Realized I forgot to say happy birthday to @daikirai so I’m popping in to add that as well!
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Isn’t this the truth?! I do the same thing all the time, and seeing or hearing it in real life sure makes it stick.
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I started a new book: 少年H（青い鳥文庫 version)
It’s by 妹尾河童 and is based on his experiences as a boy living in Kobe during WWII. The first few pages felt really hard but by the end of the first chapter it was getting easier. The style is different than other books I’ve read, and there’s a lot of new vocabulary. Also everyone speaks Osaka dialect. I only know some of the characteristics, so I’m using kansaiben.com for grammar reference.
(There’s an English translation “A Boy Called H” which I have not read)
Chapter 1 was only 16 pages and the war with the US hasn’t even started yet, but the neighborhood udon delivery guy with the great record collection has already been taken away by the special police for thought crimes. 
I’m starting to try to write a review of 三毛猫ホームズ for Natively, and it’s hard now that I’ve finished the book. Usually I start writing reviews when I’m in the 1/3 to 1/2 section. That way the beginning setting is still familiar, I can’t give away major spoilers, and I’ve read enough to have an idea about the author’s style. If there’s some aspect of the language that’s giving me difficulty, I’ll usually make some notes right then in my review draft before I forget. So when I finally finish I just have to review and edit. But this time I read the book too quickly, and was reading and commenting here, and so no review got written…
Thoughts on 三毛猫ホームズ
I’ve been thinking about how Katayama doesn’t seem nearly as bad at dealing with girls, drinking, and blood as we imagined from the description. Maybe this description isn’t supposed to be so much about what he is, as about what he isn’t? Like, he’s not a cool James Bond type, or a hardboiled type. Just a nice Everyman, who’s not even able to keep up with the expected amount of drinking. Also it’s the 1970s and there are some hints that he’s probably more handsome than he realizes, so if he’s not getting lots of action under these circumstances he’s got to be doing something wrong.
The ending was definitely by a Japanese writer and I guess now I know why there isn’t an English edition. Taking responsibility by committing suicide might seem weird in translation, especially with both of the 片山s seeming understanding rather than appalled. I had a little bit of a spoiler when reading 晴美’s letter in the sense that I read some short stories from later in the series, so I already knew she would survive no matter what. By the time of the short stories it’s part of 晴美’s character description that she’s strong-willed and tough, but I didn’t feel like that side of her was shown in this book until the very end. And then it felt like it came out of the blue, in a way.
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Thoughts on that theme, no spoilers
So before I left on my trip I started watching the 2012 TV adaptation of what I presume is the whole series of books. Only one episode in so far, but they massively play up his fear of women and blood and etc but also cast him with a guy that’s clearly 2012 Hot 
I don’t know how much it will hold for later in the show, but it did make me wonder if this is some repeated trope when it’s convenient and ‘forgotten’ when not.
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Trying to type 今日 on my phone earlier today, I found out it’s already 令和４年?? How. It feels like it was only, like, 2 years ago or something.
I read ch 2-3 of 星だけ. I really like it so far.
Under a cut this time:
lol apparently it was just the stranger’s instinct to kiss Sora when he was crying? He says he surprised himself too. But hey, Sora gets a free slice of cake with his coffee as apology! Also, 店長さん is bisexual; rather, gender doesn’t really matter to him. (I’d thought he was a barista, but it turns out he owns the café!)
We also meet another of Sora’s friends, 淳ちゃん. There’s no furigana even on names, so I’m assuming his name’s Jun, as “Atsushi-chan” is too hard to say and would just get shortened to あっちゃん. (That’s actually how I read it at first before going, “Wait, that would just get spelled out,” and remembering that 淳 is also read じゅん lol) The first friend, whom we met in ch 1, we learn is named Kane-yan. lol I keep thinking about one of his lines from ch 1: “That’s brutal, it’s the full course! No job, no girl, no money… Ah, if you failed your classes, wouldn’t it be perfect??” (Sora: “Hah?? No way, I’d cry.”) I kinda really like him.
Wow, just when I said there was zero furigana, a few pages later, 店長さん addresses his employee and we get furigana over her name (詩織), then he properly introduces himself to Sora as 遠野健吾, then Sora introduces himself as 悠木そら. Kengo calls him “Sora-kun,” and internally, Sora’s like, “‘Sora-kun’? Eh, whatever, it’s fine.”
At the beginning of ch 3, we finally get a proper introduction of Sora. Yuuki Sora, age 20, a second-year law student in university. He’s good at running and waking up easily (??) (得意なことは 走ること 寝起きがいいこと). His hobby is watching sports. He likes eating delicious foods.
They run into each other one night—it’s later than when Sora would usually go to the café, and it’s long closed by now—heading home, and Sora tries to call Kengo “店長さん,” but Kengo gets him to call him “Kengo-san” instead. It’s the middle of winter and the wind is super strong, and it’s caused the train line to be out of service—something about airborne objects carried by the strong winds and a fire breaking out—so Kengo, living close by, invites Sora to stay at his place. And he hasn’t thought about it much before, but Sora’s thinking about that kiss again, but he accepts anyway.
After showering and changing, they get to talking about stars, about the exceptionally bright shooting star Sora saw the other day which Kengo thinks must have been a bolide, which he’s only seen once before. And how Kengo’s favorite star is the black hole (which Sora didn’t realize was a type of star) and how lately he’s been really into dark matter, too. It seems he likes them because when he learns one thing, he finds he has more questions and it quickly becomes a big mystery. Because he doesn’t understand it, it’s scary, but at the same time, that just makes him want to learn more.
Now Kengo learns Sora’s age and major, and we and Sora learn that Kengo is 27. The age difference is a bit iffy, but eh. Apparently owning his own café is less his dream, and more because of his cousin.
On the news, they announce that, next spring, a new Japanese astronaut will begin a long-term stay on the International Space Station: Toono Kengo. Sora thinks it must be someone with the same name, and it’s amazing that it’s even spelled the same way, but Kengo acts a little closed-off and is like, “Wellp, time for bed, you still watching?” so, hm. I don’t know anything about being an astronaut so I dunno if it actually could be him or if it really is someone else who just so happens to have the exact same name as him, but something’s got him sensitive.
Oh ho ho. Oh ho HO.
After they turn in, Kengo in his bed and Sora on the couch, and Sora’s already drifted off, Kengo comes back in looking for his phone which he thinks he left on the couch. And of course Sora’s laying with his head on the side that Kengo had been sitting on, so when he wakes up, Kengo’s hovering right over him (“misleading,” he calls it, later), and of course they’re real close while Kengo searches and finally finds it. And after he leaves, Sora’s lying there with his heart pounding like crazy, thinking how he can’t sleep. Sounds like someone’s developing a crush～
I wanna read moooore, but I was tired after work and didn’t start reading until kinda late, and now it’s already time for shower and bed. I probably won’t finish it tomorrow either, but maybe Monday?
Some vocab of note:
本日 (ほんじつ) [adverbial noun] today; this day. I think I already knew you might sometimes see this instead of 今日, but it was still kinda weird actually coming across it. Feels very formal. Which makes sense considering it was used in an intercom announcement of the train being out of use, which of course uses polite/formal language.
火球 (かきゅう) [noun] bolide. This also falls under the broader term 流星, but it’s a larger, brighter one that generally doesn’t completely burn up in the atmosphere.
同姓同名 (どうせいどうめい) [四字熟語] (having) the same family and given name
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April 23 
Home Post
I played some more ZTD! I’m definitely enjoying it so far; it’s been really doable which is nice. I’ve mostly been able to follow along at normal speed so yay! I’m still pretty early on so no real idea what’s going on yet but I’m curious to see 
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April 23th (Calendar Post)
Was a busy day but I managed to get some reading done.
ゆるキャン△ => 26 pages (82 minutes)
夜カフェ => 10 pages (41 minutes)
Nice panel from today:
猫だ
I am not sure if this is a word I want to add to my SRS…
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That indeed looks very impressive, thanks for sharing! Reminds me of some parts of Père Lachaise in Paris, one of my favorite cemeteries 
Oooh, nice! A Japanese person once recommended that book to me, and I have it on my 積読 pile ever since 
If you like it, I will see about reading it as well in the near future.
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April 24, Sun home post
Week 4 of Spring 2022’s update
Following up from yesterday, and as the last day of the week, I read Yuru Camp Ch.70-71 (which is actually a re-reading). Focusing on the vocabularies, and getting pronunciations without Furigana, I have too look up, at least a lot for place names. (And, one of which is unresolved - 清水、淸水（しみず、きよみず、せいすい、しょうず）) I need to look up a surname as well (各務原なでしこ).
I really want to go to the current chapter in Yuru Camp Discussion (Ch. 74). But while I can with enough stamina in a reasonable time (if I focus on vocabularies, as talked yesterday); I don’t really have time this evening, at least not much laptop access, or full learning setup.
I read through Happiness Ch.4 whole chapter really fast. Not really zero vocabularies’ lookup, but very few. (Like 6 or something.) It’s good, so that I can focus on comprehension.
I have taken a small Kanji test (and got a valuation number, but I feel it doesn’t matter much). I feel I should take Kanji separately and seriously; probably in WaniKani style on Anki, which I have done before plus level 1-60; but with my vocabulary list instead (from Yomichan / Akebi / Takoboto).
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On 晴美
She always struck me as very spirited and independent actually, and I’ve only read this one book. (Although I too somehow knew she would reappear in later books so I never worried about her). I think because we’re mostly seeing the story from Katayama’s point of view, she’s presented as just the innocent little sister we don’t know much else about, but there are hints that she’s got a whole other life - and probably personality- than her big brother is ready to realize. After her experience at the end of the book, it’s no wonder she came out stronger than ever - it was either that or it would break her, and we couldn’t have that.
On 片山's character traits
The discrepancy between his description and his actions is harder for me to explain than 晴美’s. I guess much of that might be because of his own low self-esteem (“what am I doing being a policeman, I’m horrible with blood”, for example). 雪子 took the lead at all times, so he was never put in the position to have to initiate anything himself, but he still never seemed especially nervous or clumsy around her after he got to know her. I guess his anxiety might stem from the fact that as a young man he was expected to be a certain way around beautiful young ladies, and he couldn’t cope with that expectation. Once those ladies became actual human beings he got to know, instead of a general idea and perceived social pressure, he was more or less back to normal. At least that’s the way I explain it to myself. Similarly with blood, thinking about seeing a random crime scene can be anxiety inducing, and something to shy away from, but running towards an injured or dead person to see how you can help is another story. There will still be blood, but you’re already involved (by knowing the person, being nearby or just working on a related case), so it’s not an abstract, scary crime scene anymore.
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Day 22 and 23 
Read: マグメル深海水族館 (3)
Time: 3 minutes, 15 minutes, 12 minutes, 18 minutes, 19 minutes, 19 minutes
Finished: Extra, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14
Was super tired for some reason yesterday so I just read the extra. Got to learn about these little guys who’re aptly called オオグチボヤ (big mouth sea squirt) in Japanese.
Then reading today I got super interested in what was going on and ended up finishing the volume. (the temptation to binge is strong). This one had more background on some of the characters and some progression in things that have been hinted at before. Like what’s going on with Koutarou’s dad, although there’s still some mystery there that I can’t wait to find out. Also learning that a lot of sea creature names aren’t in Jisho so I’ve been doing a lot of googling. Through this I’ve learned there’s an aquarium with a deep sea exhibit with a lot of these creatures in my state. Might just have to go on a road trip there this summer.
Frames I liked
The ten-ten became fish.
Really like this cover page.
Turns out there’s an omake beneath the cover, have to go back and read them all
(sorry they’re all a little blurry, can’t take a good photo to save my life lol)
New Vocab
A lot of biological words again
オオタルマワシ Phronima sedentaria, common name barrel shrimp (apparently these guys eat their host and then live in the remainder of their body)
フジクジラ Blackbelly lanternshark
クロカムリクラゲ helmet jellyfish
オオグチボヤ predatory tunicate
オウムガイ chambered nautilus
生態 （せいたい）mode of life; ecology
生物発光 （せいぶつはっこう）bioluminescence
捕食者 （ほしょくしゃ）predator
清聴 （せいちょう）attention; kind attention; courteous attention
発光器 （はっこうき）bioluminescent organ; photophore
更ける （ふける）to get late; to advance; to wear on
宿直 （しゅくちょく）night watch; night guard; night shift
来日 （らいにち）arrival in Japan; coming to Japan; visit to Japan (read this as らいじつ at first didn’t know this word)
写生 （しゃせい）sketching; drawing from nature; portrayal; description
白亜紀 （はくあき）Cretaceous Period
優位 （ゆうい）predominance; superiority; ascendancy; advantage; supremacy
縦長 （たてなが）oblong; vertical writing style (e.g. on envelopes); portrait orientation
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Day 24 / Calendar
Today I’ve read 8(!) pages of 夜カフェ. I could do this, because 1.) my sleep schedule tends to be broken beyond repair, and I’ve read the first 3 or 4 pages a bit past midnight 2.) I’m a lazy git who had next to nothing to do the entire day besides reading and watching youtube.
A lot of words that come up quite often started sticking really well, so I can oftentimes just go through a sentence without having to look up words and that makes things a lot quicker.
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Tanuki Den (aka Homepost): Date 20220424 
Tanuki Scroll XXIV: 娘ギツネの恩返し 
Read today’s folktale, from Yamagata Prefecture!
About a man who helps out the daughter of a fox.
Japanese found in the tall grass
New Things
菩提樹「ぼうだいじゅ」ー Tilia miqueliana (a type of Linden tree)
常緑高木「じょうりょくこうぼく」ー tall, evergreen tree
貴族「きぞく」ー Aristocrat
新巻「あらまき」ー Salted salmon (also: 荒巻 or 苞苴)
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I just finished Book 12 from Level 0, Set 2. It tells all about different data about people in Japan. It says Japanese women live the longest in the world at 86 years old. Men get married at age 30 and women at age 29. Men work a total of 18 minutes at home, while women work 3 hours and 41 minutes. Japanese people have 1.37 children.
I will begin Level 0, Set 3 tomorrow.
New vocabulary:
けっこん
結婚 marriage
いそが
忙しい busy, occupied, hectic
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April 24th!
I read Chapter 17 of Mitsuboshi Colors today. I struggled a bit as it was one of the more random, zany chapters where it can be hard to tell whether I read something wrong, or whether its just the characters being eccentric
I think I got the gist of what was going on though!
Those are interesting stats @dunlewy ! Thanks for sharing 
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I thought some of the stats were weird, like men only helping out at home for 18 minutes. Also, I didn’t know that Japanese women had the longest lifespans in the world. I learned a lot about Japan in this book. But it was harder reading!
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April 24th
・薬屋のひとりごと (53% → 58%)
Finished chapter 20. I definitely started reading way too late tonight. Let’s try to avoid that, starting two days from now. (I know tomorrow most likely will be busy busy)
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And another complete reading week down. One more week until halftime: 24/61 Homepost
This week went slightly better than the last and I got all my reading done in time. Even though I started late because of easter.
What I read/did in the last week:
- The chapters of Saga (3/4)
- This weeks Yoru (ch 4)
- 3 Ch of Slam Dunk
- Exercises of Tobira ch8.
- 8 Articles on Todai.
- Some re-reading of Solanin (6-7Ch)
So the Solanin re-read is an interesting story. I had one Anki card which I did not understand so I was looking for the context in the book again. But while searching I kinda started reading it again. It was fascinating how much easier it was this time around since I had just read it in the last challenge in Winter. Before I knew It I head reread 6 chapters and even could remove nearly all question marks I left while reading last time. Time ran away though so I just suspended the card and moved on with what I was supposed to do.
Most of it is surely that I srsed the vocabulary from the book but it also felt markedably easier to parse the sentences and it took way less effort compared to last time. I also found a grammar point 固いっちゃ固いけど which last time I just didn’t understand but since then came to learn this usage of といえば and that contraction. It felt soo good to actually see my progress which seemed quite substantial.
Other than that nothing more to report.
My next update will be late again because next week is the chaos weekend where I’m not sure I can even keep the streak going.
See you then.
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Day 24
Read a short tadoku story about おでん. I’ve been busy last several days due to moving. Things should settle down soon.
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