Week 4: ヨコハマ買い出し紀行 (Intermediate BC)

[Naphthalene]

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Week 4

Start date: November 13th 2021
Previous part: Week 3
Next part: Volume 2
Wordlist: Google sheets

Reading

Week	Start Date	End Phrase	End Page (PB)	Page Count
Wk 4	13 Nov	Chapters 6-7	146	33

Discussion Rules

• Please use spoiler tags for major events in the current chapter(s) and any content in future chapters.
• When asking for help, please mention the chapter and page number. Also mention what version of the book you are reading.
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[Belthazar]

Oof, cliffhanger ending.

So, Musashino is a neighbourhood in Tokyo, just north of Mitaka (where the Ghibli Museum is - in fact, the museum is pretty close to the border). I’m not entirely what 第三京浜線 might refer to, though 第三京浜道路 is the name of a highway. Alternately, there’s the JR 京浜東北線.

[wiersm]

@Belthazar

Oof, cliffhanger ending.

Not unexpected of course, but this one really leaves us hanging

Lots of parts without text this week and a lot of really nice drawings of the scenery. The language wasn’t too hard so only a few parts I wasn’t sure of.

The title of chapter 6

Pre-spending-New-Year’s-holidays-taking-a-good-rest-at-home-without-going-out-anywhere?

p. 127

Here the text is basically saying that the dawn of New Year’s day is usually not as wintery and cold as this, did I understand that correctly?

p. 129: もうちょっとここによっか

I can’t really figure out what she is saying here (the よっか part in particular, of course - not sure if the つ is a big or small one, it’s hard to tell with this font).

p. 138: ８割がた私がのんでるかな

What is the がた in this sentence?

By the way, it’s notable that the gun makes an appearance again. Is she holding it close because it reminds her of the owner or are there other reasons…

p. 144: 母屋に？

Does she mean here that she is surprised that the bell of the residence is rung? (And so the cafe has its own entrance?)

[Naphthalene]

On phone so all hidden at once

@wiersm

Here the text is basically saying that the dawn of New Year’s day is usually not as wintery and cold as this, did I understand that correctly?

She is saying that their everyday life doesn’t feel very wintery, so if you don’t watch the first day break in the cold like this you don’t get the feeling it’s “new year”.

@wiersm

よっか

You misread It’s いよっか, which is just いようか (居ようか if the kanji helps). How about we stay here for a little bit longer.

@wiersm

What is the がた in this sentence?

I’m pretty sure it’s 8割方 (80%) but I can’t find anything to corroborate that claim right now.

@wiersm

Does she mean here that she is surprised that the bell of the residence is rung? (And so the cafe has its own entrance?)

Yes. You can see that the door is different.

[kinwein]

@Naphthalene

I’m pretty sure it’s 8割方 (80%) but I can’t find anything to corroborate that claim right now.

That’s what I was thinking too..

[wiersm]

@Naphthalene

She is saying that their everyday life doesn’t feel very wintery

Thanks! I was having more trouble translating that than I thought

@Naphthalene

You misread It’s いよっか

It was bound to be something as simple as that

[denzo]

@Naphthalene

I’m pretty sure it’s 8割方 (80%) but I can’t find anything to corroborate that claim right now.

I think she’s talking about how much the beans contribute to the taste. I don’t have time to read them properly right now, but there’s a few articles like this that come up on google
https://kuraharu.hatenablog.com/entry/2015/01/08/233000

コーヒーの味を決めるのは8割コーヒー豆。当たり前だ、だって豆から味が出るんだもの。残りの2割は豆の味を台無しにしない淹れ方が一割、そして水である。

[Naphthalene]

@denzo

I think she’s talking about how much the beans contribute to the taste.

No, we were talking about the part where she said she is drinking about 80% of the shop’s coffee.

Edit: actually, I guess that’s the part you are talking about? But she literally just says the thing above, she isn’t talking about the taste.
I was just wondering about the kanji (which got confirmed by @kinwein)

Edit2: that’s a nice link, though!

[denzo]

ah, that makes more sense

was being rushed and didn’t have time to think it through properly

[Belerith]

Well that was a nice, relaxing, atmospheric read. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the scenery, and the calm end-of-days feel.

It felt a bit like ‘the end is coming anyway, so let’s enjoy the time we have left by helping each other out’. Very different from the usual (post)apocalyptic settings you see.

There not being an overabundance of text helped with the catching up as well.
Loved the old man.

[Phryne]

What did you make of うしろはとっかかりないからね on page 120? Jisho gives me “beginning; clue; starting point” for とっかかり but that’s not making a whole lot of sense to me…?

I am also not sure how ぶん ties into ふだんがあんまり冬っぽくないぶん on page 127.

[denzo]

I think the first one is saying there’s nothing to hold onto. 取っ掛かり is defined as 「取りつく〈こと・場所〉。」 in the 三省堂.

found some other example sentences that look right for that as well:

ヒューズが切れてないか確かめたいんだけど
思いっきりペンチとかで引き抜けばいいんですか？
爪じゃ何もとっかかりない

「屋根の上から落とせば、さすがに壊れるんじゃないかなあとは思ってましたけど……この辺、登れそうなとっかかりないんですよね。よさげな道具探すついでに、コレ運びますか」

I’m not sure why weblio and jisho don’t list this usage

I think ぶん is one of the meanings here…probably 5. I’m not really sure how to explain it but I think it basically means that sentence is emphasising the next bit about it feeling like the new year

[Phryne]

@denzo

I think the first one is saying there’s nothing to hold onto. 取っ掛かり is defined as 「取りつく〈こと・場所〉。」 in the 三省堂.

That’s interesting! I should get a proper Japanese dictionary I guess!

[maskedkoala]

@Belerith

It felt a bit like ‘the end is coming anyway, so let’s enjoy the time we have left by helping each other out’.

It made me think of Flowers by Talking Heads

Once there were parking lots
Now it’s a peaceful oasis
You’ve got it, you’ve got it

This was a Pizza Hut
Now it’s all covered with daisies
You got it, you got it
…
I dream of cherry pies,
Candy bars, and chocolate chip cookies
You got it, you got it

We used to microwave
Now we just eat nuts and berries
You got it, you got it

[harundoom]

I just finished reading the volume. This was a great read and it got me so interested to learn what happens next and what is the story of that post-apocalyptic world. I’m definitely planning to read the rest of it.

@Phryne @denzo
I’m late but those were the two questions I had for this week. Thanks for asking and answering.

[Belthazar]

@harundoom

I’m definitely planning to read the rest of it.

I’d like to read the rest with the group too. I have thoughts to express.

[Naphthalene]

@Belthazar

I’d like to read the rest with the group too. I have thoughts to express.

Are you willing to take care of the threads?
Or anyone else, really.
I am planning to keep reading this series, in any case.

[seanblue]

Looks like everyone enjoyed it. Meanwhile, I was mostly just bored. I really struggle reading manga when there’s no story, no comedy, and not even high quality art.

[kinwein]

Phew! Glad I’m not the only one. Didn’t want to say anything though, because it seems everyone really liked it I do enjoy manga with more action as well.

While the manga itself didn’t wow me, I had fun reading along and hanging out with the club

[seanblue]

@kinwein

I do enjoy manga with more action as well

Funny thing is I don’t really read action manga. It’s just that the slice of life manga I read are usually comedy, not iyashikei. Really the only iyashikei manga I ever enjoyed was Aria, and even that had parts that were boring for me.