Thanks to all who joined the Zoom call today! It was great to get to know all of you a little better and to put some faces to the names that have come by over the past year. Thank you for all of your tips and words of encouragement, as well! Let’s organize some informal reading groups in the near future.
Congrats on reaching the final two pages! Please post your responses and questions to Ogai’s Dengaku dofupp. 440-441 below.
You can write about anything:
What did you like about this segment?
What did you find difficult? Were there any phrases or words or kanji that gave you trouble?
What do you think is the significance of the botanical garden?
Hello! It was my first time participating in such a project and I enjoyed it more than I had expected! It was also my first time coming across pre-war kana, it was very interesting and a little bit challenging. Now I feel more confident with my Japanese skills!
The story was fun to read. At first I didn't like Kimura at all, because he seemed quite egocentric. Now I see him as an ordinary person, who doesn't seek for material things, because he was okay with his old hat. He just seems as a person who stuck in life with all those critics and work to the extend that he forgot living his life. The end of the story, when Kimura finally decided to live in the moment was the best ending you could only think of! It has wabi-sabi philosophy that makes this story really japanese.
Thank you so much for this project! I'm really looking forward to the next one!
I really like Haruki Murakami, because I don't usually read all the books of the same author, but his books are exception. I also enjoy Edogawa Ranpo's stories, they're so thrilling, and Dazai Osamu's stories as well.
Thank you Bunsuke, the Zoom call was indeed wonderful. It was so lovely to meet such kind people who all share the same passion about Japanese literature. I can"t wait for your future projects and might have some ideas. Once again thank you all for joining and for this amazing opportunity Bunsuke. As usual I made a wordlist:
Kimura wanted to see the name of the Western flower, but didn’t achieve his propose? I don’t understand this sentence in Japanese: 西洋草花の名を見に来た木村は、少しもその目的を達しなかつたが、それでも不平の感じは起してあなかった。
And why is he optimistic again at the end?
木村は近頃極端に楽天的になつて来たやうである。
Or have I misunderstood?
I think the significance of the botanical garden might be that one or in this case Kimura doesn't know it all and that even he can discover new things and see things in a different way. But I might be wrong.
Thanks so much for joining! It was great to finally "meet" you and talk about our shared passion.
I think Kimura was disappointed because he came to the garden to find out the names of all the foreign flowers in his own garden, but he couldn't flowers in the public garden.
The sentence means that even though he came to find the Western flowers but did not find them, he still did not feel upset. This is also why he's characterized as optimistic in the end.
Thanks again for all your hard work! Hope you'll join again next time :)
Thank you for your clear answer. I will re-read the story after reading all the comments and know I will gain more insight. I'm slow in understanding, so it takes me a while, often I need to re-read and even then, but I'm so grateful I found this community and I'm positive it shall only grow in the near future.
I really liked the ending. Like Kimura, I felt a sense of quiet optimism as he walked through the garden. Was he really disappointed there were no western plants ? Or did the profusion of Japanese plants actually show him that things were just fine as they were ?
I could not make sense of the sentence with the words "節力の原則" (p. 440, 3rd column from the left. Is the garden's gatekeeper studying how plants are held up together by their joints ? Is the author making fun of the gatekeepr somehow ? I'm confused.
Thanks for a fun reading project, looking forward to the next one. I'd love to study something by Natsume Soseki if that would tickle your fancy.
Hi Jon, congrats on finishing! 節力 means 'preservation of energy'. So looks down at the unkept and wrongly named plants and finds that it seems the gardener is also looking for ways to slack off, similar to the guard at the gate, who was too lazy to talk and used the fly swatter to communicate with Kimura.
I am so upset I wasn't able to join the call, but I hope I will next time!
The dificult part was about the flowers (as usual, haha), but Google pictures helped me again :D
The story ends not in the way I expected it to, but I think it ends beautifully. I hope I understood it correctly, so to me it's about being able to be positively present even if you didn't manage to achieve your goal. And instead of getting desperate and complaining about the situation, you should just look around and appreciate the present you are in. Well, something like that... And I have to say that my opinion about Kimura got better after I'd read the last part :D
All in all, I liked the story! ^^ It wasn't too difficult to read (mostly thanks to furigana :D), it is written in a light mood and has some hints of irony, and (again, if I understood it correctly) I like the main idea ^^ Thank you so much for organizing this project! ^^ If you decide to organize another reading project like that, I will gladly participate!
Hi Elena, yeah we missed you! No worries, there will be plenty of other opportunities!
Haha I'm glad Kimura got back into your good graces in the end. I think you're exactly right, the story is meant as lighthearted entertainment, so it's great that you picked up on that :)
Really looking forward to seeing you again on the next project/call!
Hello! It was my first time participating in such a project and I enjoyed it more than I had expected! It was also my first time coming across pre-war kana, it was very interesting and a little bit challenging. Now I feel more confident with my Japanese skills!
The story was fun to read. At first I didn't like Kimura at all, because he seemed quite egocentric. Now I see him as an ordinary person, who doesn't seek for material things, because he was okay with his old hat. He just seems as a person who stuck in life with all those critics and work to the extend that he forgot living his life. The end of the story, when Kimura finally decided to live in the moment was the best ending you could only think of! It has wabi-sabi philosophy that makes this story really japanese.
Thank you so much for this project! I'm really looking forward to the next one!
Hi Maria, congrats on finishing the story! Great job :)
Hope you can join again next time. Are there any authors you enjoy reading?
I really like Haruki Murakami, because I don't usually read all the books of the same author, but his books are exception. I also enjoy Edogawa Ranpo's stories, they're so thrilling, and Dazai Osamu's stories as well.
That's great you just gave me a good idea for the next reading projects :) hope you can join...
I also like Haruki Murakami.
Thank you Bunsuke, the Zoom call was indeed wonderful. It was so lovely to meet such kind people who all share the same passion about Japanese literature. I can"t wait for your future projects and might have some ideas. Once again thank you all for joining and for this amazing opportunity Bunsuke. As usual I made a wordlist:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UcFixZFXb769Q7Xlg1iiF_99pcOp54w-/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=102772733310968467199&rtpof=true&sd=true
Why was Kimura dissapointed?
木村は少し失望した。
Kimura wanted to see the name of the Western flower, but didn’t achieve his propose? I don’t understand this sentence in Japanese: 西洋草花の名を見に来た木村は、少しもその目的を達しなかつたが、それでも不平の感じは起してあなかった。
And why is he optimistic again at the end?
木村は近頃極端に楽天的になつて来たやうである。
Or have I misunderstood?
I think the significance of the botanical garden might be that one or in this case Kimura doesn't know it all and that even he can discover new things and see things in a different way. But I might be wrong.
Thanks so much for joining! It was great to finally "meet" you and talk about our shared passion.
I think Kimura was disappointed because he came to the garden to find out the names of all the foreign flowers in his own garden, but he couldn't flowers in the public garden.
The sentence means that even though he came to find the Western flowers but did not find them, he still did not feel upset. This is also why he's characterized as optimistic in the end.
Thanks again for all your hard work! Hope you'll join again next time :)
Thank you for your clear answer. I will re-read the story after reading all the comments and know I will gain more insight. I'm slow in understanding, so it takes me a while, often I need to re-read and even then, but I'm so grateful I found this community and I'm positive it shall only grow in the near future.
Re-reading is great, you'll always discover new things when you go back.
I really liked the ending. Like Kimura, I felt a sense of quiet optimism as he walked through the garden. Was he really disappointed there were no western plants ? Or did the profusion of Japanese plants actually show him that things were just fine as they were ?
I could not make sense of the sentence with the words "節力の原則" (p. 440, 3rd column from the left. Is the garden's gatekeeper studying how plants are held up together by their joints ? Is the author making fun of the gatekeepr somehow ? I'm confused.
Thanks for a fun reading project, looking forward to the next one. I'd love to study something by Natsume Soseki if that would tickle your fancy.
Hi Jon, congrats on finishing! 節力 means 'preservation of energy'. So looks down at the unkept and wrongly named plants and finds that it seems the gardener is also looking for ways to slack off, similar to the guard at the gate, who was too lazy to talk and used the fly swatter to communicate with Kimura.
Another reading project will come soon ;)
Hi. I apologize for what may be a ignorant question. Where can I find the reading material? I tried searching "Ogai Dengaku dofu".
I found the answer to my question in the first post of this series. Sorry!
Glad you found it!
I am so upset I wasn't able to join the call, but I hope I will next time!
The dificult part was about the flowers (as usual, haha), but Google pictures helped me again :D
The story ends not in the way I expected it to, but I think it ends beautifully. I hope I understood it correctly, so to me it's about being able to be positively present even if you didn't manage to achieve your goal. And instead of getting desperate and complaining about the situation, you should just look around and appreciate the present you are in. Well, something like that... And I have to say that my opinion about Kimura got better after I'd read the last part :D
All in all, I liked the story! ^^ It wasn't too difficult to read (mostly thanks to furigana :D), it is written in a light mood and has some hints of irony, and (again, if I understood it correctly) I like the main idea ^^ Thank you so much for organizing this project! ^^ If you decide to organize another reading project like that, I will gladly participate!
Hi Elena, yeah we missed you! No worries, there will be plenty of other opportunities!
Haha I'm glad Kimura got back into your good graces in the end. I think you're exactly right, the story is meant as lighthearted entertainment, so it's great that you picked up on that :)
Really looking forward to seeing you again on the next project/call!
Pitty, we missed you!, maybe next time.
I'll do my best to make sure to participate next time! ^^
Great, really looking forward to meeting you :D