Upon enrolling in the local middle school, Kokoro loses the courage to actually attend. While isolating herself in her room, her bedroom mirror begins to glow, allowing her access to the mirror castle, where she meets six other children who are supposed to be in school and a younger girl in a wolf mask.
Category: Fiction
[N5] 冬(ふゆ)のさんぽ
In a cold and snowy winter town, best friends Anna and Rhys are looking for some hot soup to warm them up. They meet a dog on their way.
[N3] 野(の)ばら
On the border of two countries stands a monument with wild roses, where two opposing soldiers meet every day. They become friends but it's short-lived once war breaks out between their nations.
[N4] Japanese Short Stories for Beginners
Short stories in Japanese seem to be very popular with language students, given the number of short story collections published for this target group. This collection features 20 original stories written for language students and all they could ask for to study them.
[N2] 君と花火
Yashiro sits next to new girl Yoshikawa in class and looks forward to seeing her every day. Although he seems to be completely content with their very platonic classroom relationship of him picking up her dropped eraser once and them occasionally doing partner exercises together in class, he eventually asks her out to enjoy the summer festival's fireworks with him...
[N5] 招き猫(まねきねこ)
You have probably seen these white and red cat figures somewhere as decoration. They generally have one paw raised or sometimes it’s moving back and forth. Also, they usually either hold a sign with calligraphic characters or it’s hanging from their collar. They are called manekineko and this book tells a legend of their possible origin.
[N3] 虹(にじ)の橋(はし)
In "Rainbow Bridge" two girls, Otāchan and Okīchan, go out to collect special shoots near the local lake, which is said to be home to a water god. The rainbow that spans the lake every summer will become an important symbol for the pair.
[N4] 老人(ろうじん)の町(まち)
A man falls asleep on the train and wakes up in the mysterious town of Shin-Izumino, where everyone is much older than him. While he is still trying to figure out how to get back home, he runs into more and more situations that leave him thoroughly bewildered.
[N5] 山に行きました
In this story, a dog named ウィンリー goes on a camping trip in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Camping in the mountains can be fun and exciting, but especially hot summer days can also carry some big hidden dangers.
[N3] また、同じ夢を見ていた
Nanoka is a very bright child, so she feels it's only natural that the other stupid kids in her class don't include her. After all, who needs friends their own age, when she has far superior friends outside of school!