Japanese Listening Practice | A Day in Tokyo

Hello, everyone. At the end of January, I went to Tokyo for work. On my way back, I also visited a bookstore and a café in Jinbocho.

This is a vlog of that time. If you can, try shadowing along. It was around 8:30 in the morning.

I'm heading to the station by bicycle. I'll park my bicycle in the parking area. This parking area is underground.

I'm looking for an open spot. I'll park it here. Now, I'm heading to the station.

This is Kofu City in Yamanashi Prefecture. The building on the left is Kofu Station. The station building has various shops inside.

I'm going up the escalator. First, I'll buy some souvenirs. I buy souvenirs for people I meet occasionally.

I haven't seen the person I'm meeting for work in years. So, I'm getting a souvenir. I'll buy "しんげんもち," a famous sweet from Yamanashi.

"Here you go. " "Welcome! Thank you very much.

" "Would a plastic bag be okay? " "Do you have paper bags? Sorry.

" "Of course. I'll get a paper one for you. " "That'll be 2,025 yen.

" "Okay. " "Here you go. Please insert your card.

" "Alright, thank you. " "Thank you. " "Thank you very much.

" I bought the souvenir. Now, I'll take the train. I'll go through the ticket gate.

Inside the gate, they were selling "くろだま. " This sweet became popular because it looks just like a technique used by a character in *じゅじゅつかいせん*. It looks like this, but it's really delicious.

If you visit Yamanashi, give it a try! First, I'm heading to Shinjuku. I'll transfer to a subway at Shinjuku.

Before getting on the train, let's buy a café latte. The shop is quite small. There's no staff here.

I’ll buy it using this machine. "Please touch the coffee you want to purchase. " "Please select a payment method.

" "You have purchased one item. " "Please check the total amount. .

. Thank you for your purchase. " I'll make the coffee using this machine.

I’ll choose a hot café latte. The train I'm taking has arrived. I'll put a lid on my coffee.

I'm getting on car number 11. I'm heading to car number 11. Here it is.

Now, I’ll get on the train. Opening the door. This is my seat.

I chose a seat with a view of Mt. Fuji. But there were a lot of clouds that day, so I couldn’t see Mt.

Fuji. On the train, I prepared for work. I've arrived in Shinjuku.

I’m getting off the train. The line I want to transfer to is the Toei Shinjuku Line. Is the Toei Shinjuku Line on this sign?

No, it's not. So, you don't go down these stairs. We will move along the platform.

Let's take a look at that sign. It says "Toei Shinjuku Line" here. That means we need to go up to the second floor.

Let's go up the stairs. The Toei Shinjuku Line is this way. This mark makes it easy to recognize.

It says "South Gate. " Let's head toward the South Gate. Here is the South Gate.

To get to the Toei Shinjuku Line, we need to exit and turn right. Let's go through the gate. Then, we turn right.

We follow the direction of the sign. We've arrived at the Toei Shinjuku Line ticket gate. It's this way.

Go down and turn right. A train is arriving at the platform, but we are not taking this one. We will take the train going in the opposite direction.

This train wasn't crowded. There were many empty seats. We've arrived at our destination station.

We'll exit from Exit A2. So, we'll go this way. Exit A2 is to the right.

We turn right here as well. If we go up here, we'll be outside. Alright, time to get to work!

Three and a half hours later, work is done. Now, I'm heading to Jinbocho. This is a store that sells skis and snowboards.

This store also sells snowboards. The shop next door also sells snowboards. There's another snowboard shop here as well.

Across the street, there's a large sporting goods store. And right across from it, there's another sporting goods store. This area is filled with sporting goods stores.

That store over there also sells sports equipment. And this one, too. And here, there's a secondhand bookstore.

Up ahead on this road is Jinbocho. Jinbocho is known as "The Book Town. " This is a shoe store, but Jinbocho has around 130 bookstores.

Most of them are secondhand bookstores. A secondhand bookstore sells books that are not new— books that someone has read before. I made a video about Jinbocho before, so please check it out!

There are many secondhand bookstores lining up here. Each secondhand bookstore in Jinbocho specializes in a particular field. For example, some focus on history, literature, maps, or art—various subjects.

This store sells new books. Here's a book called *Days at Morisaki Bookstore. * It’s a novel set in Jinbocho.

Apparently, it has been translated into 26 languages worldwide. But it's not very well known in Japan. It's not heavy reading and is quite easy to enjoy.

This store seems to sell うきよえ prints, railway books, and old maps. I found a bookstore specializing in Korean books. This is not a secondhand bookstore.

It looks like it's on the third floor up these stairs. Here it is. Let's go in.

"Excuse me, would it be a problem if I take a video inside the store? " "No, it's fine. Will it be used somewhere?

" "Oh, I run a YouTube channel for foreigners. " "Are you introducing us? " "Yes.

" "Then it's okay. " "Really? Oh, great!

Thank you so much. " "As long as it's not me, it's fine. " "Got it.

I'll make sure not to film the staff. " I got permission to film. Thank you very much!

There are so many books here. I had a hard time deciding which one to buy, but I finally chose this book. It has fewer letters, and I could understand some of the sentences.

This one, on the other hand, had too many text-heavy sections outside the manga parts. "Here you go. " "That'll be 4,307 yen.

" "I'll pay by card. " "Would you like to use contactless payment? " "Yes.

" "Alright, please tap your card. " "Are you recording this too? Even now?

" "Will my voice be in it? " "Yes, if that's okay. " "Is it alright?

" "Is it okay? " "My voice isn’t that nice. " "Oh no, that’s not true!

" "This video is for people learning Japanese, so I actually wanted to capture a conversation like this. " "A conversation. .

. 한국어로? (in Korean?

)" "Yes. No—ah, no. " Even though I understood the meaning in Korean, I couldn’t even say "no" in Korean.

I need more speaking practice. By the way, the winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature was Han Kang from Korea. She said there was a special exhibition in Korea for the author, and she gave me these bookmarks from it.

Thank you for these rare items! If you're interested in Korean books, I highly recommend this store. After that, I went to have a late lunch.

There was a café I had always wanted to visit. A "きっさてん" is a café, but it has a slightly old-fashioned atmosphere. But there was such a long line.

So, I decided to go to a next door café from the same group. This one requires you to order food. "Welcome.

" "Oh, excuse me, is there a table available? " "Will you be dining in? " "Yes.

" "Then please come downstairs. " It has an old-fashioned ambiance. "Have you decided on your order?

" "Yes, um. . .

excuse me, between the ナポリタン and the beef curry, which one is more popular? " "ナポリタン is the most popular. " "Then I'll have the small ナポリタン.

. . " "That’s the regular size.

" "Oh, then, the regular size. " "And also, a strawberry. .

. " "Strawberry juice. I'll bring it together with your meal.

" "Yes, please. " This is a dish called ナポリタン. It's seasoned with ketchup.

Before 1980, this ナポリタン was commonly served in きっさてん cafés. The neighboring café, "さぼうる," appeared as "すぼうる" in the book "Morozaki Bookstore Days. " The pattern on this bookshelf is part of the design of Jinbocho Station.

That’s because Jinbocho is a town of books. Now, I'm heading home. Please share your thoughts on this video in the comments!

I read all of your comments. They really encourage me. Today, I’ll share a comment with you.

This is from Kwinten-san. "Sensei, sushi is not just 'so-so'! Sushi is amazing!

" Very interesting video. Thank you for sharing your culture. Your sushi making was also very informative.

Looked yummy. Thank you! I said my sushi was just okay (まあまあ) in the video, so that’s why you said this, right?

Thank you! You’re so kind. Your words really warmed my heart.

Actually, the sushi I made in the video turned out better than what I usually make. But I wasn’t confident, so I downplayed it. That’s actually a part of Japanese culture.

But I’ll try to be more positive in my future videos! I always encourage Japanese learners to be more confident in themselves, so I should do the same, right? You made me realize that.

Thank you! Now, to everyone watching As I said, I really want to help Japanese learners speak more confidently. That’s why I created a course to help you improve your pronunciation, rhythm, pitch accent, and intonation.

If you want to feel more confident when speaking with Japanese people, please check out my subscription course! You can find the link in the description. Thank you for watching until the end!

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