The text
This is a report from a local newspaper; the place and street names are made up. The first paragraph is the lead, which gives the main points first; the background and how it came about come after. As you read, watch the quotation marks: is it a shop owner, a customer, or the reporter speaking?
子どもが店に立つ商店街
ひばり野市のわかば通り商店街で、地元の小学生が店に立つ「こども店長の日」が人気を集めている。子育て世代を中心に買い物客が戻りつつあり、関係者は手応えを感じている。
Show the translation
On the Wakaba-dori shopping street in Hibarino City, “Children’s Shop Manager Day”, when local primary school children work in the shops, is proving popular. Shoppers, mainly families with young children, are starting to come back, and those involved feel it is working.
商店街は駅から歩いて十分ほどの場所にあり、かつては食料品店や衣料品店が並び、多くの客でにぎわった。しかし、郊外に大型の商業施設ができてからは客足が遠のいた。店主の高齢化も進み、後継ぎがいないまま店を閉めるところもあった。シャッターを下ろしたままの店が目立つようになっていた。
Show the translation
The shopping street is about ten minutes’ walk from the station. It was once lined with food and clothes shops and busy with customers. But after a large shopping complex opened on the edge of town, customers stopped coming. Shop owners grew older, and some shops closed because there was no one to take over. More and more shops stood with their shutters down.
取り組みのきっかけは、近くの小学校の授業で商店街を訪れた子どもたちの質問だった。「どうしてお店が閉まっているの」「わたしもお店をやってみたい」。この言葉をきっかけに、若手の店主を中心に話し合いが始まり、実行委員会がつくられた。
Show the translation
The project began with questions from children at a nearby primary school who visited the street during a lesson: “Why are the shops closed?” “I want to try running a shop too.” These words started discussions led by the younger shop owners, and an organising committee was set up.
「こども店長の日」は毎月第二土曜日に開かれる。参加を希望した小学生は、八百屋や文房具店、パン屋など、協力する店に分かれて店頭に立つ。事前に店主から商品の説明や接客の仕方を教わり、当日は大人と一緒に売り場を担当する。代金の計算も、できるだけ子どもたちに任せているという。店によっては、子どもたちが考えた手書きの宣伝カードが商品に添えられている。
Show the translation
“Children’s Shop Manager Day” is held on the second Saturday of every month. Primary school children who sign up are divided among the shops taking part, such as the greengrocer, the stationer and the bakery, and work at the counter. Beforehand, the shop owners teach them about the products and how to serve customers, and on the day they look after the shop floor with an adult. Shops reportedly let the children handle the money as much as possible. In some shops, products come with handwritten advertising cards the children came up with.
子どもが店に立つ日には、その家族や祖父母も買い物に訪れる。「ふだんは車で大型店に行くけれど、孫が店番をする日は必ず来る」と笑う女性もいた。これをきっかけに、商店街のほかの店にも立ち寄るようになった人も少なくない。
Show the translation
On days when children work in the shops, their families and grandparents also come to shop. “I usually drive to the big stores, but I always come on the days my grandchild is minding the shop,” one woman said with a laugh. Quite a few people have started dropping in at other shops on the street as a result.
八百屋を営む女性店主は、「子どもに説明するために、うちの野菜について改めて勉強しました。教えるつもりが、こちらが教わっています」と話す。参加した小学五年生の児童は、「お客さんに『ありがとう』と言われてうれしかった。おつりをまちがえないように、何度も確かめた」と振り返った。
Show the translation
The woman who runs the greengrocer’s says, “To explain things to the children, I studied our own vegetables all over again. I meant to teach them, but I’m the one learning.” A fifth-grade pupil who took part looked back: “I was happy when customers said ‘thank you’. I checked lots of times so I wouldn’t give the wrong change.”
一方で、課題も残る。協力している店はまだ商店街の一部にとどまり、空き店舗の数もほとんど変わっていない。実行委員会の代表を務める文房具店の店主は、「イベントの日だけにぎわうのでは意味がない。ふだんの日にも足を運んでもらえるかどうかが勝負だ」と気を引き締める。
Show the translation
On the other hand, problems remain. The shops taking part are still only part of the street, and the number of empty shops has hardly changed. The stationery shop owner who heads the committee is not letting up: “It means nothing if it’s only busy on event days. What really counts is whether people come on ordinary days too.”
委員会は今後、空き店舗の一つを借りて、子どもたちの作品を飾ったり、買い物客が休んだりできる場所にする計画を進めている。子どもたちの質問から始まった試みが、商店街のにぎわいを取り戻すきっかけになるか、注目される。
Show the translation
The committee is now working on a plan to rent one of the empty shops and turn it into a place to display the children’s work and where shoppers can rest. All eyes are on whether this project, which began with children’s questions, will help bring the shopping street back to life.
Vocabulary
| Japanese | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 地元 | local |
| 子育て世代 | the generation raising children |
| 手応え | (a sense of) results, response |
| 郊外 | suburbs, edge of town |
| 商業施設 | commercial facility (shopping centre and so on) |
| 客足が遠のく | customers stop coming |
| 目立つ | stand out, be noticeable |
| 取り組み | effort, project (to tackle a problem) |
| 若手 | the younger generation (at work) |
| 実行委員会 | organising committee |
| 店頭 | shopfront, at the counter |
| 接客 | serving customers |
| 任せる | leave (something) to, entrust |
| 店番 | minding the shop |
| 立ち寄る | drop in (on the way) |
| 営む | run (a business) |
| 改めて | again, anew |
| 空き店舗 | empty shop |
| 足を運ぶ | take the trouble to go, visit |
| 気を引き締める | brace yourself, not let up |
| 試み | attempt, experiment |
Key sentences
この言葉をきっかけに、若手の店主を中心に話し合いが始まった。
These words started discussions led by the younger shop owners.
Noun + 「をきっかけに」: “triggered by, taking … as a chance” (lesson 22 of the N2 grammar course), followed by a start or a change. It is often used for things that happen by chance; the written form is 「を契機に」. Noun + 「を中心に」: “centred on, mainly” (lesson 17 of the N2 grammar course), for the main group, place or range.
子育て世代を中心に買い物客が戻りつつある。
Shoppers, mainly families with young children, are starting to come back.
Masu form without 「ます」 + 「つつある」: “gradually …-ing” (lesson 6 of the N2 grammar course). It is common in the news and shows a change still in progress, not yet finished.
教えるつもりが、こちらが教わっています。
I meant to teach them, but I’m the one learning.
「〜つもりが」: meant to …, but the opposite happened. 「教える」 and 「教わる」 (learn from someone) are a pair; note the different readings.
協力している店は、まだ商店街の一部にとどまっている。
The shops taking part are still only part of the shopping street.
「〜にとどまる」: stay within (a range or number), hinting that it is “not yet enough”. Reports often use it to lead into a problem.
試みが、にぎわいを取り戻すきっかけになるか、注目される。
All eyes are on whether the project will help bring the street back to life.
「〜か、注目される」 is a common ending for reports. It only says “people are watching”; the reporter doesn’t judge whether it will succeed or fail.
How to read a news report
| Paragraph | Role | Signals |
|---|---|---|
| Paragraph 1 | Lead: where, what project, results | 〜が人気を集めている |
| Paragraph 2 | Background: then and now | かつては〜。しかし〜 |
| Paragraph 3 | Trigger and how it began | きっかけは〜だった |
| Paragraph 4 | Details of the project | 〜という |
| Paragraphs 5–6 | Effects and what people say | 〜と話す／〜と振り返った |
| Paragraph 7 | Problems | 一方で、課題も残る |
| Paragraph 8 | Plans | 〜か、注目される |
Tip
The first paragraph of a report (the lead) is the main point of the whole article, so when asked what the report is mainly about, go back to it first. Reporters usually don’t give their own opinions directly; views are put in other people’s words, introduced with 「〜と話す」 or 「〜と気を引き締める」. In questions, options saying “the reporter thinks … will definitely …” usually go too far.
Culture
A 「商店街」 is a street near a station or in a residential area lined with small family shops such as greengrocers, butchers and sweet shops. Many have gone quiet because of large out-of-town stores and online shopping, and places all over Japan are trying events and new uses for empty shops to bring people back.