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⚡ SCIENCE · 2026-07-11

かみなりは なぜ 鳴るのか

Same news, rewritten for 6 Japanese school grades — pick your level below. Furigana + translation included.
152 chars · ~3 min · 20 kanji
⚡ SCIENCE 光 ひかり
Same sentence · 6 levels

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夏なつの 空そらに 黒くろい 雲くもが 出でると、かみなりが 起おきる。

雲くもの 中なかでは、氷こおりの つぶが ぶつかって、電気でんきが たまる。

たまった 電気でんきは、光ひかりに なって 空そらを 走はしる。

音おとより 光ひかりの ほうが 速はやいので、先さきに 光ひかりが 見みえる。

光ひかってから 音おとが 聞きこえるまでの 時間じかんで、きょりが わかる。

かみなりの 音おとを 聞きいたら、すぐ たてものの 中なかに 入はいって 体からだを 守まもろう。

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Translation

When black clouds appear in the summer sky, lightning occurs.

Inside the clouds, ice particles bump into each other and electricity builds up.

The stored electricity turns into light and runs across the sky.

Light is faster than sound, so we see the flash first.

The time between the flash and the thunder tells us the distance.

When you hear thunder, go into a building right away to protect yourself.

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Why six school grades, and not N5–N1?

Because that is how Japanese children learn to read. Japan's Ministry of Education fixes exactly which character belongs to which grade — so "grade 3" is a boundary you can verify, not a feeling. Every article here is machine-checked: if a single character sits above its grade, it is not published.

The result: you never hit a character you have not learned. That is the whole reason this product exists.

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