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fluentbyear
🇯🇵 Japanese · Fluency Level 3

PART 1 · LESSON 5 OF 30 · 30 MINUTES

Obon in Kyoto

At the family grave in Kyoto at Obon, with Hana on Ben's back, Yui's mother tells Grandfather that Hana is two, Yui's father tells Ben to speak for himself, and Ben looks back on seven years in Japan and forward to the years to come, before the cucumber horse and the aubergine ox explain why the family goes home slowly.

Audio instruction: English

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THE STORY

The family grave in Kyoto at Obon, incense lit, Hana on Ben's back. Yui and her father are plain; her mother is polite; Ben is polite with her parents.

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Words and phrases

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おじいさん、 はな は、 にさい です よ。ojīsan, Hana wa, nisai desu yoGrandfather, Hana is two.
はな、 て を あわせて。 こう よ。Hana, te o awasete. kō yoHana, hands together. Like this.
ベン くん、 じぶん で、 いいなさい。Ben-kun, jibun de, iinasaiBen, tell him yourself.
にほん で、 ななねん、 くらして きました。nihon de, nananen, kurashite kimashitaI've lived in Japan for seven years now.
これから も、 ここ で、 くらして いきます。kore kara mo, koko de, kurashite ikimasuFrom here on too, we'll live here.
よし。 さかな も、 きいた な。yoshi. sakana mo, kiita naGood. The fish heard that too.
きゅうり が うま、 なす が うし。kyūri ga uma, nasu ga ushiThe cucumber is the horse, the aubergine the ox.
じゃ、 わたしたち も、 ゆっくり かえります。ja, watashitachi mo, yukkuri kaerimasuThen we'll go back slowly too.