今日の英和対訳天声人語（おじさん的英語習得法、若い君ならもっと簡単かも。）

Astronauts feeling the `force' in outer space

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Astronauts feeling the `force' in outer space

07/29/2005

In autumn 1981, I was at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to watch the launching of the space shuttle Columbia.

2005年07月28日（木曜日）付
【天声人語】

　スペースシャトル・コロンビアの打ち上げをケネディ宇宙センターで見たのは、８１年の秋だった。

At lift-off, a huge ball of dazzling white gold light formed under the rocket's thrusters.

The next moment, the air shuddered and a tremendous shock wave reached the press section at the space center. I can still recall the vibrations that rippled through my body.

　天に向かうロケットの噴射口の下に、白金のきらめきを強烈にしたような巨大な光の玉が見えた。やがて、空気を大きく揺るがす衝撃波が記者席に届き、体が小刻みに震えたのを覚えている。

Tension, mingled with solemnity, filled the space center. In the eternal flow of time, Earth travels an orbit that has been predetermined by space dynamics, with humanity clinging to its surface. Every shuttle launch represents a dauntless challenge by humanity to break free of that law of space dynamics and trace an orbit of its own design. But some challenges have ended tragically.

　打ち上げを見守る現場には、緊張感とともに、厳粛な雰囲気が感じられた。悠久の時の流れの中で、地球は宇宙の力学によって定められた軌道を巡っている。その地球に張り付いて同じ軌道を巡る人類が、地球を飛び出して独自の軌道を描こうと試みる命がけの現場だった。そしてその挑戦は、時には悲惨な結果をもたらした。

On Tuesday, nearly two and a half years after Columbia's midair disintegration on Feb. 1, 2003, the space shuttle Discovery was launched. Among the crew is Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi.

"It's a dangerous mission, but it is worth the challenge in terms of what could be gained from space and the intellectual stimulation this will give the younger generation," Noguchi noted.

　コロンビアの空中分解事故から約２年半、日本人の宇宙飛行士・野口聡一さんたちを乗せたディスカバリーが打ち上げられた。野口さんは述べている。「危険性はあるが、宇宙から得られる利益や、若い世代への知的な刺激のため、挑戦する価値がある」

Fifty years ago, Japan test-launched its first domestically built "pencil rocket." What was small and crude half a century ago has now evolved into massive and highly sophisticated spacecraft.

No human endeavor is ever completely error-free. For now, however, all I pray for is that Noguchi and his fellow Discovery crew members will fully enjoy their time in space and return safely when their mission is complete.

　初の日本産ロケット「ペンシルロケット」の発射実験から５０年になる。素朴な仕組みは、巨大で複雑なものになった。人間のなすことでは、失敗の可能性を完全には消し去れない。しかし今は、野口さんたちが任務を果たし、宇宙を存分に味わって帰還することを念じたい。

One of the Apollo astronauts, reminiscing about his mission to the moon, said something to the effect, "In outer space, there is a `force' that transcends everything. There is neither beginning nor end. All that exists is a `will' that created this wonderful universe."

I wonder if Noguchi has also felt that force in outer space.

　アポロ計画で月に行った宇宙飛行士のひとりが、後年述べた。「宇宙にはすべてを超えた『力』がある。始まりも、終わりもない。ただ、すばらしい世界をつくった『意志』があるだけなんだ」。野口さんたちもまた、宇宙の力を感じただろうか。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 28(IHT/Asahi: July 29,2005)

Author believed Edo ways best suited Japan

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュース< /a>で時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。 参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Author believed Edo ways best suited Japan

07/28/2005

By her own account, author Hinako Sugiura, who died last Friday at the age of 46, loved things associated with life during the Edo Period (1603-1867).

She loved kumade (bamboo rakes), yuya (bathhouses), mimikaki (ear picks), shakushi (ladles), kotatsu (foot warmers), kaya (mosquito nets), ohaguro (dyed-black teeth), ohitsu (rice tubs), zukin (hoods), and sugoroku (a Japanese variety of the Parcheesi dice game).

The list is taken from a series of essays Sugiura wrote for a local edition of The Asahi Shimbun under the title of "Inkyo no Hinatabokko" (Basking in the sun after retirement).

It gave readers some ideas about Sugiura's peculiar world-a leisurely, yet sad and potentially dangerous cosmos.

Besides being a manga cartoonist and essayist, she was known for her studies on Edo Period manners and customs.

2005年07月27日（水曜日）付
【天声人語】

　くまで　ゆや　みみかき　しゃくし　こたつ　かや　おはぐろ　おひつ　ずきん　すごろく。

　４６歳という若さで亡くなった杉浦日向子さんが、本紙の地域版に連載した随筆「隠居の日向ぼっこ」の題の一部だ。のどかで、かなしくもあり、こわさをも秘めた独特の世界の入り口が見える。日ごろ江戸の町家に住み、時に現代に通ってくる女性の浮世絵師といった風情があった。

Referring to the Edo Period in "Oedo Kanko" (Doing the sights in Edo), a book published by Chikuma Shobo, Sugiura wrote:

"I have no intention of singing the unabashed praises of the modern feudal system (that marked the Edo Period). But it was clearly different from the feudal system that existed in the Japanese medieval period or the European feudal system. I think the modern feudal system in the Edo Period was more open and more orderly. The nation's social structure was better attuned to it.

　『大江戸観光』（筑摩書房）で江戸時代をこう述べた。「近世封建制を手放しで礼賛する気はありませんが、かといって、中世封建制やヨーロッパのそれとは明らかに違う、もっとひらけた、秩序的にも社会構造的にも明快なものと思います」

"I cannot help thinking," she went on to say, "that the lifestyles created during the Edo Period were just the styles that fitted Japan's climate and the characteristics of its people."

Touching on the fact that Japan incessantly waged war after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, she wrote, "The only reason I can think of is that we were overreaching ourselves."

Her belief that overexertion was a universal vice apparently led to her surprise decision to retire as a cartoonist while she was still in her 30s.

　「風土・民族に適合した生活様式であった筈（はず）」で、明治以降の、絶え間なく戦争をしてきた近代日本は、「やっぱり無理をしているとしか思えません」。無理をしない心の構え方が、漫画家からの３０代での「隠居宣言」にもつながったのだろうか。

In 1988, Sugiura was awarded the Bungei Shunju Cartoon Prize for "Furyu Edo Suzume" (Folks of refined taste in Edo), a series of comic strips dealing with poor but proud men.

She wrote a senryu humorous poem for each segment, and these poems made a sublime combination with the pictures.

I remember two poems, one of which went: "Having nobody to think about/ The person puts up a mosquito net." The other poem read: "Hailed as a hero/ The man can do nothing/ When his wounds smart under falling snow."

As for the pictures, I was captivated by her depictions of life in Edo tenement houses and river snowfall scenes.

　８８年に文芸春秋漫画賞を受けた「風流江戸雀」では、一話の首尾に配した川柳と絵との絡みが絶妙だった。「物思う相手がなさに蚊帳を釣り」「男じゃといはれた疵（きず）が雪を知り」。長屋暮らしや、雪もよいの川端の一景に引き込まれた。

Like a native of Edo, her favorite food was buckwheat noodles. More precisely, she liked to visit buckwheat noodle shops. In "Motto Sobaya de Ikou" (More relaxation at buckwheat noodle shops), a Shincho Bunko book, she recommended such shops as a place for people to visit for temporary relaxation.

"If you have something to do today, you can do it tomorrow," Sugiura wrote. "You will have to live until you die." Then a punch line: "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

　江戸っ子らしくソバ好き、というより「ソバ屋好き」だった。『もっとソバ屋で憩う』（新潮文庫）では、ソバ屋でのいっときの安らぎを勧めている。「今日できることは、明日でもできる。どうせ死ぬまで生きる身だ」。その先の一行が、目にしみる。「ソンナニイソイデドコヘユク」

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 27(IHT/Asahi: July 28,2005)

Get some exercise to prepare for the Big One

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Get some exercise to prepare for the Big One

07/27/2005

Under the lunar calendar, Saturday was taisho, supposedly the year's hottest day. The weather could have been sizzling. As it happened, it was not.

A big earthquake struck without the usual telltale sideways motion that precedes most jolts. The quake's epicenter was in Chiba Prefecture.

2005年07月26日（火曜日）付
【天声人語】

　大暑にしては過ごしやすい土曜の夕方だった。いつもの、さざ波のような前触れをほとんど感じないうちに、突然大きな揺れが来た。千葉県を震源とした２３日の地震である。

The walls were creaking in my house. I ascertained that nothing was on the gas range and speculated about the intensity of the temblor. Unable to recall a stronger quake in the Tokyo area over the past 10 years or so, I assumed this one had at least an intensity of 4 on the Japanese seismic scale of 7 in the capital.

　家のどこかの壁が、みしみしいっている。火を使っていないことを確かめながら、東京では、ここ１０年に一度あったかどうかの大揺れだから、震度４以上だろうと推測した。

Before long, there was a news flash on TV. Readings of lower 5 were registered in Chiba Prefecture and elsewhere in the Kanto district, but not in Tokyo. I was relieved to see that all reported figures stayed under the intensity 6 level as anything over that could have spelled disastrous damage.

Not seeing Tokyo on the list of worst-hit areas, I assumed the temblor had measured 4 or less in the capital. More than 20 minutes later, however, another news flash reported an intensity of upper 5 had been registered in Adachi Ward.

　テレビで速報が始まる。千葉方面などが震度５弱だ。大災害が予想される震度６以上の地点が見あたらないので、ひとまずほっとする。都内は震度４以下なのかと思っていると、２０分以上たったころ、突然足立区が、この地震で最大の震度５強と出た。

By way of explanation, officials said it had taken more time than expected to transfer data from the Tokyo metropolitan government to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Under the present system, data yielded by seismographs installed in wards, cities, towns and villages are first sent to the Tokyo metropolitan government, which transmits the information to the meteorological agency.

The system, introduced after the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995, involved cutting-edge technology and was thought to be the fastest one for data transmission.

The Tokyo metropolitan government intends to take prompt steps to improve the situation since the limits of anti-quake programs now in place have been exposed.

　都庁から気象庁にデータが届くのが遅れた。区市町村の地震計などのデータは都庁に集められ、変換して気象庁に送信される。阪神大震災を機に導入したシステムで、当時は最先端で最高速だったという。都庁では、今回の地震でシステムなどの限界が表れたとして早急に抜本的な改善をすることにした。

Seismic information constitutes the core of data needed to forecast the extent of quake-caused damage and work out countermeasures. Still, the delivery of information was delayed at a crucial time. The upshot of this is that the infrastructure in place in Tokyo to prepare for a feared Big One, a shallow-focus earthquake, is highly unreliable.

　震度情報は、被害の予測を立てたり対応を決めたりするための基本的なデータだ。一刻を争うシステムが、大事な時に滞るとは。直下型の大地震が懸念される首都の備えとしては、はなはだ心もとない。

Fortunately, the weekend temblor did not cause major damage. Yet, it exposed the vulnerability of transportation systems like railways and elevators.

We had better start exercising more to prepare for an emergency. An earthquake can hit anytime, whether we are cautious or not. If the Big One does not strike, surely no one will complain.

　今回は大災害には至らなかったが、鉄道やエレベーターなど、人を運ぶ仕組みのもろさが露呈した。できれば、日ごろから足腰を鍛えておいた方がいいのだろう。地震は、忘れていてもいなくても、いつかはやってくる。もしも、やってこないなら、それはそれで言うことはないのだから。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 26(IHT/Asahi: July 27,2005)

Anti-terror police unit looks to mythic Kratos

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Anti-terror police unit looks to mythic Kratos

07/26/2005

In Greek mythology, the creator of humankind, Prometheus, incurs the ire of Zeus for stealing fire and giving it to the human race. In "Prometheus Bound," a tragedy by Aeschylus, Zeus orders his servant Kratos, the god of strength, to chain Prometheus to the rocks on a barren mountainside.

2005年07月25日（月曜日）付
【天声人語】

　ギリシャ神話のプロメテウスは、天上の火を人間に与えたかどで、最高神ゼウスの怒りを買う。アイスキュロスの悲劇「縛られたプロメテウス」には、山にプロメテウスを縛り付ける役のひとりとして、クラトスが登場する。ゼウスのしもべ・クラトスは「権力」を意味するという。

In response to the terrorist bombings in London, the city's Metropolitan Police reportedly adopted new internal guidelines. Code-named Operation Kratos, the guidelines allow anti-terrorism troopers to aim for the head, not the body, if they suspect someone is carrying explosives.

At a London subway last Friday, police shot a man at point-blank range. It was later determined the man had nothing to do with the bombings.

　同時爆弾テロが続いたロンドンで、ロンドン警視庁が、「クラトス」作戦と呼ぶ新しい作戦を展開中と伝えられる。テロ狙撃チームが爆弾所持者らを撃つ場合は、下半身ではなく頭を狙うように内部規定を変えた。先日、ロンドンの地下鉄で、警官が男性に対して至近距離から発砲し、死亡させた。その男性は、爆破事件には無関係だったことが分かった。

Police were obviously trying to do all they could to prevent a third terrorist bombing in London. Londoners, meantime, must be praying to get through each day without incident.

　警察は、ロンドンでの３度目の同時テロは絶対に許さないという決意で、捜査に全力を挙げていたにちがいない。市民もまた、祈るような思いで、日々を過ごしているのだろう。

Suspicion fires the imagination and makes one jump at shadows.

　疑心暗鬼という言葉が思い浮かぶ。疑心が生じると、実際にはありもしない恐ろしい鬼の形が見えるようになる。

In this vicious cycle of suspicion breeding fear, people do extreme things they normally would not do.

Right after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, for instance, false rumors spread about "Koreans plotting to attack Japanese citizens," and many Koreans were massacred.

　何でもないことでも疑わしくなり、恐ろしくなる。そして、いつもなら踏みとどまるはずなのに、突き進んでしまう。かつて日本では、関東大震災で「朝鮮人が襲撃してくる」というデマが広がり、多くの人が殺害された。

Back to Greek mythology. Kratos had a sibling, Bia, the personification of might and force. The two were always together.

The use of terrorist force must never be condoned, of course. Still, crossing the line by resorting to might and force must never happen.

　クラトスには、ビアという兄弟がいて、そちらは、「暴力」を意味する。神話では、クラトスとビアは、いつも一緒だという。もとよりテロという暴力は許し難いが、「権力」は、「暴力」と同居しないよう踏みとどまるべきだろう。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 25(IHT/Asahi: July 26,2005)

Koizumi's barber has hair-raising nightmares

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Koizumi's barber has hair-raising nightmares

07/25/2005

A South Korean movie, shown this year in Japan under the Japanese title of "Daitoryo no Rihatsushi" (The president's barber), is about a man who became the barber of President Park Chung Hee.

Having never expected to be chosen for this role, the man is more terrified than honored.

He realizes he could stand before the firing squad, should his shaving hand become unsteady and nick the president's face.

I enjoyed this film enormously.

2005年07月17日（日曜日）付
【天声人語】

　ひげをそる手が滑って顔を切りでもしたら、銃殺されるかも知れない――。ことし日本でも公開された韓国映画「大統領の理髪師」は、ある日突然、朴正煕（パクチョンヒ）大統領の専属理容師に選ばれた男の動転ぶりを描いて退屈させない。

In one scene, the protagonist reports to work for the first time and is instructed sternly by the president's aide: "Never use a razor without the president's permission, don't ask any questions, and get your work done in 15 minutes flat."

That is one funny scene in the movie. But, actually, a 15-minute haircut is quite hasty.

　参上した主人公に大統領の側近が言い渡す。カミソリは無断で使うな、質問はするな、仕事は１５分で終えろ。映画の中のお話ではあるが、大統領の散髪が１５分きっかりとはせわしない。見終えて散髪時間の長短を考えた。

It made me think of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to his barber.

Koizumi always goes to a barbershop in the basement of a downtown Tokyo hotel, where he sometimes stays for more than two hours.

One time, he went in at 11 p.m. and did not come out until 1:30 a.m.

This became fodder for the rumor mill in the political community. The barbershop, the rumor went, must have a hidden passageway and Koizumi must be sneaking out to meet with someone in secret.

And that is also the reason why his hairdo is invariably the same before and after his barbershop visit.

　小泉首相の散髪は時に２時間を超す。行きつけの理容店は都心のホテルの地下にある。夜１１時に入店し、翌午前１時半までいたこともある。「店内に抜け道があってホテルで誰かと密談している」「だから店を出ても髪が元のままなのか」。妙なうわさが政界に立つ。

Tadashi Muragi, 47, has been Koizumi's personal barber for 20 years.

"We have no secret passageway," he said, laughing at the the rumor.

Priding himself on his meticulous job, Muragi explained that perming Koizumi's hair takes about two hours, and it takes no less than one hour just for a trim and styling.

And the prime minister also gets a manicure.

"His hairstyle never changes because that's the way he likes it. He doesn't want to look like he's just had a haircut," Muragi added.

　２０年前から小泉氏を調髪してきた理容師の村儀匡（むらぎただし）さん（４７）は、一笑に付す。「店のどこにも抜け道なんかありません」。念入りな整髪が自慢で、パーマは２時間、カットでも１時間はかける。爪（つめ）の手入れもする。「髪形が不変なのは、切ったかどうかさえ微妙な仕上がりをお好みだからです」

From time immemorial, tragicomedies have abounded about barbers retained by men in power.

There's the barber in Greek mythology who sees the king has grown donkey's ears, and is unable to keep himself from spilling the secret.

In the opera "The Barber of Seville," Figaro is the quick-witted barber who helps the count woo his lady love.

　古来、権力者に雇われた理髪師の悲喜劇は数知れない。ギリシャ神話の理髪師は王様にロバの耳が生えたと知り、秘密をばらす衝動を抑えられない。オペラ「セビリアの理髪師」では、賢い理髪師フィガロが、頼まれて伯爵の縁結びに奔走する。

I have not heard any tragic or funny stories about Koizumi's visits to his barber.

However, Muragi admitted he has repeated nightmares in which he makes the terrible mistake of lopping off the prime minister's cherished mane.

　小泉首相の理髪を巡る悲劇や喜劇は聞かない。ただ村儀さんも怖い夢を繰り返し見る。手元が狂って首相ご自慢の長髪を切り落とす夢だという。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 17(IHT/Asahi: July 25,2005)

State negligence and asbestos equally toxic

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

State negligence and asbestos equally toxic

07/23/2005

In 1988, a group representing the domestic asbestos industry published an information booklet called "Sekimen no Sugao" (The true face of asbestos). The Japan Asbestos Association booklet declares in its foreword: "Asbestos is an indispensable and valuable material for the progress and development of the industrial world."

The publication was issued two years after an International Labor Organization agreement that outlawed highly toxic blue asbestos.

2005年07月22日（金曜日）付
【天声人語】

　「せきめんの素顔」という冊子がある。アスベストの業界団体・日本石綿協会が、８８年に出した。前書きに、石綿は「産業界の進歩、発展に無くてはならない貴重な存在」とある。国際労働機関（ＩＬＯ）条約で、毒性の強い青石綿の使用が禁止されてから２年後の刊行だった。

While the booklet does make mention of illnesses caused by asbestos, it asserts that a number of countermeasures had been put in place. "We can say with confidence that any further risks of asbestos-related illnesses are practically nonexistent," the booklet tells readers.

　冊子は、石綿によって引き起こされる病気にも触れているが、こんなくだりもある。「対策が次々と打たれ……今後石綿による疾病の危険はほとんどないと確信できるまでに至っております」

With regard to potential health hazards of asbestos particles to the general public, the booklet explains: "We agree with experts who maintain that the probability (of becoming afflicted with any lethal asbestos-related illness) is almost on par with, or lower than, the chance of being struck dead by lightning-a rare, freak accident at best."

　一般の住民に対する石綿粉じんによる危険率については、こう述べている。「めったに起きない落雷による死亡危険率と同程度か、それ以下とする専門家の意見に同意するものであります」

Not surprisingly, the booklet goes to great lengths to mention the merits of asbestos but is short on its demerits. It was not until much later that asbestos was shown to be capable of causing tremendous health damage.

　記述は、やはり、石綿の益の方に重く、害の方に軽く傾いているようだ。その後に発覚した被害は、甚大だった。

More than 10 years before the booklet was published, the former Ministry of Labor issued a directive on heath hazards for asbestos factory employees, their families and local residents. But, other than that, the government took no real action.

As the current vice minister of health indicated when he lambasted the government's inaction as a "fatal mistake," it is now becoming increasingly obvious that this tragic mess is due to state negligence in protecting the public from this particular form of pollution.

　この冊子が出る１０年以上前に、当時の労働省が、石綿工場の従業員の家族や周辺住民の健康被害について危険性を指摘する通達を出していた。なのに、国は有効な手を打たなかった。「決定的な失敗」と、今の副大臣が述べたが、公の不作為による「公」害の様相が一段と濃くなってきた。

In 1934, a chief engineer at packing material maker Nihon Pakkingu Seisakusho, authored a book titled "Ishiwata." In it, he notes, "There are yet no systematic studies and reports on the health condition of asbestos factory workers. But as far as I know, the amount of dust in those factories can only be described as truly excessive." Surely "The Real Face of Asbestos" would be a title more befitting of this 71-year-old publication?

　かなり古びた『石綿』という本を開く。「我が国に於ける石綿工場労働者の健康状態に関する組織的な報告は未だ見ないが、工場内の塵芥の程度は、著者の見たる範囲に於ては実に甚だしいものである」。日本パッキング製作所技師長・杉山旭著、昭和９年刊とある。７１年前に記された「石綿の素顔」のように思われた。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 22(IHT/Asahi: July 23,2005)

Lessons from a movie on Turkish immigrants

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Lessons from a movie on Turkish immigrants

07/22/2005

Ibrahim, an elderly Turkish immigrant who owns a small grocery store in a working-class district of Paris, is the protagonist of "Monsieur Ibrahim et les Fleurs du Coran" (Mr. Ibrahim and the flowers of the Koran), a 2003 film by Francois Dupeyron. The story revolves around Ibrahim's friendship with a lonely young boy.

2005年07月21日（木曜日）付
【天声人語】

　イブラヒムおじさんは、パリの下町で小さな食料品店を営んでいる。フランソワ・デュペイロン監督の映画「イブラヒムおじさんとコーランの花たち」（０３年）は、このトルコ移民の老人と孤独な少年の心の物語だ。

Egyptian-born actor Omar Sharif, now in his 70s, plays Ibrahim, a devout Muslim living quietly in his adopted country. In addition to his natural and dignified screen presence, the veteran actor gives a superb portrayal of an elderly immigrant who has craftily assimilated into this foreign environment, adopting the necessary facade to survive.

　異国でひっそり暮らす信心深いイスラム教徒を、７０代に入った名優オマー・シャリフが演じた。落ち着いたたたずまいは持ち前だが、その姿は、異国にとけ込もうとする移民の知恵や、必要に迫られて身につける「擬態」を表しているようだった。

France is certainly not the only country where society places great pressure on immigrants to blend in and not stand out. For first-generation immigrants, it is probably their lingering sense of connection to their home countries that sustains them as they strive to become acclimatized in their new lands.

　移民が周りから際だたない暮らしを強いられるのはフランスに限らない。周りにとけ込む姿勢をとりつつも、移民一世の場合は母国への思いが心の支えになっているのだろう。

Most of the suspects in the July 7 London bombings were of Pakistani origin, but were born and raised in Britain by parents who had emigrated from what used to be British-ruled India. In recent years, however, an issue that is being re-examined is, "Do second- and third-generation Britons from immigrant families really feel as though they belong in their adopted country?"

　ロンドンの同時爆弾テロ事件の容疑者の多くはパキスタン系だった。親たちが、かつて植民地支配していた英国に来た後に生まれた。そして近年、こうした移民二世や三世の帰属意識が改めて注目されている。

According to a recent survey of Muslims in Britain by the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission, only about 40 percent of the respondents said they felt they were "members of British society." But 80 percent said they have been discriminated against. Does this mean there are many young men who feel completely alienated in a land that they don't identify with?

　ロンドンのイスラム人権委員会のアンケートで「英国社会の一員だ」と答えたイスラム教徒は約４割にとどまった。一方で「差別を受けた」と答えた人は８割もいた。母なる国も、安らげる居場所も無いという悲痛な思いで日々を過ごす青年も多いのか。

In the film, old Ibrahim adopts the orphaned boy and takes him on a trip to Turkey, where they find peace of mind as well as sorrow. The old man passes away in his native land, while the boy overcomes this loss of his adoptive father and learns to live again. This is a story told with gentle, understated charm about what is apparently a universal human quest for the ultimate mutual bond of acceptance that transcends nationality, race and even a parent-child relationship.

　イブラヒムおじさんは、親を失った少年を養子にして、ふたりでトルコへ旅する。そこには安らぎと悲しみとが待っていた。母国で土に帰る老人と、別離を越えて生きてゆく少年と。国籍や民族、そして親と子すらも超えた、ひとりとひとりの人間のきずなへの希求が静かに描かれていた。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 21(IHT/Asahi: July 22,2005)

Tourists must not be allowed to ruin Shiretoko

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Tourists must not be allowed to ruin Shiretoko

07/21/2005

One of the senryu humorous poems that appeared in The Asahi Shimbun on Tuesday gave me a wry smile: "Drunks and merrymakers/ Stay away from the hills of Shiretoko."

2005年07月20日（水曜日）付
【天声人語】

　昨日、本紙の「朝日川柳」に載っていた一句に笑いを誘われた。〈飲んで騒いで丘に上るな知床の／さいたま市　岸保宏〉。笑いといっても、苦い笑いである。

Hokkaido's Shiretoko Peninsula has been named a World Natural Heritage property by UNESCO.

The senryu poem by Yasuhiro Kishi, a resident of Saitama, raises concerns about the consequences of Shiretoko's new status.

Just like Kishi, many people must have taken the news as a mixed blessing. Environmental contamination caused by sharply increasing tourist traffic has been a problem for two natural properties earlier placed on the World Heritage list: Yakushima island south of Kagoshima Prefecture and the Shirakami mountain area straddling Aomori and Akita prefectures.

　北海道の知床がユネスコの世界自然遺産に決まったが、単純には喜べない思いをした人も少なくなかったのではないか。先に遺産に登録された鹿児島県の屋久島や、青森・秋田両県の白神山地では、観光客の急増で汚染が懸念されている。

The U.N. heritage convention calls for the protection of areas' cultural heritage and nature from the threat of damage and destruction, because the sites are deemed treasures of humanity.

One thing we must keep in mind is that when the Japanese government recommended that Shiretoko be put on the World Heritage list, it effectively promised to the world that it would not let the peninsula's nature be damaged or destroyed.

　世界遺産条約は、自然と文化を人類全体の宝物とし、損傷、破壊などの脅威から保護することをうたっている。日本政府が登録を推薦したということは、損傷や破壊をしないと世界に約束したことになる。

In the 1980s, a campaign was organized to oppose the felling of trees in Shiretoko's state-owned woodland. It marked the start of persistent conservation efforts involving many people, which finally bore fruit last week when the UNESCO World Heritage Committee designated the peninsula as a heritage site.

Japan bears heavy responsibility for continuing conservation efforts. The benefit of the designation is that it offers a chance for us to take a new look at the nature of our country from a global perspective.

　知床では、８０年代に国有林伐採への反対運動が起きた。それから今回の登録まで、長い道のりだった。数多くの人たちの力がよりあわされて、大きな実を結んだ。これからも自然を保ち続けてゆく責任は重いが、日本の自然を世界遺産という「地球の目」で見直すのはいいことだろう。

The international conference to found UNESCO was held in London in the fall of 1945, following the end of World War II. In a speech, Clement Attlee, then prime minister of Britain, stated that wars began in the minds of men.

　ユネスコ（国連教育科学文化機関）を設立するための会議は、第二次大戦が終結した６０年前の秋に、ロンドンで開かれた。アトリー英首相は、演説の中で「戦争は人の心の中で生まれるもの」と述べた。

This statement found its way into the UNESCO Constitution, which famously declares in its preamble that "since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed."

What does this mean specifically? Considering what the Constitution says, the implication is clear: If wars are to be avoided, countries need to have a good knowledge of one other.

My hope is that the untouched nature of Shiretoko will become the cornerstone of peace in the minds of people.

　これが、ユネスコ憲章の前文の有名な一節となった。「戦争は人の心の中で生まれるものであるから、人の心の中に平和の砦（とりで）を築かなければならない」。戦争を繰り返さないため、世界の各国は互いをよく知る必要がある、との反省が込められている。知床の自然もまた、心の砦の礎になるようにと願う。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 20(IHT/Asahi: July 21,2005)

Chorus hits high notes with German concerts

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Chorus hits high notes with German concerts

07/20/2005

At 84, Tsuneko Matsumoto still teaches calligraphy in Toride, Ibaraki Prefecture.

She also stays busy as a member of an amateur chorus. She went for a concert in Germany where she sang Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy," the centerpiece of Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony" and other selections from the same symphony in German with about 120 other chorus members.

2005年07月19日（火曜日）付
【天声人語】

　茨城県取手市で書道を教えている松本恒子さんは８４歳である。地元の合唱団の仲間約１２０人といっしょに、ドイツへ行って、ドイツ語でベートーベンの「第九」を歌ってきた。

Thunderous applause erupted from the German audience when the chorus finished.

"Everyone thought, `We did it!'" Matsumoto recalls. "Leaving aside our success, we have sung in Germany twice now-at an interval of 10 years. That's more than what I ever expected."

　歌い終えると、ドイツの人たちから大きな拍手。「やった、という感じでした。それにしても、１０年おきに２度もドイツで歌えるなんて、思ってもみなかった」

Matsumoto joined the Toride Ninth Symphony Chorus in 1991.

Established five years earlier, the chorus was scheduled to hold its second concert soon. The only way for Matsumoto to participate in the concert was to learn the lyrics in German by heart. She did it by listening to a tape recording.

　松本さんが取手第九合唱団に加わったのは、９１年のことだ。歌は好きだが、「第九」ともドイツ語とも縁がなかった。テープを聴いて、歌詞を丸暗記した。その５年前に生まれた合唱団の２度目の演奏会だった。

After the second concert, some members called for a performance in Beethoven's mother country.

"At first, the idea was thought to be too grand for us," says Kozo Ono, the present leader of the Toride chorus. Still, the chorus decided to go for it.

The Toride chorus has singers from all walks of life, including company employees, civil servants and merchants. Ono and others drew on the personal connections of the members in their search for ways to realize their dream.

Eventually, their search led them to a symphony orchestra in Baden-Baden that was willing to perform with them.

　このあと、「次はベートーベンの母国で」という声が上がった。「最初は、とても無理だと思われていたのですが」と言うのは小野耕三さんだ。合唱団のいまの代表である。合唱団には会社員、公務員、商店主ら様々な人がい　る。つてを求めていくうちに、バーデンバーデンの交響楽団が共演を引き受けてくれた。

The chorus made its first trip to Germany in 1995. Five years later, it invited conductor Werner Stiefel from Baden-Baden to conduct a concert in Toride.

"I think the reason (for our success) lies in our sticking to the pace of holding a concert every five years," Ono said. "When it comes to putting on a `homespun' concert like ours, the burden of making preparations and raising necessary funds sets a really arduous task."

　それが９５年のドイツへの初めての旅となる。その５年後、バーデンバーデンから指揮者のＷ・シュティーフェルさんを招いて、取手で演奏会を開く。そして、今回のドイツ再訪である。小野さんは「こんなに長く続いたのは、５年に１回というペースだったからだと思う。手づくりの演奏会は、準備や資金の手当てが大変なのです」という。

As Ono noted, the Toride chorus seems to have helped itself by holding to the principle of moving ahead slowly. Already, some members are calling for another concert in Germany five years from now.

"If we hold a concert in Germany in 2010, I may be able to participate," Matsumoto says. "I would like to sing again in that country, if at all possible."

　このゆったりとした歩みがいいのだろう。早くも、「５年後もドイツで」という声が出ている。松本さんは「５年後ならば、行けるかもしれない。ぜひ行きたいですねえ」と話している。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 19(IHT/Asahi: July 20,2005)

Setting sail for an education in nature's ways

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Setting sail for an education in nature's ways

07/19/2005

In recalling his youth, Arthur Ransome (1884-1967), the British author of the "Swallows and Amazons" series of books for children, once noted he had a special ritual to mark the start of school summer holiday. Every year, he would go down to a lake and gently dip his hand in the water.

2005年07月18日（月曜日）付
【天声人語】

　夏休みの始まりを告げる特別の儀式がある。湖のほとりに降りて行き、片手をそっと湖水につけるのだ。児童文学の名作「ツバメ号とアマゾン号」シリーズを書いたアーサー・ランサムの若き日の回想である。

Ransome's stories, which are about holiday yachting adventures in England's Lake District, have turned many youngsters around the world into fans of tall ships.

Among them is Isaku Amemiya, 47, a staff member at the National Institute for Sea Training.

　英国の湖水地方などを舞台に、休暇中のヨットの冒険を描いた彼の作品は、世界各地で帆船好きの子供たちを生んだ。船乗りを養成する独立行政法人航海訓練所の雨宮伊作さん（４７）もその一人だ。

Influenced by Ransome's writings, Amemiya studied at the Tokyo University of Mercantile Marine, where he discovered his passion and calling-to train student sailors aboard training ships. He has since groomed many young seafarers.

He participated in the 2000 Millennium training ship race in North America as the first mate of the tall ship Kaiwo Maru, which triumphed over its powerful competitors from around the globe.

　ランサムの世界にひかれて東京商船大に学び、練習帆船勤務を生きがいに、多くの実習生を育ててきた。２０００年ミレニアム記念の北米練習船レースでは、１等航海士として乗り込んだ海王丸が、世界の強豪を抑えて１位に輝いている。

Why use sailing ships for seafaring training in this day and age?

Amemiya answered, "Without wind, a sailing ship is immobile. By maneuvering the sails, we learn how to work in concert with nature's force, which is pleasant and benign when it is our friend, but fatally dangerous when it turns against us."

He added that after nearly two months at sea, his students' eyes become "more alive," and their personalities become "gentler and a bit more grown-up."

　なぜ、この時代に帆船で実習をするのだろうか。雨宮さんは言う。「風がなければ帆船は動きません。味方にすれば快適だが、敵に回すと命さえ失う大自然の脅威を前に、いかに力を合わせるのかを学ぶのです」。２カ月に及ぶ遠洋航海が終わるとき「実習生の目は輝き、やさしくなり、すこし大人びます」

In Britain, where yachting is a home-grown sport, sailing ships are used widely for youth education.

In "We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea," arguably the most exciting story by Ransome, four brothers make a North Sea crossing from Britain to the Netherlands, maneuvering their vessel as it starts drifting in the fog and stormy seas.

The boys mature markedly from overcoming their crisis.

　ヨットの本場英国では、青少年教育として練習船が活用されている。ランサム作品で最も緊迫感あふれる「海へ出るつもりじゃなかった」は、主人公の４人兄弟が、霧と嵐の中、漂流し始めた帆船を操って英国からオランダまで北海を横断する話だった。危機を乗り切ることで彼らは大きく成長する。

Seafarers talk about "being taught by the sails."

I imagine there are many things we could be taught in this age, when nature has been largely forgotten and efficiency put ahead of everything.

　帆船乗りの世界には「帆が教える」という言葉があるという。自然を忘れ、効率ばかりが優先される時代に「帆が教える」ものは多いはずだ。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 18(IHT/Asahi: July 19,2005)

Package deliverer's spirit of caring will live on

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Package deliverer's spirit of caring will live on

07/18/2005

In his autobiography titled "Watashi no Rirekisho" (My memory in life) published by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Masao Ogura, a former president of Yamato Transport Co., recalls an episode that inspired him to start a door-to-door package delivery service.

"My son had clothes he had outgrown, so I decided one day to give them to my younger brother's little boy.

"But I couldn't find any easy way to send my package, and I was the president of a transportation company."

2005年07月02日（土曜日）付
【天声人語】

　「ある時、息子の洋服のお古を、千葉に住んでいた弟の息子に送ってあげようと思った。ところが、運輸業の社長である自分に送る手段がない」。元ヤマト運輸社長、小倉昌男さんは、「宅急便」を思いついたヒントのひとつを、そう記している（「私の履歴書」日本経済新聞）。

Back then, a small parcel could be sent only by post or the now-defunct Japanese National Railways, and Ogura realized this had to be quite a hassle for busy homemakers.

"The traditional image of the transportation industry was tough and macho, and homemakers practically didn't exist in our customer-base picture," Ogura continues in his memoirs.

"But it dawned on me that those ladies actually represented a tremendous potential market."

　国鉄小荷物や郵便小包ぐらいしかない頃で、家庭の主婦は不便な思いをしているはずだと思った。「それまで運送会社といえば荒くれ男のイメージが強く、主婦は業界から最も縁遠い存在だったが、実は大いなる潜在顧客だと気づいた」

Remaining sensitive to people's day-to-day needs and asserting firm leadership, Ogura blazed a trail in the small-package transportation business.

The imaginative and innovative pioneer was also a man of principle.

He instituted an administrative suit against the defunct transportation ministry for holding out for years on his application for a delivery-route licence.

　生活感に根ざした発想と強い指導力で、小口輸送の新時代を築いた。このアイデア豊かな開拓者は、骨っぽさでも知られる。路線免許の申請を何年も許可しなかった旧運輸省を相手に行政訴訟を起こした。

His company had been founded by his father, from whom he also inherited the indomitable old Edo merchant's spirit. "If you are afraid of samurai, you cannot make a living in Edo," his father would say.

Ogura recalled that it was this ingrained spirit of defiance against the high and mighty in society that sustained him through his litigation against the bureaucracy.

　創業者の父から江戸っ子の町人気質を受け継いだ。「二本差しが怖くておでんが食えるか」。そんな侍を恐れない意気が、官僚との闘いの支えになったという。

On New Year's Day, 1998, The Asahi Shimbun ran a feature titled 21-Seiki o Yomu (Composing tanka short poems about the 21st century).

This was essentially a collection of tanka poems submitted by people representing a cross-section of society.

Ogura's piece went: "The year's first dawn/ I pull a wheelchair toward myself/ To kiss it." An attached note from Ogura said, "Japan is not a disabled-friendly society. I would like to see `normalization' realized during the 21st century."

He personally founded a welfare foundation and devoted himself to helping disabled people become self-supportive.

　２１世紀が近づいた９８年の元日、本紙は、各界の人たちの俳句による特集「２１世紀を詠む」を載せた。〈初日の出車椅子寄せ接吻す〉。この小倉さんの句に添え書きがある。「日本は障害者が住み難い国です。２１世紀は、ノーマライゼーションを実現したいものです」。私財を提供して福祉財団をつくり、障害者の自立実現のために尽力した。

When he stepped down as Yamato chairman, Ogura wrote this tanka: "A little cuckoo has taken off/ Silence/ The journey has ended."

His life's journey ended June 30 at age 80.

I would have liked for him to go on longer, but I believe his legacy of intestinal fortitude and spirit of caring for the disabled will live on.

　〈ほととぎす去りにし静寂（しじま）旅果つる〉。会長職を退いた時の作だ。惜しくも人生の旅は８０年で終わったが、その気概や福祉へのまなざしは長く継がれてゆくだろう。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 2(IHT/Asahi: July 18,2005)

`People-friendly' initiatives not on line at Expo

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

`People-friendly' initiatives not on line at Expo

07/16/2005

It was drizzling when the Shinkansen bullet train left Tokyo Station for Nagoya on Thursday morning. Switching to a local train at Nagoya and then to a linear motor train, I arrived at the Expo 2005 Aichi site three hours later.

2005年07月15日（金曜日）付
【天声人語】

　昨日の朝、小雨降る東京駅をたって名古屋に向かった。新幹線と在来線、リニアモーターカーを乗り継いで、愛知万博の入り口に着いたのは３時間後だった。

The sun beat down mercilessly. Confiscated bottles of water and soft drinks were piled high at the entrance-visitors are not allowed to bring them in. I soon came across a shop selling bottled beverages. People were snapping up the drinks.

　日差しが強い。ペットボトルは持ち込み禁止なので、入り口で「没収」されたボトルが山をなしている。そこを通り抜けるとすぐにペットボトル飲料の売り場がある。皮肉な光景だが多くの人が買う。

In the main zone, waiting lines varied considerably in length. It took 80 minutes to get into one pavilion, but only 30 seconds for another.

I was told the waiting time for the Japan Pavilion was 90 minutes. Normally, I would give this a miss, but I decided I might as well give it a try.

As the queue crept forward, I waited in the direct sun for quite a while. I dampened my handkerchief with bottled water and covered my head with it.

The waiting came to an end after 75 minutes, but I was in the pavilion no longer than 15 minutes. It was still hot when I came out at 4 p.m. The temperature was over 30 degrees in the nearby city of Nagoya.

　メーン会場の展示館は、行列の長さがかなり違う。８０分待ちの隣が３０秒待ちだった。日本館は９０分待ちだという。普段なら敬遠するところだが、せっかくの機会と思い、並び始めた。長く直射日光にさらされる場所に来た。ペットボトルの水をハンカチにかけて頭に載せる。７５分で中に入った。見たのは正味１５分ほどだった。外に出ると午後４時だったが、このころでも、近くの名古屋市では３０度を超えていた。

I could tell various measures were being taken to beat the heat. For instance, there was a long corridor where an artificial mist was generated to bring relief to many visitors. And throughout the Expo site, the extensive use of wood is apparently meant to tame the reflective heat. But the real summer heat has yet to hit, and I had to wonder if these measures were sufficient.

　会場では暑さの対策は幾つも見られた。長い回廊では、人工の霧が噴き出す「ドライミスト」の下で一息つく人が多かった。木材を多用した会場のつくりにも照り返しを和らげる効果があるようだ。しかし、これからが本番の暑さの中で大丈夫かとも思った。

For instance, if long waiting lines are the norm, the Expo organizers should install more awnings and sun shades. Visitors themselves should bring fans or parasols or wear hats; make sure they have plenty to drink; and not force themselves to keep standing in line if it gets too uncomfortable.

　行列ができるのが日常なら、ひさしや日よけを増やしてはどうか。見に行く人は、うちわや日傘、帽子を用意し、十分に水分補給して、無理には並ばない方がいいようだ。

A respondent to a survey on the Aichi Expo, conducted by The Asahi Shimbun, noted, "I hope the Expo will not only be eco-friendly, but also people-friendly as well."

With the school summer holiday starting at the end of July, children will be visiting the Expo site in greater numbers. I hope they will be able to go home smiling.

　万博についての本社のアンケートに、こんな意見が寄せられていた。「環境だけではなく、人にも優しい万博であってほしい」。夏休みで、子供たちも増える。笑顔で帰れる万博にしたい。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 15(IHT/Asahi: July 16,2005)

Believing in the future of our mother tongue

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Believing in the future of our mother tongue

07/15/2005

Language is like one's beloved life companion. This thought occurred when I saw the results of a recent survey on the Japanese language conducted by the Agency for Cultural Affairs.

2005年07月14日（木曜日）付
【天声人語】

　言葉とは、人生に寄り添う愛（いと）しい道連れではないか。文化庁の国語世論調査に表れた「世間ずれ」についての回答のずれをみて、そう思った。

According to the survey, the expression seken-zure (sophistication) is misunderstood by a large number of Japanese.

Among teenagers, six out of 10 answered incorrectly that seken-zure describes an attitude, thought or behavior that "does not fit the social norm."

Only a little over 10 percent in this age group knew the right answer: "To be sophisticated and wise in the ways of the world through experience."

　この慣用句の意味を「世の中の考えから外れている」と答えた人が、１０代では６割いた。本来の意味である「世間を渡ってきてずる賢くなっている」の方は、この年代では１割強だった。

The older the group, the more the respondents knew the correct meaning, with more than 60 percent of those in their 60s comprehending the phrase. As people grow older and more experienced, I reckon they begin to personally identify with seken-zure in the fullest sense.

However, even among people in their 60s, nearly 20 percent were as ignorant of the meaning of this expression.

　本来の答えの方は、年かさが増すほど増え、６０歳以上では６割強に達した。人生の経験を積みながら、この句を実感してゆくさまがしのばれる。一方で、この年代でも、「世の中とのずれ」と答える人が２割近くいた。

Another interesting finding from this survey concerned recent language usage. More than half the teenagers and people in their 20s say yabai (dangerous or bad) when they mean "fabulous," "tasty" or "cool." These young people also led all other age groups by far in the frequency with which they use expressions such as watashi-tekiniwa and uzai-the former a contrived way of saying "I," and the latter a slang word that means "annoying."

If language is one's companion for life, I suppose we can expect twists and turns along the way.

　もうひとつ、目をひくのが、「最近の言い方」についての調査だ。すばらしい、おいしい、かっこいいなどの意味で「やばい」を使う人が、１０～２０代で半数を超えた。「わたし的には」「うざい」も、この年代が目立って多かった。言葉が人の道連れならば、時には揺らぎもあるのだろう。

More than 60 years ago, folklorist Kunio Yanagita wrote in "Kokugo no Shorai" (The future of the Japanese language), published by Sogensha: "My overall view is that the Japanese language is growing every day. The vocabulary is expanding, with new usage and expressions appearing, coming into fashion and being copied."

　「大体の見込をいふと、日本語は日ましに成長して居る。語彙（ごい）は目に見えて増加し、新らしい表現法は相次いで起り、流行し又模倣せられて居る」。民俗学者の柳田国男が、『国語の将来』（創元社）にこう書いたのは、６０年余り前だった。

Yanagita went on, "If you genuinely love the Japanese language and want to preserve it, you should use it to say anything you want to say and to write anything you want to write, expressing yourself completely, clearly and moving a person to deeply understand your meaning."

I think these words were those of a man who believed in the future of his beloved mother tongue, who understood the difficulty of maintaining beautiful Japanese.

　柳田は、さらに述べている。「日本語を以て、言ひたいことは何でも言ひ、書きたいことは何でも書け、しかも我心をはつきりと、少しの曇りも無く且つ感動深く、相手に知らしめ得るやうにすることが、本当の愛護だと思つて居る」。難題と自覚しつつ、愛しい日本語の未来を信じた言葉のように思われる。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 14(IHT/Asahi: July 15,2005)

Bid-rigging lexicon speaks loudly about Japan

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Bid-rigging lexicon speaks loudly about Japan

07/14/2005

A feature of the second edition of the Random House English-Japanese Dictionary, published by Shogakukan, is that it offers a list of words of Japanese origin that are used by English speakers. It puts together about 900 Japanese words that have appeared in authoritative American and British dictionaries of the English language or dictionaries of new words used in English.

2005年07月13日（水曜日）付
【天声人語】

　ランダムハウス英和大辞典（小学館）の２版には、「日本語から借用された英語」が載っている。英米の主要辞書や新語辞典などに見られる英語化した日本語で、約９００語にのぼる。

The alphabetically arranged list ranges from words like tsunami, kimono and hara-kiri (committing suicide by cutting open the abdomen), which entered the English lexicon in the 19th century, continuing up to 1990s words.

Going over the list, one feels as if reading a history of shifts in interest about Japan. The list may also be taken as mirroring the way Japan has presented itself to the outside world.

　ツナミ、キモノ、ハラキリといった１９世紀以来の古いものから、１９９０年代のものまでがアルファベット順に並んでいる。単語を拾っていると、それらは、日本に投げかけられてきたまなざしの変遷のようであり、日本が外に対して見せてきた姿のようでもある。

Among the words from the 1990s, my eyes were arrested by keiretsu (interlocking business ties) and dango (bid-rigging), because of their close and time-honored association with the way business is done in Japan.

These are words that make one understand why the Japanese economy is robust, why Japanese corporations often shut out outsiders, and why shady business practices persist.

　９０年代に登場したという語の中に、日本の古くからの経済のありように絡むものが二つ、目に付いた。ｋｅｉｒｅｔｓｕ（系列）、そしてｄａｎｇｏ（談合）である。日本経済の強さや閉鎖性、不明朗性を感じさせる言葉なのだろう。

In a bid-rigging scandal over steel bridge projects, a retired director of Japan Highway Public Corp. was arrested Tuesday along with four other men for allegedly playing key roles in fixing bids for orders placed by the state-run company.

A former adviser to one of the companies involved, the suspect is said to have had the cooperation of other former Japan Highway officials who landed cushy post-retirement jobs in the industry.

Operating from an "amity society" of retired Japan Highway officials, members allegedly gathered unannounced information on scheduled orders from Japan Highway branch offices across the country.

　日本道路公団が発注する鋼鉄製橋梁（きょうりょう）工事の談合事件を巡り、元公団理事で、受注調整をしたとされる会社の元顧問らが逮捕された。天下りした公団ＯＢの親睦（しんぼく）団体のメンバーが、全国の公団支社から未発表の工事発注予定を集めていたという。

The scandal shows how deeply bid-rigging is entrenched in this country. But Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), was unexpectedly tolerant about the dango problem at a news conference. "It's something like a custom you find everywhere in Japan," he said.

Perhaps he was not specifically talking about the bid-rigging scandal over steel bridge projects. Even so, when I heard it, I could not help shaking my head in disbelief.

　ｄａｎｇｏの根深さを思わせる事件だが、日本経団連の奥田会長は、談合問題について「全国津々浦々に行きわたっている慣習のようなもの」と、記者会見で述べた。橋梁談合事件を念頭に置いた発言とは思えないが、首をかしげざるを得ない。

I fear that a statement by Japan's top business leader, dismissing bid-rigging as if it were something irrelevant, just when a major bid-rigging case is about to be unraveled, could spawn misunderstandings at home and abroad.

My hope is that Okuda will watch his words if only to keep tsutsu uraura (everywhere in Japan) from being added to the list of Japanese words used by English speakers.

　大がかりな談合の罪が解明されようとしている時である。財界トップによる他人事（ひとごと）のような言い方は、内外から誤解を招かないだろうか。「ｔｓｕｔｓｕ・ｕｒａｕｒａ」が、借用語に載るようなことがないように願いたい。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 13(IHT/Asahi: July 14,2005)

Act quickly to defuse asbestos `time bomb'

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Act quickly to defuse asbestos `time bomb'

07/13/2005

Steve McQueen, the Hollywood action star, died at the age of 50 in fall 1980. He had terminal cancer (mesothelioma of the linings of the lungs). His exposure to asbestos was thought to have caused the deadly illness.

2005年07月12日（火曜日）付
【天声人語】

　ハリウッドを代表するアクションスター、スティーブ・マックイーンが、５０歳の若さで他界したのは８０年の秋だった。末期のがん（胸膜中皮腫（ちゅうひしゅ））に侵されており、原因はアスベスト（石綿）ではないかといわれた。

Asbestos was used in some form or other in the brake linings of the actor's vehicles and even in his flameproof stunt suit, according to William Nolan's book, "McQueen: Star on Wheels." (A Japanese translation was published by Hayakawa Shobo.)

　車のブレーキの内張りや、レーサー用の不燃スーツの裏地など、アスベストは、マックイーンがその人生を通じて使ったほとんどの乗り物に何らかの形で存在していた（Ｗ・ノーラン『マックイーン』早川書房）。

The word "asbestos" derives from the Greek for "indestructible" or "inextinguishable." Strongly resistant to heat and acid, the fibrous metamorphic mineral can be used in a wide range of applications. It's basically indestructible.

　アスベストは「不滅」あるいは「消すことのできない」を意味するギリシャ語に由来するという。熱や酸に強く、物の形に従いながら半永久的に存在し続ける。

Man's use of asbestos in fact can be traced as far back as the Stone Age, according to Hirotada Hirose's book "Shizukana Jigen Bakudan" (Silent time bomb), published by Shinyosha.

In ancient Greece, asbestos was used as wicks for gold lumps at temples. In Greco-Roman times, there was a high incidence of lung ailments among asbestos miners and workers whose job was to weave asbestos yarn into textiles.

　広瀬弘忠著『静かな時限爆弾』（新曜社）によると、アスベスト利用の歴史は石器時代にまでさかのぼる。古代ギリシャでは神殿の金のランプの灯心として使われた。既にギリシャ・ローマの時代には、アスベストを採掘する人や、その繊維を紡ぐ職人に肺疾患が多発していたという。

A picture of the extent of health damage caused by asbestos in Japan is finally emerging. The victims have not been limited to a large number of factory workers. Even the wives of these workers have died of mesothelioma after years of inhaling fine asbestos particles while washing their husbands' work clothes.

If the small amount of particles inhaled outside the factory could make these wives sick, then anyone can inhale enough to become ill.

　日本での、アスベストによる健康被害の実態がようやく明らかになりつつある。多数の工場従業員だけでなく、夫の作業着を洗濯する時にアスベストを吸い込んだ妻までが、中皮腫で亡くなったという。どこかで吸い込んだだけで発症の危険をはらむなら、誰にでも起こり得ることだろう。

The "indestructible bomb" has not completely exploded yet, but experts predict cases of asbestos illness, which has an unusually long dormancy period, will soon explode.

Let me suggest a belated prescription to defuse this indestructible bomb: Get a complete picture of the extent of asbestos damage, explore treatments for victims and find a safe way to remove the danger.

　発症までの期間の極めて長い「不滅の爆弾」が、本格的に爆発するのはこれからともいう。被害の全容をつかみ、治療の手だてを探る。爆弾を安全なやり方で除去する。それが、遅まきながら、不滅を不発に変える道ではないか。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 12(IHT/Asahi: July 13,2005)

Train announcements can't please everyone

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Train announcements can't please everyone

07/12/2005

Noticing a passenger force open a closing door and squeeze himself onto a departing train, the conductor immediately chided him over the public address system: "Please don't rush into the train when the doors are closing! If you get hurt, you alone are to blame."

2005年07月10日（日曜日）付
【天声人語】

　閉まりかけたドアをこじあけて、男性が乗り込む。すぐ車内に車掌の声が流れた。「駆け込み乗車はおやめ下さい。そんな乗り方でけがをした時はお客様の責任です」

This happened early last month on a Chuo Line train that was just pulling out of Kokubunji Station in western Tokyo. Another passenger filed a complaint with East Japan Railways Co. (JR East) about the conductor's "rude speech." After checking into the claim, JR East admonished the conductor-a veteran with nearly 30 years-for his "inappropriate announcement."

　先月初め、ＪＲ中央線の電車が東京の国分寺駅を出た直後のことだ。乗り合わせた客が「不快な言い方だ」と苦情を寄せた。ＪＲ東日本は事情を調べ、「好ましくない放送だった」と車掌に注意した。乗務歴３０年近いベテランだった。

When this incident was reported by the media, JR East received as many as 420 comments from the public, 90 percent of which came to the conductor's defense.

Hackles are bound to be raised if people are told bluntly that if they get hurt, it's all their fault. Still I also empathize with the conductor's sense of duty that made him furious with a reckless passenger.

　この件が報道されると４２０件もの意見がＪＲに届いた。うち９割が車掌支持だという。全責任を客に押しつけるような物言いは反感を買うだろうが、無謀な乗車に憤る車掌の熱心さも、わからなくはない。

"What a conductor says on the PA system when he or she is deeply upset is a test of his or her professionalism," noted former train conductor Katsuo Koda, 60. For many years, Koda worked for the state-owned Japanese National Railways and afterward on JR-operated commuters and sleepers: he was famous for his dry and witty announcements. "You have to think on your feet and be able to ad lib. It all comes down to that," he said.

　「頭に血がのぼった時にどう放送するか。車掌の力量が問われます」と語るのは、元車掌の幸田勝夫さん（６０）。国鉄以来、通勤電車や夜行列車に長く乗り、さりげない放送で客を和ませる名人と言われた。「大切なのはアドリブの力。とっさのひと言です」

Keiichi Ubukata, 72, a former NHK announcer, said it was unfortunate that the JR conductor was unable to defuse the situation with a little joke, such as by telling the offender: "I'm afraid our doors are a bit flimsy. They can break if you try to force them open."

Twenty years ago, Ubukata made a major professional blunder and paid for it: Emceeing the New Year's eve "Kohaku Utagassen" (red vs. white song contest), he mistakenly called singer Harumi Miyako by someone else's name-Hibari Misora. Having taken flak for his gaffe, Ubukata emphasized the importance of being able to deal with such sticky situations with humor.

　元ＮＨＫアナウンサー生方（うぶかた）恵一さん（７２）は、「無理に開けると電車のドアも壊れます」といった冗談で応じる余裕が車掌にあればよかったと話す。紅白歌合戦で都はるみさんを「美空」と紹介する失敗に泣いた。あれから２０年、反省をこめて「急場ではユーモアが大切」と訴える。

I used to hear conductors make comments such as, "The hydrangeas are in full bloom now," or "Have a nice day, everyone." Not anymore.

According to a JR East spokesman, it is impossible to please everyone these days because, while some passengers prefer a completely announcement-free silent ride, others still like to hear a kindly voice over the PA system.

　昔は「アジサイが見ごろです」とか「今日もお元気で」と言い添える車掌の声をよく耳にしたが、最近は聞かない。ＪＲによると、何であれ静けさを求める客と、懇切な放送を望む客がいる。車内で何をどう語りかけるかは超のつく難題だという。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 10(IHT/Asahi: July 12,2005)

July 7 is a date to remember in fighting terror

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

July 7 is a date to remember in fighting terror

07/09/2005

With the Group of Eight summit starting in Scotland, and London having been chosen only the day before as the 2012 Olympics venue, the British capital was getting more global attention than usual Thursday morning. Then a series of bomb blasts ripped through the city.

This was an unforgivable act of terrorism aimed at singling out London at this particular time.

2005年07月08日（金曜日）付
【天声人語】

　サミットの開催と、オリンピック開催の決定と――。いつにも増して世界の目が集中していたイギリス・ロンドンで、同時多発テロが起きた。この時期の、この街に狙いを澄ましたような、許し難い凶行だ。

In the bidding for the 2012 Olympics, Paris was the favorite, but London came out the winner. The rejoicing in Trafalgar Square and Prime Minister Tony Blair's happy grin are still fresh in my memory. The terrorist bombs have shattered that British euphoria.

　２０１２年の五輪の開催地を巡って、ロンドンは、本命とされていたパリを破った。決まった後のトラファルガー広場での市民たちの喜びようや、ブレア首相の満面の笑みが印象的だった。そのイギリスの高揚感を、たたきつぶすような爆弾テロだ。

I should imagine security in London was tighter than usual because of the summit. Yet, the bombs exploded in several locations of the subway and aboard one of the double-decker buses for which London is famed. The bus was demolished.

The blasts must have spread panic among tourists from around the world.

　サミットのため、ロンドン市内の警備は、いつよりも厳しかったと思われる。しかし、多くの市民の足である地下鉄やバスで、同時に何カ所も爆発は起きた。名物の二階建てのバスも大破したと報じられた。世界からの観光客も逃げまどったに違いない。

The city's security setup is likely to be called into question.

The terrorists attacked the heavily trafficked mass-transit system, which is always something of an Achilles' heel in security enforcement. It is difficult to check such safety completely.

　警備の根本が、厳しく問われることになるだろう。テロリストは、誰もが行き交う公共交通機関を狙った。いわば警備の「泣きどころ」を突かれ、許した。そこが深刻だ。

It will soon be four years since 9/11, and I have to wonder again if the world has become any safer since then. The United States invaded Iraq, citing "a safer future for the world" as a reason, and Britain has been supporting this war. I wonder how the situation is being discussed by the G-8 leaders, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

　９・１１の同時多発テロから、やがて４年になる。この間、世界は安全な方に向いてきているのだろうかという疑問が改めて浮かんだ。「将来の世界の安全」などを掲げて、アメリカはイラク戦争を強行し、イギリスは、それを支えてきた。小泉首相を含め、サミットの首脳たちは、この事態をどう語り合ったのだろうか。

Something like the London terror will not, and should not, bring any democratic society to its knees. Unfortunately, however, July 7 has become another date by which to remember another act of indiscriminate terrorism.

　民主主義社会は、このような暴力で揺らいではならないし、揺らぐことはないだろう。しかし、残念ながら、市民に対する無差別多発テロを記憶する日付として、７・７が加わった。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 8(IHT/Asahi: July 9,2005)

Wishes for peace during Tanabata festival

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Wishes for peace during Tanabata festival

07/08/2005

A fine drizzle fell from the leaden sky. Bamboo leaves rustled, and blue or yellow tanzaku strips of paper fluttered in the breeze.

2005年07月07日（木曜日）付
【天声人語】

　どんよりとした空から、細かい雨が降ってくる。時折、風がゆるやかに渡って笹（ささ）の葉をゆらす。願い事が書かれた青や黄色の短冊がひるがえる。

I was walking along a street lined with Tanabata Star Festival decorations (The traditional festival celebrates the one night of the year when two star lovers meet in the sky). The branches of the bamboo trees were laden with the tanzaku "wish strips."

"Make me a millionaire!" screamed one tanzaku. Another wished for the "elimination of all unscrupulous business practices," while yet another said: "I want power. Grant me power." But most wishes were for the health and safety of one's family and friends.

　通り道に、七夕の竹飾りが並んでいた。一本の竹に数十の願いが下げられている。「大金持ち！」「悪徳商法撲滅」「権力がほしいので下さい」。こんな願いもあるが、多くはやはり、家族や友の健康と安全を祈っている。

Fifty years ago, novelist Sakae Tsuboi (1899-1967) contributed an essay titled "Tanabata-sama" to "Shufu-no-Tomo," a magazine for homemakers. Tsuboi wrote, "There is something delectably heart-warming and charming about the modesty of people's wishes on those tanzaku strips, hung here and there on little bamboo trees."

　５０年前、作家の壷井栄が「主婦の友」に随想「七夕さま」を寄せた。「ささやかな笹にちらほらの短冊は、つつましい中にも、なにかしら人のこころの温さ、かわいらしさを感じさせられて好もしい」

This is a timeless sentiment shared by many people today, but the era when this was written-10 years after Japan's defeat in World War II-was reflected in Tsuboi's following observation: "Ever since I got into the habit of writing my wishes with my children every year, I have always associated this festival with the Lugouqiao Incident (Marco Polo Bridge Incident) of July 7, 1937. It was the beginning of what eventually led to our defeat in that war."

　今とそう変わらない七夕の情感だが、この先が、戦後１０年という時代を思わせる。「子供と一しよに短冊をかくようになつてから、七夕さまにつながる思いとして、いつも私の心をとらえるのは盧溝橋事件である。昭和十二年七月七日。そしてそれをきつかけにして、敗戦にまで追いやられた私たち……」

On that night, Japanese and Chinese troops clashed near Marco Polo Bridge outside Beijing, triggering the Sino-Japanese War.

In "Rokokyo Jiken no Kenkyu" (A study of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident) published by the University of Tokyo Press, author Ikuhiko Hata notes, "Rumors were said to be flying among Japanese troops in China that something was going to happen on Tanabata day."

　３７年の七夕の夜、北京近郊の盧溝橋付近で起きた日中軍の衝突は、日中戦争の発端となった。現地の日本兵の間では、「七夕の日は何かがおこる」という噂（うわさ）が飛んでいたという（秦郁彦『盧溝橋事件の研究』東京大学出版会）。

Tsuboi continued in her essay: "The Tanabata tradition gives us hope because even though the legendary lovers were allowed to see each other only once a year, at least they did get together every year. But many people around us are destined never to see their loved ones again. A friend of mine wrote `Peace' on a tanzaku and tied it to a bamboo branch."

Sixty years after the end of that war, "Peace" was written on many tanzaku that fluttered in the breeze.

　壷井は続ける。「七夕さまは、たとえ年に一度の逢瀬（おうせ）にもしろ、逢（あ）えるということで私たちに希望を与える。しかし、私たちのまわりには、永久に逢えない人がたくさんいる。私の友は七夕の短冊に『平和』とかいて笹にむすんだ」。戦後６０年の竹飾りにも、その二文字は幾つも揺れていた。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 7(IHT/Asahi: July 8,2005)

Drama over postal bills seems a bit scripted

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Drama over postal bills seems a bit scripted

07/07/2005

The Web site of Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) carries a traditional picture-card drama opposing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's pet plan to privatize postal services.

In a set of pictures with a narrator explaining the story, "The Tragedy of Asunaro Village" unfolds. The tragedy is subtitled "Soshite Daremo Inakunatta" (And then everyone disappeared).

The Minshuto drama rivals the Liberal Democratic Party's picture-card play designed to promote the plan. "The Post Office of Asunaro Village" is subtitled "Yareba Dekiru!" (You can get anything done if you try!)

2005年07月06日（水曜日）付
【天声人語】

　――そして誰もいなくなった。こんな副題の付いた紙芝居「あすなろ村の惨劇」を見た。といっても民主党のホームページの上でである。「やればできる！」を副題にした郵政民営化推進の自民党の紙芝居「あすなろ村の郵便局」に対抗して作られた。

In the Minshuto version, the head of a privatized post office shouts, "Everyone, listen to me. Sell anything that is saleable." Then, small shops go bankrupt. The village goes downhill.

Eventually, a continuing outflow of population and other problems put the post office in financial trouble, forcing it to close its doors. Then, a monologue: "And in the village deserted by all residents, only the post office, now a desolate and closed building, was left standing in ruins. ... The end."

　「みんないいかい、売れるものは何でも売ってくれ」。民営化された郵便局の局長が叫ぶ。小さな店が次々につぶれ、村はさびれてゆく。やがて郵便局は、人口減などで収支が悪化して閉鎖される。「そして、誰もいなくなった村には、人気のない閉ざされた郵便局だけが、廃墟となって残されていた……おわり」

The LDP drama introduces Hisoka Maejima (1835-1919), the founder of Japan's modern postal system. It depicts the future post office as a dreamlike institution.

A staff member of a village post office paints a rosy picture, saying, "I am sure my friends working in the cities will return here when the country becomes a more convenient place to live in."

　「やればできる」の方は、郵便制度をつくった前島密を登場させて、未来の郵便局を夢のように描く。「田舎の暮らしが便利になれば都会に行ってる仲間たちも、きっとこのあすなろ村に帰ってくるなあ」と、村の郵便局員に語らせる。

Poet-novelist Haruo Sato (1892-1964) once talked about the attractions of picture-card shows in an essay. "The virtue of picture-card plays probably comes from the fact that they are organized and structured so tightly, with the work of trimming the excess carried to the extreme." (The essay can be found in the complete works of Haruo Sato, published by Rinsen Shoten.)

I ask myself: Can we find the virtue cited by Sato in the LDP and Minshuto picture-card dramas?

　佐藤春夫が「紙芝居の魅力」を書いている。「もうこれ以上には無駄を去ることが出来ないといふところまで追ひつめてゐるあの方法あの構造のせいではあるまいか」（『定本　佐藤春夫全集』臨川書店）。「あすなろ村」の２作に、この紙芝居の妙味はあるか。

On Tuesday, the privatization bills cleared the Lower House by a small margin. Despite the narrow vote, TV images from the plenary chamber indicated the atmosphere was not tense.

Words like zohan (revolt), shobatsu (punishment), and kaisan (Lower House dissolution) were bandied around the chamber. It struck me as a kind of show presented by the lawmakers, who seemed as if they were following a prepared script.

　郵政民営化法案が衆院を通過した。賛否の差はわずかだったが、議場のテレビ画面からは、緊迫した感じはうかがえなかった。造反や処罰、果ては解散などという言葉まで飛び交うさまは、筋書きの定まった芝居を演じているようにすら見える。

Diet deliberations on the postal bills suffered from a lack of reality, just like the picture-card dramas created by the rival political parties.

　賛否双方の紙芝居だけではなく、国会の審議にも、真実味が乏しい。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 6(IHT/Asahi: July 7,2005)

Tokyoites lose in `steppingstone election'

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Tokyoites lose in `steppingstone election'

07/06/2005

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi did not make a campaign speech for Sunday's Tokyo assembly election. This was in sharp contrast to four years ago when his help was sought by many candidates vying for seats.

An aide explained that Koizumi preferred to stay at home ``because of the current political situation.''

2005年07月05日（火曜日）付
【天声人語】

　小泉首相は、今回の東京都議選では、街頭での応援演説を一切しなかった。前回とは大きな変わりようで、「今回は分が悪いから行かないんだ」との声も首相周辺にはあったという。

As it turned out, the Liberal Democratic Party, the largest party in the assembly, suffered a setback, while main opposition Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) sharply increased its seats.

It is tempting to ponder whether the LDP lost seats because Koizumi stayed home. Or was the LDP setback minimized because of his absence from street campaigning?

　開票の結果、自民はやや後退し、民主党が伸びた。小泉演説がなかったから後退したのか、それとも、なかったから、やや後退で済んだのだろうか。

The voting rate was about 44 percent, the second lowest turnout for a Tokyo assembly election.

There was little debate on how to improve the lives of Tokyo citizens. This was because the parties viewed the election as a contest to gather momentum for winning the next national election. They should have used it as an opportunity to present their visions on the future shape of the capital.

　投票率は約４４％で、過去２番目に低かった。政党の側では、都議選を次の国政選挙との絡みの中でみていて、都民の生活をどう変えるのかという論戦は乏しいようだ。本来なら都議選は、首都・東京をどんな都市にしていくのかというような未来像を浮かび上がらせる場でもあるはずだ。

Novelist Junichiro Tanizaki (1886-1965), who was born in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district, angrily wrote in his novel, ``Futen Rojin Nikki'' (The diary of an old man): ``Who has turned Tokyo into a wretched and disorderly city like this?''

The novel came out shortly before the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. Pinning the blame on ``yatsura'' (those guys), Tanizaki went on to say, ``Because of `yatsura,' the rivers that were so clean have become dirty and polluted like stinking ditches.''

The novelist defined yatsura as the politicians ``who did not know how nice it was to live in Tokyo in the old days.''

　「今ノ東京ヲコンナ浅マシイ乱脈ナ都会ニシタノハ誰ノ所業（しわざ）ダ」。東京・日本橋生まれの作家・谷崎潤一郎が「瘋癲（ふうてん）老人日記」にそう書いたのは、６４年の東京オリンピックの少し前だった。「アノ綺麗（きれい）ダッタ河ヲ、オ歯黒溝（はぐろどぶ）ノヨウニシチマッタノハミンナ奴等デハナイカ」。「奴等」とは、「昔ノ東京ノ好サヲ知ラナイ政治家」だという。

After the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, Tanizaki moved to the Kansai region. About 10 years later, he wrote the essay ``Tokyo o Omou'' (Thoughts about Tokyo).

``These days,'' he observed, ``Tokyo is so full of solidly built bridges and roads that people almost seem like scraps of paper dancing in the wind.''

　谷崎は、大正末の関東大震災の後、関西に移り住んだ。震災から約１０年後に、「東京をおもふ」を書く。「今の東京はコンクリートの橋や道路が徒らに堅牢にして人は路上を舞つて行く紙屑の如く、と云つたやうな趣がないでもない」

This month marks the 40th anniversary of Tanizaki's death, but his aphorism is still valid. Its lesson applies not only to just Tokyo but other municipalities. After all, the politicians who decide the future of a certain municipality are elected by its local residents.

　谷崎が没して、今月で４０年になるが、警句は今に生きている。そしてそれは、東京以外にも投げかけられている。その地の未来を左右する「奴等」を選ぶのは、他でもない住民自身なのだから。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 5(IHT/Asahi: July 6,2005)

Baseball mega-hero comes back to ballpark

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Baseball mega-hero comes back to ballpark

07/05/2005

Thunderous applause erupted from a crowd of more than 40,000 at the Tokyo Dome as Shigeo Nagashima, 69, raised his left hand. The former Yomiuri Giants slugger, affectionately called "Mister," flashed his characteristic big smile at fans Sunday. It was his first public appearance since he suffered a stroke in spring 2004.

2005年07月04日（月曜日）付
【天声人語】

　ミスターは左手を上げた。４万人を超す観衆から拍手がわき起こる。「おかえりなさーい」。きのう長嶋茂雄さん（６９）が東京ドームに姿を見せた。昨春に病で倒れて以来のことだ。あの屈託のない笑顔が帰ってきた。

Giants haters are legion, but I have yet to come across anyone who doesn't like Nagashima. His achievements are the stuff of sports legend, and, coupled with his funny manner of speech, are endlessly talked about. Who can forget his dramatic sayonara home run while Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa, was watching the game? Or, that unforgettable tautology he shouted during his retirement ceremony? "The Giants are forever immortal." His No. 3 jersey is ingrained in the memories of many fans, just as his moments of glory resonate with certain episodes in their own lives.

　アンチ巨人は多いが、長嶋嫌いはまずいない。天覧試合でのサヨナラ本塁打や、引退式での「巨人軍は永久に不滅」なんて変な日本語は、もはや伝説のように語り継がれている。背番号３の名場面を、みずからの人生の一コマと重ねて記憶に刻む人も多い。

Japan was experiencing its postwar economic miracle when Nagashima was in his prime. Most Japanese were genuinely taken by any strong, cool "hero."

Children's top three favorite things were said to be "The Giants, sumo grand champion Taiho and tamagoyaki (sweet egg loaf)." Those were relatively simple, innocent days.

　現役選手で活躍したのは、ちょうど高度経済成長期だ。大多数の人々が強くてかっこいいヒーローに心から熱狂した。子どもが好きなものといえば「巨人・大鵬・卵焼き」。そんな、どこか単純な時代だった。

Yu Aku, a writer of pop lyrics, once wrote in The Asahi Shimbun that those three favorites were originally "Nagashima, Taiho and egg loaf." According to Aku, Nagashima was replaced with the team name in 1963, when fans began referring to him and his equally awesome teammate, Sadaharu Oh, as the "ON Guns."

　でも、あれは最初は「長嶋・大鵬・卵焼き」だった、と作詞家の阿久悠さんが本紙に書いていた。王貞治選手とともに「ＯＮ砲」と言われ始めた１９６３年に「巨人」に変わったという。

What would be today's equivalents of "Nagashima, Taiho and egg loaf?"

There are more sports and forms of entertainment now, and people's tastes have diversified. There isn't any one team or individual monopolizing victory and the public's adoration. If I must think of some icons, perhaps Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees and pro golfer Ai Miyazato fit the bill. So, shall I say today's three favorites could be "Matsui, Ai-chan and ice cream?"

　現在の「長嶋・大鵬・卵焼き」は何だろうか。スポーツや娯楽の種類が増えて、好みも多様化した。勝利と人気を独り占めにする存在も見あたらない。あえて言えば、ヤンキースの松井秀喜、ゴルフの宮里藍選手らを並べて「松井、藍ちゃん、アイスクリーム」だろうか。

But Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners and the national soccer team led by Zico have many devoted fans, too. And youngsters love kaiten-zushi (conveyor-belt sushi) and fried chicken as much as they love ice cream.

The more I wracked my brains, the more I was reminded of Nagashima's greatness. I suddenly recalled the words I used to say to myself on the batter's box in sandlot baseball: "No. 4 (in the batting order), third baseman, Nagashima."

　でも、イチロー選手やサッカーのジーコ・ジャパンへの声援も熱い。子どもは回転ずしやから揚げも大好きだ。悩むほどに、いわゆる一つの長嶋さんの大きさを思った。すると草野球の打席でよく口にした言葉がよみがえった。「よばん、さあど、ながしま」

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 4(IHT/Asahi: July 5,2005)

What to make of teens slaying family members?

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

What to make of teens slaying family members?

07/04/2005

After killing his parents at their home in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward, a 15-year-old boy went to a movie theater in the Ikebukuro district, where he watched "Batman Begins." He then took a Shinkansen bullet train to the resort town of Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture, according to statements he gave to the police after his arrest.

2005年06月25日（土曜日）付
【天声人語】

　東京・板橋の自宅で両親を殺したあと、１５歳の少年は池袋に出た。映画館に入り「バットマン　ビギンズ」を見る。そして新幹線に乗って、長野県の軽井沢へと向かった。

The youth is a first-year senior high school student and the eldest son of the slain couple, who were live-in superintendents of a company dormitory.

In the Batman movie, the hero's parents are murdered when he is still a small boy. I wonder what thoughts crossed the teen's mind as he watched this scene.

　社員寮の管理人の父と母を刺すなどして殺害した疑いで逮捕された高校１年の長男の供述という。映画は、主人公の幼い時に、両親が殺害される設定だ。少年は、どんな面持ちで映画館にいたのだろうか。

In the city of Fukuoka, another 15-year-old-a third-year junior high school student-was arrested on suspicion of fatally stabbing his 17-year-old brother with a kitchen knife in their family apartment.

The boy had previously complained to friends that he was bullied and treated like a servant by his older brother, who often woke him at night and demanded a back rub.

　福岡市では、１５歳の中学３年生が、自宅マンションの部屋で、１７歳の兄を包丁で刺し殺した容疑で逮捕された。「兄に夜中に起こされて肩をもまされるなど、こきつかわれている」と、友人に不満をもらしていた。

The Tokyo teen told investigators that he had been ridiculed and insulted by his father. The motives of the two boys have yet to be determined, but I believe each held a deep-seated grudge or hatred toward his own family members.

　板橋の少年の方は、「父に馬鹿にされた」と供述しているという。まだ詳しい動機は分からないが、少年による二つの事件の底には、肉親に対する日頃からの「憎しみ」があるようにみえる。

After the postwar chaos and ensuing years of economic growth, the number of homicide arrests made in Japan declined. It has hovered between 1,300 and 1,400 each year since 2000.

For minors, the numbers remained in the range of 300 to 400 until the 1960s, but dropped to around 100 in the early 1970s. Since 2000, around 100 minors have been arrested for such crimes each year.

　日本の殺人事件の検挙人数は、戦後の混乱期や経済成長期を経て減少し、２０００年代は１３００～１４００人台となっている。うち少年は、６０年代までは３００～４００人台が多かったが、７０年代初めに１００人台となり、２０００年代は１００人前後の年が多い。

From these statistics, one can hardly say that homicides committed by minors are on the rise.

Still, the act of killing one's family members in their own home is jarring to society.

City landscapes have changed immeasurably in the six decades since the end of World War II. For example, gardens have disappeared from many homes. But even then, I wish each home would have a "symbolic" garden that exists in the hearts of family members.

　この大きな流れを見る限りでは、少年による殺人事件は、増える傾向にあるとはいえないようだ。しかし自宅を犯行現場とし、肉親を殺害する「家庭内殺人」は、世の中に独特の衝撃を与えている。戦後の６０年で都市化が進み、都会の多くの家庭から庭が失われた。土の庭はあってもなくても、小さな「こころの庭」があれば、と思う。

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 25(IHT/Asahi: July 4,2005)

Justice comes in the end for slain activists

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Justice comes in the end for slain activists

07/02/2005

Few cases were too difficult to solve for Sherlock Holmes, the character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and arguably the most famous sleuth in fiction. But even Holmes botched the job once in a while. He failed to protect his client from being killed in "The Five Orange Pips," a short story with references to the South after the U.S. Civil War.

2005年06月26日（日曜日）付
【天声人語】

　シャーロック・ホームズと言えば、難事件を解決する名探偵だ。しかし、時には失敗もあった。犯人に出し抜かれて、助けを求めに来た依頼人が殺されてしまう。南北戦争後の米南部を背景にした短編「オレンジの種五つ」である。

People were dying mysteriously after receiving envelopes containing orange pips. This was the doing of the Ku Klux Klan, a real-life secret society notorious for its ultraconservative, white-supremacist beliefs. The Klan still exists today, though its following has diminished somewhat over the years.

　オレンジの種の入った封筒を送りつけられた人物が、次々と謎の死を遂げる。秘密結社のクー・クラックス・クラン（ＫＫＫ）の仕業だった。ホームズの話は物語だが、ＫＫＫは、奴隷解放に反発して白人至上主義を唱えた実在の右翼団体で、今も小規模ながら存在する。

After decades of relative obscurity, the KKK recently re-emerged in the news. The coverage concerns a crime that took place 41 years ago, when three civil rights activists trying to improve the status of blacks in Mississippi were killed. Even though the crime was suspected to be the work of the local white supremacists, investigations were thwarted by outright racism in the Deep South.

But finally, after all these years, the trial started, and a former ranking Klansman was found guilty on June 23.

　この組織の名を、久しぶりに聞いた。４１年前、米ミシシッピ州で、黒人の地位向上に取り組む活動家３人が殺された。白人の組織的犯行だったが、南部の人種差別の壁に阻まれて真相解明が進まなかった。裁判がようやく動き出し、主犯格のＫＫＫ元幹部が有罪判決を受けたのだ。

One automatically associates the KKK with their white robes, pointed hoods and burning crosses. But the accused former Klansman who appeared in court was an 80-year-old man in a wheelchair, with a oxygen tube up his nose.

　ＫＫＫで連想するのは、白い山型ずきんとガウン、燃えさかる十字架だが、被告席に現れたのは、酸素吸入のチューブをはめた８０歳の車いすの老人だった。

While some locals were vocally opposed to "opening an old wound" from a different era, prosecutors insisted on "clearing the town's name after too many years of having had to bear this terrible burden."

The court sentenced the defendant to 60 years in prison-20 years for each of the three counts of manslaughter. He has since appealed, but I must wonder how many years of his life are left to serve his sentence, if the appellate court upholds this verdict.

　地元では「時代は変わった。古傷にさわるな」という声も強い。検察官は「あまりにも長い間、我々は重荷を背負ってきた」と町の汚名返上を説いた。殺人１件につき禁固２０年、合計６０年の判決が出た。被告は上訴したが、有罪が確定しても、刑期を務める時間はどれほど残されているのか。

In the Sherlock Holmes story, the detective plans an elaborate revenge on the escaped killer, but the man perishes in a shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean. The judgment came from an "existence" transcending humankind.

　ちなみに物語の方は、ホームズが周到に復讐（ふくしゅう）の網を張ったが、脱出する犯人を乗せた船は、嵐で大西洋の藻くずと消えた。裁きは人間を超えた所から来たのである。

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 26(IHT/Asahi: July 2,2005)

We can't go on borrowing against our future

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

We can't go on borrowing against our future

07/01/2005

The Asahi Shimbun used to run stories in which the national budget was explained in terms of the average office worker's household income. This got me thinking of an imaginary sidestreet lined with a dozen or so small homes owned by average salaried workers whose combined outstanding mortgages are in the region of 1 billion yen.

2005年06月30日（木曜日）付
【天声人語】

　とある路地をのぞいてみて、小体な家が十数軒並んでいたとする。この十数軒が抱えているローン残高を合わせると、ざっと１０億円にもなる……。

Let's call one of these homeowners Mr. Koizumi. This Mr. Koizumi earns about 520,000 yen a month, a part of which he sends home to his parents-something like a tax allocated to local governments. But the Koizumi family is now used to living beyond its means and overextending its budget, until one day, Mr. Koizumi realizes to his horror that his outstanding mortgage debt has ballooned to about 70 million yen.

　以前本紙に載った、国の予算を平均的収入のサラリーマンの家計に置き換えた記事からの連想だ。月収約５２万円のこの「小泉家」では、郷里への仕送り（地方交付税など）や浪費がかさんで家計は大赤字だ。毎月多額の借金をしているが、気付いたらローン残高は約７千万円に膨らんでいた。

As no household is likely to mismanage its budget so badly in real life, of course this street full of indebted homeowners owing an aggregate of 1 billion yen is only a figment of my imagination.

But does this mean a nation does not have to worry about the consequences of fiscal mismanagement on the same magnitude? I don't think so.

This boils down to a question of whether the nation is justified in continuing to borrow like there is no tomorrow on its "future." Obviously, the government thinks that's OK because it has been relying endlessly on deficit-covering bond issues to keep fiscal debts at bay. The mess that Japan is in is truly frightening.

　こんな家はなかなか立ちゆかないだろうから、「小泉家」が並ぶ「借金計１０億円の路地」は仮想の世界の話だ。では国ならば立ちゆくのかといえば、そうではあるまい。未来という「永遠の担保」をどう考えるかの問題だ。それをあてにして国債というローンを際限なく繰り返してきた結果が、日本をこんな空恐ろしい姿に変えてしまった。

Some sort of "refinancing" must be worked out, but tax hikes alone are not the answer. The government's Tax Commission has proposed reducing income tax breaks for salaried workers, who are being targeted, I suspect, because they are the easiest to hit. Meantime, little is being done to deal with wasteful public spending and wrongful payments.

　このローン地獄は改めなければならない。しかしその手だてを増税だけに求めるのはおかしい。政府税調が、サラリーマン所得の控除の整理・縮小を打ち出したが、取りやすいところを狙ったようにも見える。一方、無駄遣いや不当な支出の方での改善はほとんどない。

Japan Highway Public Corp. is under investigation on suspicion of rigging bids for steel bridge construction contracts. The corporation's contracts amount to a whopping 100 billion yen annually. If bid-rigging has been the normal practice for years, then taxpayers have been ripped off royally the whole time. And one must also suspect a structural abuse of authority by politicians and amakudari retired bureaucrats offered cushy jobs.

　鋼鉄製橋梁（きょうりょう）工事を巡る談合事件の捜査が日本道路公団に及んだ。公団の年間発注額は約１千億円にのぼる。談合を長年繰り返してきたとすれば、割高になった支払いに回された国民の税金は大変な額になるだろう。談合の裏に天下りや政治介入の構造はなかったのか。

The nation is, it seems, at a critical crossroads in which we must choose to either win or lose in creating a healthy fiscal blueprint for the future.

　健全な未来像が描けるかどうかの瀬戸際に、この国はさしかかっているようだ。

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 30(IHT/Asahi: July 1,2005)

What if boomers went back to school in '07?

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

What if boomers went back to school in '07?

06/30/2005

The baby boom generation sprang from the peace that began to prevail 60 years ago with the end of World War II.

The baby boomers-those born from 1947 to 1951-have always made their mark in the nation's demographic charts by virtue of their year of birth.

2005年06月29日（水曜日）付
【天声人語】

　第二次世界大戦後の平和がもたらしたものの一つは、団塊の世代だった。１９４７年から数年間に生まれた世代は、生年別人口のグラフに常に大きな出っ張りを形作ってきた。

Now there is talk about the so-called 2007 issue, or the year that baby boomers will start to reach mandatory retirement age. Within a few years, they will have retired en masse.

Many company executives and others are concerned about how technical skills and expertise will be handed down to younger corporate colleagues when a huge chunk of the population leaves the work force.

　戦後６０年たって「２００７年問題」がとりざたされている。団塊の世代の定年退職が集中し始める０７年以降、企業内の技術の継承が難しくなるといった懸念だ。団塊の世代を５１年生まれぐらいまでとみれば、２００７年問題は「２００７年から問題」である。

Others are worried about a different kind of 2007 issue. For that is when the number of young people seeking admission into universities and colleges will approximately equal the number of enrollees. Theoretically, all applicants could be granted admission.

　団塊の世代の大きさが絡む、もう一つの「２００７年から問題」がある。０７年には、大学の志願者と入学者がほぼ同数となり、全体としては「大学全入」になるという。

When the children of baby boomers were college students, the population of 18-year-olds came to about 2 million. The figure dropped to about 1.5 million 10 years later.

Now, an increasing number of schools are having trouble recruiting applicants.

　団塊の世代の子どもが大学に入っていたころ約２００万人だった１８歳人口が、この１０年で約１５０万人に減った。団塊ジュニアの厚みを当て込んでいた大学も多かったが、受験生の確保に悩むところが増えている。

The decline in the number of applicants may translate into dire financial problems. Schools may be driven into bankruptcy.

As if signaling the advent of such an era, Hagi International University in Yamaguchi Prefecture has filed for court-mandated rehabilitation under the Civil Rehabilitation Law.

A race for survival is now under way among institutes of higher education.

When Japanese universities were set up, they used European universities as their model because those institutions had a history of nearly 1,000 years. The Japanese schools have since grown into facilities with vast amounts of amassed knowledge and facilities.

I have a suggestion on how to use these schools to cope with these twin 2007 issues.

　受験生減で経営が行き詰まる「大学倒産」の時代の到来を告げるかのように、山口県の萩国際大学が民事再生法の適用を申請した。生き残りのための厳しいせめぎ合いが始まっている。１０００年近い歴史をもつ欧州の大学を見習って始まった日本の大学だが、蓄積も施設も膨大なものになった。それを二つの「２００７年から問題」に生かせないだろうか。

Perhaps the universities could admit retired baby boomers as freshmen, or offer their facilities as venues for passing on retirees' technical know-how.

For people aged 60 or older, going to school several days a month might do them a lot of good. I dream this kind of leisurely life will come true for them.

　例えば、会社などを続々卒業する人たちを大学の「新入生」として受け入れる。あるいは、大学を技術の継承の場として提供する。この「還暦大学」に、月に何回か通う。そんな、ゆったりとした生き方を夢想した。

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 29(IHT/Asahi: June 30,2005)

'Banzai Cliff' the site of a terrible tragedy

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

'Banzai Cliff' the site of a terrible tragedy

06/29/2005

In July 1944, just after Imperial Japanese Army forces on Saipan were wiped out in heavy fighting, a U.S. newspaper ran a story headlined "Jeanne d'Arc on the island."

Philosopher and critic Shunsuke Tsurumi points this out in his explanatory note to the "Umiyukaba" volume of a series of writings on war produced during the Showa Era (1926-1989) and published by Shueisha. ("Umiyukaba" was a song in the wartime era.)

2005年06月28日（火曜日）付
【天声人語】

　１９４４年、昭和１９年の７月、激戦のサイパン島で日本軍が壊滅した直後、米紙に「島のジャンヌ・ダルク」と報じられた日本人女性がいた。鶴見俊輔さんが『昭和戦争文学全集／海ゆかば』（集英社）の解説に記している。

According to Tsurumi, a war correspondent wrote in the New York Herald Tribune that a surprise awaited U.S. soldiers when they reached the spot where Japanese forces had made their last stand. They found a nurse with abdominal wounds from a grenade she had detonated in a suicide attempt.

The reporter wrote that he admired the woman's Yamato damashii (Japanese fighting spirit).

　「日本軍最後の玉砕地点で発見したのは、意外にも、手榴弾（しゅりゅうだん）で自決をはかり下腹部に重傷を負っていたワック（女兵士）だった……この勇敢な“女戦士”のヤマト・ダマシイに強く心をうたれた」。ニューヨーク・ヘラルド・トリビューンは、そう書いたという。

The heroine, Shizuko Sugano, was just 18. Shortly after her birth in Yamagata Prefecture, her family emigrated to Tinian, a Northern Mariana Island near Saipan. When U.S. forces landed on Saipan in June 1944, she volunteered as a nurse at the Japanese army field hospital there.

　この時に１８歳だった菅野静子さんは、山形県で生まれて間もなく、一家でサイパンに近いテニアン島に移住した。４４年６月、米軍がサイパンに上陸した時、陸軍野戦病院の看護婦を志願した。

Japanese defenders were driven to the wall. Sugano looked after the wounded soldiers, even though she knew that they would commit suicide before long. When U.S. soldiers approached the hospital, she was told to leave.

But she refused to take the advice. She was found unconscious after pulling the pin on the grenade.

　追いつめられ、やがて自決してゆく兵士たちを看護した。いよいよ米軍が迫った時、野戦病院を出て生き残るようにと言われたがとどまった。自決しようとし、意識不明の状態で発見される。

Her journal of that horrifying time was later published as "Saipanto no Saigo" (The last day of imperial Japan on Saipan).

The nurse wrote about a horrible scene she witnessed from a truck that passed near a cliff on the way to an internment camp. Below the cliff dozens of bodies of Japanese women lay floating in the waves. They had all jumped.

Especially painful was the sight of the children strapped to their mothers' backs and chests, Sugano wrote.

The dreadful sight caused a U.S. officer to weep, she wrote. They wondered why so many Japanese had killed themselves.

　トラックで収容所へ運ばれる途中、断崖（だんがい）の近くを通った。そこから身を投げた多くの女性の死体が、眼下の波打ちぎわに浮かんでいた。背中と胸に、子どもをひとりずつ縛りつけた人もいる。「日本の人は、なぜ、こんなに死ぬのでしょうね」。ひとりの将校が、泣いていた（菅野さんの手記「サイパン島の最期」から）。

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko have paid their first visit to Saipan. On Tuesday, memorial rites were to be held at the site, now called "Banzai Cliff" because the women who leapt to their deaths 61 years ago cried "banzai" as they jumped.

Much time has passed since the war, but it left us with unforgettable tragedy.

　天皇ご夫妻がサイパンを訪問中だ。今日は、６１年前に多くの女性が飛び降りた「バンザイ・クリフ」での慰霊も予定されている。あの戦争の時代は遠くなっても、遠のくことのない記憶がある。

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 28(IHT/Asahi: June 29,2005)