Hello, everyone. What you see on the left is the Ishikawa Prefectural Library. This library is the most beautiful library I’ve ever visited.
I think you’ll understand what’s wonderful about it once you see it. Please watch until the end. First, let’s park the car in the parking lot.
When you take a parking ticket from the machine on the right, the barrier goes up. This was on August 14. Since it was during the Obon holiday, it was very crowded.
Let’s look for an open spot. We found an open spot. Let’s park in on the right side.
In Japan, many people reverse park when they park. It’s easier when leaving. Alright, we’ve parked.
This parking lot is free for up to three hours. So, you can stay in the library for quite a while. Now, let’s head to the entrance.
By the way, the building in front of the library is a university. It’s a beautiful building that was just built last year. Let’s enter through this entrance.
A cleaning person just passed by. This is a hall where you can have lectures and other events. Now, let’s go inside.
The central area is designed in a circular shape. Let’s take the elevator up. This is the second floor.
These sofas look relaxing. I heard they always have some kind of exhibit in this space. Let’s go up the stairs.
We’re passing through the center of the third floor. Each chair here has a different design, so take a look. Now, there’s writing on the fabric here.
This says “East. ” This says “South. ” This says “West.
” This says “North. ” This library is circular, so they use these markers to help people orient themselves by cardinal directions. Look at the shelves.
Can you see the book covers? I heard that in this library, they try to display as many book covers as possible. The cover is a part that people involved in making books value very highly.
That’s why they want them to be visible. Next, let’s go up these stairs. The color of the floor is beautiful.
They also have translated Japanese manga here. This is a section called “Enjoy Western Books,” and it’s filled with western books. "Yousho" refer to books written in Western characters.
It says, “Enjoy Western Books. ” Here, there are books in Korean. And over here, there are also books in Chinese.
This was the “Asian Written Culture” section. There are seats for studying over there. There are also seats for studying here.
If you studied here alone, it seems like you could really focus. This library has seats for studying and reading books in various locations. Those are study seats over there, too.
These are seats where you can read books. Now, let's go check out various sofas, chairs, and study spaces. There’s a yellow triangular sofa.
This study space that looks like a wooden box is interesting. Craft items are displayed in various places. The seat by the window you can see in the back also look very comfortable.
These red sofas isn’t bad either. This panel here acts as a partition. This one as well.
It's designed so you can't see very well, which is nice. As you can see, there are sofas and chairs in various shapes and colors. This one also looks like a comfortable chair.
This one is colorful and cute. These three attached ones over here are cute, too. And this chair that looks like an egg.
I'd like to sit there and read a book. This is a study desk for two people. It's perfect when you come with someone.
The color of this floor is the same as the north, south, east, and west colors we saw at first. The colors also help to know where you are. Ahead, it’s purple.
This is what the view from above looks like. This library has a slightly different display from typical libraries. Usually, books are divided by field and organized by numbers.
But in this central round section, books are displayed by theme. This is the "Learn about Japan" section. Books related to Japan are lined up here.
Seeing the covers like this makes you want to borrow them, doesn’t it? By the way, books in this library can be borrowed for three weeks. Most libraries let you borrow books for two or three weeks.
How about the libraries in your country? How long can you borrow books for? Let’s go to a different area.
This is the second floor on the east side. It says "Workshop Space. " I heard that there are various tools here that can be used.
This is an area where eating is allowed. In Japanese libraries, eating and drinking are usually prohibited. You’re not allowed to eat or drink.
Instead, there are designated eating areas like this. How is it in libraries in your area? Is it okay to eat and drink there?
If you go down here to the first floor, there’s a cafe on the opposite side of the entrance. There’s a big line, isn’t there? It’s a popular cafe.
I didn’t go there that day, but I visited this cafe in September. Please watch the video from that visit. This is an area where you take off your shoes and sit.
You place your belongings to reserve a seat. Then you get in line. While you’re waiting, you decide what to order.
What would you choose? "Thank you for waiting. Will you be dining in?
" "Yes. " "Alright, what would you like to order? " "Tuna and octopus Korean-style Yukhoe rice bowl.
" "Yukhoe rice bowl. " "With the set. " "With the set.
All right, thank you. " "Café latte? " "Café latte.
Yes, certainly. " "Would you like hot or iced? " "Iced, please.
" "Iced, understood. " "And a classic burger. .
. is it okay with a classic burger? " "And, with a set.
What would you like? " "Café latte. " "Café latte.
Hot or iced. . .
" "Iced, please. " "Iced, understood. " "That’s all.
" "That’s all. Thank you. Since you ordered the set, you can get a pudding for 100 yen off.
Would you like one? " "I’d love to, but I'm full. " "Alright, thank you.
That'll be 3,720 yen. Will you pay by card? " "Yes, by card.
" "Yes, please tap here. " "Thank you very much. " "We are quite busy with orders, so it may take a little while to serve.
Once it’s ready, this will vibrate to notify you. " "Okay, thank you. " Here is my order: "Tuna and octopus Korean-style spicy Yukhoe rice bowl" and an iced café latte.
Total, 1,760 yen. Here is my daughter’s order: a "Classic Burger" and an iced café latte. Total, 1,960 yen.
It was delicious. Actually, we changed seats. Since the seat where we had to remove our shoes looked hard to eat at, we moved to seats with chairs.
After eating, we went to look for a place where I could edit the video. There were almost no open seats, so my daughter and I ended up sitting separately. If you want a good seat on the weekend, it seems you need to line up 30 minutes in advance (before the library opens).
At this time, I edited the Seoul video. The study seats even have power outlets, which is great. How did you like it, everyone?
Did the charm of this library come through to you? Is it different from the library you usually go to? I'm curious about what libraries are like in your area.
Please let me know in the comments. I read all of your comments. I always appreciate those who leave comments and those who give Super Thanks.
Thank you very much. The comment I’d like to highlight today is this one. From m00niE m00n.
I really love listening to your videos, your voice is so soothing and still clear in pronunciation, so even at my low level I sometimes have the pleasure of recognising some words or small sentences. And everything I don't understand is helping me with the immersion method and I pick up something new every time! So thank you for sharing these videos publicly!
I'm actually considering joining your course just to support you and your work, although my level is probably far from what would be needed to directly benefit from the paid content. Thank you, m00niE m00n-san, I really appreciate your kind words and consideration. You're always welcome to join my course!
In fact, Part 1 of my phonetics program focuses on pronunciation, and the first three episodes are particularly useful for learners who can read Hiragana, as they cover Hiragana pronunciation in detail. I'm confident these lessons will help you. If you’re not familiar with Hiragana yet, I’ve included a link in the description where you can learn it using mnemonics.
For those of you interested in taking lessons with me, I teach premium members. As a Premium member, you’ll receive two free sessions with me, and if you'd like, you can book additional lessons. Please check the details in the description.
That’s all for today’s video. I hope you all enjoy a fun day using lots of Japanese! See you in the next video.
Bye-bye!
