Makoto Magazine #103 - All the Fun Japanese Not Found in Textbooks

Makoto E-Zine Series #103

Recommended for beginner to intermediate learners of Japanese.

Makoto Japanese Language & Culture Magazine Issue 103 (September 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 (September 2026, Issue 103):

September is when Japan stops overdoing it. The heat finally backs off, the cicadas hand the evenings over to the crickets, and the autumn flowers begin to bloom. Fitting, then, that the grammar section covers ～すぎる (doing something too much) and ～っぱなし (leaving something as it is). The mermaid returns in Part 2 of 小川未明's 「赤い蝋燭と人魚」, Frank gets an imperial performance review, the etymology section explains how a small pink flower came to stand for 大和撫子, and we visit Toyama, where the squid glow in the dark. All in the redesigned Makoto format: PDF, ePub, web, and the iPhone & Android apps.

Readers:

• Beginner Reader: ジョギング (Jogging) The narrator recently took up jogging. At first, five minutes of running meant giving up and walking; now it is four kilometers, and the next goal is five without stopping. Read it through first, then go line by line. Grammar notes cover ～たばかり, ～てしまいました, ～ことができるようになってきた, それほど～ない, and ～ずに.
• Japanese Reader: 赤い蝋燭と人魚 Part 2, The Candle Shop (The Red Candles and the Mermaid) In a small seaside town, an old couple runs a humble candle shop at the foot of a hill crowned by a shrine. One bright moonlit night the grandmother climbs up to pay her respects, and what she finds on the stone steps coming back down is where the story turns. This is the original 1921 text with full vocabulary, grammar notes, and audio.
• Frank and the Obaasan: Season 3, Episode 11 The Emperors Observe Frank's Job (皇帝たちの職場を見学) Around the こたつ, the two emperors who rule millions of stars admit they have never carried a bowl of miso soup. So the next day they come to watch Frank work at the diner. 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): ～すぎる (JLPT N4) "Too much" and "overly," as in 食べすぎる, 高すぎる, and 静かすぎる, with example sentences and audio.
• Grammar Time (Intermediate): ～っぱなし (JLPT N2) Leaving something in a state it should not stay in (電気をつけっぱなしにする, to leave the light on), or doing something nonstop.
• Onomatopoeia Focus: Cutting and Throwing ザクザク, ポイ, and バタン: chopping a cabbage, tossing something away without a second thought, and a door slamming shut.
• Vocabulary (5 entries, N5 to N1): お腹が空いた, 楽しみにしています, 思い切って, 猫の手も借りたい, and 推して知るべし. One entry per JLPT level, each with usage notes, an example sentence, and audio.
• Etymology: 大和撫子 撫子 is a small pink flower whose name is said to mean "a child so lovely you want to stroke its head." Calling the native variety 大和撫子 set it apart from the Chinese 唐撫子, and the name later became an ideal of graceful Japanese womanhood.
• Kanji Spotlight (JLPT N5 to N1): 食, 医, 調, 団, and 審. Readings, meanings, a memory hint, compound words, and an example sentence for each, with audio.
• Prefecture Spotlight: 富山 (Toyama) The firefly squid that light up Toyama Bay an electric blue each spring, the towering snow walls of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, the sightseeing train through Kurobe Gorge, and the steep thatched farmhouses of Gokayama.
• Anime Phrase of the Month 「どうやら僕はめんどくさいのが好きなのかもな」 from 斉木楠雄のΨ難 始動編 Saiki gave up his psychic powers to live as an ordinary high school student. Then he hears that a giant meteor is about to destroy Japan, and this is the line he mutters as the anime ends.
• Haiku Spotlight: 作者不詳 (Author Unknown) 「向日葵は どんなときでも 前を向き」: whatever comes, the sunflower keeps facing forward. With four English translations, the seasonal word, vocabulary, and an explanation with audio.
• Jokes & Riddles (including a Frank Sinatra line about loving your enemies), Katakana Match (Entertainment), and more

Includes:

• 107 pages (PDF) in the redesigned Makoto format
• 41 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 103: grab some tea, find a quiet corner, and read too much. It's the one place すぎる is encouraged.