マスク
by Kan Kikuchi
During a flu epidemic, a frail man keeps wearing his mask.
- 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
Written in the first person, this passage describes someone who looks robust but is weak inside—out of breath on stairs or slopes, with poor lungs, a bad stomach, and a pulse so faint that a doctor takes a full minute to find it and notes an incomplete heart valve. The tone is plain and mildly self-deprecating, like an unhurried account of one's own frailties.
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.
「衝心」 refers to a sudden death such as cardiac paralysis; it was a medical term of modern-era Japanese, now rarely used. 「脂肪心」 means fatty infiltration of the heart, and the doctor uses it here to warn against becoming overweight.
A method of preventing influenza in the Taishō period: gargling with diluted hydrogen peroxide solution, once before going out and once after returning, was regarded as an effective preventive measure. Like the gauze-stuffed face masks mentioned below, it was one of the preventive measures recommended in newspapers and magazines of the time.
This is the Spanish influenza, the global pandemic that began in 1918. In Japan it spread in repeated waves from autumn 1918, causing many deaths, and outbreaks recurred until spring 1920. The text's mention of still wearing masks at the end of March and the epidemic
About the author
Kan Kikuchi (December 26, 1888 – March 6, 1948) was a Japanese author and publisher who came to prominence with the plays Madame Pearl and Father Returns. He founded the publishing company Bungeishunjū and its monthly magazine, the Japan Writer's Association, and both the Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes, and also served as head of Daiei Motion Picture Company (currently Kadokawa Pictures).
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.