Makoto Magazine #104 - All the Fun Japanese Not Found in Textbooks

Makoto E-Zine Series #104

Recommended for beginner to intermediate learners of Japanese.

Makoto Japanese Language & Culture Magazine Issue 104 (October 2026)

Makoto is a monthly digital magazine for beginner to intermediate learners of Japanese. Each issue blends short stories, language lessons, cultural notes, humor, and native-audio recordings, all designed to make Japanese feel natural, usable, and enjoyable.

In this issue (October 2026, Issue 104):

October is persimmons darkening on the branch, the first real chill in the evening air, and food that suddenly sounds as good as it tastes. Two galactic emperors spend a day experiencing ordinary Japan, where imperial status won't get you a free meal or a seat on the train. The girl found on the shrine steps grows up in Part 3 of 小川未明's 「赤い蝋燭と人魚」, a deer turns out to know more about pears than the person who planted the tree, and one falling persimmon startles a dog at dusk. The grammar section covers ～ながら (doing two things at once) and ～かねない (things that just might go wrong), and we visit Tottori, which had sand dunes long before it had a Starbucks. All in the redesigned Makoto format: PDF, ePub, web, and the iPhone & Android apps.

Readers:

• Beginner Reader: 鹿と梨の木 (The Deer and the Pear Tree) The pear tree in the narrator's backyard bears plenty of fruit this year, but the first pear is small and sour. Then a big deer starts showing up in the evenings to eat the pears that fall to the ground. Read it through first, then go line by line. Grammar notes cover ～たいと思って, ～てみる, もしかして, ～ていた, and ～のですね.
• Japanese Reader: 赤い蝋燭と人魚 Part 3, The Painted Candles (The Red Candles and the Mermaid) Years have passed. The girl the old couple found on the shrine steps has grown into a shy young woman who keeps her face turned away from the world, yet everyone who glimpses her is struck by her beauty. She begins painting fish, shells, and seaweed in red on the white candles, and the little shop's fortunes begin to change. This is the original 1921 text with full vocabulary, grammar notes, and audio.
• Frank and the Obaasan: Season 3, Episode 12 The Emperors Experience Japan (皇帝たちの日本体験) It's Frank's day off, and the two emperors want to see Japan. Rulers of millions of worlds, they have never paid for a meal, ridden a crowded train, or given up a seat to anyone. Read it through in Japanese, then line by line with vocabulary and grammar support. The full episode audio is included.

Language & culture lessons:

• Grammar Time (Beginner): ～ながら (JLPT N4) Doing two things at the same time, as in 音楽を聞きながら勉強します (I study while listening to music), with example sentences and audio.
• Grammar Time (Intermediate): ～かねない (JLPT N2) A real risk that something undesirable could happen, as in 彼女を傷つけかねない (it could end up hurting her).
• Onomatopoeia Focus: Food Textures もちもち, さくさく, and とろとろ: soft and springy like fresh bread or mochi, light and crisp like fried food or cookies, and so soft it almost melts, like melted cheese or a half-cooked egg.
• Vocabulary (5 entries, N5 to N1): 行ってきます, お邪魔します, 手を抜く, 目を通す, and 後手に回る. One entry per JLPT level, each with usage notes, an example sentence, and audio.
• Etymology: どんちゃん騒ぎ The どん is a drum and the ちゃん is the clang of a 鉦, a small metal gong played at festivals and in kabuki. What began as the sound of a lively band became the word for a rowdy, anything-goes party.
• Kanji Spotlight (JLPT N5 to N1): 山, 駅, 橋, 険, and 礎. Readings, meanings, a memory hint, compound words, a stroke-order diagram, and an example sentence for each, with audio.
• Prefecture Spotlight: 鳥取 (Tottori) Japan's largest sand dunes, the volcano Daisen known as the Hōki Fuji, a temple hall clinging to a sheer cliff at Mitokusan, the world's only indoor sand-sculpture museum, and a street lined with more than 170 bronze yōkai from 水木しげる's manga.
• Anime Phrase of the Month 「いくさとはもったいないものさ。浪費と破壊と消耗 そこからはなにも生み出すものはない。」 from 忍たま乱太郎 Doi-sensei, the teacher at the ninja academy, on why war is such a waste: nothing is ever created from it.
• Haiku Spotlight: 作者不詳 (Author Unknown) 「柿落ちて 犬が驚く 日暮かな」: a persimmon falls, a dog startles, and the day draws to a close. With four English translations, the seasonal word, vocabulary, and an explanation with audio.
• Jokes & Riddles (including a friend with a "perfect" memory), Katakana Match (Computers), and more

Includes:

• 108 pages (PDF) in the redesigned Makoto format
• 50 MP3 audio files, including the full Frank and the Obaasan episode
• 4 Anki flashcard decks
• 2 eBook formats (PDF + ePub), plus an edition for Kobo readers
• Scan-and-listen QR codes for quick mobile access
• An unlock code that adds this issue to the free Makoto+ Japanese Explorer app (iPhone, Android, and web), with inline audio, tappable vocabulary, furigana on demand, translations, notes, and vocabulary tracking

Issue 104: pour something warm and read it ながら. Just leave the first pears to the deer.