11年ぶりの5連休「シルバーウィーク」が始まる

Welcome to Japanese Daily News. I'm Maya. Today is September eighteenth. Starting tomorrow, Japan begins a rare five-day holiday called Silver Week — the first one in eleven years — and millions of people are getting ready to travel. Let's listen.

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

From tomorrow, September nineteenth, Japan enters the Silver Week holidays. It is a big five-day break that lasts until the twenty-third.

It means consecutive holidays — several days off in a row.

Monday the twenty-first is Respect for the Aged Day, and Wednesday the twenty-third is Autumnal Equinox Day. Both are national holidays.

It means a national holiday.

In Japan, there is a rule that a day between two national holidays also becomes a day off. Because of that, the twenty-second, sandwiched in between, becomes a special holiday called a Citizens' Holiday.

It means between — the space between two things.

According to the railway companies, bullet-train reservations are about one point seven times higher than last year. The trains look like they will be very crowded on the nineteenth and the twenty-second.

It means a reservation or booking.

According to travel agencies, the most popular place for overseas trips is Hawaii. Taiwan and South Korea are popular too.

It means overseas travel — a trip to a foreign country.

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

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

Five days — from September nineteenth to the twenty-third.

It is Respect for the Aged Day, a national holiday to honor elderly people.

Hawaii.

That's all for today. If you are in Japan, enjoy the long holiday — and if you travel, the trains will be crowded, so plan ahead. See you tomorrow!