It being long or difficult doesn’t concern me a bit as long as I find it interesting… I watched Masaki’s review and if I understood correctly he found parts of it sad and even cried? Not sure I’m in the mood for something sad, but otherwise it does sound intriguing. Still on the fence. 
11 Likes
It’s too early for me to be crying as we’re still setting up characters, but the book seems to be about emotions / internal lives I wouldn’t be shocked if it goes there.
I can’t guarantee I’ll read it fast (between work, N1 study prep, and book clubs I am thin on time 
) but I do plan to keep reading it so can give a better review when I’m further in.
Can always wait for the 50% coin back 
12 Likes
January 23
Slowly getting through ユージニア (70% → 73%). Hopefully I can pick up the pace a bit so I can finish it before the new ABC starts.
25 Likes
1 月 24 日
コナの大冒険 第30話 
Read the episode but didn’t have time today to note down new vocabulary! May edit later to include it. But oh my goodness the story is finally getting more exciting!
24 Likes
Jan 24, Tue of Week 5 of Winter Q1 2023 
- はたらく細胞 Black Vol.4 Ch.20-22
Story of a few outsiders.
Words of the day
- いきみ = straining down during shitting. From 息む.
- いぼ痔 = hemorrhoids. Full Kanji form is 疣痔. Another word is 痔核.
- 混雑 = congestion
- 占拠 = occupying of a territory. Taking back is 奪還.
- 毛乳頭 = dermal papilla. Probably, “nipples” of the hair / fur.
- 頭頂部 = area at the top of the head. I kept confusing with 頭上.
- 陰窩 = a crypt; a lacuna
25 Likes
The Tanuki Kotatsu Reading Den
January 24th
新書太閣記 progress: 04.00% // Volume I: 46.39% 
Every time I find new characters in this I always end up associating them with their characters in the Nioh games, then have to remind myself that people don’t have magical yokai/onmyo powers in this book.
But the more I learn about the actual people the more the powers associated with them in the games make sense.
Words found under the kotatsu
朋輩「ほうばい」ー Comrade; associate; colleague
盲千人目明き千人「めくらせんにんめあきせんにん」ー Some are wise and some are otherwise
Forms
攪乱 ＝ 撹乱「かくらん」(Disturbance; confusion)
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
Main
Hideyoshi: 豊臣秀吉「とよとみ ひでよし」
– – – Childhood name: 日吉「ひよし」
– – – Childhood nickname: 猿「さる」
Volume I: 1535 - 15??
日吉「ひよし」- Hideyoshi (as child)
Nickname: 猿「さる」
Family
木下弥右衛門「きのした やえもん」- Father
– – 乙若「おとわか」- Old friend
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
– Married to 松波「まつなみ」
– – 亀一「かめいち」ー 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」
– 国吉「くによし」ー Gunsmith/blacksmith
– 蔵人正利「
– 渡辺天蔵「わたなべ てんぞう」- Deserter - Nobushi (Nephew to Koroku)
Saito Clan
(Alliance with the Hachisuka clan)
斎藤 道三「さいとう どうさん」- Head of the Saito clan
Oda Clan
織田信秀「おだ のぶひで」- Daimyo
– 織田与三郎「おだ よさぶろう」- Younger brother
Shiba Clan
斯波義統「しば よしむね」- Head of the Shiba clan, at Kiyosu castle
Others
今川義元「いまがわ よしもと」- Daimyo
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)
25 Likes
Day 24, 24th of January
Only one story today, because I’m completely knackered. So here we go. The travelers from last time are camping out.
23 Likes
January 24th
Home Post
Been pretty much offline for a few days, but hey I graduated uni so now I have time for more reading 
Only had time for a few pages of 僕だけがいない街 and daily 1 nhk webs easy article in the past few days. Even though I didn’t read that much I still tried to have 5-10 mins daily so I’ll just count those 
27 Likes
Long time no post. But I read on every day. I just finished chapter 10 of 17 of Harry Potter 1.
In the meantime I finished the mini version of the first half of the book. (Why do they split such a small book? It is less than a cm thick, it could also hold twice the pages…)
So I switched to the bigger, hard cover version. I had hoped for a bigger font, but…nope:
At least the wider column spacing helps with finding the right column.
Phrases of the days:
抜き足差し足: tiptoeing
終わりよければすべてよし: all is well that ends well / Ende gut, alles gut
Happy reading!
29 Likes
softlyraining’s snowy book stack 
January 24th
ラストで君は「まさか！」と言う 冬の物語 (76% → 79%)
Today’s story was a short one, and honestly, thank goodness. I wasn’t really into it from the start, so I’m glad that it ended rather soon. Summary:boy gets a text from his friend with a picture of a beautiful girl in a kimono. Friend says today’s their only chance to get girlfriends. Kei (the protag) is confused, so he goes to the friend’s house and it told that, if he cuts open a kagamimochi (鏡もち), a mochi princess will pop out and become his bride. He goes to his grandparents’ house and cuts into theirs, only for an old woman to appear. I get that it’s a funny twist on the surface, but the execution didn’t even make me smile. The whole premise just isn’t my kind of humor, to be frank. Still, it made me look up kagamimochi, so at least I learned something.
23 Likes
Home post // Jan 24
・ 封印再度 (58% → 59%)
I spent 11 hours on campus today… Things are getting too busy 
25 Likes
January 24
Home Post
This was a regular one, but very short, so anyone thinking about trying the normal NHK news would probably find this one fairly easy to try. It does have an easy version too.
Also, today is kinda another tiny read day, and if I wanna catch up with Bustafellows, I can’t really afford those, soon I’m a whole 2 chapters behind again. Also, I had planned to catch up with 9-nine- but at this time I’ll catch up with Bustafellows about the time both clubs reach the end (although for bustafellows it would only be the end of the first route, but anyways…) 
How old are you? xD Kidding, kinda, because I might have been able to pull off all nighters when I was a teen and in my twenties, but if I did it now in my thirties. I’d basically have a zombie day where I’d have no focus, and be so tired I wouldn’t get anything done. With 4-5 hours of sleep, I’d at least get maybe 2-3 hours of maybe-decent focus (not all at once or even in a row with breaks, but scattered in short periods through out the day, easily missed, but it is something…).
Also, for the Kiro fans out there. I tried to get some good pictures of him playing. I’ll post them here in the next few days. Quality is very so-so in several pictures. Phone cameras just don’t have the ability to take good pictures of things that move. 
26 Likes
What I am Reading for Winter 2023
Manga: 消えた初恋 (vol 6-9) 
Manga: きのう何食べた (vol 9) 
| 一月 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | 日 |
| 01 | ||||||
| 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 |
| 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23
|
24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | 31 |
| 二月 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | 日 |
| 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | ||
| 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 |
| 三月 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | 日 |
| 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | ||
| 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 |
27 Likes
Day 23
Started the second volume of Tsugumomo but only had time for some pages. I’m done with my japanese test soon and will have more time for reading.
1954 pages read 18046 to go
21 Likes
Home 
January 24th
ジョジョの奇妙な冒険7
-
海月姫
start - 97
Yesterday felt like the perfect day for a bath with how cold and snowy (all? of) Japan was. So I sat in my tub and read for an hour. Princess Jellyfish is a bit of a mixed bag for me. I watched the anime and enjoyed it enough in college. It’s not as fun for me to read though. Skill and difficulty-wise it’s quite on my level, which is nice. The descriptions and dialogue aren’t too complicated for me to understand and the lack of furigana makes me happy with my progress on WK so far. I find all the characters off-putting though. I get that they are intentionally meant to be off-putting but it bugs me with how they’re simultaneously blunt but refuse to explain things to each other. I’ll probably finish it just so I can get it off my shelves… I accidently(?) ordered a bunch of manga rip. I figured if I was ordering all of Lala (5 vol) that I might as well order other stuff too, but I forgot to consider that while Lala will fit on my shelves… It and 10 other books will not…
23 Likes
January 24th!
Today I read chapter 55 of Mitsuboshi Colours, and then Chapter 3 of Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun.
I’m a little behind in the Nozaki-kun bookclub, since I’m meant to be reading Chapter 4-5 this week and I only just finished Chapter 3… I’ve just had a busy few weeks and I’m flagging a bit!
I can catch up though, I’m hoping to be back on track in time for the start of the next bookclub week
23 Likes
１月２４日 (Home Post Link)
I set up my yomichan to make anki cards automatically last night, so i’m being a little more liberal with my word look-ups for a bit (and also making cards for words i’ve seen before but couldn’t quite remember).
Read:
- ホリミヤ ch 92
- 夜カフェ pg 23 → 29 This poor girl jesus christ
Good Words
ホリミヤ
保護者「ほごしゃ」ー guardian, protector
怒鳴る「どなる」ー to shout (in anger)
換える「かえる」ー to replace
優先「ゆうせん」ー preference, priority
玄関 「げんかん」ー front entrance
夜カフェ
塞ぐ「ふさぐ」ー to close, to cover up (eyes, ears, etc)
逸らす「そらす」ー to turn away (ones eyes, face), to divert
小さい頃「ちいさいころ」ー when one was a child
ポツリ ー isolated, being alone
涙「なみだ」ー tears
改装「かいそう」ー remodeling, renovation
迎える「むかえる」ー to go out to meet
蛇口「じゃぐち」ー faucet, tap
盛る「もる」ー to serve (in a bowl, plate)
塊「かたまり」ー lump, mass, bundle
Welcome to the challenge @cheezyrules016 and @iciely !!
23 Likes
2023-01-25T01:52:00Z
That’s how I was the last time I did an all-nighter a few months ago which is why I make sure to go to bed on time nowadays or at least never past midnight. I didn’t realise that it was due to being in my 30’s. 
I’m turning 32 this year. However, sometimes the book I’m reading is just so engrossing, I don’t want to put it down. So now I either don’t start a new book late in the afternoon or re-read an old favourite. Since I already know the plot, I can tell myself that it’s OK to pick it up in the morning. This is my ideal, though. Sometime I just don’t realise the time and end up reading anytime, anyhow. Fortunately, I just came off vacation leave and managed to get through quite a lot of books so I can slow down now and wake up/sleep properly.
21 Likes
Day 24: January 24th
What did I read?: マグメル深海水族館 Vol 1
How much did I read?: 32 pages
How long did it take me?: 32 min
Finished this volume today! The chapter ends with Koutarou getting promoted from janitor to keeper’s assistant! As he should be. Even though he kind of effed up in this chapter But his heart was in the right place. Also this chapter ending seems to imply that the director knew/worked with Koutarou’s dad? I am intrigued.
Undecided on whether I will start the next volume of this right away or something else. I will review my bookshelf and decide…later 
22 Likes
1 月 25 日
コナの大冒険 第31話
Such thrilling events for Kona from this week’s episodes! I also noticed the episodes are getting harder and harder. Wondering if I should switch to a different series or just power through with this one…
Phrases of note:
- 離れたら負け(だ)よ 「はなれたらまけだよ」 if we separate, it’s game over!
- その時だった 「そのときだった」 or その瞬間だった 「そのしゅんかんだった」 in that moment, it was right then that it happened
- 絶対に勝ち目はない 「ぜったいにかちめはない」i have absolutely no chance
- 生まれて初めて「うまれてはじめて」 for the first time in one’s life
22 Likes