Go Tokyo Your Experience
Have you been reading novels recently?
Have you been reading novels recently? Compared to animation, comics, or games, have you invested much less time and effort into novels? Japanese light novel author Hiroshi Karui recently proposed that reading novels is a very niche hobby.
However, he used students from animation vocational schools as an example to argue, which sparked controversy among netizens about the lack of fairness in this sampling. Let’s take a look at how Japanese netizens view whether the hobby of reading novels is unpopular.
A lecturer from an animation vocational school once shared such an experience. The ‘Have you watched any animations in classAt that moment, almost all the students raised their hands. askHave you all read comicsMore than half of the students raised their hands. askHave you all played video gamesAt that time, only a quarter of the students raised their hands
Until I asked, ‘Have you guys read novels?’ only one or two classmates raised their hands in fear. (But I haven’t personally been to an animation vocational school, I just listened to him.)
Japanese light novel writer Hiroshi Karui talked on X platform about what he heard from a lecturer at an animation college about how young people rarely read novels.
Works of Hiroshi Asai
Hiroshi Aoi’s work “The Nordic beauty’s classmate becomes unbelievably sweet after becoming my betrothed partner” is being serialized.
Based on the above experience, Hiroshi Aoi believes that reading novels belongs to a super niche interest, which has also sparked widespread discussion among Japanese netizens. Some people agree with his statement, believing that there are indeed very few people who read novels, and have proposed some reasons why they do not read novels.
However, some netizens have questioned whether discussing this issue with students from animation vocational schools as a sample may lack fairness. If we change the sample to students from novel writing schools, the result may be completely different.
The reaction of Japanese netizens
I think it’s because reading novels requires more prior knowledge. On the contrary, animations and comics can rely on visuals to explain, which puts less burden on the audience
I have thought about this question before. I think many people who like animation first fall in love with the characters before reading them. However, novels cannot see the appearance of the characters, so it makes people lose interest in reading them. However, in reality, after starting to read novels, many people gradually use their imagination and become completely obsessed with them. Nevertheless, when describing certain scenes, I still prefer to look at pictures
Because images and music can make people passively watch, while novels require active reading, and the processing ability of the brain also varies from person to person
“I even think that modern young people seldom watch cartoons. Some people obviously come to learn how to write novels, but they don’t read novels or cartoons. They haven’t even touched games? They just watch Tiktok videos all day.”
This should be related to whether students are easily exposed to these interests and hobbies.
Animation: Requires TV or mobile phone with internet connection
Manga: Need thousands of yen in pocket money, otherwise you can only watch pirated versions online
Game: Requires tens of thousands of yen in pocket money, otherwise you can only watch live broadcasts or play free mobile games
Novel: The cost is between comics and games, otherwise you can only go to the library
Maybe students just think that light novels are not considered novels
After all, I asked at the Animation Vocational School, so of course I would get this result
If the same question is asked at a novelist lecture, the result should be different, right
What is the situation of young people reading novels for everyone?