I got back to 夜カフェ today! Tan-chan got a nice long nap in, so I had a chance to read for a solid hour and read half of chapter 2. Such a relief too since things are finally starting to pick up in this chapter. My girl Hanabi is finally starting to grow a backbone too! So proud of her!
2月3日 ~ Day 34 / Back to Home
夜カフェ page 26 of 189 (10 pages)
Before I forget, an interesting thing I found this time was the following kanji 呟く can also mean to tweet or to post on Twitter.
As for this chapter’s summary, Hanabi watches the students who have joined the sports clubs and realizes she feels more alone than ever since she knows she’ll never find a place among those groups of students who are all working hard together while she shies away from them so as not to get picked on by Yayako.
On her way home, she stops by the convenience store to pick up a meal for dinner and notices a very beautiful girl who gives off the air of someone older than her. She realizes that they go to the same school based on her school uniform and watches as she chooses the same karaage bento that Hanabi chose. She laughs because she expected her to choose something fancier and watches her as she heads in the opposite direction of Hanabi’s home.
When Hanabi gets back, her father is the first to come home soon after. Hanabi offers him the leftover bento and his father can’t help but feel sorry for his daughter having to go out and buy her dinner because her mother doesn’t cook for her. Hanabi tries to convince him that she doesn’t feel that way at all, but when he goes to take a bath, he realizes his wife didn’t clean the bathroom yet either. Instead, he plops down on the couch with a beer before Hanabi’s mother comes home and leers at her husband for his lazy looking disposition. She mentions she’s tired and the father argues that he’s the one who’s really tired, suggesting she’s having fun “at work” all day while he’s the one putting in the real hard work.
Hanabi sensing another fight heads to her bedroom to ignore them. She pulls out some stuff from her drawer and remembers about her favorite Aunt Aiko-san. She used to play with her a lot when she was little until her mother started making excuses about her sister being too busy to entertain her. When Hanabi got older, she finally admitted that her sister is a little “strange” and to stay away from her. Hanabi remembered the good times she had with her friendly aunt and decides for the upcoming Golden Week that she’ll go visit her since her family is so dysfunctional right now, there’s no way they’ll be able to enjoy a real vacation.
Hanabi hears the sound of the cup breaking as her father throws in on the ground in his anger. She runs back to the living room to see the aftermath of their fight and decides she can’t take it anymore. She tells her parents how she really feels - she doesn’t like school and she never did since elementary school but she just did her best to not say anything because she didn’t want to worry them. But as horrible as school is, she dislikes her house even more because of the two of them fighting all the time. She’s made up her mind that she’s going to go to her aunt’s house this second and runs back to her room to pack her stuff. Relying on the momentum to push her resolve, she’s about to leave until her mother comes to stop her.
Although this book is coming from the perspective of a teenager, just judging from this part of the book alone, I think its important for parents to read this too because sometimes we forget how much stress our kids are put through, especially when parents fight over their problems in front of children. It makes me sad reading all of the issues between her school and her family she has to go through, and as a mom, I would never want my daughter to feel like she can’t talk to us about something because she realizes we already have a lot on our grownup plate to deal with.
The other thing that I frown upon is this whole throwing and breaking things during fights especially when someone is drunk. Unfortunately, this is a real problem in Japan with all the stress, particularly men, go through at work. Due to this, they pretty much expect their wife will be the one to take care of the things at home and offer them their own little safe haven to release their stress. That isn’t to excuse the father’s violent behavior by any means, but this sort of expectation in Japan is normal particularly with people brought up in the Showa era. Drinking and yelling at your wife if she didn’t clean properly or cook properly was a normal thing, but fortunately, this behavior is happening less and less with the new generation.
Anyway, I’m glad Hanabi is finally standing up for herself! If her father was really the abusive type, she probably wouldn’t be able to say anything, but it’s clear that he does love her so she feels safe expressing her opinion openly in front of him and her mother. I’d like to see Hanabi leave and do what she wants, but if I remember correctly, it’s already nighttime, and it’s probably not a good idea for her to just leave without any real plan. How much pocket money does she have? But I reckon she’ll be going to her aunt’s during Golden Week at the very least. Hopefully her parents will realize how poorly they’ve acted recently and change too.
Vocab for Reference - New words are bolded
もたもた・slowly; inefficiently; tardily; dawdling
そびれる・to miss a chance；to fail to do
張り切る・はりきる・to be eager
脇・わき・aside; to the side; away; out of the way
存在感・そんざいかん・presence (impressive quality)
薄い・うすい・liltle
さも・really；extremely
熱中・ねっちゅう・going nuts (over something)；enthusiasm
手芸・しゅげい・handicrafts
二言三言・ふたことみこと・a few words
妙・みょう・strange; weird; odd; curious
寄る・よる・to approach
生成り・きなり・undyed；unbleached cloth
貝殻・かいがら・seashell
一色・いっしょく・one color
ほんのり・slightly；faintly
末・すえ・end
クスっと・unintentionally；slipping out (e.g. a chuckle)
反対方向・はんたいほうこう・opposite direction
遠ざかる・とおざかる・to go away；to become more distant；to fade away
っ放し・っぱなし・keep …-ing; have been …-ing; leaving (something) on; leaving (something) still in use
気楽・きらく・carefree；comfortable；at ease；easygoing
詰まる・つまる・to be at a loss; to be hard pressed
ひとり言・ひとりごと・soliloquy；monologue；speaking to oneself
観る・みる・to see; to look; to watch; to view; to observe
呟く・つぶやく・to mutter; to murmur; to grumble
紛れる・まぎれる・to be diverted from (negative emotions, etc.); to forget about
ため息・ためいき・sigh
覗き込む・のぞきこむ・to look into; to peer in
曖昧・あいまい・vague; ambiguous; unclear
我慢強い・がまんづよい・(very) patient; persevering
グリグリ・grinding against; pressing or rubbing with turning movements (e.g. someone’s shoulders with one’s elbow)
撫でる・なでる・to stroke; to caress; to brush gently; to pat; to rub
悲しげ・かなしげ・seeming sad
笑み・えみ・smile
浮かべる・うかべる・to show on one’s face (smile, sadness, etc.)
お風呂場・おふろば・bathroom
とは言え・とはいえ・though; although; be that as it may; nonetheless
不機嫌・ふきげん・pout; displeasure; ill humor; ill humour; sullenness
食卓・しょくたく・dining table
どっかり・flumping (into a chair)
下す・おろす・ to drop (an anchor, curtain, etc.); to let down (hair)
交じる・まじる・to be mixed; to be blended with; to be combined
ぐったり・limply; wearily; listlessly; languidly; exhaustedly; unenergetically
にらみ付ける・にらめつける・to glare at；to scowl at
そっと・softly；gently；quietly
言い争う・いいあらそう・to quarrel；to dispute
尖る・とがる・to taper to a point; to become pointed; to become sharp
刃物・はもの・edged tool; cutlery
塞ぐ・ふさぐ・to cover (ears, eyes, etc.)
逸らす・そらす・to turn away (one’s eyes, face, etc.); to avert; to divert (e.g. one’s attention); to evade (e.g. a question); to change (e.g. the subject)
引き出し・ひきだし・drawer
イラストレーター・illustrator
雑誌・ざっし・journal；magazine；periodical
猛者・もさ・tough guy; wild one; fearless fighter
ほっと・with a feeling of relief; with a sigh of relief
ガシャン・crash; smash; crunch; bang; breaking sound
割れる・われる・to break; to be smashed
慌てる・あわてる・to hurry; to rush; to hasten
床・ゆか・floor
いい加減にする・いいかげんにする・to put an end to something; to get something over with; to quit something one has been engaged in too long or to an excessive degree
栓・せん・stopper；cork
溢れ出す・あふれだす・to begin to overflow; to start overflowing; to pour out
居場所・いばしょ・place where one belongs; where one fits in; place where one can be oneself
遮る・さえぎる・to interrupt; to obstruct (a view, someone’s way, etc.); to block (light, wind, etc.); to intercept; to cut off
詰める・つめる・to stuff into; to jam; to cram; to pack; to fill; to plug; to stop up
勢い・いきおい・momentum
押しのける・おしのける・to push aside; to brush aside
That is a wonderful invention! Thanks for sharing! I have a feeling they have something of the sort at Daiso or something. I mean, they have pocket scissors that look like pens and other somehow convenient things you didn’t know you need, so I wouldn’t be surprised!
I also wish I had the foresight to bring this page holder (it’s like a glass or very thick plastic bent in the shape of an open book that you use to hold down your book so you can read and do other things like write). It came in handy in grad school and I never imagined I’d be a mom wishing I had someone to hold down my book while feeding my kid, so I didn’t bring it with me… forgot what it’s called or where I ordered it from, but I’d like to get my hands on another one! All I remember was it was kind of pricey.