落書き means scribble, doodle or graffiti. In Japan, too, there are graffiti artists who have left their marks here and there. In this text by writing team ニコール and ソフィ you will be introduced to a few places in Japan where graffiti art can be found. The text is part of the Smith College’s Tadoku Project.

Graffiti in Japan was truly something I hadn’t thought much about before reading this. The text does a good job of shining a spotlight on this street culture, while also reflecting the relationship of art and vandalism.
As a piece of argumentative writing, one challenge for readers with N3 abilities will be grammar, however, the main challenge here lies in vocabulary.
As the vocabulary in this text is more advanced and also the pictures don’t help much with understanding, I’ve put together a vocabulary list for you. Please have a look before you start reading.
- 標識 = sign, mark
- 印象 = impression
- 違法 = illegal
- 法律を無視して = disregarding the law
- 破壊行為 = destructive behaviour
- 古代人 = ancient people
- 洞窟 = cavern, cave
- 発展 = development, progression
- 絵
( ) の具( ) = paint, colors/colours to paint with 壁画 妖怪( ) = mural, wall painting( ) = Yōkai (japanese folklore; type of ghost)- 壁画
( ) = mural, wall painting () 創造性( ) = creativity- 特殊
( ) = special, particular, unique
Now that you are well prepared, you can read the text here: https://sophia.smith.edu/japanese-book-review/wp-content/uploads/sites/438/2020/06/5-Rakugaki-16-pages.pdf
Length: 13 pages