New Anime Center Opens in Tokyo

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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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「アニメ東京（とうきょう）ステーション」ができた　アニメを世界（せかい）に紹介（しょうかい）
"New Anime Center Opens in Tokyo"
This news story was published on NEWS WEB EASY's website on November 1st.
 
Now let's go over some vocab words that will help us understand what's going on.
 
アニメ
anime, which is a style of film and television animation that originated in Japan.
 
台本（だいほん）
script, as in the written text of a TV show or screenplay
 
人気（にんき）が高（たか）い
highly popular
 
Let's keep these words in mind as we listen.
 
「東京（とうきょう）の池袋（いけぶくろ）に10月（がつ）31日（にち）、「アニメ東京（とうきょう）ステーション」がオープンしました。日本（にっぽん）のアニメを世界（せかい）に紹介（しょうかい）する場所（ばしょ）です。
ここには、アニメをつくったときの絵（え）や台本（だいほん）などが5万（まん）ぐらいあります。飾（かざ）って見（み）せている会場（かいじょう）のほかに、人気（にんき）が高（たか）いアニメを紹介（しょうかい）する会場（かいじょう）もあります。今（いま）は「NARUTOーナルトー」で有名（ゆうめい）な場面（ばめん）などを紹介（しょうかい）しています。
見（み）に来（き）た人（ひと）は、写真（しゃしん）を撮（と）って好（す）きなアニメを楽（たの）しんでいました。フランスの人（ひと）は「日本（にっぽん）のアニメはすごいので、日本（にっぽん）が好（す）きになりました」と話（はな）していました。」
 
Anime Tokyo Station, a new facility dedicated to showcasing Japanese animation to a global audience, recently opened in the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo.
 
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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（とうきょう）の池袋（いけぶくろ）に10月（がつ）31日（にち）、「アニメ東京（とうきょう）ステーション」がオープンしました。
 
"On October 31st, Anime Tokyo Station opened in Ikebukuro, Tokyo."
 
In the phrase オープンしました, the term オープン comes from the English word "open." It's used to say that a store, restaurant, or other establishment is open for business.
 
We can describe the act of opening a new store by using the verb 開（ひら）く and saying 店（みせ）を開（ひら）く. But we can also use the loanword オープン and say 店（みせ）をオープンする.
 
So オープンしました is a way of saying that a new business has opened. We useました when we want to convey an event that occurred in the past.
 
OK, on to our next sentence. This is a quote from a visitor from France.
 
日本（にっぽん）のアニメはすごいので、日本（にっぽん）が好（す）きになりました
"Japanese anime is amazing. It's why I came to love Japan."
 
The expression すごい is mostly used in spoken Japanese.
 
It's an adjective that originally described a situation or state that was "terrible" or "dreadful." But today it's commonly used to emphasize that something is striking or remarkable in terms of some quality.
 
So depending on context, すごい can mean "amazing." For example, 彼（かれ）はすごい才能（さいのう）がある, means "He has tremendous talent."
But it can also describe the severity of something. So 昨夜（さくや）、すごい雨（あめ）が降（ふ）った means "The rain was really coming down last night."
 
Speaking of severity, another similar expression is ひどい. It's a word we use to say that a situation is cruel, harsh, or very bad.  If you ever hear someone say ひどい！ you can be sure that they disapprove.
 
Indeed. And that's all for today.
When it comes to anime attractions in Tokyo, most people usually think of the Akihabara neighborhood. But Ikebukuro is also home to many anime and manga-related shops and facilities.
 
The newly opened アニメ東京（とうきょう）ステーション, which is run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, has an archive of around 50,000 items. They include scripts, storyboards, and animation cels from classic anime like "Astro Boy," "Dragon Ball," and "Fist of the North Star." I can't wait to see what kind of exhibitions they have in store.
 
Definitely. Be sure to tune in next time for more!
 
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