山形の新しいお米「ゆきまんてん」、知事と小学生が稲刈り

Welcome to Japanese Daily News. I'm Maya. Today is September sixteenth. In Yamagata, in northern Japan, the governor and a group of elementary school students harvested a brand-new variety of rice together. Let's listen.

Now let's break it down, sentence by sentence.

On September fourteenth, in Yamagata City, there was a harvest of a new variety of rice.

It means rice harvesting — cutting and gathering the rice plants in the field.

Rice harvesting is the work of cutting and gathering the grown rice in autumn.

It means autumn.

The governor of Yamagata Prefecture and fifth graders from an elementary school harvested the rice together.

It means governor — the leader of a prefecture.

It is a new variety of rice that Yamagata Prefecture created. It is scheduled to be sold in stores next year.

It means a plan or a schedule.

This rice has large grains, and it is strong against the heat.

It means strong.

A ten-year-old boy said the stalks were thick, so cutting them was hard work.

It means hard, or tough.

The boy also said he wants to try eating it as plain white rice.

It means cooked rice, or a meal.

The governor said the weather was good this year, so the rice grew big.

It means to grow.

Next month, there is going to be an event to introduce this new rice.

It means to introduce something to people.

Let's listen to the whole story one more time.

Time for a short quiz. Listen and try to answer.

In Yamagata City, in northern Japan.

The governor of Yamagata Prefecture.

Starting next year.

That's all for today. New rice varieties like this one are being developed because Japan's summers are getting hotter. See you next time.