On September 17, which corresponds to August 15 in the old lunar calendar, the harvest moon was visible across the country. In the city of Gifu, it appeared above Mount Kinka and shined as if to illuminate Gifu Castle on the mountain. Many people gathered on the banks of the nearby Nagara River to catch a glimpse of the moon and castle together. They pointed cameras and smartphones at the round moon and took photos of the scene.
Note: In the Japanese text, the same kanji character is pronounced gatsu (month), getsu (moon) and tsuki (moon). The first two are the Chinese-derived readings, categorized as on-yomi, and the third is the Japanese way, or kun-yomi. Refer to the September 4 and September 9 installments of this series for more on kanji with multiple readings.
Japanese original
The easy Japanese news is taken from the Mainichi Shogakusei Shimbun, a newspaper for children. This is perfect material for anyone studying Japanese who has learned hiragana and katakana. We encourage beginners to read the article in English followed by Japanese, or vice versa, to test their comprehension.
A fresh set will be published every Monday to Friday at 4 p.m., Japan time. Click/tap here for past installments.
Intermediate learners who do not need English assistance can directly access the Mainichi Shogakusei Shimbun site here . Furigana (hiragana) is added to all kanji in the text.
Easy Japanese news in translation: Harvest moon lights up Gifu Castle
