How to Japanese Podcast · Daniel Morales

Episode 55 - 確か・確かに

·37 min·2 clips

After Norwegian Wood, Murakami ran the 1987 Athens Marathon and then just wandered Greece.

Daniel Morales opens with an apology. He says the mic levels may have been a little low in the last few episodes, thanks new YouTube listeners for joining the feed there, and asks people to let him know if anything still sounds off. It is September 2024, and he sounds relieved to have made it through August, especially because September 23rd is the autumn equinox. He looks back on a brutal summer in Japan, including the first June after returning in 2022 and the move to Osaka in August that year, and says this year felt even worse, even with a pleasant May and June around Golden Week. The month feels like a reset. He explains that he is shifting from a once-a-year September Murakami project to a monthly rhythm, partly because otherwise it would take years to finish the rest of the book and partly because the work gives him something solid to lean on when his energy is low. That matters to him. He says Murakami's writing, especially the nonfiction back catalog, gives him the push to keep reading and keep writing, even if the recent fiction is less useful for that. Routine helps. He describes how preparing the Murakami posts ahead of time made it easier to get through a stretch of low motivation, because the work was already there when he needed it. He links that to a broader lesson. Once language students reach a certain level of fluency, he suggests, they should let their energy and motivation lead, then follow wherever that energy points next. The idea is practical rather than fancy. He brings it back to ordinary life, saying that having a ready-made project can reset the mind in the same way a recurring interest can keep a writer from stalling out completely. Murakami is the anchor. The closing move widens out to neighborhood places all over Japan, the kinds of shops and community spaces that depend on local people to stay alive, and he urges listeners to try them instead of letting them fade into the background. A small detour can pay off. A meal, a book, a new author, a new Sunday morning spot, or a late dinner after work can all come out of one ordinary stop if you give a place a chance.

As heard by us

A September check-in that treats writing routine as a reset.

Episode 55 begins with a mic-level apology and a clear date marker, September 2024, with the autumn equinox near. From there, the host moves from summer fatigue into a steady case for Murakami as a reliable reset, especially when writing needs to keep going even as energy runs…

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Why you'd press play

For a September reset around the autumn equinox that leaves room to read, write, and notice local places.

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