December 18, 2023

This is a popular history of the uses and development of furigana through history. The first chapter is introductory, where the author shows some modern furigana uses to get over the idea that they are not purely a "here is the reading of this kanji" device. After that the book works forwards through history, showcasing various historical texts and discussing how they use furigana and what this can tell us about the Japanese language at that time. The book includes images of the texts it discusses.

Although the book itself is written in an easy to read style, the historical texts it works with and quotes are of course not so easy to understand. You don't need to actually be able to read the old texts fluently, but I think you'll get more out of the book if you're at a level where you can struggle through a sentence or two in an older writing style and have some idea about historical kana spellings; so I graded accordingly.

Overall I rated this three stars, meaning "recommended if the topic is something you're interested in".

Gradings:11
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pm215 graded
on July 23, 2024
pm215 graded
on May 7, 2024
pm215 graded
on December 17, 2023
harder than八つ墓村L38
pm215 graded
on December 17, 2023
pm215 graded
on December 17, 2023
easier thanMy HumanityL40
pm215 graded
on December 17, 2023
harder than花のあとL39
pm215 graded
on December 17, 2023
easier than陰翳礼讃L43
pm215 graded
on December 17, 2023
easier than幼少時代L43
pm215 graded
on December 17, 2023
pm215 graded
on December 17, 2023