February 18th!
Today I read the next chapter of Teasing Master Takagi-san, finishing Volume 10.
Then I also read this week’s ABBC assignment of Ruri Dragon. It was very cute, and I’m looking forward to reading more.
Home 
February 18th
ジョジョの奇妙な冒険9
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ルリドラゴン 1
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The JoJolands
16 pages (finished chapter)
Demonic Heartbreak
33 pages (whole new chapter)
I thought I would read more of vol 9 until I fell asleep but I just ended up opening and closing it lol
２月１８日 (Home Post Link)
Had a small victory at the arcade earlier! Most of the games are only in japanese, and to prevent people from stalling/prevent the games from getting stuck if there’s an error, the menus have a time limit (usually around 40 seconds to a minute) to pick a song/do options. These menus are also notoriously confusing and weirdly nested, since you are using a rhythm game controller to try to do things you’d normally want a real controller/keyboard for. I finally figured out how to get into the song options menu in wacca and adjust the scroll speed and visual settings even with that tight time restriction!
changed to a readable scroll speed and suddenly i'm pretty good at wacca
Avg ~920k on scroll speed 2.0 (default) to getting ~980k+ and SSS ranks on scroll speed 3.0 … funny how that works 
most really good players play on 5.0, but i’ll have to work up to that i think
Read:
- 古見さんはコミュ症です ch 1 & 2 - (chanting) book club book club book club
- ルリドラゴン pg 1-17 - (chanting louder) book club book club book club god this manga is so cute, I really miss it and hope it comes back eventually
- will do some more after dinner, feeling unusually motivated today
- 夜カフェ pg 120 → 131 (chapter 10)
- 三ツ星カラーズ ch 16
Still debating whether to also try out the IBC pick, but I think I’d like to finish 夜カフェ first. From the preview it looked like a challenging but still reasonable level for me (especially considering the slow pace and extra support of the clubs)
@NicoleIsEnough my copy of Making Sense of Japanese also got here today! I just went through the preface and introduction, but I already love this book his sense of humor is greatly appreciated when so much of the non-fiction I’ve been reading is super dry, academic stuff
Speaking of! De-mystifying Translation | Introducing Translation to Non-translators ! There’s a new open-source introduction to translation and translation theory book that some people here might be interested in! It’s written by a linguist, but it’s intended to be accessible for broader audiences.
Word of the Day
凡人「ぼんじん」ー ordinary/average/mediocre person
Only had some time for a little bit of ポルティア today. Just one more day of work, and then I’ll have a few days off and hopefully I won’t be so tired…
February 18 
Home Post
Played some more BU$TAFELLOWS today! I think I’m close to the end of the section now, but it’s always kinda hard to tell. And then I have bad endings to consider 
exciting times!
Played Genshin for some reason most of the day. So uh… I’ve been reading technically.
Read about 10 pages of 夜は短し歩けよ乙女 today. It’s the weekend but starting tomorrow I’m gonna go pretty hard and try to finish this week. I’ve been going at slow place for the first chapter to get whatever names and vocab make up most of the novel, so my hope is I can just read the rest from here and see how it goes. I really love this story, so the likelihood I’ll reread it again is pretty high. So I’m not super concerned about missing things. Plus there’s the movie.
19 feb
feel better than yesterday but still not fully with it. abandoned 四月は君の嘘 cos i wasn’t finding it particularly enjoyable to read (maybe i’ll go back to it? idk) so i thought i’d give 聖☆おにいさん another go. i think i needed something a bit silly.
thanks for sharing this! looking forward to reading it!
February 19
世界から猫が消えたなら pg32 →pg37
Every night I tell myself I’ll read in Japanese for half an hour then go to sleep, but end up procrastinating for hours before doing so and then falling asleep after half a page… tomorrow I’ll start reading in the morning instead, lol. Surely that will save me a lot of wasted time procrastinating for no reason 
Feb 19, Sun of Week 8 of Winter Q1 2023 
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ガラスのうさぎ Ch.6
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ふしぎの国のバード Vol.4 Ch.18-19 (end volume)
Readable Japanese speech today. (Practically everyone in the series only speaks "English".)
Actually, this is a real dialogue, which is no way an interpretation.
- Komi Can’t Communicate Vol. 1 Ch.1-3
Refreshing very short chapters.
- うたわれるもの
Words of the day
- ナルシスト = narcissist. A loanword with a syllable skipped, just like アルコール?
- つるはし = a pickaxe = 鶴嘴. Beak of a crane (つる bird).
- せせこましい = narrow-minded
- つつがない = safe; free from accident. Kanji form is 恙無い, but without Furigana, it feels like, not being ～つつある.
- Root word is 恙. Yeah, in that Orientia tsutsugamushi.
- 臥せる = to lie down in bed (e.g. with an illness). Compare with 伏せる which is just to look down; to lie down (dodging bullets).
- 偲ぶ = to reminisce. Similar sounding is 忍ぶ = to conceal oneself / to endure. Another almost similar sound is 凌ぐ = to endure.
- 悖る = to go against; to deviate from. 道理に悖る in context. The verb has Furigana.
- 埋め合わせ = making up for. Verb form is 埋め合わせる. Probably somewhat similar to 補う and 繕う.
- 憂さ晴らし = diversion from one’s worries = 憂さを晴らす. This one doesn’t have Furigana, but 憂さ with Furigana is seen.
- 生い立ち = personal history
- 広漠 = vast; boundless. First Kanji uses 旧字体 form in context. taru-adjective. Has Furigana.
- 鷹揚 = generous. Has Furigana.
- 容易い = simple; easy. Has Furigana.
- 芳醇 = rich flavor
- 獰猛 = fierce
- 奔放 = free; unrestrained. Has Furigana.
- 乱心 = insanity
- 奉公 = public service / apprenticeship
- 不義理 = fail to perform one’s social obligations / ingratitude; not returning a debt
- 見舞金 = gift of money in token of one’s sympathy. Of course the first two Kanji is 見舞い, but I wasn’t sure of the reading of the third.
- 仕送り = allowance / sending someone allowance
- 数珠 = rosary; a string of prayer beads
- 巫術 = shamanism
- 霊媒師 = a medium
- 口寄せ = channeling a spirit
- 祈祷 = a prayer
- 彼岸 = Higan weeks (weeks at spring / autumn equinox); the week of Buddhist memorial services. Has Furigana.
- 供養 = memorial services (to the departed). Alternative reading for the first Kanji, which is usually キョウ (e.g. 供給).
- 追悼式 = memorial services (to the departed). Base word is 追悼 = mourning.
- 慰霊碑 = memorial monument
- 菩提寺 = a temple with one’s family grave
- 合掌 = two palms together = praying hand gesture. Sounds similar to 合唱 = singing together; choir; chorus.
- 満期 = serving one’s full term (years) of service
- 主催 = sponsorship
- 舵手 = steersman; coxswain (of a boat). First Kanji can also be read 舵. Has a different Furigana (コックス = coxswain) in context.
- 競漕 = boat race. Has a different Furigana in context (レガッタ = regatta). Of course, the Kanji reading is similar to 競争 (a competition) or 競走 = (a running match, also car or horse).
- 居留地 = foreign settlement
- 舶来 = imported
- 反感 = dislike; antipathy
- 色眼鏡 = colored glasses; also, preconceived views. I thought of 双眼鏡 which uses On reading instead.
- 嗅覚 = sense of smell. First Kanji from 嗅ぐ. I instead thought of 臭覚, where the Kanji comes from 臭い, and I remembered the On reading from 臭気 and 加齢臭.
- 襟足 = the border of back hair; hairline at the nape of neck
- 斑点 = speckles. First Kanji from 斑.
- 余興 = side show; performance
- 足しにする = to top up; to supplement to
- 虚勢を張る = to put a a bold front; to bluff
The Tanuki Kotatsu Reading Den
February 19th
新書太閣記 progress: 10.95% // Volume II: 25.39% 
Today’s dilemma: when you don’t have much time to commit to reading but the story gets exciting.
Words found under the kotatsu
羽振り「はぶり」ー Influence; power
深傷「ふかで」ー Major wound
浅傷「あさで」ー Minor wound
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 
Volume I: 1535 - 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 とうきちろう」
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 
– 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
浅野又右衛門「あさの またえもん」- Military commander
– 寧子「ねね」- Daughter
がんまく - Former worker/servant, friend of Hideyoshi
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
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阿倍仲麻呂「あべ の なかまろ」ー Japanese scholar & poet (700s)
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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)
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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)
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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)
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源頼政「みなもと の よりまさ」ー Prominent poet and warrior (1100s)
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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)
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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)
Volume II: 1555 - 15??
(currently 1556)
Oda Clan
織田 信長「おだ のぶなが」- Head of the Oda clan
– 織田 信広「おだ のぶひろ」- Older brother
– 織田 信行「おだ のぶゆき」(also: 信勝「のぶかつ」) - Younger brother
木下 藤吉郎「きのした とうきちろう」- Hideyoshi
– 木股 権三「きまた ごんぞう」(Nickname: ごんぞ) - Servant
浅野 又右衛門「あさの またえもん」- Military commander
– 寧子「ねね」- Daughter
柴田 勝家「しばた かついえ」(nickname: 権六「ごんろく」) - Military Commander
山淵 右近「やまぶち うこん」- Magistrate
– 山淵 義遠「やまぶち よしとお」- Father (Chief Vassal)
Maeda Clan
前田 利家「まえだ としいえ」(childhood name: 犬千代「いぬちよ」) - Military commander
Saito Clan
斎藤 義龍「さいとう よしさつ」(also: 高政「たかまさ」) - Military commander
– 孫四郎「まごしろう」- Brother
– 喜平次「きへいじ」- Brother
– 斎藤 道三「さいとう どうさん」- Father
Akechi Clan
明智 光秀「あけち みつひで」(common name: 十兵衛「じゅうべい」) - Military Commander
明智 光安「あけち みつやす」- Military Commander and adoptive father of Jyubei
– 明智 秀満「あけち ひでみつ」- Son, and retainer to Jyubei
Imagawa Clan
今川 義元「いまがわ よしもと」- Daimyo
Takeda Clan
武田 信玄「たけだ しんげん」- Daimyo
Asakura Clan
朝倉 義景「あさくら よしかげ」- Daimyo
古見さんは、コミュ症です。 Volume 1 (0% ➨ 7%)
ルリドラゴン Volume 1 (0% ➨ 10%)
orange Volume 7 (0% ➨ 7%)
夢みる太陽 Volume 5 (19% ➨ 36%)Home Post
Weeks 6 & 7 - Feb 6th to Feb 19th
I’ve been too busy to read much (or rather, so busy I’ve been too tired) and I’ve thus only read sporadically (a page here, a couple sentences there) but far from every day… シメジシミュレーション is cute and fun so far but reading with the vocab sheet and looking up kanji by radicals when I don’t have that on hand is quite cumbersome compared to the first few manga volumes I read at the start of the challenge:) I’ve deliberately let reading take a back seat to things like gaming and watching movies + anime with English subs in order to recharge after uni/teaching practice each day. To switch things up I’ve downloaded the audiobook of ハリーポッターと賢者の石 with the intention of listening through it once (without worrying too much about my level of comprehension) before trying to read the book properly this summer (and listening to each chapter again after having read it). I’ve read the book in English 10-20 times over the past 20+ years (the series was my introduction to extensive reading in English and since the first book is so short I used to use it as a warmup before reading more difficult books in English whenever it had been a little while since I used the language) so even though the grammar and vocab will be beyond me, my familiarity with the content should carry me through the experience without too much pain 
February 19th!
Today I read Chapter 59 of Mitsuboshi Colors, and then the next 2 chapters of Orange.
I can’t believe this is the last volume of Orange already… I’m going to be sad when its over!
I’m considering reading the light novels soon after I finish the manga though, since I need more practise with reading prose, and doing it with a familiar story where I should already know the majority of the vocabulary seems like a good way to do that.
February 19th
Card Captor Sakura volume 10 – progress report
Yesterday: Continued up to page 103, finished chapters 39 and 40.
Today: Read up to page 185, finished chapters 41 and 42 & volume 10. 
I did finish volume 10 today but I don’t feel good at the moment and will add/edit my thoughts and words of the day at a later point.
Edit: I still don’t have much energy, so I’ll just add one sentence worth of impressions; the last two chapters were pretty wholesome and I liked seeing Sakura being cheerful again, including her treating Yukito as ‘family’.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Word or expression of the day:
こぼす - (零す) - to spill, to drop
Honourable mention(s):
下駄 - (げた) - Japanese wooden clogs
(now I know what that footwear often used with Kimonos or Yukatas looks like in its Kanji writing)
Home post // Feb 19 
・薬屋のひとりごと３ (64% → 67%)
I spent all my eyes on studying today 
Fortunately, I had read a bit in the morning hehe 
Day 50, 19th of February
In today’s page, the two travelers go along the street for a long time without seeing anyone. Romano says something that I get the meaning of, but am clueless how the grammar works. There’s an い-Adjective that was negated but followed by a な and a と that I don’t know the purpose of. Is the と a conjuction or a quote? The な does not indicate a な-Adjective, because they’re conjugated differently.
In any case, the two ready their weapons.
Gotta say though, the start to chapter 11 really caught me off guard, what on earth 
と is a quote.
な has several meanings. Here it means
now, …; well, …; I tell you!; you know – when seeking confirmation, for emphasis, etc.; used at sentence end
Day 49
Read more Kindaichi Shounen. The police officer started to try to solve the case and of course did get the murderer wrong. Good work Mr. Police Officer. Kindaichi was quite the whole time because he still didn’t solve the whole case yet.
3532 pages read