One fun kanji fact I like is that the 午 in 午前 (morning) and 午後 (afternoon) means "horse," as the old hour of the horse was around noon. www.nippon.com/en/japan-dat...

I just had to track it down. The Essential Akutagawa on sale in Maruzen, Tokyo. On sale in other places too.

I think it would be more polite if we changed YOLO to YOLOshiku onegaishimasu.

Beer wars heating up.

I admit I haven't read that much Iris Murdoch, but I didn't know she could write this kind of light, breezy comedy. Her debut novel, great fun to read. "Under the Net" by Iris Murdoch

I used to like taking a glance at the most-read stories on NHK news, but this seems to have disappeared with the recent update. news.web.nhk/newsweb

As it comes up in my job from time to time, I'm much more confident about naming members of Japan's imperial family than the British royal family. I made a rare click on a Prince William story, and saw his kids for the first time in a while. Getting quite big.

My dentist gives me a percentage for how much plaque I have, which really feels like the gamification of cleaning your teeth.

The Essential Akutagawa is rolling out around the world. A friend told me he saw a copy in Kinokuniya Singapore.

Twice as long, soft as a song toilet paper.

Next up to read, some Oe Kenzaburo.

This box contains a model of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Although frankly, it looks like a case for body parts. Nobody ever touches it 😐 Too fragile for the overhead bins, we have to purchase an oversized luggage seat. This also meant I had pre-boarding with my spacecraft child!

Program explaining literature (to JHS students?) on NHK now. Here's a scene from Akutagawa's Du Zichun. (Great story, in my new collection of Akutagawa translations.)

There's a Japanese museum called MOA Museum of Art and I wondered if MOA stood for "Museum of Art." Thanks, Japan Guide for clearing up that it actually comes from "Mokichi Okada Association." Although a little disappointing. www.japan-guide.com/e/e6306.html

I learned some interesting stuff translating this article. Like the private "Hearnish" language between Lafcadio Hearn and his wife Koizumi Setsu. www.nippon.com/en/japan-top...

Last Square Day for 91 years! Don’t forget to mark it! #squareday

Happy N American release day to The Essential Akutagawa—Twenty-Two Short Stories by Japan's Master Storyteller (trans Richard Medhurst).

Finally watching some of the athletics. Next up, Japan are in the 4x100m final.

The Unreal and the Real: The Selected Short Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin What a great and great big collection of stories this is. And you can get it DRM-free too, which is nice. www.ursulakleguin.com/unreal-real

Morning ice cream. Enjoying this Giant series recently. Today, Creamy Caramel.

Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, says UN inquiry

If you make haiku in English you could be published in one of #Japan's national newspapers. The Mainichi prints an #English #haiku every other day. No financial reward but a definite swank value. #Poetry archives, submission form and FAQs here: mainichi.jp/english/haiku/

Bit of a shake in the morning.

Trying to track when heavy rain will stop really shows the limits of weather forecasts. Feel like I'm reading the runes for whether it will be over in two hours or so. (Although 雨雲レーダー looks promising).

meta ai trying to figure it out

My idea of a good time: 10 books covering 100 years of Japanese short stories (1914-2013).

What a great achievement, presenting In Our Time for 27 years! By far, my favourite radio show, so interested to see who will take on presenting duties next. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Publication day! This was one of the hardest stories I’ve ever translated, both for the language and content. It’s also one of the most important stories I’ve translated. I hope as many people as possible will read it and reflect on the reality of war. #booksky #translation #literarytranslation

Summer 2026

Ninja senbei.

Reading my first book on the Kobo app, as part of an ongoing experiment to reduce my Amazon ebook purchases. I've tried out a lot of DRM-free books, but realistically, there are loads of books with DRM I want to read, so trying an Amazon alternative.

Next I'll read this collection with works by Hino Keizo and Kaiko Takeshi.

I don't know. How about Bleak House?

Good that someone's doing research. China actually overtook the US in 2023, before the current mess. Of course, there are plenty of other countries contributing too. asia.nikkei.com/business/sci...

Blade Runner 2025 "You're in a desert, and you look down and you see a tortoise. And you flip the tortoise onto its back, and it lays there in the hot sun and. . . How many times does the letter t appear in tortoise?"

Webster's online dictionary definitely has a lot more Japanese terms than it used to. I found kombu and dashi.

I've been reading some manga today for a change. This is Tsuge Yoshiharu.

Random word of the day: 億ション（おくしょん） An "okushon" refers to a condo unit or apartment that is worth ¥100 million or more. "Oku" means "100 million" and "shon" comes from "manshon" (condo unit/apartment).

Very much enjoyed Dazai Osamu's The Setting Sun in the new translation by Juliet Winters Carpenter. First-class translation, and I think this is my favourite Dazai.

So romantic.

Remembering how much I used to confuse yukata (the robe) and yutaka (rich, abundant). Mabushii (bright, dazzling) and mazushii (poor) was another one. I'm talking about when trying to retrieve a word when speaking, rather than reading. Although a good reading one was to see 本日 (today) as 日本 (Japan).

"I like to suwatte" has been going through my head. A bit exaggerated, but I was somewhat similar in my early days, doing my best with my limited vocabulary, filled with a breezy determination to communicate, and if I didn't know a word, turning the English into katakana and hoping for the best.

Low-priced zero-topping ramen becoming more popular. mainichi.jp/english/arti...

This is the part in The Brothers Karamazov that's one of the inspirations for Akutagawa's The Spider's Thread. From the translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky.

I'm thrilled to announce my latest translation: The Travelling Tree (旅をする木) by Michio Hoshino!!! To be released by Gaia (Hachette) in the UK this fall, followed by a USA edition in February! #upcomingrelease #japaneseliterature #essay #collection #translation #Alaska #wilderness #travel

Can see some confusion in the comments, and I needed a moment myself, but presumably a book about translating the Odyssey!

Expanded my cultural horizons this weekend by watching my first episode of Oshiri Tantei.

Maybe the radium craze is a better point of comparison for the AI boom.

Daily Bluesky routine of checking the trending topics and guessing which of the names I don't know are US sports players.

Doubleplusungood.