Month: October 2012

   Recently, I make an audio book for my private net radio station (It doesn’t exist anymore – 2016.Jun.1) which is my reading of “Ugetsu monogatari (雨月物語)”.

   There is a big difference between to read aloud and to read silently in Japanese. The difference between the two might exist in other languages. But a unique problem for us, we have the different readings of a word written by Chinese characters (漢字). When we, i.e. grown-up Japanese, read a sentence silently, we don’t mind if we don’t know its pronunciation of a word written by Chinese characters. Chinese character is an ideogram, each of them has meanings itself. Besides, a book for grown-ups has no Furigana (ふりがな). So, we can get what the writer say, but we cannot know how to pronounce of the writer calling to mind.

   “Ugetsu monogatari” is one of Ueda Akinari’s works. Ueda Akinari (上田秋成) was in 18th century. “Ugetsu monogatari” is, so to speak, a collection of Japanese ghost stories.It is not a simple horror book but a dreadful elegant one. If you were Japanese, you could enjoy not only its contents but its style. The original text has good rhythm. If a good reader did aloud, it would become a good audio book. And we have such CDs in Japan.

   Of cource, I’m NOT a good reader, so it is a reckless challenge. But I dare to do it. (++;)