地球儀 (Chikyuugi, lit. The Globe) is a 1923 short story written by Makino Shin'ichi. A question on this work appeared in the 2013 National Center Test for University Admissions. Because it is short, the reading passage appears in its entirely here. The story has an anomalous structure in that inserted in its middle is a first-person story written by the narrator. This “novel within a novel” contains English forcibly converted to katakana, which left many test takers slack-jawed in bewilderment. It was not unusual for English to be written in hiragana and katakana for learning English in the Taishō period. However, for Japanese people today, it can only seem like some sort of hocus-pocus chant. “Spin-spin,” which appears in the reading passage, has become an meme as a wicked spell to cause students to fail their entrance exams.
Under the round window in the same room of his grandfather, and working at a desk riddled with insect-eaten holes, he learned to read the "National Reader" textbook from his mother.
“SIIZEEBOY, ENDZEEGAARU (see the boy, and the girl),” his mother read softly. The desk lamp made from a bamboo stem illuminated her face. “SUPIN A TOPU, SUPIN A TOPU, SUPIN A TOPU, SUPIN-SUPIN-SUPIN” his mother continued, and then in her native tongue, “Spin, top, spin, spin,”
...
As she was saying this, his mother lightly spun the globe with a flourish and then immediately stopped it. “HUE--YA? HUE--YA ... Wait! No matter how many times I hear the name, it's no use. I quickly forget.” “HEEYAAHEBUN(Fairhaven),” his mother replied to him immediately. This was the name of the place where his father ~his grandfather's oldest son~ had gone. He only knew his father's face from a photo.
As a matter of fact, because the correct answer is not found in the katakana-English parts, if you don't become confused, the question is not difficult to answer.
EDIT: Ugh, someone wrote about this test question in the entry on “Makino Shin'ichi” in the Japanese version of Wikipedia. Wikipedians in Japan... don't you know other ways to spend your time?
