These sentences were read aloud by real people — native Japanese speakers — for the open Mozilla Common Voice project. Listen to how a phrase sounds in real speech: the intonation, the pace, the way words run together. Two speakers mean two different people read it — compare them.
気付くと都庁上空に現れ、あっという間に昼間の新宿を闇の中に飲み込んだ。
きづくととちょうじょうくうにあらわれ、あっというまにひるまのしんじゅくをやみのなかにのみこんだ。Before anyone knew it, it appeared above the Metropolitan Government Building and in an instant swallowed daytime Shinjuku in darkness.
気付くと、もう夕方になっていた。
きづくと、もうゆうがたになっていた。Before I knew it, it was already evening.