(こめ)

Rice (uncooked)

(ねだん)

price

(たかい)

expensive; high

(にほん)

Japan

(すーぱー)

supermarket

(こんびに)

convenience store

(かう)

to buy

(ひと)

person / people

(みんな)

Everyone; everybody

(こまる)

to be troubled; to be in difficulty

(ある)

a certain (some)

(みせ)

shop, store

(きろ)

kilogram, kilo

(きょねん)

last year

(えん)

yen (currency); circle

(すくない)

few, scarce

(りゆう)

reason; cause

(てんき)

weather

(わるい)

bad

(あまり)

not very / not much (with negative)

(できる)

to be able; to be made

(それに)

in addition, moreover

(がいこく)

foreign country

(くる)

to come

(たくさん)

a lot / many

(たべる)

to eat

(せいふ)

government; administration

(くに)

country; the government

(もつ)

to have; to hold

(だす)

to serve, put out

(りょう)

Quantity; amount; volume

(ふえる)

to increase; to grow

(やすい)

cheap / inexpensive

(しかし)

however, but

(まだ)

still; yet

(ごはん)

cooked rice; a meal

(すき)

liked, favorite

(はやい)

early / fast

(ひ)

day

(まつ)

to wait

to become (い-adjective)

Expresses a change of state for い-adjectives. Drop the final い and add くなる. Indicates something has changed or will change to a new state.

is doing, has been doing (ongoing state/action)

Expresses a continuing action or resulting state. Formed with て-form + いる. Can describe an action in progress or a state resulting from a past change.

than / more than

Indicates comparison. Used to say prices rose on average 2.8% compared to last year.

about ~ / approximately ~

Indicates approximate quantity. About 230mm of rain falls normally.

nominalizer (the act of ~)

Turns a verb phrase into a noun. Here 話を聞くこと (the act of listening to a speech).

~ and (i-adjective connector)

The て-form of i-adjectives, used to connect two adjectives or to give a reason. Formed by replacing い with くて.

Did not ~ (polite past negative)

Polite past negative form of verbs. Expresses that something did not happen in the past.

if/when ... (automatic result)

The conditional と indicates that when the first action happens, the second naturally or automatically follows. Often used for rules, natural consequences, and habitual results.

米の値段が高くなった

The price of rice has gone up

日本で米の値段が高くなっています。

In Japan, the price of rice is rising.

スーパーやコンビニで米を買う人は、みんな困っています。

Everyone who buys rice at supermarkets and convenience stores is having a hard time.

ある店では、5キロの米が去年より1000円ぐらい高いです。

At one store, five kilograms of rice is about 1,000 yen more expensive than last year.

米が少ないことが理由です。

The reason is that there is not much rice.

去年は天気が悪くて、米があまりできませんでした。

Last year the weather was bad, so not much rice was produced.

それに、外国から来た人が日本の米をたくさん食べています。

On top of that, people who have come from abroad are eating a lot of Japanese rice.

政府は国が持っている米を店に出しました。

The government released rice held by the state to stores.

米の量が増えると、値段が安くなります。

When the amount of rice increases, the price goes down.

しかし、まだあまり安くなっていません。

However, it has not become much cheaper yet.

ご飯が好きな人は、早く安くなる日を待っています。

People who love rice are waiting for the day it finally gets cheaper.