A street scene in Tokyo 东京街景

Tokyo is the capital and largest city of Japan and one of the largest cities. 东京是日本的首都，是日本最大的城市，也是全世界最大的城市之一。

The old capital has exactly the same letters as Tokyo but arranged this way: Kyoto. 日本过去的首都是京都，它的英文名字和东京的英文名字是由相同的字母组成的，只不过顺序不同。

If you say Tokyo twice you say Kyoto too—TO/KYOTO/KYO. 如果你说Tokyo两遍，你就说了Kyoto——TO/KYOTO/KYO。

Both Tokyo and Kyoto and all other Japanese cities look quite different from our large cities. 东京、京都，还有其他日本城市看起来与美国的大城市截然不同。

There are no sky-scrapers, few buildings are more than two stories high, and most of them are built of bamboo. 日本城市没有摩天大楼，很少有建筑物在两层以上，大多数房屋都是用竹子建的，

The reason for this is because the sea-serpent is still shaking himself almost every day, 这是因为那条海蛇怪几乎每天会扭动它的身体，

and they have so many earthquakes in these islands that tall houses would be shaken down. 这些岛屿频繁发生地震，高楼都会被震塌。

When an earthquake does come—and slight ones come almost every day and terrific ones every once in a while—the houses can easily be built up again. 如果地震真的发生了——小地震几乎每天都发生，大地震每隔一段时间发生——房子也很容易重建起来。

The chief damage done by the earthquakes, however, is the result of fires started when lights and stoves are upset. 然而，地震造成的主要灾害是由于灯和炉子打翻而引发的火灾。

Then thousands of houses may be destroyed. 发生火灾时，成千上万栋房子都会被烧毁。

There are a few big buildings that are built to withstand earthquakes. 日本也建了一些能够抗震的大型建筑物,

They are built on underground platforms of concrete instead of on the solid rock of the earth. 它们建在地下的混凝土平台上，而不是直接建在地面坚硬的岩石上，

This keeps them from being torn from their foundations when an earthquake shakes the ground; 这样会防止地震发生时建筑物在地基处断裂，

just as a big loose rock lying on the ground might be shaken but would not be broken apart. 就像一块躺在地上的松动的大石头一样，地震时它只会晃动，而不会裂开。

A picture of a Japanese house 日本民居

Japanese houses make fine bonfires, for they are not only made entirely of wood, 日本的房屋适合用作篝火的材料，因为它们不仅全是用木头做的，

but the windows are made of paper and the floors are covered with straw mats. 而且窗户是用纸做的，地板上还铺着用草编织的垫子。

The mats are not made to fit the floor, but the floors are made to fit the mats, which are all of the same size. 垫子不是按照地板的大小制作的，而是地板的规格要适合垫子的大小，而且所有垫子的大小是一致。

The rooms are built to fit six mats, ten mats, and so on. 房间的面积均按照六块草席的大小或十块草席的大小而设计的。

In order to keep the mats clean, the Japanese take off their shoes whenever they enter their houses, and walk about the house in their stocking feet. 为了保持草席清洁，日本人每次进屋前都会脱鞋，穿着袜子在室内行走。