「Suicaのペンギン」の後継を決める投票が始まる

Welcome to Japanese Daily News. I'm Maya. Today is September ninth. After almost twenty-five years, the penguin on Japan's Suica transit card is retiring, and the public gets to vote on its successor. Let's listen.

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

On the eighth, JR East opened a vote to choose the new face of its Suica transit card.

It means a vote, or voting.

The current character, the little penguin, has been loved since Suica was born in 2001 — almost twenty-five years.

It means to hold something dear, to feel close to it.

The penguin graduates on March thirty-first of next year, and the new character takes over the following day.

It means a changeover — one taking the place of another.

There are three candidates: one like a squirrel, one like a rabbit, and a mole.

It means a candidate.

Anyone can vote once, regardless of nationality.

It means nationality.

The result comes out on November eighteenth this year — exactly twenty-five years after Suica was born.

It means birth.

The new character's nickname will be decided by a selection committee, with ideas gathered from the public.

It means a nickname.

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

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

March thirty-first, twenty twenty-seven.

Three — a squirrel type, a rabbit type, and a mole.

On November eighteenth — Suica's twenty-fifth birthday.

That's all for today. Twenty-five years is a long career, even for a penguin. If you have a favorite, the vote is open until September twenty-third. See you next time on Japanese Daily News.