Most people in their twenties and right after college have preferred to live in a hustle and bustle of a big city – eager to accomplish and achieve something. Facing a large amount of work load, working in a stable and secured company, and making friends with everybody everyday can be a lot of fun. But in Japan, this kind of notion is changing. Younger Japanese generation now opt to live in rural areas. A 29-year-old mother, Kanako Sato, is one of the many who have chosen to live in a slow-paced and secluded area.
It all started back when she was doing her volunteer work – cultivating the land, planting vegetables, and other farming activities. According to her, there are no local jobs provided because jobs in rural areas are created. A story like Kanako Sato’s also support the data conducted by the Japanese government in 2014, that about 40 percent of the Japanese have settled to move to rural areas and live a simpler life rather than in a comfortable living condition in the city.
Vocabulary:
hustle and bustle – energy and excitement
notion – an individual’s conception or impression of something known, experienced, or imagined
opt – to make a choice
prefer – to like something better than something else
secluded – living or kept away from others
True or False:
- Most people in their twenties and right after college have preferred to live in a hustle and bustle of a rural city.
- Younger Japanese people are now charmed to live in secluded rural areas than to stay in urban ones.
Kanako Sato, in the article, is a sociologist. - Forty percent of the Japanese people have settled to move to rural areas and live a simpler life, according to the data conducted by the Japanese government in 2014.
- The article is about how bad it is to live in the urban areas.
Defend your argument:
- It is difficult to live in the city.
- It is difficult to live in the rural areas.
- It is difficult to live overseas.
- Forty percent of the Japanese people have settled to move to rural areas, according to a data conducted last 2014.
Express your opinion:
- Younger people are more into settling down in the slow-paced rural areas.
- Young people should live in the city; retired ones should move to the countryside.
- Share your thoughts about this quote: “I roamed the countryside searching for answers to things I did not understand.” – Leonardo da Vinci