A ceremony to light a wood-burning stove was held at the Kobe Municipal Rokkosan Elementary School in Hyogo Prefecture on October 23. Early preparations for winter are made in line with one of the twenty-four solar calendar divisions called soko (the period when frost forms). About 30 children lit a fire by rubbing wooden boards with sticks, and moved the fire to a torch made of bundles of straw. When they lit the stone stove, they shouted with joy, "We did it."

Note: The twenty-four solar terms are based on the ancient Chinese calendar which divided the year into 24 periods. Modern Japan enjoys events based on many of these terms like shunbun (the spring equinox) and shubun (the autumn equinox).

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.

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