📚📚 Read every day challenge - Winter 2022 ☃❄

[Zakarius]

Homepost - Tigerdate: 20220211

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Tanuki Scroll XLII: 新潟県

Decided to read further on Niigata prefecture because it looked interesting (okay, they all look interesting).

Prefecture Symbol

It symbolises harmony [融ゆう和わ] and hope [希き望ぼう].

Prefecture Tree

ユキツバキ

It grows naturally in the snowy mountains and flowers April - May.

Prefecture Flower

チューリップ

Niigata Prefecture is said to be the birthplace of tulip bulb production (in Japan), and supposedly the largest produces of cut flowers.

Prefecture Bird

トキ

These guys went extinct in Japan in October 2003 when the last female died
But, China donated a breeding pair and their numbers have been steadily increasing. They were also thought to be extinct in China too until the 80s. China, Japan and South Korea are trying to keep the species alive with captive breeding and reintroducing them into the wild (and it looks hopeful too!).

One place they’ve been introduced back to is Sado island in Niigata prefecture.

☆ Learnings ☆

New Words

沖合「おきあい」ー Off Shore; Out at Sea
(This isn’t a new word, it’s on WaniKani, but the meaning seems to be a bit different. WK lists it only as “Open Sea”, but it looks like it’s closer to “Off Shore” the example sentence on WK even translates it as “Off Shore”… so it’s a new word because I’ve had to relearn it.)
広大「こうだい」ー Vast; Extensive; Grand
穀倉地帯「こくそうちたい」ー Grain producing region; Breadbasket (of a country/region)
融和「ゆうわ」ー Harmony; Reconciliation
ユキツバキ「雪椿」ー Snow Camellia
園芸品種「えんげいひんしゅ」ー Horticultural Varieties; Cultivar
葉脈「ようみゃく」ー Leaf Vein
単色「たんしょく」ー Monochromatic
アブラムシ「油虫」ー Aphid
トキ「鴇 or 朱鷺」ー Japanese crested ibis
トキ科「ときか」ー Threskiornithidae​ (a bird family) (I think the Japanese may be a tad easier to remember)
ヘラサギ ー Spoonbill, specifically the Eurasian Spoonbill
嘴「くちばし」ー Beak; Bill

Places
佐渡島「さどがしま or さどしま」ー Sado Island
粟島「あわしま」ー Awashima Island
越後平野「えちごへいや」ー Echigo Plain