📖 Study Guide
Learn Japanese through stories.
These stories include Japanese culture,
daily life, travel experiences,
and conversations between people.
1. Read the English text.
2. Read the Japanese text.
3. Use Romaji if needed.
4. Review the vocabulary.
🌸 Story
look kind of thin?
なんだか薄くない？
nandaka usukunai?
They do look a little different from summer clouds.
夏の雲とはちょっと違うね。
Natsu no kumo to wa chotto chigau ne.
they were more like…
Big and puffy!
Boom!
That kind of feeling, right?
もっと……
もくもくー！
どーん！
って感じだったよね。
motto…
Mokumokū!
Dōn!
tte kanji datta yo ne.
But today’s clouds
seem to stretch gently across the sky.
でも今日の雲は、
空にすーっと広がってる感じ。
Demo kyō no kumo wa,
sora ni sūtto hirogatteru kanji.
you can tell the season is changing.
季節って変わるんだね。
kisetsu tte kawaru n da ne.
grow upward
high into the sky, nya.
In autumn,
thin clouds that form high in the sky
also become more noticeable, nya.
空の高いところへ向かって
大きく成長する雲にゃ。
秋になると、
空の高いところにできる
薄い雲も目立つようになるにゃ。
sora no takai tokoro e mukatte
ōkiku seichō suru kumo nya.
Aki ni naru to,
sora no takai tokoro ni dekiru
usui kumo mo medatsu yō ni naru nya.
looks different.
空の見え方まで違うんだ。
sora no miekata made chigau n da.
the clouds almost felt like the main character…
雲が主役みたいだったけど……
kumo ga shuyaku mitai datta kedo…
maybe the sky itself feels wider. 😊
空そのものが広く見える感じかな😊
sora sono mono ga hiroku mieru kanji kana. 😊
clouds called “urokogumo” and “iwashigumo”
are also well known in Japan, nya.
うろこ雲やいわし雲と呼ばれる雲も
よく知られているにゃ。
urokogumo ya iwashigumo to yobareru kumo mo
yoku shirarete iru nya.
to the thin, spreading clouds of autumn.
The changing season
was slowly appearing in the sky as well.
秋の薄く広がる雲へ。
季節の変化は、
空の上にも少しずつ現れていた。
aki no usuku hirogaru kumo e.
Kisetsu no henka wa,
sora no ue ni mo sukoshi zutsu arawarete ita.
💭 Story Note
In Japan,
some clouds have familiar names
based on the way they look.
Two well-known autumn expressions are:
うろこ雲（urokogumo）
and
いわし雲（iwashigumo）.
うろこ means “scales,”
and いわし means “sardine.”
So at first,
these names can sound a little strange.
They are both used for clouds
that appear as many small shapes
spread across the sky.
Because these kinds of clouds
are often associated with autumn in Japan,
seeing them can make people feel
that the season is beginning to change.
Japanese seasonal words often connect nature
with familiar things from everyday life.
That is why,
even when simply looking at the sky,
a name like うろこ雲 or いわし雲
can make the changing season feel a little closer.
📚 Vocabulary
Here are four words and expressions from today’s story.
They are useful for talking about clouds, the sky, and the changing seasons in Japanese.
| English | Japanese | Romaji |
|---|---|---|
| cumulonimbus cloud | 入道雲 | nyūdōgumo |
| scale cloud | うろこ雲 | urokogumo |
| sardine cloud | いわし雲 | iwashigumo |
| season | 季節 | kisetsu |
**うろこ雲（urokogumo）** literally means
“scale cloud.”
うろこ（uroko） means “scales,”
like the scales of a fish,
and 雲（くも / kumo） means “cloud.”
The name comes from the way
many small cloud shapes can spread across the sky
and look a little like fish scales.
In Japan,
うろこ雲 is often connected with autumn,
so seeing this kind of sky
can make people notice the changing season.
In Japanese, you might say:
うろこ雲が出てる。
Urokogumo ga deteru.
There are urokogumo clouds in the sky.
うろこ雲を見ると、秋を感じる。
Urokogumo o miru to, aki o kanjiru.
Seeing urokogumo makes me feel that autumn is here.
The word is a good example
of how Japanese sometimes describes nature
by comparing its appearance
with something familiar from everyday life.
🔰 Mix Words and Feel Their Meaning｜ことばを混ぜて、感覚をつかもう
Today’s word is **うろこ雲（urokogumo）**.
Try mixing **うろこ雲**
into English sentences you already understand.
I can see うろこ雲 in the sky.
We sometimes see うろこ雲 in autumn.
The うろこ雲 looks like fish scales.
At first,
just treat **うろこ雲** as one complete word.
It means “scale cloud.”
Instead of remembering only the translation,
try connecting the word
with the shape of the clouds.
When you hear **うろこ雲**,
imagine many small clouds
spread across the autumn sky.
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