📚📚 Read every day challenge - Winter 2022 ☃❄

[Zakarius]

Homepost - Tigerdate: 20220226

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Tanuki Scroll LVII: 二・二六事件

Today was the day of the 2-26 Incident, were, in 1936, a group of young Imperial Japanese Army officers attempted a coup d’état intending to overthrow the government.

It’s a very long article, so I’ve only managed to make a small dent in it; not to mention that there was practically a new word every other word. I also forgot how daunting Wiki articles are with their kanji use

Days like these remind me that my Japanese proficiency is probably at about 1%

☆ Learnings ☆

New Words (I'll be surprised if I even remember a quarter of these)

クーデター ー Coup d’état (one case were the Japanese spelling is actually a lot easier to remember)
蜂起「ほうき」ー Uprising; Revolt
要人「ようじん」ー Important Person
占拠「せんきょ」ー Occupation (of a territory eg.)
最終的「さいしゅうてき」ー Final; Ultimate; Eventual
帰還「きかん」ーRepatriation; Return
収束「しゅうそく」ー Conclusion; Resolution; Convergence; Coming together
総辞職「そうじしょく」ー Mass resignation
思想犯「しそうはん」ー Ideological offence; The crime of expressing dangerous ideology; Thought crime
初期「しょき」ー Early days; Early years; Initial stages
スローガン ー Slogan
当初「とうしょ」ー Outset; Beginning; Start
首脳「しゅのう」ー Head; Leader; Top
台頭「たいとう」ー Rise (of a movement); Emergence; Gaining prominence
目障り「めざわり」ー Eyesore; Unpleasant sight
主導「しゅどう」ー Leadership; Initiative; Spearhead
部下「ぶか」ー Subordinate

Historic/Military Things
皇道派「こうどうは」ー Imperial Way Faction (a political faction of the Japanese Imperial Army in the 1920s & 30s - it wasn’t officially recognised by the army).
将校「しょうこう」ー Commissioned Officer
下士官「かしかん」ー Uncommissioned Officer
原隊「げんたい」ー Your unit (in an army); One’s home unit
岡田内閣「おかだないかく」ー The Okada Cabinet, the cabinet of Prime Minister Okada from 1934 to 1936.
師団「しだん」ー Army Division

Places
永田町「ながたちょう」ー Nagata-Cho - Japan’s political centre, a bit like Downing Street.
霞ヶ関「かすみがせき」ー Kasumigaseki - district in Tokyo were most of Japan’s government ministry offices are.
満州「まんしゅう」ー Manchuria, a historic name for a large region of northeast Asia.

Additional Meanings
未遂「みすい」ー Attempt - this is on WK, but it only states “attempt” which is a bit ambiguous in the outcome, looking it up 未遂 can have the nuance of “failed attempt”.

Forgotten Meanings

困窮「こんきゅう」ー Poverty

[pocketcat]

@Zakarius

最終的 「さいしゅうてき」ー Final;
スローガン ー Slogan
主導 「しゅどう」ー Leadership; Initiative; Spearhead
部下 「ぶか」ー Subordinate
未遂 「みすい」ー Attempt

These actually come up a lot if you’re reading about business or police matters. 未遂 comes up a lot in crime novels for failed attempt to <insert bad thing here>. Many of the rest don’t seem like everyday words at all though I think I actually learned (and promptly forgot) several of those when powering through 永遠のゼロ.

クーデター I learned yesterday! It was in a book I’m reading.

[sumsum]

Home Post

Today was “Death Note” day for me. I read chapter 4 and 5 which is last weeks and this weeks assignment from the beginner book club. Sometimes the vocab just goes over my head but it was still fun
edit: also! It’s fun how level 20 on wanikani has a few crime related kanji and they just keep popping up (e.g. 犯 and 罪 )

[lucylavelle]

Day 57!

Chapters 17 and 18 of 極主夫道 today.
Still really enjoying this manga, but I have to look up a lot of kanji to be able to read it, and with no furigana that sometimes takes me a long time!

(Home Post)

[Redglare]

Summary post

February 26

笑わない数学者
Progress: 87% → 93%

Progressing nicely :3 Will finish book tomorrow And maybe start new book (薬屋のひとりごと) if I have time. I’m looking forward to tons of new vocab

[Daisoujou]

Summary post

Only a couple more days! That’s a shame.

So I posted about this in my study log, but since it’s on my mind, I’ve been toying with the idea of striking out on my own for learning kanji, without Wanikani. The amount that I read and mine from Anki makes me really miss context when it comes to WK’s sometimes overly similar vocab they teach. Thinking of toying with dropping lessons and, once the reviews fall off a bit in a couple days, cranking up the reading and Anki a little more. As an experiment, for now.

But let’s talk about reading! Today was a big impactful plot day. I eased my amount read slightly (~4400 characters and ~425 lines) because I had a ton mined and I hit a very natural scene change end point, coming off the emotional peaks I thought it was a great time to take a breath.

Today’s screenshot I’m happy about, it’s a CG that I find absolutely gorgeous, especially the colors in the background. I’m going to collapse it just in case though, because it’s kind of a big character moment. I wouldn’t say there are “spoilers” really, but in case anyone may ever read this for themselves, I don’t want to dull the impact.

But for real if that's not you this is some lovely art

This route has been pretty cute, and I’m absolutely digging it. While it may have that occasional immature sense of humor I mentioned before (there sure are a lot of mentions of breasts from one character), the main character has turned surprisingly just really sweet. He’s a good dude. Sometimes VN protagonists are just frustratingly dense. The whole thing is, again, cute. Very happy to be reading it.

Today you get a another very self-explanatory 4 kanji compound: 開口一番 (かいこういちばん), referring to the very beginning of what one says. Like the first words out of their mouth.

[BadWeather]

Summary post

February 26 update:
Today was super busy, so I only read a couple pages of きまぐれロボット. Tomorrow is going to be no different, so even though I hope to at least finish the story I started, I’m not sure if I’ll manage to.

[tiny_river_otter]

Summary Post

Day 57: Today I read 15 pages of よつば＆！ and finished chapter 30- and oh my gosh the new character dksjfkjdskfjsdkf I loved this chapter a lot

[sumsum]

@Daisoujou

I’ve been toying with the idea of striking out on my own for learning kanji, without Wanikani. The amount that I read and mine from Anki makes me really miss context when it comes to WK’s sometimes overly similar vocab they teach. Thinking of toying with dropping lessons and, once the reviews fall off a bit in a couple days, cranking up the reading and Anki a little more. As an experiment, for now.

You would be missed! But I think I know what you mean. (I’m usually just too lazy to make my own cards)

[Daisoujou]

@sumsum

You would be missed! But I think I know what you mean. (I’m usually just too lazy to make my own cards)

Thanks! But I won’t leave the forums regardless; you’re not getting rid of me that easy!

[Natsuha]

Today I finished あさこ vol.3 60 pages and started reading the next volume right away 20 pages. Which means I finished 17 manga volumes this year.

If I continue like that I will soon be done reading all manga in my backlog. But I won’t stop reading but work my way through my book backlog next.

[Beyond_Sleepy]

Home post

🎉Day 50:

I read one page of よつばと！ today

_{What my writing process feels like rn😅}

[windupbird]

Summary post

Day 57: February 26th

365日にっぽんのいろ図鑑
Time spent: 13 min
Today’s color: 抹茶色 (まっちゃいろ) - the color of powdered matcha tea

Yum This color reminds me of matcha-flavored things, which are delicious.

Good words

• 受け継ぐ (うけつぐ) - to inherit; to succeed; to take over
• 言わずと知れた - as everyone knows; needless to point out
• 臼 (うす) - millstone; mortar
• 厳選 (げんせん) - careful selection; careful screening; hand-picking
• 精神世界 (せいしんせかい) - inner psychological world; mental world; spiritual world

まいにち暦生活 日本の暮らしを楽しむ365のコツ
Time spent: 3 min

Today’s reading was about another traditional color (that I think I may have already seen in the other book lol) - 紅梅色

What else did I read?
猫のようなナニカ
Amount read: 29 pages
Time spent: 30 min

ナニカ is so soft and sweet sometimes :3

Like, this is what happens when Renya gets a cold

First ナニカ gets all snuggly

And then ナニカ literally becomes a pillow

ナニカ is not a fan of surprise cucumbers, though

Good words

• 分け与える (わけあたえる) - to distribute; to hand out
• 拒否る (きょひる) - to refuse; to reject; to deny​
• 気まぐれ (きまぐれ) - whim; caprice; whimsy; fickle; moody; uneven temper
• 思考力 (しこうりょく) - ability to think
• 前世 (ぜんせ) - one’s previous life; previous existence
• さり気ない (さりげない) - nonchalant; unconcerned; in a casual manner
• 予習 (よしゅう) - preparation for a lesson
• 徹夜明け (てつやあけ) - after staying up all night
• どころではない - not the time for; not the place for; far from; anything but; … is out of the question; … isn’t the word for it​
• 薄着 (うすぎ) - being lightly dressed
• 衣替え (ころもがえ) - seasonal change of clothing; changing one’s dress for the season
• 小まめ (こまめ) - diligent; earnest; attentive to detail; brisk (working, moving); frequent (e.g. checking)​

[pocketcat]

@Daisoujou

Today you get a another very self-explanatory 4 kanji compound: 開口一番

Not quite the same (as it’s definitely not a set phrase), but this reminded me that I came across what has to be for me the longest string of kanji in a sentence I could actually read:

女子高生身代金目的誘拐容疑事件概要

to break it up into words

女子高生・身代金・目的・誘拐・容疑・事件・概要
英語: Overview of the case of suspected kidnapping for ransom of a high school girl

Edit: And I came across 開口一番 literally just now while reading the same book, so thanks for that

[natarin]

February 26 Home Post

Played a bunch of 999 today! Things are really starting to happen and I have no idea what to believe anymore Very curious to see what’ll happen

999!

Oh man so many things happened. It started out with a really sweet scene comforting 四葉(よつば) and an existential crisis about the Theseus’ ship paradox so classic 999 really.

I finished a puzzle section and 淳平(じゅんぺい) was upset about the lack of fanfare lmao

Later we went to investigate the E deck which in theory should have been flooded but turned out not to be so we encountered a lovely フグ:

I still definitely don’t trust 紫(むらさき), but I do really like her Sometimes 淳平(じゅんぺい)'s sense of humor is also just exactly me:

I can just see myself in that situation like “idk, die probably” lmao me too dude

Things got pretty brutal… (pretty notable spoilers ahead) ニルス is (theoretically) dead? The descriptions were super rough as always and it was a generally emotional situation, but I’m definitely skeptical. It’s been made very clear that once the explosives go off the bodies are completely unrecognizable outside of any bits of clothing and things that may remain, and I feel like that’s a very intentional fact Honestly I’m still not convinced he isn’t working with ゼロ, plus the fact at least two others must have been involved for this to happen? Very suspicious indeed

Fun language thing! We were talking about whether ゼロ was responsible for what happened, and I had to decide whether I thought they were on the ship with us. I said no since I figured they had people on the inside, but 一宮(いちみや) made a pretty compelling argument otherwise:

It makes a lot of sense! If they were talking about a ship they weren’t on, they’d have used その! It’s the sort of thing that seems super obvious in retrospect, but it’s pretty cool!

Basically I’m still really loving 999 and it’s really due to this challenge that I’m playing it all, so thanks for the push! Onward

Some words

さかのぼる - to go upstream, to go back (in time), to trace back to
訝(いぶか)る - to wonder, to suspect
したり顔(がお) - self-satisfied look
自嘲(じちょう) - self-deprecation
藁(わら)にもすがる - to grasp at straws
猜疑心(さいぎしん) - suspicion (of others)
ともあろう者(もの)が - of all people

@pocketcat

adding めかして is like saying something is done with an air of X or implying X

Oooh that makes sense, I kinda got that vibe! Thank you

[valkow]

Home post

Day 56:

日本語: I read some of ミステリークロック and some of 機動強襲型令嬢アリシア物語１.

中国語

中国語: I read an intermediate entry on Mandarin Bean and one page of 擅长捉弄的高木同学.

[sycamore]

Yesterday I finally found the time to play a good chunk more of Persona 4! It was really fun, and contained two instances where my Japanese knowledge was quite literally tested. The first - the persona 4 games will sometimes have your character or one of their friends get asked a question in class which you then have to answer. Yesterday’s question was about Keigo (specifically 謙譲語 )… but I actually got it right!

Felt pretty good about that, however I fell back down to earth with the next quiz type thing, which I was completely clueless about and just had to randomly guess and it ended up being about plants that appear on Japanese money. Which yeah, I would never have got. But to be honest, I,'m really enjoying things like this about persona 4, it feels really kind of grounded in the character being a Japanese high school student in a way that I’ve not seen in many other games. Lots of fun cultural trivia and tidbits that you get to pick up while also battling monsters and solving a mystery!

[liveunderwater]

Update February 27

• Finished それでも歩は寄せてくる chapter 51
• Animal Crossing. ~2hr. After considering winding down on the game I decided rather to ditch my current play style to focus on constantly talking to characters and redecorating my island. I have trouble with give and receive verbs pretty often. Having many item exchanges as part of the core game-play these verbs are in constant use. Spoken in 8 or so personality types.
  I had been ‘playing the game,’ and often skipping dialog boxes to get things I no longer need, faster. I don’t need anymore resources in the game. Now I can just redecorate and chat up the Animals.

[rikaiwisdom]

Summary Post

February 21 ー February 23

1. さわやかな酸味が特徴 宮崎の特産「日向夏」の収穫体験
2. 双子のパンダ生後8か月に 氷で遊ぶ映像公開 上野動物園
3. 観光客に電動キックスケーター貸し出し 熊本 八代

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Time for another brief update. My schedule has finally taken a big hit due to a little decline of my mental health lately. I was hoping to keep reading even if a short article everyday, but I was not in the mood at all and decided to take a rest altogether that I might prolong until the end of the challenge at this point; it’s undecided yet. But yeah, I was starting to feel guilty and very strained after reading very, very late at night before bed, for the sake of keeping the streak going, but it wasn’t sustainable and didn’t take long until it backfired, naturally. So that’s when I decided to drop the pressure and take a little break until I get a little better, so I can come back with more energy to keep learning .

In these two weeks I’ve accumulated a backlog of 400 SRS reviews, so that’s what I’ll hopefully be doing these next few days. I’m also thinking that I’ll probably start a video game soon, though I’m not sure which one yet, but I’m considering either Final Fantasy VII or Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I’ve played both already, but a long time ago, and never in Japanese other than a bit of BotW. We’ll see!

I think personally I’ve started to see these threads as a “study log” of sorts, a place where I meet up with other people reading their things and creating a small corner together. So it doesn’t bother me any more that I miss days towards the challenge, which is a big milestone for me considering the mentality I started with last year, when missing a day was highly demotivating. But at the same time, I still need to keep a healthy balance, because if I stop seeing it as something to work towards, I know that I will start feeling much more complacent and comfortable with missing days, and that won’t get me anywhere. Well, it would, but to a spot where I’m not content with my pace, like I was before the Winter challenge. Going too slow is highly demotivating for me, and I was really happy with my pace this time, reading for an hour each day. I felt it was achievable and I was learning a lot of vocabulary. So balance is key, I feel; achieving that sweet spot between taking care of yourself to not overexert and burn out, and push yourself where you can still work diligently and consistently. That balance fluctuates on a daily or weekly basis so it’s definitely hard for me to know where it’s at at all times.

So there’s that! I’ll be back soon, regardless of the challenge being over :3

Until then I’ll be lurking and slapping you all with my likes in the shadows.

[downtimes]

The challenge is over soon anyway. So don’t feel bad about taking a brake. Take it slow for a month and come back for the next challenge with slightly adjusted mindset (like you seem to already have) and you will be doing fine.