July 30
| Title | Type | Time | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
 木曜日にはココアを |
Novel | 69 min | 94/164p. → 113/164p. |
31/7/26 WK L:28 
31 
: ジャム屋さん、第17話
Daily reading done 
I keep waiting for this story to have some kind of tragedy happen… can’t it just be a happy slice of life story? I don’t need drama 
someone on this forum said this story made them cry. I hope it’s tears of joy from a description of particularly delicious jam…
Don’t worry. Such minor details as residency and visas can all be sorted out 
especially when one has advanced level Japanese!
Durtles all the way eh ? 
July 27 to July 30th Update 
I have been going all in with Song lyrics reading as I discovered that…they aren’t as hard to read as I initially thought them to be. I have been recognizing many of the Wk and bunpro vocabs while reading the lyrics and it has been such a pleasure 
Read N5 bunpro reading practice passages in vertical for practice 
still not easy…
Have been listening to some of the japanese classics from 2000 and before and thier lyrics are readable BUT there have been some unusual readings which are written in () after the vocab 
a mystery really…
Manga (tadoku actually) talking about manga ?! 
and its Weekly Readathon reading soon so…Prepare ! 
I also read ジャム屋さん、第18&19話
hilarious mental image. A quaint village of non-Japanese people from around the world, where every single object has a label on it with kanji + furigana, and people have a circled number on their yukata indicating their current WK level
♢７月２９日♢
Read:
・ドラクエ幻の大地 Quest 32~34
Played:
・ドラクエⅨ「星空の守り人」 (239:05 ⇒ 240:02)
…I accidentally cast Evac instead of Midheal which is right below it right before I was going to fight the grotto boss. Ay. I’m comforting myself with the thought that the map I would have gotten most likely wouldn’t have contained Excalipurr anyway.
In any case, I didn’t feel like going through 16 floors again, so I saved & quit and wasted the day playing the DQB2 demo on Steam. The controls aren’t as bad as I was expecting, so I probably will get it when it goes on sale. Although Steam does have JP listed, but I have no clue how to change the language.
July 30
Day 30: 7月30日
Home Post
10 more pages of ふらいんぐうぃっち 2. Today I wasn’t in the mood at all but I didn’t want to break my streak so I told myself just 10 mins and ended up really enjoying myself and feeling good about how I was doing with the reading as well 
There were quite a few simple sentences where I didn’t need to do look ups, or just minimal stuff, and a few grammar points cropping up that I’m starting to get my head around after repeated look ups.
A good thing I’m finding with this daily reading challenge is that I’m reeeally itching to get into some proper grammar study now (I’m gonna try the Marumori free trial I’ve decided). In the level 10 email from Wanikani they even suggested that this a good point to get stuck into grammar, but I keep telling myself to not add another SRS until I’m into the review only stage of the Kaishi Anki deck so I don’t get overwhelmed. 
Well, tomorrow’s my last day of new words 
so I don’t have to be patient for too much longer, but for now I’ll have to keep relying on my look up notes and controlling the urge haha.
７月３０日
夏子の酒 1 pgs 377 – 386 / 451
♢７月３０日♢
My Surugaya order got here already! I was not expecting that.
Also I spent pretty much all day playing DQB2 again today even though I very much intended not to do that. That game really is an easy one to lose yourself to.
・ドラクエ幻の大地 Quest 35
7月30日
読み終わった本： 漫画4巻、読み切り0作, 連載漫画3話
home post || 
natively
| status | name | natively lvl |
type | pages / characters |
time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 第4話 |  |
きょうはなにしよう？ | ?? | manga (連載) |
18 pages 1 chapter |
25min |
| 27% |  |
愛でたいセンセイ 2 | 20 | manga | 23 → 44 | 40min |
Spent my lunch break doing reviews and lessons today, so didn’t get the chance to read until I got home. Luckily this evening was pretty low key so I had time to get some reading in. First I read the end of chapter reading on MaruMori, which I don’t really count in my reading stats. After every 5 grammar lessons there is a reading exercise, and I’ve been surprised at just how lengthy the N4 readings actually are. This one was a cultural article about Japanese cuisine, including a passage on 卵かけご飯 and table manners. The reading went really smoothly, and probably took me about 30 minutes or so.
Then I finished chapter 4 of きょうはなにしよう？, which was excellent. The chapters are following this format of showing a current life situation of the 2 main characters, showing a flashback to some trauma from their adult working days, and showing a flashback to their friendship during their school days. I love how it develops these multiple layers of characterization that tie into the current plot so nicely. The visual storytelling continues to stun, and the relatable depiction of adult life exhaustion is just fantastic.
I don’t know if this will end up being romance, and frankly I don’t care because it’s just so good. Quickly rising the ranks to be a favorite series!
Finally I read another chapter of 愛でたいセンセイ. We’re now entering the Okinawa school trip arc, which has been a fun change of scenery! Since today’s theme is adult exhaustion, here’s a panel of the teachers at the end of day one of the trip:
Anyhow, my weekend is here and I do have some activities planned, but once again hope to get some good study/reading time in. Saturday is looking pretty open for that…
A billion replies:
Ha, yes, I’m fully aware of the many challenges that international living would entail, having lived abroad for a short period and having helped people here with the wild world of immigration processes. Still, fun to dream, no?
These are all so vibrant and amazing!!!
Someone alert Koichi!!
Love this feeling!!!
２０２６年７月３１日(金)
 |
Book | Natively lvl | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
からかい上手の高木さん １１ | 16 | 85 - 102 |
 |
可愛いだけじゃない式守さん １１ | 18 | 77 - 92 |
 |
ゆびさきと恋々７ | 20 | 71 - 82 |
I forgot to post the last few days. Still doing The Masquerade Lullaby case. The case is going on and on it doesn’t feel like it will ever end. Actually it’s several cases interwined, which makes the whole thing confusing. I can’t even imagine how many hours the solution of the case will take.
I finished four more manga volumes since my last update!
ひらやすみ Vol 5
銀の匙 Vol 10
百瀬アキラの初恋破綻中 Vol 3
きみの横顔を見ていた Vol 5 (end of the series!)
Kimi no yokogao was soo good! Very well written story about 5 different characters who are all each in requited love. Highly recommend this one.
My July was suuuper busy so I didn’t have much time to read at all 
But looking back I still read 5 manga volumes! And I’m still on track for my yearly reading goals, so I’m glad :))
July 31st
笠松紫浪 全木版画集
Read pages 80 - 89 - 1953 was a super productive year for Kasamatsu. It seems that post-WWII Kasamatsu started to do a lot of very ‘Japanese’ prints that portrayed traditions and history - like temples, shrines, old ways of working lives. If I remember from the Kawase and Yoshida artbooks they too had a shift back to reflective prints of old Japan during the post-war period.
The book doesn’t really go into this much though, it just states that he started to do more traditional subject prints in the 50s.
Artworks
箱根芦の湖 (1953)
箱根姥子の朝 (1953)
Two views of Mt. Fuji!
むさし嵐山 (1953)
I’m not sure if these types of bridges have a proper name, but I’ve always really liked them. There’s a simple practicality to them that I just love. Unfortunately it’s not very easy finding good quality pictures of many of Kasamatsu’s works online.
田うえ (1953)
This is another one which seems very tradition-inspired, it feels reminiscent of the old ukiyo-e masters such as Hokusai and Hiroshige.
灰神楽
Read chapter 3 - This one is pretty interesting in how it deals with the killer trying to overcome their guilt and evade suspicion.
Reply Village
This is great
The inner circle of the great crabigator 
The greatest catastrophe to all dog kind , how can life continue when the treat jar has run dry?? 
2026/07/30
Ten pages of 人生全部賭けても、銀の魔女に勝ちたい
I’ve been using Marumori since June and I’m really liking it - the kanji section is a nice refresher of stuff I’m learning on Wanikani, and it’s the first online grammar study tool I’ve found that really works for me. I’ll be interested to know how you find it.
Finished Chapter 52 of よつばと today. I experienced a number of typhoons in Japan, so I found this story very resonant! And the topic of natural disasters reminded me to go check the news to see how Kumamoto is doing…