"J.League Celebrates 30th Anniversary"

"J.League Celebrates 30th Anniversary"

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Welcome to "Learn Japanese from the News."
　
Join us as we learn Japanese and about the country through Japanese news stories. Today's headline is…
　
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サッカーのJリーグができてからちょうど30年（ねん）
"J.League Celebrates 30th Anniversary"
This news story was published on NEWS WEB EASY's website on May 16th.
Now let's go over some vocab words that will help us understand what's going on.
　
プロ
pro, as in professional
　
Jリーグ
J. League, which is Japan's professional soccer league.
　
交流（こうりゅう）
exchange or interaction
　
Let's keep these words in mind as we listen.
　
「1993年（ねん）5月（がつ）15日（にち）、日本（にっぽん）にプロのサッカーリーグ「Jリーグ」ができました。最初（さいしょ）は10のクラブで始（はじ）まって、今（いま）は60に増（ふ）えました。
5月（がつ）15日（にち）、Jリーグができてから30年（ねん）をお祝（いわ）いするイベントがありました。
この中（なか）で、ファンが選（えら）んだすばらしい選手（せんしゅ）の発表（はっぴょう）がありました。いちばんになったのは、J2のジュビロ磐田（いわた）の遠藤保仁（えんどうやすひと）選手（せんしゅ）でした。遠藤（えんどう）選手（せんしゅ）は43歳（さい）で、今（いま）までJ1でいちばん多（おお）い672試合（しあい）に出（で）ました。
Jリーグは、クラブと町（まち）の関係（かんけい）を大切（たいせつ）にしています。名古屋（なごや）グランパスは、近（ちか）くに住（す）んでいるブラジル人（じん）と交流（こうりゅう）を続（つづ）けて、いろいろな人（ひと）が一緒（いっしょ）に生活（せいかつ）する社会（しゃかい）にするために活動（かつどう）をしています。」
　
J. League celebrated its 30th anniversary on May 15th.
Supporters named 43-year-old midfielder Endo Yasuhito the MVP of the league's first 30 years.
　
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Now we'll break down a few sentences from the story that contain helpful expressions and keywords.
Let's start with the following sentence:
　
1993年（ねん）5月（がつ）15日（にち）、日本（にっぽん）にプロのサッカーリーグ「Jリーグ」ができました。
　
"On May 15th, 1993, the professional soccer league known as J.League was established in Japan."
　
The word プロ is short for プロフェッショナル（professional）. Here it refers to people who earn a living in an occupation such as a sport. For example, a professional baseball player is プロ野球（やきゅう）選手（せんしゅ）. A professional soccer player is プロサッカー選手（せんしゅ）. And a professional golfer is プロゴルファー.
The opposite of プロ is "amateur." In Japanese we say アマチュア or アマ for short.
　
Prior to the creation of J. League, soccer in Japan was an amateur team sport.
Alright, let's move on to our next sentence.
　
名古屋（なごや）グランパスは、近（ちか）くに住（す）んでいるブラジル人（じん）と交流（こうりゅう）を続（つづ）けて、いろいろな人（ひと）が一緒（いっしょ）に生活（せいかつ）する社会（しゃかい）にするために活動（かつどう）をしています。
　
"Nagoya Grampus has been interacting with the local Brazilian community and working to create a society where people from all walks of life can live side-by-side."
　
交流（こうりゅう）means "exchange," that is, the act of trading information and opinions with others as a way to build a relationship. More specifically, it's a term we use to describe people from different regions or organizations visiting each other and sharing knowledge and ideas.
　
For example, 国際交流（こくさいこうりゅう）means "international exchange" or "foreign exchange." It involves creating opportunities for people from different countries to interact with each other.
We also have what we call 交流会（こうりゅうかい）, which is a "social gathering" or "meetup." It's a chance to meet new people and get to know each other. In this context, 交流（こうりゅう）refers to "mixing" and "mingling."
　
And that's all for today.
When J. League kicked off it had just 10 teams, but today that's grown to 60. It really speaks to how popular soccer has become here. In fact, according to one survey of schoolchildren, soccer player is the number one dream job among boys.
　
That's cute. There are many J. League players that have gone on to play for international teams in countries like Germany and the U.K. It's inspiring to see them do so well.
　
Exactly.
　
And be sure to tune in next time for more!
　
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