Book Recommendatin?

[Pak]

I have a friend that has been studying Japanese at university, and he is wanting to try reading some "real" books in Japanese. He is interested in medieval Japan, so I loaned him my copy of Shin Heike monogatari by Eiji Yoshikawa, but he is finding that a bit hard to work through. It's not beyond him, but it's slow going. Can any of you recommend a light novel, say for young teens, that treats the same type of material?

Regards,

Pak

[Mark Buckton]

there are a lot of 'series' books in Japanese dealing with an individual character (per book) from the middle ages. The standards being Tokugawa Ieyasu, Oda Nobunaga, Matsuo Basho, Katsushika? Hokusai, and that guy who walked round Japan mapping the coast line - name...?

Coloured yellow and green on the spines with an artists impression of the person in the book on the front - although, my apologies, for the life of me, I cannot recall the publisher.....anyone?

[Kotoseiya Yuichi]

that guy who walked round Japan mapping the coast line - name...?

Inō Tadataka

[Manekineko]

This may not be what your friend is looking for, but how about manga? I found comics to be a blessing when trying to learn any language, from English through French and Italian to now Japanese. (It's all those pictures, you know...) There is enough "real-life" dramas and soaps available so there's no danger in getting overly exposed to samurai or fantasy vocabulary.

[Harry]

I'll second the manga recommendation. Pick up an issue of Ultrajump or another magazine and see if any of the series catch his fancy, then pick up a tankubon for it.

Alternatively I actually found some Akutagawa Ryunosuke short stories to be quite readible, though the language is pre-war so it isn't such a great teaching tool for the current vernacular. The stories are fairly short so they can be finished in a reasonable amount of time for a beginner.

Also, children's stories are very good and often have full furigana or just plain hiragana which is easier if kanji is the stumbling block (it usually is for reading). Momotaro, The Stonecutter, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, Urashima Taro, et al are all fairly easy to read and fun.

[Pak]

Thank you all, and those who replied via PM, for taking the time to answer my question. The manga and the short stories are excellent suggestions, and if the series Mark is talking about has the featured person's name in the titles, I should be able to look them up. I would enjoy reading those myself anyway, I enjoy the historical tales :)

Regards,

Pak

[aderechelsea]

if you want manga with a bit of history in there, then your friend should definitely read:

1) Kozure Okami

2) Path of the Assassin (Hanzo no Mon)

3) Samurai Executioner (Kubikiri Asa)

4) Satsuma Gishiden

[Pak]

He decided to go the manga route, and got a subscription to a couple of the monthy manga magazines and is going to explore getting some of the other titles suggested here.

I'm looking at the novels for myself now -- I could use some fresh reading material besides Sumo magazine, lol. Mark, is this one of those series books you were talking about?

Regards,

Pak

[Mark Buckton]

not the same cover but this could be an updated version - mine are quite old now.