Practice English with NewsPractice with News
Entertainment197 words2 min read

Winning Numbers Announced for Japan's Summer Jumbo Premium Lottery

A large group of red and white daruma dolls
Photo by Max Tcvetkov on Unsplash
0:00 / 0:00

Listen to the story

The winning numbers for Japan's Summer Jumbo Premium lottery have been announced. This was the 1114th national draw.

The lottery is one of several large national lotteries held in Japan each year. People across the country buy tickets hoping to win a large cash prize.

News of the winning numbers was reported by local media, including outlets in Saga Prefecture, showing how widely people follow these results.

Japan's biggest lotteries can offer jackpots of up to around 800 million yen, an extremely large amount of money by any standard.

In related entertainment news, two well-known Japanese personalities, Tomomi Kahara and Yoko Minamino, discussed on television what it would be like to win such a huge sum.

Both said the idea of winning 800 million yen would be 'too worrying,' rather than simply exciting.

Their comments reflect a common feeling that a sudden, enormous windfall could create stress as well as opportunity.

After each draw, ticket holders check their numbers against the official results to see if they have won a prize.

Lottery winnings in Japan are tax-free for the winner, which adds to the appeal of these games despite the very low chance of winning.

Vocabulary6 words

lottery
a game where people buy tickets for a chance to win money
draw
the event when the winning numbers are picked
tickets
papers bought to enter the lottery
cash prize
money given to the winner
jackpots
the biggest possible prize in a lottery
windfall
a large amount of money received suddenly and unexpectedly

Quiz

1. What does the article mainly report?
2. How much can Japan's biggest lottery jackpots reach?
3. According to the article, are lottery winnings in Japan taxed?

Fill-in-the-blank listening

Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.

The winning numbers for Japan's Summer Jumbo Premium _____ have been announced. This was the 1114th national _____.

The lottery is one of several large national lotteries held in Japan each year. People across the country buy _____ hoping to win a large _____.

News of the winning numbers was reported by local media, including outlets in Saga Prefecture, showing how widely people follow these results.

Japan's biggest lotteries can offer _____ of up to around 800 million yen, an extremely large amount of money by any standard.

In related entertainment news, two well-known Japanese personalities, Tomomi Kahara and Yoko Minamino, discussed on television what it would be like to win such a huge sum.

Both said the idea of winning 800 million yen would be 'too worrying,' rather than simply exciting.

Their comments reflect a common feeling that a sudden, enormous _____ could create stress as well as opportunity.

After each draw, ticket holders check their numbers against the official results to see if they have won a prize.

Lottery winnings in Japan are tax-free for the winner, which adds to the appeal of these games despite the very low chance of winning.

Discussion questions

  1. Would you enjoy playing a lottery like this? Why or why not?
  2. Do you think winning a huge amount of money suddenly would cause more happiness or more stress?
  3. Why do you think local media reports lottery results so widely?
  4. If you won 800 million yen, what would you do first?

More Entertainment stories