You can contact me directly (shirin.eshghi@ubc.ca) with any requests for the Japanese collection. I’ll send you an e-mail about the material you have mentioned here. I generally try and accommodate requests, and very much appreciate suggestions. However, we can’t buy everything (unfortunately!) so I need to limit purchases to items that meet our collection criteria, such as works that are related to the academic programs we support.

Thanks!
Shirin

I am interested in books written by a Japanese 心理学者 named 植木理恵. I would also like to read more novels by 赤川次郎.

Thank you!

I believe that this competition has been suspended (see this link for details).

Shirin

Have you tried using an English search term? It seems as though the database does not automatically search all languages, but whatever language is selected in the limits (and the default is English). Make sure that “Japanese” is selected at all times for Japanese-language searches.

Are you using a Mac? The database works better with the Safari browser on Macs.

If neither of these suggestions are helpful, please let me know, and we’ll try and figure out something else.

Shirin

Nathen

Thanks for the comment!

The きみが見つける物語 series I think is for 十代, or Japanese teenagers and possibly pre-teens. So, I think it would be quite challenging for those in first and second-year Japanese.

The 10分で読める名作 is probably a better choice for lower-level undergraduates, as it is targeted towards students in grades one to six in Japan. These works not only have lots of furigana, but they also include easier vocabulary, which you may be more familiar with. I would also recommend レベル別日本語多読ライブラリー. This set includes lots of short stories at different reading levels.

For any of these titles, I wouldn’t worry about the number of pages you manage to get through. It’s always difficult and slow at the beginning, so don’t get discouraged. You’ll get faster as time goes on, and your vocabulary grows. An electronic dictionary can also be very helpful to speed up reading.

Shirin

I just wanted to leave a comment to show that I do read this. ^^

I actually borrowed きみが見つける物語 (the ほうかご偏) during the first week back, but only managed to slave through something like 5 pages before it was time to return it. Around what grade level is it? I was hoping for slightly more furigana;;. I’ll try 10分で読める名作 next.

Haidi (the girl you met via Nathen Clerici after a Japanese final last semester)