『JR上野駅公園口』 has been widely praised since the English translation came out. I did not enjoy reading this book however, I tried to explain why in this review.
Inhae reads the news: August 2020
I only had time for two topics this month: Korean court ruling on forced labour victims: aftermaths75th anniversary of the end of WWII. News 1: Korean court ruling on forced labour victims: aftermaths This might not have been a breaking news in Japanese media, but this is one of the topics I am the most..
Book review: 『日本沈没２０２０』 by Toshio Yoshitaka
This is the novelisation of the anime series on Netflix 『日本沈没２０２０』.
Read in Japanese with novelisations
Novelisations can be a good way to get into reading books in Japanese! I have read 『君の名は。』 and 『そして父になる』 to see how these books can be used by Japanese learners to improve their reading skills.
Book review: 『容疑者Ｘの献身』 by Keigo Higashino
The Devotion of Suspect X is one of my favourite books of crime fiction ever! Highly recommended!
Book review: 『おれがあいつであいつがおれで』 by Hisashi Yamanaka
Schoolmates Kazuo and Kazumi wake up in each other’s body and try their best to fit in their new environment while looking for a way to go back to their former self… An engrossing, funny and touching story!
July wrap up: light novel, literary prize winner, nonfiction, manga…
I read 3 novels, one nonfiction book, a novella and a manga in July!
Book review: 『予知夢』 by Keigo Higashino
This collection of five short stories is the second book in the Galileo series. The short stories were first published between 1998 and 2000 in the magazine オール読物 (よみもの). Review This second book in the Galileo series is slightly different from the first one, 『探偵ガリレオ』. In my review of this first volume, I said that physics-related..
Inhae reads the news: July 2020
This month's topics are: Tokyo court rejects a damage lawsuit by a victim of the Eugenic Protection LawYuriko Koike re-elected as Governor of TokyoCoronavirus cases in US military bases in Okinawa Topic 1: Tokyo court rejects a damage lawsuit by a victim of the Eugenic Protection Law I first learned about the Eugenic Protection Law..
Book review: 『探偵ガリレオ』 by Keigo Higashino
Reading Keigo Higashino after quite a long time really feels good. I am always amazed at how good his short stories are. Even in a reduced number of pages you get all the thrill of a good crime novel. The short stories of 『探偵ガリレオ』 all follow a similar pattern with detective Kusanagi investigating a murder..
How to start reading books in Japanese
Reading books in Japanese might sound intimidating, but once you start to practise and improve your reading skills, you can make progress faster than you might think. Here is some advice to help you get started!
Book review: 『愛がなんだ』by Mitsuyo Kakuta
Introduction Mitsuyo Kakuta has written an impressive amount of books, including novels, essays, translations and children's books. She won the Naoki Prize in 2004 for her novel 『対岸の彼女』, translated into English by Wayne P. Lammers under the title Woman on the Other Shore. 『愛がなんだ』was first published in 2003 and adapted into a film in 2019..