📚📚 Read every day challenge - Winter 2022 ☃❄

Wha… what?
*reads description online*
… what?

:joy: I guess I’ll have to read that at some point.
This is probably the fourth time it happens.
@valkow, official provider of book suggestions.

6 Likes
More migraine talk

Oh that sounds awful! Yours sound very different from mine (no visual issues with mine and OTC meds won’t touch them), but hopefully one or both of those supplements help. Magnesium is one of those things that really hard to get a measure on ‘deficiency’ through simple blood testing if I remember correctly.
Hopefully the long covid symptoms ease, I’ve heard a lot about them and it sounds miserable.

Best of luck in recovering in all ways :heart:

5 Likes

Day 34!
Started volume 2 of 極主夫道, and read all of the first chapter (chapter 10). This might be my new favourite chapter of this manga so far, really made me laugh. The way he described the yoga poses really tickled me.
Other than having to look up some vocab, this wasn’t too tough a read for me - which surprised me because I found the first volume quite challenging!

(Home Post)

20 Likes

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.

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Home post :house:

Day 27:

I read two pages of よつばと! today :four_leaf_clover::slightly_smiling_face::four_leaf_clover:

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Summary post

Day 34: February 3rd

365日にっぽんのいろ図鑑
Time spent: 20 min
Today’s color: 紅梅色 (こうばいいろ) - pink with a hint of purple, like plum blossoms

I feel like there was a similar color to this one earlier :thinking: Ah, it was 薄紅梅!

Good words
  • 早春 (そうしゅん) - early spring
  • 色づく (いろづく) - to change color (esp. of leaves, fruit, flowers); to turn crimson (e.g. leaves in autumn); to begin to redden​; to ripen; to grow ripe
  • 蕾 (つぼみ) - (flower) bud
  • 花開く (はなひらく) - to blossom; to flower; to bloom
  • 王朝 (おうちょう) - dynasty
  • あたかも - as if; as it were; as though​ (usu. as あたかものようだ, あたかものごとし, etc.)
  • 極彩色 (ごくさいしき) - richly colored
  • 慎ましい (つつましい) - modest; reserved; quiet; humble​
  • 控えめ (ひかえめ) - moderate; reserved; conservative; humble; mild-mannered; self-effacing; unassuming; well-behaved; low-key; temperate; in small quantities

まいにち暦生活 日本の暮らしを楽しむ365のコツ
Time spent: 7 min

Today’s reading was about the custom of 豆まき (まめまき) - scattering beans to drive out evil spirits on 節分. :japanese_ogre: I have heard of this, but I had not heard of 柊鰯 (ひいらぎいわし), which is a charm that you make by spearing a sardine head with a holly branch - apparently you place it next to the front door to ward off demons.

What else did I read?
海のどうぶつが可愛すぎて!
Amount read: 7 pages
Time spent: 47 min

Wheeee learning about orcas and sharks and dolphins and whales~ I love the format of this manga, actually, it’s informative but in a way that’s fun to read (おるかちゃん is very hyper/enthusiastic haha). I knew that orca pods have different “languages,” but I guess different orca families have different taste preferences also? Like some only eat squid/fish, some eat sharks, some eat mammals…I did not know this and I find it weirdly endearing lol, orcas why are you so human :heart: I also learned that sharks have no ribs :thinking: I have never actually thought about that before haha

Lots of good words today
  • 方々 (ほうぼう) - here and there; this way and that way; everywhere; all over
  • おふくろの味 (おふくろのあじ) - mom’s home cooking; taste of mom’s cooking; taste of home cooking; food like mom used to make
  • 軟骨魚類 (なんこつぎょるい) - cartilaginous fishes; chondrichthyans (like sharks)
  • 肋骨 (あばらぼね) - rib
  • 気絶 (きぜつ) - faint; swoon
  • 卒倒 (そっとう) - fainting; swooning
  • 時速 (じそく) - speed (per hour)
  • 襲いかかる (おそいかかる) - to rush on; to attack; to swoop down on
  • おびき寄せる (おびきよせる) - to lure someone; to entice someone
  • 仕留める (しとめる) - to bring down (an animal, opponent, etc.); to kill; to shoot dead; to shoot down
  • 文武両道 (ぶんぶりょうどう) - being accomplished in both the literary and military arts​; doing well in both school and sports (this was used when talking about how orcas are smart and also athletic/powerful but it makes me think of orcas going to high school and that makes me smile xD)
  • バンドウイルカ - bottlenose dolphin
  • 潮吹き (しおふき) - spouting (e.g. of a whale, blowhole, etc.); blowing water
  • 豪快 (ごうかい) - hearty; tremendous; magnificent; glorious; splendid; heroic; stirring
  • 直訳 (ちょくやく) - literal translation; direct translation
  • ツチクジラ - Baird’s beaked whale
  • ハクジラ - toothed whale; odontocete (in kanji, 歯鯨)
  • 亜目 (あもく) - suborder (biology term)
  • セミイルカ - Northern right whale dolphin
25 Likes
VN talk, not to like bust in

I’m not super well-versed on VNs, but I would hesitate to recommend Danganronpa as a first VN attempt in Japanese. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love it and if you’re at all interested you should definitely play it, but I don’t think it’s the most like… approachable?

My experience with it in Japanese is very very limited so take this with a grain of salt, but I think it has some of the same difficulties light novels tend to, with that specific light novel brand of vocabulary and kanji use and the like. This is definitely something you can fight through and learn a lot from (I can attest to this lmao hey 錆喰(さびく)いビスコ), but it could also be frustrating depending on your patience/expectations/etc.

I just played through a little bit out of curiosity (from which I’d say it’s fairly comparable to 999 which makes sense) and I didn’t notice like an incomprehensible amount of role language, but I know at least one of the characters uses Touhoku dialect I believe? I don’t remember how extreme it is but it’s something to be aware of. I haven’t played any of the class trial segments in Japanese, but as Daisoujou’s been saying they move pretty fast so you’d probably need to figure out some other way to tackle them, maybe like reading the dialogue out of a walkthrough or script or something? Idk, I’m sure there are ways!

ANYWAY all that aside, if you’re interested in trying it then go for it! Worst comes to worst you’ll play it for a bit and realize it’s too hard for now and put it aside, but who knows! I definitely have no room to discourage people from trying things that might be above their level, that’s basically all I do :joy:

6 Likes
VNs

Yeah I’m speaking from zero experience with the Japanese, but this is probably true? It strikes me as a step up from something like Ace Attorney. Which I wouldn’t want to push on too hard, but before I reached that final case, it felt like a fantastic entry point if someone is ready for games/VNs. It’s had the most helpful repetition of key words in anything I’ve read yet, too. JPDB, for whatever it’s worth, also slots DR at one point higher in difficulty than Summer Pockets.

I of course don’t have firsthand experience, but if I was just idly recommending some VNs to people based on how they look and what I’ve heard about their difficulty, the more slice of life stuff like Little Busters looks like a good call, and is almost what I started with. Aokana seems to be widely loved, is allegedly not too hard, and is available in Japanese on Steam. Yuzusoft stuff like Sanoba Witch is apparently really easy to read (also in Japanese on Steam), but I have no firsthand experience with them, and that’s increasingly approaching the kind of stuff people avoid VNs for, haha.

It’s hard to make recommendations because what’s easier is mostly the very slow paced slice of life stuff which puts some people off. Plus, most of what I’ve played in English is not really suitable until you’re more proficient with the language. Stuff that’s more plot-heavy and weighty. Like looking at what @BadWeather has played, I want to go for more mystery stuff like Raging Loop, but I imagine Raging Loop is more suitable with a little more experience. Higurashi/Umineko are the best calls for people into this kind of stuff, but they’re known for being relatively hard to read.

I hear Himawari isn’t too hard to read and has a bit of a sci-fi slant (also haven’t read it), but that one isn’t available in Japanese on Steam, though the price looks more reasonable elsewhere. And it has an All Ages Version, so there are options. Not that I really want to be having this particular conversation here but I also don’t want to indirectly recommend something with very explicit stuff without making that clear, heh. But it doesn’t have to. That’s probably true of a lot of others because not always, but often, that stuff is removed in the Steam release (but can often be readded in patches if that’s your wish).

ANYWAY! Recommending under constraints is kind of hard. I wish this stuff was more easily accessible.

5 Likes

So stressed from work, so tired. Almost forgot to read yesterday but saved it with two pages of Yotuba. Read today. Impulse bought a physical copy of Asuka magazine (one of those >900 pages ones that cost an extra 2000 yen to ship). :thinking: Call it a gift since I just plunked all my Christmas money straight into my savings account.

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Summary Post

Day 24: Oh man I was braindead today, but I still managed to read 5 pages of よつば&!

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February 3 :snowflake: Home Post

I played some more 999 today! Not nearly as much for sure but that’s okay, today was kind of a weird day :joy: I can confirm they apparently got like a whole all-star voice cast for this game so that’s fun. I’m looking forward to getting proper character introductions and pun names and such, but they’re all still a great time anyway! This girl has some jokes:

Love learning a new word (八方塞(はっぽうふさ)がり - blocked in every direction) and then immediately seeing a joke made from it that makes intuitive sense :joy: Language humor!

Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get to play more; I wanna do more puzzles :eyes:

Danganronpa digression

I did also mess with Danganronpa for a little bit to get a sense of how hard it was and it was kind of a revelation, honestly. According to the saves I last tried it in Japanese almost a year ago, and I remember it pretty much being me clinging to whatever I remembered from playing in English and vaguely figuring out the Japanese from that :joy:

But today? I didn’t play for very long but I really just casually went in, scoped out a decent chunk of dialogue, and quit before I even really realized that I’d just… read it? Like yeah there’s stuff I would’ve looked up if I were actually seriously playing it, but it was so much more comprehensible than I would’ve expected. It’s real evidence that nah it’s not like 999 is so much simpler than anything else I’ve tried, I’ve just actually improved?? Absolutely wild.

Lmao it’s funny you say that bc I’m still absolutely terrified of Ace Attorney in Japanese, but now Danganronpa seems possibly doable. I’m definitely way too early in 999 to be like “hmm maybe I’ll play Danganronpa after” but also when have I ever had self-control huh

Cool words

遠隔操作(えんかくそうさ) - remote operation
希望的観測(きぼうてきかんそく) - wishful thinking
(ちから)ずく - (brute) force, with all one’s might
電気(でんき)()てない - this I couldn’t exactly find in a dictionary or anything, but from what I can tell it basically means the power’s out which makes sense, “electricity isn’t coming” you know, but interesting to see!
赤道(せきどう) - equator // 子午線(しごせん) - meridian (bc I obviously need these for everyday life :joy:)
何気(なにげ)なく - unintentionally, calmly, inadvertently

21 Likes

Update February 3

  • Teasing Master Takagi-san vol 1. Chapter 3 to the end. 118 pages. So much faster with a vocab sheet and the book club threads.
  • もじぱったん. Played five puzzles and read through all the new dictionary entries.
  • Animal Crossing.
21 Likes

Excited to finish not one but two chapters! I split the sections below for my own organization. Also loving the characterization of Aiko-san. She’s clearly a good person. She’s only different because she takes the time to hear people out and take care of them rather than submitting to the status quo. Everyone needs someone like her in their life! She gives me Uncle Iroh vibes from ATLA. Except instead of running a tea shop, she runs a cafe!

2月4日 ~ Day 35 / Back to Home

夜カフェ page 36 of 189 (10 pages - chapter 2 finished)

Last we left off, Hanabi finally decided enough was enough and went off to pack her things to escape to her aunt’s place. Her mother tries to stop her, but Hanabi doesn’t pay no mind and leaves the apartment without another word.

She has to take the train to get to the house, but she finds it quicker than she thought. When she reaches the house, she notices the cafe facing the street that her aunt was also running, “District 3 Cafe” it’s called. The house itself was originally her grandma and grandpa’s house that her aunt restored and they were living together for a time. It’s not clear if her grandparents are still alive or if they moved out.

Her aunt Aiko answers the door almost immediately and invites her in. She realizes what her mother meant when she described her as “strange” because even knowing what Hanabi had done, she praised her for giving her parents a piece of her mind and leaving instead of reprimanding her for backtalking to elders. She invites her to eat stew that she prepared for dinner. Hanabi feels reminiscent of her old home and her old mother when she was still not working. The food smells delicious, it tastes delicious, and there was proof that someone was occupying the home. It felt warm and cozy unlike the lonely existence she’s come to know in her own home.

Hanabi feels comfortable around Aiko-san, and even relays all the problems she’s been bottling up inside for so long. She admits that she’s been wanting a place where she belongs, but with the bully Yayako taking that opportunity away from her, she’s stuck. That’s why she wanted to change schools, but since she failed the exam, she feels that she’s failed at her attempt to change herself.

Aiko-san explains to her that even if she managed to change her environment, she can’t change the other people occupying it. So even if Yayako wasn’t at the other school, there’s a chance someone like her would be there instead. In that case, what would Hanabi have done? Hanabi admits she never considered that problem and realizes what she needed to do was focus on changing herself. Right now she’s been running away and hiding because she didn’t want to be picked on, but if she stood up and fought, then she could find a place where she belonged.

In the middle of their conversation, a boy walks in. Hanabi’s first thought is he looks handsome and fashionable although a little scary by how quiet he is. Aiko-san introduces them to each other and Hanabi realizes he must be very intelligent if he got into the area’s top private high school. Aiko-san explains that he got into a bike accident in front of her shop, so she took care of him and rushed him to the hospital. I don’t remember if it’s been clarified why, but now he’s a regular there.

Vocab for Reference - New words are bolded

ポツン・falling in drops (e.g. rain)
滴・しぐく・drop (e.g. of water); drip
街灯・がいとう・street light
滲む・にじむ・to blur; to blot; to be blurred
何もかも・なにもかも・anything and everything; just about everything
改装・かいそう・remodelling; remodeling; reorganization; reorganisation
独身・どくしん・single (marital status)
面する・めんする・to face
奥・おく・inner part;inside;interior
怒鳴りつける・どなりつける・to shout at
ばしっと・whack; smack
大真面目・おおまじめ・deadly serious; deadly earnest
煮込む・にこむ・to boil well; to stew; to simmer (for a long time)
香り・かおり・aroma; fragrance; scent; smell
漂う・ただよう・to waft (e.g. a scent); to hang in the air
腕まくり・うでまくり・rolling up one’s sleeves
鼻歌・はなうた・humming; crooning
口ずさむ・くちずさみ・to hum (a tune); to sing to oneself; to croon
蛇口・じゃぐち・faucet; tap
まな板・まないた・chopping board; cutting board
刻む・きざむ・to mince; to cut fine; to chop up; to hash; to shred
かき回す・かきまわす・to stir; to churn; to poke (a fire); to disturb (water)
お玉・おたま・ladle
色とりどり・いろとりどり・multicolored
盛る・もる・to serve (in a bowl, on a plate, etc.); to dish out; to dish up; to fill (a bowl) with
香ばしい・こうばしい・aromatic (roasted beans, roasted tea, etc.); fragrant (e.g. burning wood); pleasant-smelling; savory-smelling (e.g. barbecued meat); savoury; appetizing
予想・よそう・expectation; anticipation; prediction; forecast; conjecture
ほろほろ・falling apart; crumbling; melting (in one’s mouth)
頬ぼる・ほおぼる・to stuff one’s cheeks;to fill one’s mouth (with food)
かりっと・crunchy
ふんわり・gently; airily; fluffily
言い合う・いいあう・to say to each other; to exchange (jokes, comments, etc.)
状態・じょうたい・state; condition; situation; appearance; circumstances
一気に・いっきに・immediately; instantly; right away; straight away; straightaway
仲間はずれ・なかまはずれ・being left out
限る・かぎる・to be restricted to; to be limited to; to be confined to
探る・さぐる・to feel around for; to fumble for; to grope for; to search for; to look for
断言・だんげん・assertion; declaration; affirmation
お凸・おでこ・brow; forehead
ちょこん・slightly (of an action); (looking) small and quiet
突く・つつく・to poke (repeatedly lightly)
ウェーブ・wavy hairstyle
背負う・せおう・to carry on one’s back
ちらっと見る・ちらっとみる・to glance at; to glimpse
上ずる・うわずる・to sound shrill (of a voice); to sound high-pitched and excited; to sound hollow
難関校・なんかんこう・hard-to-get-into school; elite school; highly-selective school
ぽかん・openmouthed; with one’s mouth wide-open; gaping; flabbergasted
笑いかける・わらいかける・to smile (at); to grin (at)
照れる・てれる・to be shy; to be bashful; to feel awkward; to feel embarrassed
のけ反る・のけぞる・to be taken aback

夜カフェ page 45 of 189 (9 pages - chapter 3 finished)

The next day Hanabi wakes up in Aiko-san’s house nearly forgetting she stayed the night when she woke up late and wondered why her mother didn’t wake her up. She has a silly encounter with Yamato, the high school 1st year boy who’s living at her aunt’s house. She forgot he was there and didn’t think to groom herself before coming out to brush her teeth. He saw her in her half-awake state when he called her down for breakfast.

She finds everyone sitting in the cafe waiting for her. Hanabi explains that she overslept so she;s considering calling in sick from school. This surprises her because she’s never outwardly thought of skipping school. Someone laughs when she hears this and Hanabi gets introduced to Saki, a 20-year old waitress who apparently made the breakfast. Things are awkward with her and Yamato during the meal. As she pours the dressing for the salad, he seems to be glaring at her and she nearly drops the serving dish. They don’t say a word to each other while cleaning up either.

When Hanabi checks her phone, she sees Line messages from her parents. To her, they don’t sound worried, but her mother tells her she’ll be picking her up later. She instantly feels opposes the idea and goes to the work room to discuss with Aiko-san about having her stay a little longer. Aiko-san tells her she’d be happy to have her stay, but she won’t be the one convincing her mother to let her. That’s up to Hanabi. If she wants something really bad, she has to find a way to explain her feelings from the bottom of her heart because otherwise having someone else interfere has no meaning. Hanabi seems unsure, but Aiko-san reassures her that her mother will understand if she’s honest and tells her how she really feels.

Aiko-san impressed me in the last chapter, but her advice to Hanabi this time around was also spot on. It’s only a shame that Hanabi was discouraged from seeing her aunt when she was younger or she could’ve gotten advice about how to deal with Yayako sooner.

Vocab for Reference - New words are bolded

翌朝・よくあさ・next morning
遅刻・ちこく・lateness; tardiness; arriving late
寝ぼけ眼・ねぼけまなこ・sleepy eyes; drowsy look
洗面所・せんめんじょ・washroom; bathroom
振り向く・ふりむく・to turn one’s face; to turn around; to look over one’s shoulder
私服・しふく・civilian clothes; plain clothes; mufti
はみがき粉・はみがきこ・toothpaste
もごもご・mumbling
どぎまぎ・flurried; flustered; upset; nervous; embarrassed
覗く・のぞく・to sneak a look at; to take a quick look at
映る・うつる・to be reflected
木製・もくせい・wooden; made of wood
中庭・なかにわ・courtyard; quadrangle; middle court
窓際・まどぎわ・(at the) window
革・かわ・leather
仮病・けびょう・feigned illness
あっさり・easily; readily; quickly
被る・かぶる・to overlap
示す・しめす・to indicate; to show; to represent; to signify; to display
柄・がら・pattern; design
刺繍・ししゅう・embroidery
転ぶ・ころぶ・to fall over
溶け出す・とけだす・to begin to dissolve
間抜けな・まぬけな・stupid; foolish; idiotic; inane
ぎろっ・staring (e.g. eyes); goggling; glaring
跳ねる・はねる・to hit (e.g. to have a car hit something or someone)
どうやら・it seems like
食器棚・しょっきだな・cupboard
片付ける・かたづける・to tidy up
背筋・せすじ・the muscles along the spine
充電・じゅうでん・charging (electrically)
件・けん・counter for (received) emails, text messages, voicemail messages, etc.
内容・ないよう・contents; content; substance; matter; detail
幕・まく・curtain; bunting
咄嗟に・とっさに・at once; right away; promptly; on the spur of the moment​
洞窟・どうくつ・cavern; cave; cave system; grotto
仕事部屋・しごとべや・workroom
統一・とういつ・unity; consolidation; uniformity; unification; compatible
下書き・したがき・draft; rough copy
見張る・みはる・to open (one’s eyes) wide
ふわっと・softly;gently;lightly
細かい・こまかい・fine; minute (details)
丁寧・ていねい・careful; close; thorough; conscientious
如何にも・いかにも・absolutely; certainly; for sure
挿絵・さしえ・illustration (e.g. book)
しぶしぶ・reluctantly; unwillingly
切り出す・きりだす・to begin to talk; to break the ice; to broach
説得・せっとく・persuasion
ぴしゃり・flat (refusal, denial, etc.)​
切り開く・きりひらく・to carve out (a new career, future, etc.); to open up (a new field)
見透かす・みすかす・to see through; to see the true nature of something
にやり・meaningfully (smiling, grinning, etc.); suggestively; broadly; sneeringly
日差し・ひざし・sunlight; rays of the Sun

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Yes food in japan is strange. Have you met 人参 yet? にんじん carrot

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Day 29: February 2

  • 君の名は。page 211-232 (92%)

Almost… I hope I can finish it this weekend ^^

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I normally would as well, but I’m trying to order from Kinokuniya as much as I can from now on, and there were only a few things that I couldn’t get from them. But I wanted あすか so bad :joy: and apparently back issues aren’t available forever, so I decided to just go for it.

How do you like ちゃお and なかよし?

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:house:

Day 35. Read the other half of page 226 and also page 227 of Kiki. It’s finally the weekend… I’ll try to read a fair amount before it gets super busy again. Maybe even up to Chapter 11 (the last chapter)? I’m only going to get busier from here, so honestly I need to speed up and finish Kiki as quickly as possible so I can read some easier stuff (back to Zenitendou) without focusing so much on amount.

I mean, I really have dragged Kiki on for long enough :joy:. It’s a nice, wholesome story, but about ten months is a while, you know?

Edit: I’m kind of considering abandoning the rest of my Japanese studies just this weekend so I can have fun reading the rest of Chapter 10 tomorrow and Chapter 11 on Sunday. If I know I’m only going to do reading as my daily Japanese study (well, I’ll also need to do WK, but that doesn’t count), I’m sure I’ll be able to do that with no problems. And since I won’t be rushing to ‘have my daily reading intake,’ I can enjoy myself.

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:tiger2: :books: Homepost - Tigerdate: 20220204 :books: :raccoon:


Tanuki Scroll XXXV: マウイの仕事 :crescent_moon:

Read today’s world folktale, from New Zealand!

It was a bit of an origin or creation story - how humans learnt to cook and how they discovered fire, also how New Zealand came into existence (it was fished out of the sea!), and capturing the sun and beating it with a stick until it agrees to rotate around the earth slower so that the crops can grow better :laughing:

☆ Learnings ☆

New Words

ニュージーランド ー New Zealand
(Not really a new word, but I don’t think I’ve seen it in Japanese before, surprised it uses ジ not ゼ but the katakanisation of words always surprises me)
あご骨「あごぼね」ー Jawbone. Also written as: 顎骨「がっこつ or あごぼね」

Bonus from the Traditional Colours of Japan book I bought awhile ago
Been reading this when I can, it’s a bit difficult Japanese-wise, but thankfully there’s furigana on some of the obscure stuff! It’s also weird how different it feels to read Japanese “physically” rather than just on a screen.

Some Words

「まん」ー Outdated kanji for 万: 10,000
染物「そめもの」ー Dyeing; Dyed goods (more common as: 染め物)
手鑑「てかがみ」ー Collection of handwriting; Model, Example

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Summary Post

February 4
星の王子さま, p. 27-30.

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Well that’s a scary sounding vegetable when it’s written all in hiragana. It’s time for me to study more kanji :laughing:

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