"Fires Caused by Third-Party Batteries on the Rise"

"Fires Caused by Third-Party Batteries on the Rise"

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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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純正（じゅんせい）ではないバッテリーの火事（かじ）が多（おお）い
　
"Fires Caused by Third-Party Batteries on the Rise"
This news story was published on NEWS WEB EASY's website on June 16th.
　
Now let's go over some vocab words that will help us understand what's going on.
　
純正（じゅんせい）
genuine
In the context of today's story, this word is used to refer to batteries that are "official" or "certified authentic."
　
バッテリー
battery
　
専用（せんよう）の
dedicated or purpose-built
　
Let's keep these words in mind as we listen.
　
「東京消防庁（とうきょうしょうぼうちょう）によると、携帯電話（けいたいでんわ）や掃除機（そうじき）などのバッテリーが原因（げんいん）の火事（かじ）が増（ふ）えていて、2021年（ねん）には東京都（とうきょうと）で141件（けん）ありました。この中（なか）の20件（けん）は「純正（じゅんせい）」ではないバッテリーが原因（げんいん）でした。純正（じゅんせい）のバッテリーは、携帯電話（けいたいでんわ）などを作（つく）った会社（かいしゃ）が売（う）っている専用（せんよう）のバッテリーです。
掃除機（そうじき）に純正（じゅんせい）ではないバッテリーを使（つか）っていた女性（じょせい）は「安（やす）かったから買（か）いました。使（つか）い始（はじ）めて2日（ふつか）か3日（みっか）あとに煙（けむり）が出（で）て、掃除機（そうじき）の下（した）にあったテーブルが焼（や）けました」と話（はな）しました。純正（じゅんせい）ではないバッテリーを使（つか）っていた自転車（じてんしゃ）の火事（かじ）も起（お）こっています。」
　
The number of fires caused by third-party batteries being used with smartphones, vacuum cleaners, and other devices is on the rise.
　
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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:
　
東京消防庁（とうきょうしょうぼうちょう）によると、携帯電話（けいたいでんわ）や掃除機（そうじき）などのバッテリーが原因（げんいん）の火事（かじ）が増（ふ）えていて、2021年（ねん）には東京都（とうきょうと）で141件（けん）ありました。
　
"According to the Tokyo Fire Department, fires caused by batteries in cell phones, vacuum cleaners, and other devices are on the rise, with 141 cases in Tokyo in 2021."
　
In Japanese we have two words for "battery": バッテリー and 電池（でんち）. バッテリー usually refers to rechargeable batteries and battery packs, like the ones used in smartphones and other devices, or in cars.
電池（でんち）, in contrast, refers to disposable batteries. Standard alkaline batteries that we use in clocks and remote controls are also called 乾電池（かんでんち）.
　
Right, car batteries are rechargeable , so we say 車（くるま）のバッテリー and not 車（くるま）の電池（でんち）.
　
We also heard the phrase によると, which is a combination of the particle に and よると. It means "according to," so it's a way to identify an information source. In our story today the source is 東京消防庁（とうきょうしょうぼうちょう）or the Tokyo Fire Department.
　
Another way to say によると is によれば.
　
When we're talking about hearsay, or when we don't want to explicitly state a source, we can use a verb related to communication followed by ところによると.
For example, 聞（き）くところによると means "from what I hear." 伝（つた）えられるところによると means "reportedly" or "allegedly."
　
Alright, let's move on to our next sentence.
　
純正（じゅんせい）ではないバッテリーを使（つか）っていた自転車（じてんしゃ）の火事（かじ）も起（お）こっています。
　
"There have also been fires caused by electric bicycles equipped with non-genuine batteries."
　
The word 純正（じゅんせい）describes something that is pure and genuine.
　
So genuine parts that are available directly from the original manufacturer of a product are called 純正品（じゅんせいひん）. These are usually the exact same parts that your product came fitted with in the first place.
　
And that's all for us today.
Now with all the devices we own and carry around these days, rechargeable battery packs have really become indispensable in our daily lives.
　
Right. All the more reason why we should choose replacement batteries with care. Manufacturer-certified batteries in particular have gone through rigorous testing, so they're generally more reliable and safer.
　
Indeed. Alright, be sure to tune in next time for more!
　
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