Hiragana Noir: Shadows in the Dark
I’m working on a new project that’s a little different to all my other work. And I’m proud to announce that it’s finally complete and undergoing editing!
It’s called ‘Hiragana Noir: Shadows in the Dark’ and it’s a neo-noir detective story. In the story the protagonist, Damian Day, is hired to investigate a casino heist. Like most noir stories, what begins as a routine investigation, quickly escalates into a labyrinthine of twists and deceit.
If this is the first you’ve heard about it, there’s one or two unique things about this book. Take a look:
So what is so unique about this project then?
…it’s probably easier to show you rather than explain. Take a look at those same pictures again:
What I’ve tried to create is a compelling and natural way for absolute beginners to read a story (in English) and pick up the Japanese script Hiragana along the way. While I have seen some educators build stories around pre-existing mnemonics before (no idea ever comes completely out of the blue), I feel there is a subtle difference in what I’m trying to achieve. They primarily use a story to illustrate existing mnemonics, with this, the story generates the mnemonics and connects them into a cohesive narrative, embedding them twists, characters, turning points, and clues. Learners acquire the script in a way that feels intuitive, emotionally resonant, and meaningful - because the mnemonics matter to the story. Alternatively, another way to look at it all is, if I removed the Hiragana overlays from the illustrations (like the ones you see above), the story and pictures would still work on their own as an engaging noir mystery.
When I began this project, I actually didn’t even have a list of mnemonics I wanted to incorporate. I simply began writing. And even though I had previously written over 100 Hiragana mnemonic flashcards, I let the story have its way and what surprised me was how naturally new mnemonic moments emerged from the plot. I’ve come up with a name for this approach, the Narrative Mnemonic Method (NMM). In short, it’s about focusing on compelling story first, language lesson second. Rather than focusing on symbols in isolation, it is a language acquisition approach that blends storytelling and script learning through contextual mnemonics moments. And it’s something I’ve been working on for nearly a year now - with most of that time being dedicated to crafting the story itself. It even has over 150 illustrations (although there’s over 400 sketches on my iPad), 16,000 words and a soundtrack, well technically three soundtracks - one for each act of the story. If you’re curious of the vibe, have a listen. It features the music of renowned composer Kevin MacLeod.
If you still don’t get what I’m talking about, let me give you an example by showing you how I came up with the mnemonic for the Hiragana symbol も ‘mo’. The idea for this one came about when I was writing a scene where the protagonist visits a lowly ramen shop under a bridge at 3:45 in the morning (if you’re curious about which track goes along with it, it’s ‘Cool Vibes’ Act 1 song 6). I wanted to capture the idea that the shop had been a fixture for night owls, drunkards and shift workers in River City for a long time. That people were drawn to it with it’s big, red lantern (for Sydney-siders, the inspiration for this was Harry’s Cafe in Woolloomooloo). Eventually… I found the right words, “Nestled under a railway bridge in the heart of River City sat Hiro’s - a fixture for night owls, drifters and shift workers with its dull red lantern, drawing them in like moths to a flame.”
The second I wrote that line I realized that: Firstly, the ‘mo’ in ‘moth’ makes the perfect sound for the Hiragana も. Second, も does somewhat resemble the circular shape of a lantern (see below for pictures). And Three, the two horizontal lines could actually be moths buzzing around it. Now, you probably could have given me a million years and I wouldn’t have come up with that mnemonic, UNLESS I happened upon it while I was writing. While not crucial to the plot, it does serve the story in creation of the atmosphere which is important for making a compelling piece of writing. And while you could easily learn Hiragana through these mnemonics outside of the story, I feel like they’re stronger inside of it.
Now… I know NMM won’t be for everyone and some more experienced learners might be like “Umm.. don’t waste your time and money, just pull up Tofugu mnemonics and just learn them in a few days”. While I agree there may be faster ways of learning, here’s the thing - not everyone learns the same way. Some people are fine with structured drills and repetition, but some learners need something more compelling and I’d wager that the majority of learners never even make it past learning Hiragana. Like it or not, learning how to read and write does put a cognitive load on students and Hiragana is a threshold concept some never scale. This novella does the ‘heavy lifting’ for you with immersion acting as ‘glue’, so you can stick with it. So, I’d say this book and approach would be great for those who have struggled with traditional language strategies in the past.
Also, if you’ll permit me to argue for NMM for a second, if you read the story and keep pace with the soundtrack, then you introduce all 46 Hiragana in under two hours - Which ain’t too shabby if you ask me. But the real question is, is drilling random mnemonics told in isolation more effective than learning them inside of a narrative? While I haven’t conducted a lot of research yet (watch this space), I think it may proof a valid entry point to the language. I will say that I have used this particular story with beginners to introduce Hiragana and with more experienced students to revise Hiragana and I saw immediate effects with high-levels of engagement.
Putting effectiveness aside though, I’ve just plain enjoyed writing and illustrating this book. It’s nice to go out on a limb with something and it may actually be important, maybe even essential to the entire idea. When I write stories in Japanese or English, the story has to come first for it to be compelling. And I think the only way to write something compelling is, in the words of the enigmatic David Bowie, to “ never play to the gallery”.
I suppose there’s a whole other reason I’m doing this too. If you speak to me for long enough, you might strike upon the right topic and learn that I wasn’t always a high school language teacher. I’m not saying this story is autobiographical or anything, but it has been cathartic revisiting my past and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed exploring the power of visual storytelling.
There’s a lot to unpack here and I’m sure people have questions, so feel free to drop a comment on Instagram or Facebook, or just shoot me an email, I’ll respond. Oh and btw, the flashcards from this story will also be included as a free addition to the existing Bakemono Hiragana Flashcard set!
Happy Sleuthing!
P.S.
I don’t expect many people to spot this, but this actually isn’t the first appearance of Damian Day (he makes a brief appearance in The Story Pit)
