📚📚 Read every day challenge - Winter 2023 ☃❄

Japanese Language Reading
1308

Feb 8, Wed of Week 7 of Winter Q1 2023 :snowman::snowflake:

  • ふしぎの国のバード Vol.1 Ch.4-5 日光(にっこう) (end volume)

Foreigners and sightseeing.

  • うたわれるもの

Candy time, then deforestation.

Words of the day
  • あどけない = childlike
  • トンボ = dragonfly. Kanji form is 蜻蛉(とんぼ).
  • コック(.) = a chef. It is also called this way in my native tongue.
  • しがらみ = ties of obligation = 柵(しがらみ). I see as 仕(し)絡(がら)み.
  • おめかし(.) = putting on makeup. Verb form is めかす.
  • あぶる = to roast; to grill / to warm (hands); to dry (clothes). Kanji form is 炙(あぶ)る / 焙(あぶ)る.
  • しおれる = to be dejected; to droop down. Kanji form is 萎(しお)れる.
  • 衰(おとろ)える = to die down; to decline. 劣(おと)る is just to be inferior to
  • 負(お)ぶう = to carry child on one’s back
  • ～銭(ぜに) = 1/100 of yen (円(えん))
  • 九谷焼(くたにやき) = Kutani porcelain
  • 芥子坊主(けしぼうず) = a children hairstyle. Probably looks like opium fruit (芥子(けし)の果実(かじつ)).
  • 髷(まげ) = top knot hairstyle. Has Furigana.
  • 簪(かんざし) = ornamental hairpin. Has Furigana.
  • 幾何学(きかがく) = geometry. First Kanji usually means how many.
  • 過多(かた) = excessive; too much
  • 殺生(せっしょう) = cruel. Unexpected Kanji reading for 殺 too.
  • 至福(しふく) = extreme bliss
  • 存亡(そんぼう) = life or death
  • 悪戯心(いたずらごころ) = desire to make mischief. First part is just 悪戯(いたずら), but I failed to recognize without Furigana.
  • 維新(いしん) = reformation, e.g. 明治維新(めいじいしん).
  • 厚意(こうい) = kindness; favor
  • 温厚(おんこう) = gentle; mild-mannered
  • 悲壮(ひそう) = tragic but brave
  • 重責(じゅうせき) = heavy responsibility = 重大(じゅうだい)な責任(せきにん)
  • 悲恋(ひれん) = disappointed love
  • 初潮(しょちょう) = first menstruation; menarche
  • 結髪(けっぱつ) = hairdressing; hairdo = 髪(かみ)を結(ゆ)うこと
  • 蝉退(せんたい) = powder made from roasted cicada (蝉(せみ)). Also, 蝉退(ぜんたい).
  • 小麦(こむぎ) = wheat
  • 大麦(おおむぎ) = barley
  • 麦(むぎ)こがし = parched ground barley powder = 麦焦(むぎこ)がし, that is, being 焦(こ)がす.
  • 澱粉(でんぷん) = starch
  • 干菓子(ひがし) = dried confectionary. Not dried is 生菓子(なまがし).
  • 集会(しゅうかい) = meeting; assembly
  • 散策(さんさく) = a walk; a stroll = 散歩(さんぽ). 策 means a rod or a cane in this case.
  • 後頭部(こうとうぶ) = back of head; occipital region. 側頭部(そくとうぶ) = side of head; temporal region
  • 真葛(さねかずら) = Kadsura japonica. A creeper plant.
  • 腹(はら)に据(す)え兼(か)ねる = cannot suppress one’s anger

SFX

  • イソイソ = excitedly; cheerfully

Places

Names

Replies

Read at a glimpse. Kanji would be easier. Kana and grammar might be harder. Practically I can do this in English. I haven’t really tested this style in Japanese, nonetheless.

It’s indeed a different kind of reading than usual sequential reading.

Perhaps Wanikani + External Definition script + fast review, would prepare for this.

Probably the first time grammar dictionaries on Yomichan is proven useful. (From a thread in Wanikani Community)

Yomichan

Yomichan contents
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:raccoon: :books: The Tanuki Kotatsu Reading Den :snowflake: :raccoon:

February 8th
新書太閣記 progress: 07.89% // Volume I: 91.44% :ninja:

The Oda clan sure loved naming their sons Nobu-[something]

Words found under the kotatsu

田舎侍「いなかざむらい」ー Country/rural samurai
狼煙「のろし」ー Beacon; signal flare; smoke signal; starting shot/signal

Character Name List

Probably some spoilers, but this is a historic novel, so can spoilers really exist for things that have (for the most part) actually happened :thinking:

Volume I: 1535 - 15??
(Currently 1555)
日吉「ひよし」- Hideyoshi (as child)
Nicknames: 猿「さる」/ 針売り「はりうり」
Name serving Nobunaga: 木下 藤吉郎「きのした ときちろう」

Family
木下弥右衛門「きのした やえもん」- Father
– – 乙若「おとわか」- Old friend (serves under 織田)
筑阿弥「ちくあみ」ー Step-father
大政所「おおまんどころ」// also お奈加「おなか」ー Mother
おつみ - Older sister
小竹「こちく」- Baby brother
加藤清正「かとう きよまさ」// also 弾正「だんじょう」- Ojisan (only distantly related (before marriage))
– Married to: おえつ (sister of お奈加)

Friends & Acquaintances
仁王「におう」- Big kid friend
於福「おふく」(Nickname - full name: 福太郎「ふくたろ」) // 楊景福「ようけいふく」(Chinese name/birth name) - Timid kid friend (older than Hideyoshi)
– 五郎大夫 「ごろ だゆう」// 祥瑞「しょうずい」(Chinese name) - Father
– 梨琴「りきん」- Mother
捨次郎「すてじろう」- Previous servant to 五郎, later the adoptive father of 於福, and owner of a tea ware shop - and employer of, and master to, Hideyoshi

Hachisuka Clan
蜂須賀小六「はちすか ころく」(also 正勝 「まさかつ」) - Head of the Hachisuka clan
– 七内「なない」- Younger brother
– Married to 松波「まつなみ」
– – 亀一「かめいち」- Son

Retainers:
稲田大炊助「いなだ おおいのすけ]
青山新七「あおやま しんしち」
長井半之丞「ながい はんのじょう」
松原内匠「まつばら たくみ」

Others:
国吉「くによし」- Gunsmith/blacksmith
渡辺天蔵「わたなべ てんぞう」- Deserter - Nobushi (Nephew to Koroku)
難波内記「なんば ないき」- Spy disguised as a Komuso
仁田彦十「にった ひこじゅう」- Subordinate

(蜂須賀正利「はちすか まさとし」- previous head of the Hachisuka clan)

Saito Clan
((questionable) Alliance with the Hachisuka clan)
斎藤 道三「さいとう どうさん」- Head of the Saito clan
– 斎藤義龍「さいとう よしたつ」(also: 高政「たかまさ」) - Son

明智 光秀「あけち みつひで」(common name: 十兵衛「じゅうべい」) - serves under Dosan
– 又市「またいち」- Underling / foot soldier

堀田 道空「ほった どうくう」- Chief retainer
弥平治光春「やへいじ みつはら」- Retainer (cousin to Jyubei)
– 明智光安「あけち みつやす」- Father
春日丹後「かすが たんご」- Military commander

Oda Clan
織田 信長「おだ のぶなが」- Leader of the Oda clan (Married to the daughter of Saito Dosan)
– 卯月「うづき」- Nobunaga’s faithful, old horse :horse:
– 織田信秀「おだ のぶひで」- Father and previous leader of the Oda clan
– – 織田与三郎「おだ よさぶろう」- Younger brother
– – 織田信行「おだ のぶかつ」(Other name: 信成「のぶなり」) - Son (half-brother to Nobunaga (different mother))

Retainers (Under Nobuhide rule):
平手 政秀「ひらて まさひで」
– 五郎左衛門「ごろうざえもん」(nickname: 五郎左「ごろうざ」) - First son
– 監物「けんもつ」- Second son
– 甚左衛門「じんざえもん」- Third son
– 雨宮勘解由「あめみや かげゆ」- Servant
林 秀貞「はやし ひでさだ」(common name: 新五郎「しんごろ」/ nickname: 佐渡「さどう」) (served under Nobunaga too)
– 美作守「みまさかのかみ」- Younger brother
青山 信昌「あおやま のぶまさ」(common name: 与三右衛門「よそうえもん」)
内藤 勝介「ないとう しょうすけ / かつすけ」

Retainers (Under Nobunaga rule):
柴田勝家「しばた かついえ」(Nickname: 権六「ごんろく」)

Others:
市川大介「いちかわ だいすけ」- Archery master/instructor
平田三位「ひらた さんみ」- Master of military strategy

Shiba Clan
斯波義統「しば よしむね」- Head of the Shiba clan, at Kiyosu castle
– 斯波義銀「しば よしかね」- Son

Imagawa Clan
今川義元「いまがわ よしもと」- Daimyo

Retainers:
松下之綱「まつした ゆきつな」(common name: 加兵衛「かへい」)
飯尾豊前「いのお ぶぜん」
多賀能八郎「たがのう はしろう」(nickname: 能八「のうはち」)

Takeda Clan
太郎義信「たけだ よしのぶ」- Commander
(Married to the daughter of Imagawa Yoshimoto to tie the clans)

Non-affiliated
上泉 信綱「かみいずみ のぶつな」(also: 上泉 伊勢守「かみいずみ いせのかみ」) - Founder of the 新陰流「しんかげりゅう」school of Kenjutsu
– 疋田小伯「ひきた しょうはく」- Disciple
– 神後五六郎「かんご ごろくろう」- Disciple

塚原 卜伝「つかはら ぼくでん」- Kensei; legendary swordsman

Historical People

  • 阿倍仲麻呂「あべ の なかまろ」ー Japanese scholar & poet (700s)

  • 白楽天「はく きょい」ー Chinese poet (Bai Juyi / Bo Juyi) also known as: 白楽天「はく らくてん」in Japan. (Late 700s)

  • 道元「どうげん」(or 道元禅師「どうげん ぜんじ」ー Japanese Buddhist Priest, writer & poet (also known as 栄西禅師「えいさい ぜんじ」) (Early / mid 1200s)

  • 空海「くうかい」ー The one and only Kukai or Kobo Daishi - a Buddhist monk. Posthumously given the title of: 弘法大師「こうぼう だいし」born as: 佐伯 眞魚「さえき の まお」(late 700s / early 800s)

  • 源頼政「みなもと の よりまさ」ー Prominent poet and warrior (1100s)

  • 平 重盛「たいら の しげもり」ー Military commander and court noble, claimed to be an ancestor of Oda Nobunaga (Mid-1100s)

  • 桓武（天皇）「かんむ（てんのう）」ー 50th Emperor of Japan, claimed to be an ancestor of Taira no Shigemori, thus ancestor to Oda Nobunaga (Mid-Late 700s)

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Home

Yesterday I played some more きみのまち ポルティア and read 10 pgs of 夜カフェ. I’d meant to finish the chapter in one go, but I don’t really care about the book anymore, so that was all I managed.

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February 7th & 8th (Days 38 & 39) :snowflake: :cat2:

Home post :books:

1Q84 Book 1 前編 (37 - 44%)
この本を盗む者は (0 - 4%)

So I’ve finished chapter 5 of 1Q84 Book 1 前編 over the past two days. I was about to read more today, but then I’ve realized I wanted to join the この本を盗む者は book club (and week 2 is slowly approaching), so I’ve decided to read a little bit of that instead. Not quite sure if I am ready to juggle two books at once, but I suppose I’ll find out soon enough :sweat_smile:

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:bookmark: Home post // Feb 8 :snowman_with_snow: :snowflake:

・薬屋のひとりごと３ (23% → 25%)

It’s going forward and we like that :+1:

If you keep reading 55 pages every day, you’re on schedule :eyes: :sparkles:

Pages left: 20 000 – 2756 = 17 244
Days left: 365 – 31 – 8 = 326
Average daily progress from today on: 17 244 / 326 = ~53 pages per day

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February 8th!

Today I started Volume 5 of Shadows House, and read Chapters 51 and 52.
If I manage to read 2 chapters tomorrow too, I’ll be back on track with all of my bookclubs :slight_smile:

(Home Post)

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2023-02-09T01:28:00Z

I gave up on ヤンキー君とメガネちゃん １yesterday. After successfully going through 会長はメイド様！１which I’d given up because of the wordy dialogue, I ended up picking a shonen manga that has the same problem. It’s the same author as Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches so I thought it would be alright. However, I couldn’t make it to the actual story. The one-shot drafts stalled me and now I don’t want to read the actual story. Come to think of it, I did prefer Yamada-kun to this manga when I was reading the fan translations. And Yamada-kun was the one to get an anime, not Yankee-kun or Flunk Punk Rumble as it’s known in English. So I’ve picked Fairy Tail as the shonen manga to read now. Perhaps, I should just stick to manga where I’ve watched the anime or own official translations. :thinking: Either that or where the dialogue is sparse and backed up by the visuals. I haven’t reached the point where I could go into a manga without no knowledge of the plot.

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:chocolate_bar: :love_letter: ２月８日 :love_letter: :chocolate_bar: (Home Post Link)

I passed the 10級 practice test this morning! took a little longer than I thought, but for some reason I was really struggling with going from hiragana → katakana lmao

Read:

  • 三ツ星カラーズ ch 5
  • 夜カフェ ch 5 (pg 53 → 63)
  • 新完全マスター pg 14-15

Word of the Day
責める 「せめる」ー to condemn, to blame

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Chapter 5 of 魔女の旅々 complete.
Word of the chapter is 手品
Also it’s really frustrating that sometimes you can tell what;s going on but have no idea how to read it.

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Home

Played some more きみのまち ポルティア, of course. I paid a little more attention to a couple of the material names and realized they’re not what I thought they were looking at the picture (the font’s pretty small so I don’t always try to read everything unless it’s important, and the materials for the most part aren’t lol if there’s no image then as long as I can recognize the general shape of the word, then I can find it). What I’d been thinking of as motor oil is spelled with three kanji, and I realized the third is 油 (oil) and the second 滑 (slippery); it’s 潤滑油, lubricant. The one I’d been thinking of as super glue is apparently some sort of hardening agent? 強化剤. I guess that makes more sense than super-gluing two panes of glass together (in a forge??) to make reinforced glass lol. (Yes, technically I can read “強化” perfectly fine in this game, but I just looked at the image and decided, “Oh, that’s super glue,” and no the “strengthen” didn’t dissuade that any. It’s stronger than regular glue!!)

Also, I still hate that 銅 (copper) and 鋼 (steel) look so similar. I’m fine when there’s pictures of course, but when there’s not, I gotta squint, and sometimes I read it wrong and waste time making the wrong one.

I also read the last 11 pages of 夜カフェ ch 9. Just one more (short!) chapter plus the atogaki left, and this book is done.

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Decided to flip between ジョジョ and 推しの子 for money reasons. xD I figured I am almost done with the volumes I have so I might as well finish those first and just switch between them for now. So I read the quarter of ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 Steel Ball Run 第5巻 this morning. There was a lot more text this time around but I didn’t mind because the lore dumps and historical events are pretty fun and interesting on their own. Will probably finish that later today. Saturday is gonna be a big JoJo day since I am gonna be finishing Stardust Crusaders at the same time as volume 6 of Steel Ball Run. From there I will probably start my hiatus on reading JoJo and just read the remaining volumes i have of 推しの子.

夜は短し歩けよ乙女 wise, I am following. Just the occasional new word here and there throws me for a loop sometimes. I am gonna keep reading 3 pages a day (average for each chunk) until mid-March. While, I am itching to read I hit enough roadblocks I can see myself burning out if I just “went for it” and read without any sort of restraint. Plus I feel less pressure to finish reading on my lunch break since 3 pages is totally doable in the 5-10 minutes I have to read. Still figuring out the routine, but seems to be fine for now. I didn’t have time to write down the unknown words today so maybe I will get to that tomorrow morning or during some sort of break, idk. I am not super committed to the word look up stuff because it isn’t sticking writing it down, its sticking if I just read the word again and check again if I don’t get it.

EDIT: I think I am gonna drop ウチの娘は彼氏が出来ない!! and put 夜は短し歩けよ乙女 as my going to bed book as well. I haven’t been reading ウチの娘 for about a week. Basically if my manga is done, I should just read 夜は短し歩けよ乙女 before bed. Solved.

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February 8th
What did I read?: 魔女と猫の話
How much did I read?: 3 pages
(Continued 3rd Story )
How long did it take me?: 25 min

Okay, reading a bit on, Chise may have imbued some magic into the seemingly commonplace objects she gave to the woman with insomnia.

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February 8 :snowflake: Home Post

Today was the most doing it just to do it day I’ve had in a while, I just had a lot of other stuff going on so by the time I got to reading I was already exhausted :joy: so just a bit of 山猫 for the sake of it, hopefully I can do better tomorrow!

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Practice is practice no matter how little it may seem.

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February 8 :heavy_check_mark: :fox_face:

狐火の辻, 43-51%

A new character appeared, and apparently he has an abnormally high IQ and such photographic memory that he can recite old newspaper articles verbatim, even using obsolete characters in his speech. Hmmm…
And here I was choosing modern books over Aozora to avoid exactly that…

What are these characters all of a sudden?

image
image148×957 59.7 KB

Content-wise, we’re now taking a trip back in time to the source of ghost stories, identifying common patterns. Fun that Okiku, who I had met through the Wild Ladies book, got a mention. By the way, the book is starting to feel very much like the 准教授・高槻彰良の推察 manga I had been reading: Apparently occult phenomena get investigated and turn out to be not occult at all. The resemblance was entirely unintentional on my part. Well, at least so far there’s only been a minor 穴 mentioned :rofl:

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:joy_cat:
The kana is い but it is only used for いる.
The two hooks are kana repeaters. The short hook repeats one kana, i.e. the word is ここ. The longer one repeats more than one kana. Also note that small kana were not invented yet. So the word with the long hook is しょぼしょぼ.

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:exploding_head:
Thank you! I bow to your superior knowledge!

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Didn’t read yesterday because of having finished what’s our of Mr. マロウブルー and spending the day at a funeral didn’t make me feel much like working out what to read next. Today I started コンビニ人間 which is definitely going to be a stretch but I think in a good way where I don’t have pictures to fall back on to understand which I was absolutely doing when reading manga.

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More specifically, it’s hiragana ‘wi’: ゐ (the katakana version is ヰ). This is one of the characters that was lost in the post-WW2 spelling reforms because its pronunciation had merged with that of い over 800 years previously. The other one is ゑ ‘we’, pronounced the same as え.

I find 歴史的仮名遣い is not too hard to read in small doses once you know the basic way it works; the wikipedia ‘Historical kana orthography’ article has a good rundown. The other big one to watch out for is that the sounds わいうえお might be written はひふへほ (it being pre-spelling-reform) – this might depend whether the book is merely going for pre-reform flavour or actually cared enough to get the details right.

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This one looks so much fun to write, I almost wish they’d kept it. ゐ on the other hand looks like it might easily be confused with ぬ or み when handwritten. It looked so familiar to me that I stared at it for a good few seconds before deciding that no, I didn’t know what it was.

Thankfully it was only one short article that was written this way, but I found it very annoying because 1) it was totally unexpected and 2) this was someone reciting an article from memory, surely you couldn’t hear the writing, so why torture me like that? (yes I took it more personally than I needed to)

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