What JLPT level is 幻聴?

幻聴 is suitable for JLPT N1 level readers (estimated JLPT N1).

How long does 幻聴 take to read?

幻聴 takes about 9 minutes (around 710 words) to read at a learner's pace.

作品さくひんFree Graded Reading

幻聴Auditory Hallucination

Genchō

by 蘭郁二郎 · Ran Ikujirō

JLPT N1Short StoryClassical / archaicQuiz ready

A terrifying tale of auditory hallucinations that predict real deaths.

About this story

A tormented narrator laments their cursed fate and introduces the terrifying phenomenon of clairvoyance.

Read a sample in Japanese

ああ皆様、なんという私は、この呪われた運命の下に生まれなければならなかったのでございましょう。――思っても嫌な嫌な、バタバタと足をふみならし、歯ぎしりをしてのたうちたいような、居ても立ってもいられない、焦燥の真ッただなかにほうりこまれてしまったのでございます。――こんな愚痴を申し上げてよいものか？……さあ、一寸、ためらうのでございますけれども……。皆様、「千里眼」というものを御存じでしょうか――、アア、そうお笑い下さいますな、イカにも突ッ拍子もない事を申し上げたようですけど――だが、それはまだこの言葉の持つ恐ろしい意味をご存じない、幸福な方だからでございます。

Read the full text with furigana + instant lookups in Yomimaru →

Source

This text comes from Aozora Bunko (青空文庫), the volunteer-run library of Japanese writing that is out of copyright. See this work on Aozora Bunko

Base edition (底本): 「怪奇探偵小説名作選7　蘭郁二郎集　魔像」ちくま文庫、筑摩書房
2003（平成5）年6月10日第1刷発行

Typed in by 門田裕志. Proofread by 川山隆.

Yomimaru changed the spelling to modern kana and modern kanji, and replaced classical grammar and some archaic words with modern ones.

The furigana are Yomimaru's.

What you'll learn

The narrator introduces their curse of clairvoyance and describes its terrifying effects, including hearing future events and auditory hallucinations.

Language difficultyAdvanced · 85/100

Key vocabulary

千里眼 (せんりがん)	clairvoyance
呪われた (のろわれた)	cursed
幻聴 (げんちょう)	auditory hallucination
符合する (ふごうする)	to coincide
四面楚歌 (しめんそか)	being surrounded by enemies; desperate situation
鉄柵 (てっさく)	iron bars

Grammar points you'll meet

～なければならない N4must do something
この呪われた運命の下に生れなければならなかったのでございましょう
～に違いない N2must be; definitely
神経衰弱に違いない
～かもしれない N4might; maybe
――こんな愚痴を申し上げてよいものか？
～てしまう N4to finish doing (often expressing regret)
焦燥の真ッただなかにほーりこまれてしまったのでございます
～てならない N2cannot help but feel
私は私自身が恐ろしくて堪らないのでございます
～というものだ N2a thing called (emphatic)
「千里眼」というものを御存じでしょうか

Cultural notes

千里眼 (Clairvoyance)The ability to perceive events or information beyond normal sensory contact, often associated with spiritual or psychic phenomena in Japanese folklore and modern media.
Sanatorium with Iron BarsThe narrator is in a sanatorium (保養院) with iron bars on windows, suggesting a mental institution. This setting reflects early 20th-century Japanese medical treatment for nervous disorders.
四面楚歌A Chinese-derived idiom meaning 'besieged on all sides,' used here to describe the narrator's overwhelming sense of being attacked by voices from all directions.