World News for Students of English

12-07-2022 07:00

Kyoto was Japan’s capital for more than one thousand years. It changed in the 19^th century when Tokyo became the capital, but Kyoto stayed one of the most important Japanese cities.

Millions of tourists visited Kyoto every year to see its old temples and gardens and to taste its food.  In 2019, 50 million visitors came to the city; its population was 1.45 million. The city was full of tourists, and local people complained about too many cars and too many visitors. Also, the visitors often didn’t follow rules and Japanese etiquette.

In 2019, the pandemic came, and the city became very quiet. Local businesses struggled, and after Japan opened to tourists again, only about 10% to 30% of people came. Local people wish that more tourists visit again with money.

Difficult words: temple (a building where people talk to a god), etiquette (the rules of how to behave well among other people), struggle (to deal with a difficult situation).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.