1.
dragonfly
A flying insect with a long body and two pairs of transparent wings.
赤い蜻蛉が飛んでいる。
Red dragonflies are flying.
蜻蛉を捕まえようとした。
I tried to catch a dragonfly.
秋になると赤蜻蛉がたくさん見られる。
In autumn, you can see many red dragonflies.
蜻蛉 is associated with late summer and autumn in Japan.
SPECIES:
- 赤蜻蛉: red dragonfly (symbol of autumn)
- オニヤンマ: giant dragonfly
- シオカラトンボ: common skimmer
CULTURE:
- Symbol of autumn and victory (doesn't fly backward)
- Featured in the famous children's song '赤とんぼ'
- Called '勝ち虫' (victory insect) by samurai
KANJI NOTE: Often written in hiragana (とんぼ). The kanji 蜻蛉 can also be read as 'かげろう' (mayfly).