Read Real Japanese: All You Need to Enjoy Eight Contemporary Writers (Paperback)

by Janet Ashby (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
There is a world of difference between reading Japanese that has been especially concocted for students and reading real Japanese-that is, Japanese written for native speakers. The concocted variety might be called schoolmarm Japanese: standard to the point of insipidity, controlled to the point of domestication, restricted to the point of impoverishment. Read Real Japanese provides the real thing-essays written by lively authors, meant to be enjoyed or pondered over.

Here are essays informed by the writer's personality, transformed by the message, moving with the flow of the whole, and shifting with the rhythm of paragraph and sentence. For students needing help, this has been provided in vocabulary lists and notes on usage. The vocabulary contains the English equivalents of the Japanese text. The notes deal with subtler matters: with grammar, nuance, idiomatic usage, and the tricky little things that particles do. Whether for pleasure or for serious study, you are sure to find something of interest and value as you read real Japanese.

The featured writers are Yoko Mori, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Machi Tawara, Shoichi Nejime, Momoko Sakura, Seiko Ito, Banana Yoshimoto, and Haruki Murakami.

About the Author

JANET ASHBY is a freelance writer and translator who has lived in Japan since 1975. She has written a column in the Japan Times for several years on Japanese books and has a particular interest in Japanese popular culture.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha International; 2 edition (March 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4770029365
• ISBN-13: 978-4770029362
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #653,659 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Making the leap to authentic text, April 30, 2006

By	Zack Davisson "All Good Things" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The leap to authentic text is a challenging hurdle, but a necessary one to achieve. Text books are usually made of carefully calculated dialogs and passages, designed to teach a grammar point rather than transfer information. However, once you have reached a certain level you want to go beyond that and into the real thing. That is, after all, why you are studying the language.

"Read Real Japanese" can help ease this transition, providing a guided tour through a few short stories of some of Japan's most prominent modern authors. Murakami Haruki ("Wind-Up Bird Chronicle") and Yoshimoto Banana ("Kitchen") are familiar with most students of Japanese, and it is a true pleasure to read their writings in the language in which they were written.

Janet Ashby has provided translations of the text, piece by piece, allowing you to check your personal translation against her professional work, as well as being a quick reference to unknown kanji, vocabulary and grammar. This is an excellent resource, not only for comprehension but also for seeing how some tricky Japanese grammar can be properly ordered into English.

The only drawback of "Read Real Japanese" is that Ashby has unfortunately chosen to give her translations in romaji rather than hiragana. Quality Japanese learning aids always reinforce hiragana rather than romaji, and anyone at the level necessary to tackle authentic text should have no trouble with kana.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent intermediate - advanced text, September 27, 2004

By	Andrew Urquhart "Metal Guru" (West Japan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Another fine title from Kodansha's bilingual series (also check out the wonderfully titled 'How to Sound Intelligent in Japanese') - this is indeed better for intermediate readers, and features an intriguing selection of essays by contemporary Japanese writers/ culture vultures.

This is an excellent stepping stone toward the ultimate goal of reading written Japanese quickly and effectively. Even advanced students will probably find many of the concepts and phrases contained within of great benefit. It is also useful for people who are looking for stimulating Japanese writers, to get a taste of some of the best contemporary authors, before exploring in depth.

The explanations and translations are uniformly excellent - this is a must-have for anyone serious about reading Japanese fiction in the original language.

5.0 out of 5 stars The forerunner to Read Real Japanese Essays., January 13, 2009

By	KanjiHanzi "http://KanjiHanzi.blogspot.com/" (Scandinavia/World) - See all my reviews

Since I have reviewed the two other titles with "Read Real Japanese" prefix, I might as well add this too. Even if the book doesn't seem to be available as new now and 2) the edition I have was published in the Power Japanese Series 1994. The Essays here are NOT the same as in the new "edition".

Someone should really send a hint to Kodansha that they should make the effort to add Look Inside previews of ALL their books. As it is now, potential customers don't have a chance to really appreciate what effort and attention to detail found in (almost?) every release from them.

The layout in the edition I have is really great, although a bit too stuffed, IMHO. What makes it better than the later editions is that everything is on the same fold. No need to flip back and forth. But again it's rather dense looking at the comments page with few or no paragraphs. Toss a coin and see what you prefer. Personally I find that this book very much deserves the low price paid and the little space it takes on the shelf.

As all other books with GENUINE Japanese it contains some rare or rarer Kanji. In case you can stand studying/reading in front of a computer this is really minor: bring out the looking glass, go to your word process, select IME Pad if you have installed Japanese support, and try to draw the Kanji there. Copy and paste into a an online dictionary or whatever. I am pretty sure there is some Japanese dictionary online with character recognition. Just a little tip.