I am not doing much to actively study Japanese lately, but there is something that I do every day since February: writing a page in Japanese in マイブック. マイブック is a sort of agenda that looks exactly like a book. It is published by 新潮文庫 every year. It uses the same format, paper and characteristics..
Japanese News: June week 2
These are the topics that I found interesting this week! As usual, I have skipped all international matters. Fukushima (imperial visit and dismantling) The attack in the Shinkansen Wedding anniversary Hakamada case (paragraph break down and some reflexions on Japanese grammar) Majority at 18 Fukushima Imperial visit It is the sixth time that the Emperor..
Currently reading: 「君たちはどう生きるか」by 吉野源三郎
[caption id="attachment_media-365" align="alignright" width="177"] Cover of the novel[/caption] If you live in Japan or stay in touch with recent Japanese publications, you certainly have come across the title 「君たちはどう生きるか」by 吉野源三郎（よしの・げんざぶろう）. Though not living in Japan, I happened to see several times the cover of the manga version of this book but never really paid attention..
My new daily reading exercise
I have been much into stationery lately, and while I was looking for information to sustain my newly born passion, I discovered a most interesting site: ほぼ日刊イトイ新聞, or ほぼ日 for short. This online magazine was created by Shigesato ITOI on June 6th, 1998, and celebrated its 20th anniversary some days ago. As they say on..
Japanese News: June week 1 (Moritomo only)
This week, Finance Minister Taro ASO communicated the results of the investigation conducted by the Ministry to clear up the Moritomo problem. There has been an avalanche of articles on the subject in Mainichi, and I was so deeply buried under it that I had no willpower left to examine other topics this week. (Now..
Book Review: 『ヒーローズ（株）！！！』by Emi Kitagawa
「ヒーローズ（株）！！！」(read: かぶしきがいしゃ) is a novel by 北川恵海（きたがわ・えみ）. It is the second book by Emi Kitagawa, the first one being 「ちょっと今から仕事やめてくる」. It was this last title that drew my attention when I saw it in a bookshop. But I chose 「ヒーローズ（株）！！！」because the wrapper band said: 読んだ後はきっと元気になれます... haha, I let myself be influenced by a commercial catchphrase!..
Reading Progress: Making my way through difficult books
I am currently reading two challenging books that are not fiction 「在日」by 姜尚中 (カン・サンジュン) and 「朝鮮の開国と日清戦争」by 渡辺装機 (わたなべそうき). While reading these difficult books, I visualised myself trying to hold on to some kind of imaginary comprehension line. To me, this comprehension line is the point where you go from darkness to light. It is also..
Japanese News: May week 5
There are 5 weeks in May... 😲 Let's start with a very interesting survey by Mainichi: 次期自民総裁石破氏２０％、小泉氏１７％、安倍氏１６％. To be honest, I don't quite understand the article, but what interests me is the survey in itself. At the end of the article, the results are given in details. We see at once that 48% of the people..
Currently Reading: 「光」by 三浦しをん
Even though I am reading several books at the same time, I am not losing sight of my reading challenge list. Given that「赤い指」 (the previous novel I read) was easy to read, I picked up a book that I am almost sure will be challenging: 「光」by 三浦しをん (みうらしをん). I bought this book during my December..
Monthly Review: May
May has been without a doubt a month of drawing and journaling. These two activities have found their place in my daily schedule by replacing what used to be an ineffective "Japanese study." For months now, I have been thinking about how to continue learning Japanese without taking classes nor preparing for the JLPT. I..
Japanese News: May week 4
A lot has happened this week, and it was hard to follow everything! There are important topics that I have skipped, but here is what I found interested this week: Palme d'Or for Hirokazu Kore-Eda! Hirokazu Kore-Eda won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his film 万引き家族 or, in English, Shoplifters! 😃 是枝裕和・これえだ ひろかず:..
Book review: 『赤い指』by Keigo Higashino
「赤い指」is the seventh book of the detective Kaga series "加賀恭一郎シリーズ" (かが・きょういちろう) by Keigo Higashino. Before starting the review of this novel, I would like to say a word about the series. The series First, you don't have to read them in order. Even though they follow a chronological order (starting when Kaga is still a..