Japanese listening diary · Day 233

The Day No One Was Waiting for On Sneakers

誰も並んでいないOnの店
August 27, 2026
About a minuteSlow, natural Japanese
Real JapaneseN5–N3 friendly
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Today’s story きょうの あらすじ

Do you know On, the Swiss sneaker brand? They have a big shop in Ginza in Tokyo, and there is always a line of travellers from overseas outside it. I often walk past that shop, but it was always so crowded that I never went in. Today, though, when I passed the shop, no one was waiting at all. It felt so strange that I asked the staff member at the entrance, “May I come in?” before I went inside. According to the staff, last weekend there were so many customers that the wait was four hours. I walk past that shop all the time, and today was the first time I had ever seen it with no line, so I was really lucky. I tried on the sneakers I had been curious about, checked my size, and came home. Now all that is left is to order them from the online shop.

From the diary にっきから

Excerpt
No. 233Tokyo · morning
日本語 — Japanese
ひらがな — Hiragana
おんという、すいすのすにーかーぶらんどをしっていますか?とうきょうのぎんざに、おおきなおみせがあって、いつも、かいがいからりょこうできたひとたちがならんでいるんです。わたしは、よくそのおみせのまえをとおるんですが、いつもひとがおおくて、はいれませんでした。ところが、きょう、そのおみせのまえをとおったら、だれもならんでいなかったんです。
· · · continues · · ·

Vocabulary ことば

知ってしってto know; as in do you know ...?
並ぶならぶto line up; to queue
戸惑うとまどうto be puzzled; to feel unsure what to do
しょっちゅうしょっちゅうall the time; constantly
試着するしちゃくするto try on (clothes, shoes)

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