Home
October 31
人間椅子
4% - 10%
Idk when I’ll have time to read this week…
23 Likes
And in the blink of an eye, October is almost Octover. Haven’t been reading much this past week and a half or so (and I’ve been on my computer even less, so no updates), partly because I’m tired from work and partly because I’ve been reading more in English again, managing about 150 pages a day on those days that I read, which isn’t anywhere near my usual pace of old, but still good. I may even finish the one I’m currently on today! Thank goodness though that I wrote stuff down in my notes app, so I can still give a proper update for the past nine days.
(Sat 10/22)
I read 6 pages of 夜カフェ ch 10, until the first break. Not exactly a good place to stop, unlike how I expected, but I was tired.
(Sun 10/23)
Still tired, so I only read until the next break of 夜カフェ ch 10, which was about 4 pages. I didn’t see another one before the end of the chapter when I skimmed, so. Though I did later manage a single chapter of HQ.
(Mon 10/24)
I read the preview for カラフルライフスタイル and ハートの温度 by Natsuki Zippo (懐十歩 at that point, though she’s also used the spelling 夏來ジッポ)
(Tues 10/25)
I read the last ~10 pages of 夜カフェ ch 10.
(Wed 10/26)
Read 1 chapter of HQ.
(Thur 10/27)
2 chapters of HQ.
Some vocab of note:
ハーケン [noun] piton (metal support peg used when climbing). When I see it, I can literally only think “harken” though lmao
(Fri 10/28)
3 chapters of HQ.
(Sat 10/29)
Read the last 2 chapters of HQ vol 32, finally finishing it!
Some vocab of note:
蔑ろにする (ないがしろにする) [expression, する verb] to make light of; to ignore; to slight
(Sun 10/30)
I’m afraid the only reading I did was some song lyrics, trying to see how much I can understand on my own.
Oh, and two people came into the doughnut shop today wearing apparel with Japanese text on it. The first was a preteen girl in a hoodie that said “かっこういい” and then right underneath it “大好きです.” Normal enough. But the second was a young woman in a tee that at the top said “赤ちゃんを泣き,” and then below the image, “love yourself” (I’m pretty sure; I didn’t see all of that line). That… that is nonsense, right. Even if it’s the literary method of using the stem as a connective form, 泣く is still intransitive. And grammar aside… “Cry a baby and love yourself”??? That shirt makes my head hurt…
25 Likes
softlyraining’s spooky book stack 
October 29th・30th:
Only did Satori Reader this past weekend. I got hooked on a book in English and spent most of yesterday devouring it. I should be done with it today. I want to participate in the 人間椅子 club, but I don’t know if I’ll have time to get through the whole story. I’ll update later on whether I did or not, though!
24 Likes
Oct 31, Mon of Week 6 of Fall 2022
- かがみの孤城 (上) 35% => 38% (Ch.3 July)
恨みとニヤニヤ
- 人間椅子 0 => 29%
This one is short and said to be 27 pages on Bookwalker. The first time I saw it via a link to Aozora Bunko, I figured that it would be too hard. Today, I checked it out again from the book club and saw a link to Bookwalker, as a free e-book. I was curious to how difficult it would be on Bookwalker version.
Actually, it’s the same, the same difficulty; only that reading on a tablet is convenient, and looking up in a dictionary isn’t so bad…
It is readable to me, although a little odd and difficult. But interesting, yes. I will check my understanding with the club later.
21 Likes
20221031 - 吾輩は狸である progress: 65.42% 
Today I read 人間椅子 as part of the 人間椅子 reading thread, a tad smoother reading than Wagahai but it still took me a long time to get through it all, but I wanted to try and finish it even if my brain is exhausted now.
Also read like two sentences of Wagahai because I almost forgot it was human chair reading day.
Japanese found under the leaves
Meowords
シャンデリヤ ー Chandelier
しなやか ー Supple; flexible; elastic
撫子「なでしこ」ー Any flower of the genus Dianthus
Forms
跫音 ＝ 足音「あしおと」(footsteps)
24 Likes
足音 – footsteps made regardless of which shoes you are wearing
跫音 – footsteps made by those who wear shoes like these:
That, or @trunklayer is meowing around again 
15 Likes
I had finished reading through 時をかける少女 this weekend. Both the main story and the short stories from the same author that got bundled into this book. As a first excursion into SF in Japanese, I liked it quite a bit. Although not necessary sure if I would recommend it to anyone, there’s quite a few more interesting books in the genre in between when this came out and now. It is however a classic for a reason and reading it I can confirm it is good. Also it has been quite popular given how many adaptations it got and how many media reference this work. Some more thoughts down below, which may contain some slight story spoilers.
時をかける少女
It’s a pretty simple and kinda cute story, there’s some complexity here and there in the technical explanation, but nothing too ground breaking. The story did take a while to get going and then it was over before you know it. Personally would have liked maybe some more time leaps and/or a longer epilogue, but overall it is quite good. It has bit of that bittersweet note, which I feel would have come through better if there was some more time spent on developing the other characters.
The other stories in the book were kinda interesting and a neat bonus to the experience. I don’t think this version (角川つばさ文庫) is that difficult as it has furigana and some illustrations, but vocabulary wise it can be tough sometimes. I think it might be a good recommendation for a second or third book. The Spy x family novel was a lot more dense for example. I think it’s around the same level as Yoru Cafe, maybe slighter harder.
Anyway I’ll be continuing with using the cards in jpdb this week and put that in the system. Today I’ll be starting Junji Ito’s cat diary, which I thought was kinda apt for halloween. I’ll figure out what I wanna read after that by the time I’m done.
26 Likes
Isn’t this なでしこ ?
11 Likes
When 撫子 becomes too showy（派手）-- it becomes はでしこ。
That, or @trunklayer is meowing around again
12 Likes
You’re right! Seems my brain is more exhausted than I thought 
Thanks for pointing it out, I’ll go change it
11 Likes
Home
I read a story from a graded reader called 羊飼い男の子 and the article おいしい牛丼を食べました from watanoc.com.
New vocabulary
羊飼い ~~~ ひつじかい~~~ shepherd
食券 ~~~ しょっけん~~~ meal ticket
大盛り ~~~ おおもり~~~ large serving
25 Likes
Day 31, 31st of October
More Kiki. Only reading a few new sentences per day because I keep going over whatever I’ve already read to see if I can gleen more information from it.
I noticed how helpful having knowledge of particles is, by how easy it makes parsing a text. So this is my call to whoever needs it: start grammar early! It really, really helps.
25 Likes
October 31 
人間椅子, start to finish
I was initially worried I wouldn’t be able to finish the story in one day - the many obscure kanji and respectful language slowed me down. It turned out that they were were easy to get used to after a few pages, however. Such a good story. Unsettling and creepy throughout, but in a very unique way.
Tomorrow it’s time to start reading 体育館の殺人 for the Mystery Club.
25 Likes
This has been my experience with Aozora /old writing as a whole. Starts out rough, but if you have a good foundation in modern Japanese you’re breezing through the differences in no time.
I had a period last year (I think) where I was reading Aozora short stories all the time. It seriously buffed up my kanji knowledge and my grammar skills. 
18 Likes
Home post 
Oct 31 
・本好きの下剋上 12 (4% → 7%)
Was considering joining the Human Chair club, but things didn’t go as I hoped. Unusually long day instead 
Will join the reread club next Halloween! :3
Happy news! I don’t necessarily do this all the time, but it’s definitely a thing and not just a random lucky moment anymore. Occurs, you know, mostly when tired and can’t wait for sleep time 
25 Likes
October 31st!
I thought about reading something spooky today since it’s Halloween, but I didnt have anything suitable in mind so I settled for reading chapters 27 and 28 of Shadow’s House.
I’m really enjoying this story, and its very mysterious so it’s almost Halloweeny 
27 Likes
October Report
In October, I read every day! I covered exactly 700 pages, which means an average of 22.5 pages per day. It took me a bit more than 62 hours, that’s an average speed of 11.2 pages per hour.
This month, I finished:
- TUGUMI (started in July with the IBC)
and read completely:
- Flesh & Blood Vol. 5
- Flesh & Blood Vol. 6
and started:
- おばちゃんがいるところ (with the IBC)
- 人間椅子 (with the Halloween book club)
28 Likes
October 30 home post link🏡
I read a bit of Aryn’s rescue from drdru’s pixel art illustrated stories, which I found from a post in this thread somewhere.
October 31
I read part 1 of ツルの恩返し (The Crane of Gratitude), from wasabi’s graded readers.
I’m considering taking a break from reading for a while, so I can get my feet back under me. Been feeling overwhelmed with school and struggling with mental health.
26 Likes
Day 30:
Priority: 
青桐. Something I thought I might be imagining turned out to be true (I think). Haha, nuance, take that (probably)!
Free choice: 
硝子の塔の殺人. Starting to get real irritated by the 遊馬 POV.
Extra: 
ヤマトナデシコ七変化 1. Ooh, it turns out I am quite in the mood for this.
Snatches of: 
ハリー・ポッターと不死鳥の騎士団. This book is very long.
Mandarin?!: 
伯爵与妖精 1.
28 Likes