蒼穹
On a late-spring afternoon, a still cloud opens a view of emptiness.
- Authentic text: the opening of a public-domain original
- Word-by-word glosses and translation in English or Chinese, free
- Tap a word for its meaning, listen to the sentence, save words
- Reads in any phone or desktop browser, nothing to download
Want to read your own Japanese light novels? Read the guide →
Sample: three-line reading
Each word has its meaning in this sentence underneath, and each sentence has a full translation. Read the original and glance down only when you need to.
About the book
"The Blue Sky" (Sōkyū) is a short story by Motojirō Kajii. It depicts an unhappy sensory experience in which the narrator, gazing at the ever-changing formation of clouds amid a vast daytime landscape, comes to see a darkness of nothingness in the blue sky. Realistic depictions of nature appear as landscapes of the mind, taking on symbolic color, and poetically render the abyss of the spirit and a lucid nihilism.
Cultural notes (selection)
Background a translation can’t carry: social roles, history and allusions. While reading, tap “Note” at the end of a sentence to see them all.
The lotus-eaters (Lotophagoi) come from Book Nine of the Odyssey: those who eat the forgetful lotus lose all desire to return home and wish only to stay in that land. Kajii uses the English word itself rather than a translated name, layering the 'country of perpetual afternoon' over the Greek allusion.
The jūnihitoe was the many-layered formal robe worn by noblewomen in the Heian period, its collars overlapping layer upon layer, each showing a band of colour. Here it is a metaphor for the folds of the mountains on both sides of the ravine, overlapping in layers; readers may mistake it for a literal reference to clothing.
About the author
Motojirō Kajii (February 17, 1901 – March 24, 1932) was a Japanese writer of the early Shōwa period known for his poetic short stories, including "Lemon," "In a Castle Town," "Winter Days," and "Beneath the Cherry Trees." His works were praised by fellow writers such as Yasunari Kawabata and Yukio Mishima, and are admired today for their finely tuned self-observation and descriptive power.
Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: 蒼穹 (小説) (CC BY-SA)
How the glosses are made
Word glosses and sentence translations are generated in context by AI models (DeepSeek and Zhipu GLM), and every word is checked to have a gloss. AI can make mistakes; you can report problems from the book page.
FAQ
Is this the original text?
Yes. The library holds the opening section of the public-domain original, taken from 青空文库.
Do I need to pay or sign up?
Library books are free to read without an account. Other gloss languages and importing your own texts need an account and credits.
What level is it?
This one is marked “Intermediate”. Every word is glossed, so you can keep reading even with a small vocabulary.
Can I use another gloss language?
English and Chinese glosses are prepared in advance; signed-in readers can generate other languages.
More by this author
- LemonMotojirō Kajii · Intermediate
- Under the Cherry TreesMotojirō Kajii · Intermediate
- The Ascension of KMotojirō Kajii · Intermediate
- Winter DaysMotojirō Kajii · Advanced
- 城のある町にてMotojirō Kajii · Advanced
- Winter FliesMotojirō Kajii · Advanced
- 闇の絵巻Motojirō Kajii · Intermediate
- 愛撫Motojirō Kajii · Intermediate