How to Say "Reading Books" in Japanese

読書

dokusho[do̞kɯ̟̊ɕo̞]

読書 (dokusho) is the Japanese phrase for reading books.

読書 refers to the activity or hobby of reading books. You can use related terms such as 小説 (shousetsu) for novel, or 図書館 (toshokan) for library.

What does it mean word for word?

The word is composed of the kanji 読, which means read and 書, which means book or writing.

Additionally, adding the suffix 家 (ka) to the word creates 読書家, a term used to describe an avid reader or a bookworm.

dokusho

The kanji 読 (read) is also used in 空気を読む (kūki o yomu), which literally means 'reading the air' or sensing the mood.
Japan has a unique category of 'reading' called 朗読 (rōdoku), which is the art of reading aloud for an audience as a formal performance.
In Japanese, the suffix 家 in 読書家 does not mean 'house', but instead denotes a specialist or a person with a highly developed skill in a particular field.

読書が好きです。
I love reading books.
This sentence is useful for expressing a love for 読書.
Tatoeba #123400 by bunbuku, translation #259747 by CK
読書は好きですか？
Do you like reading books?
This sentence is useful for asking if someone enjoys 読書.
Tatoeba #10574442 by small_snow, translation #11328776 by ddnktr
彼は読書に没頭した。
He devoted himself to reading books.
This sentence is useful for describing someone who devoted themselves to 読書.
Tatoeba #101587 by bunbuku, translation #302107 by CK
私は毎晩本を読んでいます。(Watashi wa maiban hon wo yonde imasu.)
I read books every evening.
是非、その本を拝読させていただければ幸いです。(Zehi, sono hon wo hairedoku sasete itadakereba saiwai desu.)
I would be delighted if I could read that book.
8 more sentences on Tatoeba

Yui and Hiroto are talking about their hobbies at a cafe.

結衣 Yui

大翔さんの趣味は何ですか？
Hiroto-san no shumi wa nan desu ka?
Hiroto, what is your hobby?
大翔 Hiroto

僕は読書が趣味です。
Boku wa dokusho ga shumi desu.
My hobby is reading books.
結衣 Yui

読書は楽しいですよね。
Dokusho wa tanoshii desu yo ne.
Reading books is fun, isn't it?
大翔 Hiroto

はい、とても楽しいです。
Hai, totemo tanoshii desu.
Yes, it is very fun.

Sources

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