there is no option of using credits to buy a book, download and keep when you pause or cancel your subscription.
Shame.
No, it hasn’t, and judging from the reviews on Natively it looks like a very good fit for this club.
Please nominate if you’d like! 
妊娠カレンダー
Author: 小川 洋子 (Yoko Ogawa)
Page count: 202
Natively: Level 31
Summary
Japanese
姉が妊娠した。つわりに苦しみ、家族に八つ当たりし、 母となる不安に苦しむ姉と接するうち、妹の心に芽生える不思議な感情。姉を苦しめるモノから姉を妹は守りたいという気持ちと裏腹に、妹はやがて、めまいのするような悪意の中へすべりこんで行く。出産を控えて苦しむ姉の傍らで、妹は鍋でジャムを混ぜる、その中には、ひそかな「毒」が。
家族の妊娠をきっかけとした心理と生理のゆらぎを、きらめく言葉で定着した芥川賞受賞作「妊娠カレンダー」。
謎に包まれた寂しい学生寮の物語「ジミトリイ」、小学校の給食室に魅せられた男の告白「夕暮れの給食室と雨のプール」。透きとおった悪夢のようにあざやかな三編の小説。
English
A younger sister feeds her elder sister, who is approaching the time to give birth, grapefruit jam that may be tainted with poison. … “Pregnancy Calendar,” winner of the 104th Akutagawa Prize, beautifully depicts the delicate and subtle fluctuations in psychology and physiology triggered by pregnancy. Residents disappearing? “Dormitory,” a story of a lonely student dormitory shrouded in mystery, and “The School Lunchroom at Dusk and the Rainy Pool,” the confession of a man fascinated by the school lunchroom at an elementary school. All three stories, as vivid as a crystal-clear nightmare, are gems of short stories that allow you to enjoy the unique and serene world of Yoko Ogawa.
Availability
Physical: Amazon JP | Rakuten | Kinokuniya JP
Ebook: Amazon JP | Bookwalker | eBook Japan
Audiobook: Amazon Audible JP | Audible UK
Personal Opinion
I have read (and really enjoyed) two of Ogawa’s books in English translation: the Memory Police, and the Professor and the housekeeper. The latter was read previously in the IBC.
This set of three short stories looks interesting. They are said to be more straightforward and easier than the Professor and the Housekeeper. They are shorter than the Memory Police (which is above the upper page limit for the IBC). From @omk3 's review on Natively “Yoko Ogawa’s writing manages to take something commonplace and familiar, or even something joyful, like a pregnancy, and infuse it with a sense of eeriness. There is a vaguely unsettling atmosphere throughout all three of the novellas in this collection. The reader’s imagination does most of the work, and the text only feeds this imagination by highlighting slightly off details in an otherwise mostly familiar context.”
Pros and Cons for the Book Club
Pros
- Short stories - so potentially easy to break up in a book club
- Written for adults
- From Natively reviews: “the style is very clean and not too complicated or abstract, making it rather easy to follow along…” “I’d recommend it to people just starting out reading novels in Japanese. The sentences are generally short and straightforward, most of the vocabulary common.”
Cons
- Not that much furigana apparently (that might also be a positive)
Pictures
This is a follow-up to my previous reply
Actually, I’ve discovered (which might be useful to other people), that a number of books (read in Japanese) are available on audible UK.
For example, the current IBC pick 変な家, and the book I just nominated.
The UK £7.99/month subscription includes one credit per month for a book to download and keep…
With ever so slightly a delay 
here is
The Pooooollll!!! 
Have a look at the List of Proposed Books section in the first post for details on each book. Every book has a Natively level associated with it which is annotated in the poll in square brackets after the book’s name (this Natively list contains all nominated books if you want to have a look at the gradings in detail).
Do not rely solely on Natively level when making a choice. Please have a look at nomination posts if you haven’t already.
Expected reading pace: We aim to read books at ~15 pages per week (that number might vary a bit throughout, depending on the book’s breaks and chapters). The pick’s exact reading schedule will be negotiated before the book club kicks off.
Short book rule: If the first place is taken by a pick that will take us 6 weeks or less to read, we will read the one in second place directly after it, without running a poll in between.
Start of Book Club: We will start the next book on October 19th (after a one-week break).
Poll duration: The poll will be closed on 2024-09-12T08:00:00Z. You can choose up to 5 options.
Oh, and if somebody could update the thread title to “Now voting!” that would be great. Thanks!
きらきらひかる
江國 香織 [213p. / L30 / Novel /
]
穴
小山田 浩子 [208p. / L36 / Novel]
人質の朗読会
小川 洋子 [246p. / L30?? / Novel]
嵐のピクニック
本谷 有希子 [208p. / L30?? / Short Stories]
西の魔女が死んだ
梨木 香歩 [226p. / L28 / Novel]
パレード
吉田 修一 [309p. / L33 / Novel]
掏摸
中村 文則 [175p. / L32 / Novel /]
旅猫リポート
有川 浩 [274p. / L29 / Novel /]
森崎書店の日々
八木沢 里志 [205p. / L32 / Novel]
夜警
赤川 次郎 [312p. / L30 / Novel]
すずめの戸締まり
新海 誠 [384p. / L30 / Novel]
終末なにしてますか? 忙しいですか? 救ってもらっていいですか?
枯野 瑛 [281p. / L34 / Light Novel]
家守綺譚
梨木 香歩 [208p. / L30?? / Novel]
阪急電車
有川 浩 [269p. / L35 / Novel]
サイレント・ウィッチ 沈黙の魔女の隠しごと
依空 まつり [304p. / L29 / Light Novel]
妊娠カレンダー
小川 洋子 [202p. / L31 / Novellas]
0
voters
I see スリ has the no ebook emoji but I own the ebook so that can’t be right… 
Oh, thanks for the info! This looks like a mistake in my data. 
Will be fixed from next poll on, and I’ll add a comment to this poll.
Was just talking through the nominations with my mom who has read more Japanese books than anyone I know, and she mentioned that 赤川 次郎 was one of her favorite authors in elementary school (lol). Apparently she was talking on a pay phone once and recognized him in the pay phone booth next to hers holding what looked like a manuscript.
How I’m watching the top two nominations:
I’m voting for Silent Witch to break a tie, also voted for 西の魔女 because I thought it might be oz related, but it looks like that’s just a title for the book.
I have to admit that I’m rooting against Silent Witch because this cover looks like terminal weeb material and I feel like if I start reading this next thing I know I’ll be browsing for anime body pillows on Amazon but if it does win I’ll make an effort to ignore my prejudice and give it a try.
If I start talking about waifus just euthanize me.
I’m seeing a theme here 
