{"product_id":"makoto-magazine-105-all-the-fun-japanese-not-found-in-textbooks","title":"Makoto Magazine #105 - All the Fun Japanese Not Found in Textbooks","description":"\u003cdiv style=\"background:#111111;border-radius:14px;padding:20px 22px;margin:0 0 24px;display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;align-items:center;gap:18px;color:#ffffff;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:1 1 300px;min-width:0;\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1214\/2784\/files\/makoto-plus-logo-dark.jpg?v=1793219183\" alt=\"Makoto+\" width=\"600\" height=\"199\" style=\"width:190px;max-width:70%;height:auto;display:block;margin:0 0 12px;\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-size:21px;line-height:1.3;font-weight:700;color:#ffffff;\"\u003eGet the latest issue, and a new one every month, with Makoto+\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-size:15px;line-height:1.55;color:#e6e6e6;\"\u003eSamurai members download and keep every new Makoto issue (PDF, ePub and MP3s), read it in the free app, enjoy dozens of interactive stories, and save 10% at TheJapanShop.com. Shogun adds the full Makoto back catalog on the web, every course, and 20% off.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0 0 14px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.4;font-weight:700;color:#ffb27a;\"\u003eTry it free for 7 days, then from just $5 USD a month.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/makotoplus.com\/plans\/samurai-shogun\/?utm_source=thejapanshop\u0026amp;utm_medium=product-page\u0026amp;utm_campaign=makoto-105\" style=\"display:inline-block;background:#f26522;color:#ffffff;text-decoration:none;font-weight:700;font-size:15px;padding:11px 22px;border-radius:999px;\"\u003eSee Makoto+ plans\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:0 0 120px;text-align:center;margin:0 auto;\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1214\/2784\/files\/cl-eb-app2-read.jpg?v=1793198073\" alt=\"The reader in the Makoto+ app: a sentence with furigana, a play button, and the translation below\" width=\"480\" height=\"936\" style=\"width:120px;height:auto;border-radius:14px;display:block;margin:0 auto;\"\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eMakoto E-Zine Series #105\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eRecommended for \u003cstrong\u003ebeginner\u003c\/strong\u003e to \u003cstrong\u003eintermediate\u003c\/strong\u003e learners of Japanese.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMakoto Japanese Language \u0026amp; Culture Magazine\u003c\/b\u003e Issue 105 (November 2026)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMakoto 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn this issue (November 2026, Issue 105):\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNovember is rain that starts with a few ぽつぽつ and settles into a quiet all-day しとしと, a mountain at dusk taking the red right out of the maple leaves, and the hard work of saying sorry. The two galactic emperors face an audit that only an apology can pass, a traveling showman arrives with an offer the old couple should refuse in Part 4 of 小川未明's 「赤い蝋燭と人魚」, and a new jogger learns that an old knee has opinions. The grammar section covers ～たほうがいい (advice you should probably take) and ～だけに (all the more because), and we visit Kagawa, Japan's smallest prefecture and its biggest fan of udon. All in the redesigned Makoto format: PDF, ePub, web, and the iPhone \u0026amp; Android apps.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 style=\"margin:26px 0 12px;font-size:20px;\"\u003eThree stories to read and listen to\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:16px;margin:0 0 22px;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:1 1 230px;min-width:0;background:#fafafa;border:1px solid #e5e5e5;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1214\/2784\/files\/makoto-105-jogging.jpg?v=1793219183\" alt=\"A jogger resting on a park bench, from the beginner story\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"padding:12px 14px 14px;\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0 0 4px;font-size:12px;letter-spacing:.06em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#888;\"\u003eBeginner reader\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0 0 6px;font-weight:700;font-size:16px;\"\u003eジョギングその後 (Jogging, and What Came Next)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0;font-size:14px;line-height:1.55;\"\u003eThe narrator takes up jogging, and the knee starts to hurt. An hour a day on a gym machine works for three weeks, until the knee hurts again. Now it's thirty minutes of walking on the treadmill, and a lesson for all of us: 無理は禁物 (don't overdo it). Read it first in spaced hiragana, then in natural Japanese. Grammar notes cover ～てしまいました, ～ことにしました, ～ようにしています, and ～ながら.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:1 1 230px;min-width:0;background:#fafafa;border:1px solid #e5e5e5;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1214\/2784\/files\/makoto-105-frank-ep13.jpg?v=1793219183\" alt=\"Frank and the Obaasan, Episode 13\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"padding:12px 14px 14px;\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0 0 4px;font-size:12px;letter-spacing:.06em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#888;\"\u003eFrank and the Obaasan, Season 3\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0 0 6px;font-weight:700;font-size:16px;\"\u003eEpisode 13: The Power of an Apology (謝罪の力)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0;font-size:14px;line-height:1.55;\"\u003eThe emperors have survived a convenience store that expects payment, a crowded train, and an onigiri wrapper. Now the galaxy is sending auditors, and passing will take something no emperor has ever produced: proof that they made peace with someone they once wronged. Read it in Japanese, then line by line with vocabulary and grammar support. The full episode audio is included.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:1 1 230px;min-width:0;background:#fafafa;border:1px solid #e5e5e5;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1214\/2784\/files\/makoto-105-red-candles-pt4.jpg?v=1793219183\" alt=\"A moonlit sea, from The Red Candles and the Mermaid\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"padding:12px 14px 14px;\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0 0 4px;font-size:12px;letter-spacing:.06em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#888;\"\u003eJapanese reader\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0 0 6px;font-weight:700;font-size:16px;\"\u003e赤い蝋燭と人魚 Part 4 (The Red Candles and the Mermaid)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0;font-size:14px;line-height:1.55;\"\u003eA traveling showman arrives from a country to the south and talks the old couple into selling the mermaid girl. She begs to stay home, but she is taken away. This is Ogawa Mimei's original 1921 text with full vocabulary, grammar notes, and audio, including literary forms such as ～ずに, ～のであります, and volitional + とする.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 style=\"margin:26px 0 12px;font-size:20px;\"\u003eAlso inside\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:14px;margin:0 0 18px;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:1 1 360px;min-width:0;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;border:1px solid #e5e5e5;\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1214\/2784\/files\/makoto-105-kagawa-map.jpg?v=1793219183\" alt=\"Map of Kagawa Prefecture\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0;padding:10px 12px;font-size:14px;line-height:1.5;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePrefecture Spotlight: 香川 (Kagawa)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJapan's smallest prefecture, where people eat more Sanuki udon per person than anywhere else in the country. Also: Ritsurin Park, the 785 stone steps up to Kotohira Shrine, Marugame Castle and its hand-made fans, and the olives of Shodoshima, where Japan's first olive trees took root in 1908.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:1 1 360px;min-width:0;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;border:1px solid #e5e5e5;\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1214\/2784\/files\/makoto-105-robot.jpg?v=1793219183\" alt=\"A friendly robot on a Japanese street\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0;padding:10px 12px;font-size:14px;line-height:1.5;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEtymology: ロボット\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the Czech robota (forced labor), made famous by Karel Čapek's 1920 play R.U.R., though it was his brother Josef who suggested the word. The first robots were imagined as artificial living workers, not machines.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:1 1 360px;min-width:0;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;border:1px solid #e5e5e5;\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1214\/2784\/files\/makoto-105-buson-haiku.jpg?v=1793219184\" alt=\"A mountain at dusk with maple leaves, for Buson's haiku\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0;padding:10px 12px;font-size:14px;line-height:1.5;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHaiku Spotlight: 与謝蕪村 (Yosa Buson)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e「山暮れて 紅葉の朱を 奪ひけり」: as evening falls, the mountain steals the red from the maple leaves. With five English translations, the seasonal word, vocabulary, and an explanation with audio.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:1 1 360px;min-width:0;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;border:1px solid #e5e5e5;\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1214\/2784\/files\/makoto-105-gambler-joke.jpg?v=1793219183\" alt=\"A grinning man at a pachinko machine, from the jokes page\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0;padding:10px 12px;font-size:14px;line-height:1.5;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJokes \u0026amp; Riddles\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIncluding a gambler's famous last words: 「もう二度とギャンブルはやらない…かけてもいい」 (\"I'll never gamble again... I'd bet on it.\")\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePlus:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eGrammar Time (Beginner): ～たほうがいい (JLPT N4)\u003c\/strong\u003e Giving advice, as in 早く寝たほうがいい (you'd better go to bed early), plus the negative form learners often get wrong: 行かないほうがいい, not 行かなかったほうがいい.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eGrammar Time (Intermediate): ～だけに (JLPT N2)\u003c\/strong\u003e \"Precisely because,\" as in 期待が大きかっただけに (precisely because expectations were so high), and how it differs from ～だけあって.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eOnomatopoeia Focus: Rain.\u003c\/strong\u003e ぽつぽつ, しとしと, and ざあざあ: the first scattered drops you can still count, a fine steady rain that goes on for hours, and a full downpour.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eVocabulary (5 entries, N5 to N1):\u003c\/strong\u003e ちょっと待ってください, お先に失礼します, 話にならない, お世話になっております, and 折り合いをつける. One entry per JLPT level, each with usage notes, an example sentence, and audio.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eKanji Spotlight (JLPT N5 to N1):\u003c\/strong\u003e 手, 映, 働, 延, and 謙. Readings, meanings, a memory hint, compound words, a stroke-order diagram, and an example sentence for each, with audio.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAnime Phrase of the Month\u003c\/strong\u003e from \u003cem\u003eあかね噺\u003c\/em\u003e: 「あの日、落語家 阿良川志ん太は死んだ。でも、終わりじゃない。むしろ、あの日から始まったんだ。朱音の噺が。」 The day one rakugo storyteller's career ended was the day Akane's own story began.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eKatakana Match (Food)\u003c\/strong\u003e, and more.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"background:#f6f1ea;border-radius:12px;padding:16px 18px;margin:20px 0;\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0 0 8px;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIncludes:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul style=\"margin:0;\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e125 pages (PDF) in the redesigned Makoto format\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e51 MP3 audio files, including the full Frank and the Obaasan episode\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e4 Anki flashcard decks\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e2 eBook formats (PDF + ePub), plus an edition for Kobo readers\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eScan-and-listen QR codes for quick mobile access\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAn 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\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIssue 105: put the kettle on, listen to the rain go しとしと, and read it slowly.\u003c\/strong\u003e 無理は禁物.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"content-box1\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNOTE:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDigital and Print Versions Available (print on Amazon, digital here).\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDigital version downloads are instant. No waiting.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNo Dropbox account required. Download directly on PC\/Mac or access files on mobile.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIf you don't see your email right away, check your spam folder or contact us.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThis series is also available on \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4bomDqk\"\u003eAmazon\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n","brand":"TheJapanShop.com","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67928170660060,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1214\/2784\/files\/makoto-105-cover.jpg?v=1793184716","url":"https:\/\/www.thejapanshop.com\/products\/makoto-magazine-105-all-the-fun-japanese-not-found-in-textbooks","provider":"The Japan Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}