Botchan on audiobook

There is so much free stuff available on the web that it is sometimes easy to forget the old fashioned way of acquiring something - paying for it. I was browsing the Japanese iTunes Store when I discovered  the audiobook version of Botchan (坊ちゃん), Natsume Soseki's (漱石夏目) semi-autobiographical tale of a gormless Tokyo teacher making his way in a school in  Matsuyama, in rural Ehime. I enjoyed reading Botchan in English years ago and long maintained the ambition of tackling the Japanese version but being an essentially lazy individual I never did read the book. However, after a few mouseclicks, 7 hours of audio Botchan was mine for the price of 1700 yen.

Listening, unlike reading, can be done as a background activity to something else so the barrier to entry for an audiobook is lower than that of printed text. I loaded the mp3 files into my iPod shuffle and started listening to Botchan when I went running. The language is Meiji Era Japanese - Botchan was published 100 years ago - old fashioned but not incomprehensible.  The narrator, Aibara Marii*  (相原 麻理衣) is superb and when she did her 'little old Japanese lady' voice I could swear that an obaachan was standing right next to me (they often do - obaachan are not scared of gaijin) . This has lead to me shadowing the characters' speech, walking down the street talking to myself. I even went out and purchased the book - only 286yen - and I am using it to decipher the more archaic expressions (see my post on approaching materials from multiple angles).

Just as I cannot access the US iTunes store, not everyone can access the Japan iTunes Store so I looked around to see if the Botchan audiobook was available elsewhere. The Ibunko online shop has it but at 10,000 yen for the CDs set or 4000 yen for the mp3s you would have to be very keen or very well off. Audiobook Kotonoha does not itself retail the audiobook but it carries links to sites which do, including Rakuten,  Listen Japan and OnGen. I haven't researched each site exhaustively yet but I noted  that  Listen Japan has audio samples from each chapter and  Rakuten had  Botchan for only 1429 yen!

A worthy addition to the audio library  of intermediate learners and up.

*Marii Kinoshita on the audiobook cover - she obviously got married after making the recording

Botchan 坊ちゃん Audiobook

Author: Natsume Soseki 夏目 漱石　

Narrator: Marii Aibara 相原 麻理衣

Published by Audible, 7hrs+, 1700 yen

Pros: great story, easy to get into, fantastic narration, culturally important

Cons: archaic language, not free, can lead to talking to oneself

Overall: Great stuff

available from iTunes Store Japan, Rakuten, Listen Japan, OnGen 

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Comments

[ukrainian]

>Hi. I man from Ukraine and i do music. I need for my music sound samples with JAPANESE FEMALE VOICES. Can you suggest me some japan audiobooks with japan female voices, talking JAPAN SLANG. I need sound samples japan female talks japan slang, especially japan bad words. I need it for my music compositions.
>
>Please, suggest me some japan audiobooks with something like that. Plese, help me.
>Give me some links. And titles of audiobooks.
>
>Maybe you know some sources i can download these samples. Maybe some japanese movies
>where japan female talks bad slang words. Please, help me, dont think i am crazy or something like that. I just want to create music with these japan words.

Or maybe you can to record it by yourself ? Record and send mp3 to me.
I will be very appreciate. you will do a greast favour to me.

japanese bad words female voice

[freelance writer]

I bet this is even better than hot chocolate! Sounds delicious!