The Memphis Grizzlies of the American professional basketball league NBA announced on October 19 that they have signed a two-way contract with 23-year-old Yuki Kawamura, who was participating in their camp. By signing this contract, he can play in the upcoming NBA games. If he plays in an NBA game, he will become the fourth Japanese NBA player.

Note: The kanji characters for gatsu in jugatsu (October) and nichi for jukunichi (19th) were originally pictograms depicting the moon and sun, respectively. For more details, refer to the October 21 and July 8 installments of this series.

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.