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青年

Youth

by Mori Ōgai

Young Junichi comes to Tokyo hoping to become a writer.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Advanced3,554 characters · ≈ 14 minSource: 青空文库

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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.

壱one (formal numeral used in documents)
One
小泉純一はKoizumi Junichi (topic)芝日蔭町の宿屋the inn in Shiba Hikagechoを出てleft (it) and東京方眼図を片手にwith a map of Tokyo in one hand人にうるさく問うてpestered people with questions and新橋停留場からfrom Shimbashi stop上野行の電車に乗ったgot on a train bound for Ueno
Koizumi Junichi left the inn at Shiba Hikagecho, and with a map of Tokyo in one hand, asked people many questions, and from Shimbashi stop got on a train going to Ueno.
目まぐろしいdizzying須田町のSudacho's乗換もtransfer too無事にwithout trouble済んだwas completed
The dizzy change at Sudacho was also done without trouble.
さてnow; well then本郷三丁目Hongo Sanchome (place name)でat (location particle)電車trainを(object particle)降りてgetting off and追分Oiwake (place name)からfrom高等学校high schoolにalong/toward (particle)附いてfollowing along and右にto the right曲がってturning and根津権現のof Nezu Gongen (shrine)表坂上にat the top of the front slopeあるlocated; situated袖浦館というcalled Sodegaurakan下宿屋のof the boarding house前にin front of到着したのはthe (time) of arriving was十月October二十何日かのof some day around the twentieth午前八時でat eight in the morningあったwas
Then he got off the train at Hongo Sanchome, turned right from Oiwake along the high school, and arrived in front of a boarding house called Sodegaurakan at the top of the front slope of Nezu Gongen at eight in the morning on some day in late October.

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About the book

Youth (Seinen) is a novel by Mori Ōgai, serialized in Subaru from March 1910 to August of the following year. It depicts the inner troubles and growth of a young man and advocates altruistic individualism. It is regarded as a major work of the Meiji-era novel of formation and a masterpiece of youth fiction.

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.

東京方眼図 Customs

A city guide map of the Meiji period, with city blocks drawn on a grid and marked with street names, government offices, schools, carriage stops, and so on. Young people newly arrived in Tokyo from the provinces relied on it to find their way around.

薩摩絣 Customs

A cotton cloth woven in the Kagoshima area with a fine splashed-pattern design; in the Meiji period it was often used for the everyday clothing of students and shosei. In the original text, '薩摩絣' appears alongside '小倉の袴' and '薩摩下駄' to depict the attire of a shosei of provincial origin.

九尺二間 Customs

The smallest type of dwelling in the nagaya tenement houses of the Edo and Meiji periods, nine shaku wide at the front and two ken deep, rented mostly by townspeople of the lower classes.

About the author

Mori Ōgai (February 17, 1862 – July 8, 1922), born Mori Rintarō, was a Japanese Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist and poet, and father of the writer Mari Mori. He obtained his medical license at a young age, introduced translated German literary works to Japanese readers, and is considered a leading figure who modernized Japanese literature; his major work is The Wild Geese (1911–1913).

Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: 青年 (森鷗外) (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.

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What level is it?

This one is marked “Advanced”. Every word is glossed, so you can keep reading even with a small vocabulary.

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