"Japan Bans Trade of Invasive Crayfish and Turtles"

"Japan Bans Trade of Invasive Crayfish and Turtles"

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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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アメリカザリガニとアカミミガメ 売（う）ることや捨（す）てることが禁止（きんし）
　
"Japan Bans Trade of Invasive Crayfish and Turtles"
This news story was published on NEWS WEB EASY's website on June 1st.
　
Now let's go over some vocab words that will help us understand what's going on.
　
アメリカザリガニとアカミミガメ
red swamp crayfish and pond slider turtles.
Both of these creatures are non-native species that were introduced to Japan and can now be found all across the country. They're known to be highly reproductive and are wreaking havoc on local ecosystems.
　
輸入（ゆにゅう）
import
　
Let's keep these words in mind as we listen.
　
「日本（にっぽん）では、えさやペットにするために、アメリカザリガニとアカミミガメを輸入（ゆにゅう）していました。この２つの生（い）き物（もの）が増（ふ）えすぎて、昔（むかし）から日本（にっぽん）にいた魚（さかな）などの住（す）む所（ところ）が少（すく）なくなっています。このため6月（がつ）1日（ついたち）から、法律（ほうりつ）が変（か）わりました。
輸入（ゆにゅう）することや売（う）ること、川（かわ）に捨（す）てることなどが禁止（きんし）になりました。違反（いはん）すると、いちばん厳（きび）しい場合（ばあい）「刑務所（けいむしょ）に3年（ねん）入（はい）る」か「300万円（まんえん）の罰金（ばっきん）を払（はら）う」という罰（ばつ）があります。
今（いま）飼（か）っているペットはそのまま飼（か）うことができます。川（かわ）や池（いけ）で捕（つか）まえることもできます。
環境省（かんきょうしょう）によると、ミドリガメを飼（か）っている家庭（かてい）は110万（まん）ぐらいあります。飼（か）い続（つづ）けることが難（むずか）しいと思（おも）う人（ひと）は、電話（でんわ）で相談（そうだん）できます。」
　
The law was revised on June 1st to ban the import and sale of red swamp crayfish and pond slider turtles. And while it's OK to continue to keep them as pets, releasing them into the wild is prohibited.
　
One note about terminology—at the end of the news story we heard the term ミドリガメ. This is another name for pond sliders.
　
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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:
　
このため6月（がつ）1日（ついたち）から、法律（ほうりつ）が変（か）わりました。
　
"For this reason, the law was revised on June 1st."
　
このため is a conjunction that means "for this reason" or "because of this."
Conjunctions are used to connect sentences or clauses. In this case the preceding sentence is the cause and the situation described after the conjunction is the effect.
　
We also use the similar conjunction そのため, which means "for that reason" or "as a result." So 電車（でんしゃ）が遅（おく）れた。そのため、学校（がっこう）に遅刻（ちこく）した。 means "The train was late, and as a result I was late for school."
　
Both このため and そのため are conjunctions that indicate cause. The difference is that we use そのため when we're talking about something that directly pertains to us. In the sentence そのため、学校（がっこう）に遅刻（ちこく）した the subject is I.
　
In contrast, we often use このため to connect objective facts or statements. That's why in news broadcasts it's more common to hear このため.
　
OK, let's move on to our next sentence.
　
今（いま）飼（か）っているペットはそのまま飼（か）うことができます。
　
"You can continue to keep any pets you currently own."
　
Let's talk a little about pronunciation and where to place the accent.
The verb 飼（か）う means to keep a pet or other animal. So ミドリガメをペットとして飼（か）う means "Keep a pond slider as a pet."
　
As similar sounding verb is 買（か）う, as in コンビニでアイスを買（か）う "Buy ice cream at the convenience store."
　
These are two distinct verbs written using different kanji. And although they may have the same syllables, the accent is different. When we're talking about pets, it's 飼（か）う. But when we're talking about buying something, it's 買（か）う.
　
And that's all from us today.
　
Pet ownership is a long-term commitment that's not to be taken lightly.
　
All right, be sure to tune in next time for more!
　
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