Reading Japanese with a Smile: Nine Stories from a Japanese Weekly Magazine for Intermediate Learners

by Tom Gally

Learning to read Japanese is a little like running a marathon: it is a long, drawn out process, and it can get a little boring along the way. What we learners of Japanese need is a little fun now and then, something that brings a smile to our faces. As luck would have it, this book does just that. This magic trick is accomplished by the book's nine curious stories. Taken from the weekly magazine "Shukan Asahi," these stories, while true to life, verge on the hard to believe, and that's what evokes the magic element of fun.
But that's not all. Each story is accompanied by a translation, faithfully done and easy to follow. Then, sentence by sentence, follows a short gloss of each word and phrase, a reverse derivation of each declined verb and adjective, detailed notes on vocabulary and grammar, and information and commentary on the cultural background. All of these aids can be accessed easily when needed.
"Reading Japanese with a Smile: Nine Stories from a Japanese Weekly Magazine for Intermediate Learners" represents the best of two worlds -- stories that are both fully annotated and enjoyable to read.
Eight of the nine stories in this book were first published under the title "Strange but True" in 1997.

Genres: Japanese Literature, Nonfiction, Japan, Language, Reference

182 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 2007

Reviews

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only have one complaint: I wanted more of those stories! They are actually interesting, short and the book format is helpful. The stories are presented exactly as they appeared in the original newspaper column, side-by-side with an English translation. After each story follows a sentence by sentence analysis in which individual words are explained with notes on usage.

I doesn't look as stylish as other readers (e.g. "Read Real Japanese"), but the material is just as good and again, the stories are actually interesting (most of them are funny). My favorite one is "A New Year's Dawn on the Summit of Mt. Fuji, Climbed While Carrying a Dead Friend", it was really touching!

[Frank Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this one.

Pros:
-As close to 'real' (as opposed to literary) Japanese as you can probably get in a reader.
-The stories are engaging and culturally very telling.
-The vocab, grammar, & cultural explanations are really useful, clear, & interesting.

Con:
-There is not a whole lot of text. 9 stories may sound like a lot, but they are only 2 (smallish) pages each, meaning about 25 lines of text per story.

Of course the pro of that con is that you can finish a story pretty quickly, which keeps the reward system in you brain giving you bonus points, thereby helping you stay motivated, even making it addictive to keep reading to a certain extent.

[Nirmal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book contains collection of Japanese stories that were published in the newspaper along with original kanji and translation. This book is written for Japanese language learners. The grammar and slangs are explained after each story. The story of women eating the cakes from her mother-in-law's bag without letting with her was funny and interesting.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice number of stories with a good amount of Japanese reading practice. The stories are funny, and engaging, and the explanations are thorough. This is a great way to improve your Japanese reading abilities.