The season for seeing "water mirrors," when peaks of the Northern Alps are reflected upside down in rice paddies filled with melted snow, has arrived in the city of Azumino, Nagano Prefecture.

Water filled the paddies in Azumino around the long holiday period. As a result, water mirrors appear in paddies in various locations. Snow-capped Mount Jonen, at an altitude of 2,857 meters, and Mount Yokotoshi, at 2,767 meters, are reflected on clear, windless mornings, and they look beautiful.

Note: Ogata renkyu in the Japanese text literally means "major consecutive holidays" and, in most cases, points to the "Golden Week" holidays.

Japanese original

The easy Japanese news is taken from the Mainichi Shogakusei Shimbun, a newspaper for children. This is perfect material for anyone studying Japanese who has learned hiragana and katakana. We encourage beginners to read the article in English followed by Japanese, or vice versa, to test their comprehension.

A fresh set will be published every Monday to Friday at 4 p.m., Japan time. Click/tap here for past installments.

Intermediate learners who do not need English assistance can directly access the Mainichi Shogakusei Shimbun site here . Furigana (hiragana) is added to all kanji in the text.