東京の夏の風物詩「隅田川花火大会」が今年も開催へ

Welcome to Japanese Daily News. I'm Maya. Today is July seventeenth. One of Tokyo's most famous summer fireworks festivals is coming again this month. Let's listen.

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

A festival that represents Tokyo's summer, the Sumida River Fireworks Festival, is being held again this year.

It means a fireworks festival.

This year it is scheduled to start on Saturday, July twenty-fifth, at seven in the evening.

It means a plan or a schedule.

This is the forty-ninth time, and it is one of the most famous fireworks festivals in Tokyo.

It means famous or well known.

There are two venues, and together they plan to set off about twenty thousand fireworks into the night sky.

It means to set off or launch fireworks.

The history of the Sumida River fireworks is very old; it is said to have begun in the year seventeen thirty-three, during the Edo period.

It means history.

Long ago, the fireworks were set off to comfort the souls of people who had died from illness.

It means to comfort or console someone.

On the day of the festival, many people wear a light summer kimono and gather near the river.

It means a yukata, a light cotton kimono worn in summer.

The venues get very crowded, so the organizers say they want people to come early and enjoy it safely.

It means to be crowded.

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

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

On Saturday, July twenty-fifth, starting at seven in the evening.

The forty-ninth time.

It is said to have begun in seventeen thirty-three, during the Edo period.

That's all for today. The Sumida River Fireworks Festival, one of Tokyo's most famous summer traditions, returns on Saturday, July twenty-fifth, with about twenty thousand fireworks over two venues, carrying on a history said to reach back nearly three hundred years. Thanks for listening, and see you tomorrow.