What JLPT level is みじかい音?

みじかい音 is suitable for JLPT N5 level readers (estimated JLPT N5).

Who wrote みじかい音?

みじかい音 is an original short story written by Yomimaru for JLPT N5 learners.

How long does みじかい音 take to read?

みじかい音 takes about 14 minutes (around 496 words) to read at a learner's pace.

作品さくひんFree Graded Reading

みじかい音The Sound the Water Makes

by Yomimaru

JLPT N5Original storyShort StoryQuiz ready

Everyone expects Sota to inherit the knife shop. He starts teaching Aya instead.

About this story

Two families in one mountain village make the kitchen knives the whole country cooks with, and only two teenagers are left to take the work on. Everyone expects Sota to inherit the trade. Months before the examination that decides it, he starts teaching Aya everything he knows.

An original story written by Yomimaru for JLPT N5 readers.

Read a sample in Japanese

白しろいぬのの上うえに、包丁ほうちょうが二に本ほんならんでいた。右みぎがソウタの、左ひだりがアヤのだ。見みに来きた村むらの人ひとは、みんなおじいさんとおばあさんだった。この村むらの包丁ほうちょうは、日本にっぽん中ちゅうにある。包丁ほうちょうを作つくるうちは、二ふたつしかない。子こどもも、二に人にんだ。山下やましたさんが、右みぎの包丁ほうちょうを手てにとって、まどの光ひかりに上あげた。「ソウタのは、いい」それから、左ひだりの包丁ほうちょうを見みた。手てにはとらなかった。「アヤのは、まだだな」みんながわらった。アヤもわらった。三月さんがつに試験しけんがある。いい包丁ほうちょうを作つくった人ひとが、この村むらの包丁ほうちょうを作つくる。ソウタは、へやにいなかった。アヤが外そとに出でると、草くさの中なかで下したを見みていた。「今日きょう、うちに来きて」とソウタが言いった。アヤの顔かおは、見みなかった。その日ひから、ソウタはアヤに包丁ほうちょうの作つくりかたを教おしえた。外そとはくらかった。火ひのへやだけが、あかるかった。ソウタのつくえの上うえに、大おおきい石いしから小ちいさい石いしまでならんでいた。そのとなりに、虫むしの入はいったびんが一ひとつ。「それ、何なに？」「見みているだけ」

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What you'll learn

The village puts two knives on a white cloth, one from each of the two houses that still make them, and the old man who judges likes one and not the other. A test in March will decide who makes the village's knives. Between now and then the two young smiths spend their evenings at the forge, where hot steel goes into cold water and every quench makes a sound.

Language difficultyBeginner · 23/100

Key vocabulary

包丁ほうちょう	hōchō — a Japanese kitchen knife, forged with a single hard cutting edge
ぬの	cloth; a length of fabric
村むら	village
試験しけん	a test; an examination
音おと	a sound; a noise
石いし	a stone; here, a sharpening stone
火ひ	fire; the forge fire
虫むし	an insect; a bug

Grammar points you'll meet

～ていた (V-te ita) N4The past of ～ている. It describes a state that was going on: things were lined up, someone was looking. The story tells almost everything in this form, so read it as a picture rather than an action.
白しろいぬのの上うえに、包丁ほうちょうが二に本ほんならんでいた。
しか～ない N4しか plus a negative means "only", with a sense that it is not many. The verb has to be negative, so ふたつしかない says there are two and no more.
包丁ほうちょうを作つくるうちは、二ふたつしかない。
～があります N5～がある states that something exists or that an event is scheduled. Here the plain ある is used for a date on the calendar: there is a test in March.
三月さんがつに試験しけんがある。
～ている N5The te-form plus いる for an action in progress. In a line of dialogue it often answers a question about right now, so 見ている means "I am (just) looking".
見みているだけ
～く/ ～になる N5An i-adjective drops い and takes く before なる to say something became that way. あつい becomes あつく, so あつくなった is "got hot".
手てがあつくなった。
～てから N5Te-form plus から means "after doing X". It orders two events, and the second one only starts once the first is finished.
あかくなってから、うった。

Cultural notes

One town, the country's knivesJapanese kitchen knives are tied to the towns that forge them, and a very small place can supply the whole country. The skill is not taught in a school; it passes inside a workshop, from the people who already have it to the next pair of hands.
Uchi is the house and the tradeUchi means a home, but it also means the household as a going concern. A knife-making uchi is a family workshop, so counting the houses in this village is the same as counting the makers.
March is the end of the yearIn Japan the school and business year runs from April to March, so March is when terms finish, results come out and places are settled. A test set in March is a test at the last possible moment.

Sensei's reading tip

The particle の often stands in for a noun that was already named. When a line reads "Souta's, Aya's" and then stops, supply the word knife yourself and the sentence lands.