ジャパンタイムズに書いた記事
 ジャパンタイムズ報道部記者時代に書いた各種英文記事です。外務省担当だった頃の記事が中心。
←1988/4/14内閣主催「桜を見る会｣(新宿御苑)にて。首相官邸担当でした。
伊藤サムはペンネームです。サムはミシガン州の高校に留学していたときに付いたニックネームです。プロフィール（週刊ST）
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このページの目次：
トップ 言葉の壁 コスタリカ イラク人質事件（1985） ロビイスト ゴルバチョフ 霞ヶ関テロ 野党連立政権 南アフリカ
サミット レーガン モンゴル 新人研修 香港返還 Globalization
最後に編集した紙面
The Japan Times伊藤サムが書いた記事 英字新聞 英文記者 英語新聞 英語で書き、英語で報道 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界 英語の世界
単語をダブルクリックすると意味が表示されます。 ■笑える外国の教科書
駆け出し時代の記事です。外国の教科書が日本をどう描いているかについて。誤解が多いですが、とても鋭いものも。
1983/8/25
-- At Collection of Japan Assembled at
Maruzen –
Crowds Enjoy Reading Textbooks
 School
textbooks are fun to read - at least to the crowds of visitors jamming an
exhibition of foreign school books containing descriptions of Japan at Maruzen
in Tokyo's Nihonbashi.
The bookstore is displaying more than 100 history,
geography and social studies textbooks on its third floor during Aug. 22-27.
The books are part of the 20,000-book collection assembled
by the International Education Information Center. a subsidiary 'of the Foreign
Ministry.
Since its inception in 1957, the center has been
instrumental in correcting errors, exaggerations and misleading writing about
Japan in foreign textbooks and encyclopedias in 81 nations by writing to their
publishers and authors.
Some of the exhibited books contain errors. For example, a
Japanese family wears 'zori' slippers In their house on New Year's Day in a
cartoon in a Canadian book first published in 1974.
In a 1968 Lebanese book, Urashlma Taro, the folktale
character, rides on a crocodile, instead of a turtle, as he goes down to the
undersea palace of Princess Otohime, who is already married!
A 1977 Soviet book carries a photograph of a Shibuya
street on a "pedestrians' paradise day" and explains "Cars are
banned from this street in Tokyo in order to prevent air pollution." Maybe
this is true.
Several other books at the exhibition have - outdated or
stereotyped pictures" and descriptions, Including those on geisha (who are
often confused with “oiran" prostitutes), harakiri (properly called
seppuku), and rickshaw.
Many other textbooks, however, have abandoned the
old-fashioned image of Japan and instead concentrate on modern Japan, although
their descriptions are sometimes exaggerated.
Japan is an over-aggressive economic power where people
are pushed into trains (or left out of them) by railroad staff during rush
hours, in a 1972 American book.
Every Japanese child is plagued by air pollution in a 1977
Soviet textbook.
Some other books show remarkably bright observation on the
Japanese:
A 1975 British book says, "The Japanese are such
expert at dubbing (European and American films) that many Japanese children are
under the impression that the whole world speaks Japanese!"
A 1971 American book: "In their leisure time, people
here either do nothing - that is, take a nap -- or watch television, or do other
things inside the house. There are fewer places to go, because of the population
density. In the U.S., people go to the beach or the movies."
Caption: "The employer - the father figure. Arranging
marriages, housing, holiday , medical services and pension of the employees are
all entrusted to his hands. A Japanese usually devotes his entire life to one
firm, because he knows that time, rather than ability, brings him
promotions," says a 1975 British textbook.
↑■「言葉の壁｣で日米摩擦
トップ 言葉の壁 コスタリカ 人質 ロビイスト ゴルバチョフ サミット レーガン モンゴル 新人研修 香港返還 Globalization
言葉の壁から生じる日米摩擦。こういった体験から週刊ST「これであなたも英文記者」課題などが生まれています。
英語の「同じことをどんどん言い換える」現象（日本語では一つの決まり文句を何度でも使う）はいろいろな誤解を引き起こします。これは『英文記事の読み方』第７章で説明しました。
「その件は難しい」をimpossibleと説明した私の記事がもとで、米代表団が激怒。日米木材関税交渉は決裂しました。これは『ネイティブに通じる英語の書き方』第７章で説明しました。
そういった例を解説したのがこの記事です。
■Language barrier slowing down
Japan-U.S. trade negotiations
The Japan Times 1985/3/15/p3
Language barriers are hard to crack even when excellent
interpreters are available. The Japan-U.S. trade talks under way in Tokyo prove
this point.
One of the four subdivisions of the talks, which aims to
increase American access to Japan's telecommunications market, was cut short
Wednesday after only two hours of discussion, following the conviction by some
Japanese officials that the Americans had suddenly changed their demands on
crucial issues, which were first put forth during the last meeting on March 5.
What appeared to be new American demands were actually
mere rephrasing of the old ones, to which Japanese negotiators headed by Vice
Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Moriya Koyama were ready to give a few
nods, according to a senior Foreign Ministry official.
Changing expressions every time the same subject comes up
in writing or speech, such as saying "pictures" instead of
"photographs," is an important technique in the English-language
world, which makes the writer or speaker look like an intelligent person with a
rich vocabulary.
Rephrasing, however, is not common in the Japanese
language. Few thesauri have been published in Japan to prove the point.
"The American side used different expressions (for
the same thing at the Wednesday meeting). Then the Japanese officials became
cautious (against saying 'yes' for an answer)," a senior Foreign Ministry
official who attended the meeting said.
"I told (Koyama and other bewildered Japanese
officials) that I think what the Americans were saying were only rephrasing of
what they said earlier." the official: who understands English perfectly as
a diplomat, said.
"But they wouldn't agree. So l figured this meeting
would be meaningless and suggested that we postpone it.
"If the Americans had made their statements with the
same expressions as in the last meeting, we could have said 'yes' (to certain
demands).
"In fact, every time the Americans come to a meeting,
they say the same things differently. Even among themselves, they use a mélange
of different expressions for the same thing'," he added.
The rephrasing of the American requests, some of them
asking Japan to decontrol advanced value-added-network services, bewildered
Koyama and postponed the Wednesday meeting for one day. The deadline on the
Nakasone government's pledge to liberalize Japan's telecommunications market is
April 1, when the giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (NTT)
is denationalized.
If the Japanese and American negotiators keep postponing
the telecommunications talks, as they have done, the deadline may end up being
just another April Fool's Day.
Besides rephrasing, ambiguous Japanese words are another
example of language barriers that tend to complicate Japan's international
negotiations involving itself.
When a Japanese politician says something is "muzukashii"
or "konnan" (difficult) in answer to requests, Japanese take it almost
intuitively as a sign of polite refusal.
English-speaking people, however, may be led to think the
statesman may challenge the task, which is not easy but not unattainable.
Because of this, less misunderstanding will result from
international meetings if interpreters are allowed to translate "muzukashii"
into "impossible."
Since interpreters are required to produce word-for-word
translations during political talks, for intended accuracy, confusions develop
between nations.
The Japan-U.S. trade talks in the field of forest products
trade are a case in point.
The negotiations on this particular issue should have
taken place several times by now. But the meeting was held only once, on Feb.
25, and even an agreement on the next conference date is nowhere in sight.
The Feb. 25 meeting ended in a "sort of a rupture,”
in the words of one key Japanese official, after the U.S. negotiators discovered
that the Japanese would not lower tariffs.
Japan had promised to discuss trade liberalization on
lumber, the U.S. side argued at the meeting.
The Japanese officials argued back. They said Japan had
agreed to discuss the matter, but that Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone told
President Ronald Reagan in a Los Angeles meeting Jan. 2 that reducing lumber
tariffs is "difficult." (All the recent trade talks derive from the
New Year summit.)
Learning that the Japanese officials were willing to
"discuss" the issue but reluctant to reduce the tariffs, the American
negotiators, who had flown all the way from across the Pacific, were offended .
Pressed for an explanation by the Americans later, a
Japanese official said. "Difficult means impossible. But we don't use the
word impossible because if we do, that will be the end of diplomacy."
The Americans have not flown
back since.
↑■コスタリカ大統領をインタビュー
トップ 言葉の壁 コスタリカ 人質 ロビイスト ゴルバチョフ サミット レーガン モンゴル 新人研修 香港返還 Globalization
戦力不保持を憲法に明文化した国は日本だけではありません。中米のコスタリカは軍事費ゼロ、アメリカからの基地要請も認めません。国家予算の４分の１を教育費に当てているそうです。
Costa Rican President Criticizes
Reagan’s Nicaragua Embargo
The Japan Times, May 26, 1985, Page 1
Costa Rican President Luis Alberto Monge said in Tokyo
Saturday he "cannot approve of" the U.S. economic embargo on Nicaragua
imposed by President Ronald Reagan May 7, because it hurts the Central American
economy and violates several international agreements.
Monge, on a six-day visit to Japan, also said the Central
American conflicts centering on Nicaragua can only be solved through efforts to
promote dialogues in the area, such as those by the four-nation Contadora Group.
Monge called for stepped-up Japanese support for the
Contadora group. Costa Rica, an unarmed nation bordering on Nicaragua, is known
as a staunch supporter of the Contadora. "Costa Rica agrees with the U.S.
that dialogues are necessary between the (Marxist Sandinista) government of
Nicaragua and the antigovernment (guerrilla) forces . . . but we cannot approve
of the economic embargo . . . because it destroys the Central American Common
Market," Monge said at his Tokyo hotel in an interview with The Japan
Times.
"And these sanction measures violate several
international agreements. We cannot follow the (U.S.) line," he said.
President Reagan abruptly cut off $58 million in U.S.
imports from Nicaragua in an attempt to pressure the Sandinista government into
beginning democratic reforms, after Congress repeatedly refused to provide aid
for Nicaraguan rebels. Commentators have said a total embargo would actually
push the Sandinistas even closer to the Soviet Union and Cuba.
"I don't think these (embargo) measures have such an
effect. Nicaragua was totally pro-Soviet even before the measures were taken,”
Monge said.
He said many difficulties and
Continued on Page 6
↑■イラク人質事件（1985）
2004年４月の日本人イラク人質事件が起きたとき、私が関わった1985年の同様な事件を思い出しました。人質を取ったゲリラの要求により、やむなく書いた記事です。週刊ST連載「これであなたも英文記者」にて、この経緯を課題にして出題しました（04/5）。
July 5, 1985 Page 3
Japan to Keep Up Iraq Talks
On Release of NEC Hostages
The
Foreign Ministry said Thursday it will continue its negotiations through the
Iraqi government in a bid to obtain the release of two Japanese radio
technicians held hostage by Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq since April 7.
A rebel
spokesman said in Athens Wednesday the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) , one
of the two Kurdish rebel groups in Iraq, had released 22 foreigners held hostage
for months, but not the two Japanese workers of an NEC Corp.-affiliated firm
stationed in Iraq.
The PUK's
demands, although unclear, include commitments by the Japanese government and
Japanese firms not to engage in military or related projects in Iraqi
Kurdistan
, and to urge the Iraqi
government to stop repressing the rebels' independence movements.
The
Japanese government and firms have not been engaged in any foreign military
projects since the end of World War II because of the nation's self-defense-only
national policies.
According
to the ministry, the two Japanese were abducted by the rebels April 7 while they
were on their way by car to carry out maintenance work on some radio equipment
in northern Iraq.
The
ministry has confirmed, from various sources, that the two men are safe,
healthy, and have been treated as "guests" in Kurdish villages.
A
few Japanese workmen were almost kidnapped in 1982 in the area. Later in the
year, one NEC worker was abducted but was released a week later before the
Japanese government had taken any action, ministry officials said.
In all
previous abductions carried out by PUK, none of the hostages have been killed or
harmed, according to the ministry.
The Kurds
are a mountain people who themselves claim to be the descendents of the ancient
Medes. Their homeland is now divided between
Turkey
, Iraq and Iran, with enclaves
of Kurds also in
Syria
and the
Soviet Union
.
The
Kurdish-Iraqi war of 1970 led to an agreement to allow the Kurds limited
autonomy, but this was not fully implemented and warfare broke out again in 1974
.
......関連記事が続く。
↑■→日本人人質ついに解放
September 13, 1985 Page 3
2
Japanese Released by Kurdish Rebels
Two
Japanese radio technicians held hostage by Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq since
April were released Wednesday and will return to Tokyo in a few days, the
Foreign Ministry and their employers said Thursday.
Reports to
the ministry from its Iraqi embassy in
Baghdad
said the guerrillas of the
Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) released Tomoki Koga, a 23-year-old
employee of NEC System Construction Corp. and Hideyuki Yamamoto, 30, of Sankyu
Denki Co. Ltd., to embassy officials.
The two
firms belong to a group of firms led by NEC Corp.
The two
men were abducted by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a KDPI-related
group, on April 7 while, they were on their way by car to carry out maintenance
work on radio communications facilities in northern
Iraq
.
The
ministry had confirmed from various sources that the two were unharmed, healthy,
and had been treated as "guests" in Kurdish villages.
PUK has
also abducted several foreign residents in the area in the past to publicize its
independence movement. In all the previous abductions carried out by PUK, none
of the hostages have been killed or harmed, according to the ministry.
PUK's
demands for the release, although unclear, included commitments by the Japanese
government and firms not to engage in military-related projects in Iraqi
Kurdistan, and to press
Iraq
to discontinue its "harsh
and repressive" policies against the Kurds.
Ministry
officials said Thursday Japan has informed the rebels that
Japan
had already fulfilled these
conditions as a nation which has appealed for peace on various occasions.
Another
demand by PUK was to have a major English-language newspaper in
Japan
to carry an article and a
photo on the rebels' activities.
The
Foreign Ministry and NEC requested The Japan Times on July 4 to carry such an
article and to keep the demand a secret.
The Japan
Times basically agreed to the requests, to secure the safety of the two
hostages. It printed a relatively large article on the hostage incident in its
July 5 issue, without any photo. Part of the article, a rebel announcement in
Athens
on release of 22 non-Japanese
hostages, had been scheduled for publication before the government and NEC
requests were made.
Several
organizations, such as the International Red Cross, have made mediation efforts
for release of the Japanese and other hostages.
The two
Japanese technicians released Wednesday were later questioned by Iraqi
authorities. They are now in
Baghdad
and will be coming home
shortly, ministry and NEC officials said.
Both the
Foreign Ministry and NEC announced Thursday they are extremely glad over the
news of the release. The ministry added that the abduction was an
"extremely inhuman" act and hopes such an incident will not be
repeated in the future.
In past
cases, a few Japanese workmen were almost kidnapped in 1982 in northern
Iraq
. Later in the year, one NEC
worker was abducted but was released a week later, before the Japanese
government had taken any action, according to the ministry.
■読者の声
久しぶりにサムさんのHPへ行って、人質の記事を拝見してきました。事情を知った上で読んだので、熱いものがこみ上げてきました。 岐阜県・加藤理恵子さん04/6/18（ST「英文記者」出題直後）
今朝、イラクで韓国人の人質の方が殺されたという報道を耳にしました。何て残虐なことでしょうね。２０年前の人質事件の際には、サムさんも人命の関わった、責任の重い記事を書かれることになり、その時の困惑、苦悩が如何ばかりだったか、 (ST)今週号で知ることができました。でもその甲斐あって、この時は人質が無事解放されてよかったです。ペンの力は強しですね。
埼玉県・田中和子さん 04/6/23
↑■ロビイストが日米摩擦に火をつける?
トップ 言葉の壁 コスタリカ 人質 ロビイスト ゴルバチョフ サミット レーガン モンゴル 新人研修 香港返還 Globalization
 1986年、外務省霞倶楽部ジャパンタイムズ席にて
■Lobbyists reap windfall from U.S.-Japan
trade friction
The Japan Times 86/2/24p1
日本政府や企業が米国で雇っているロビイスト問題についての調査報道。日本企業がいいカモです。こっそり火をつけてから日本企業に「消火は当社にお任せを｣と売りこむ「マッチポンプ」もいます。ロビイストに年額なんと
$14,294,000も支払うそうです。
The Japan-U.S. "trade friction" has been a
bonanza for Washington lobbyists for the last two decades, but they may face
decreased profits now that the Japanese government has started to advise
corporations to check carefully before hiring or paying exorbitant fees to these
"hired guns. "
Talk of Japanese corporations being "easy game"
for some of the less creditable consulting firms in the U.S. has been going on
for some time. This was one of the biggest topics when all the top-level
diplomats stationed across the U.S., including Ambassador Nobuo Matsunaga, met
in late January to discuss Japan's public relations strategy toward the United
States.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yoshio Hatano, who went to
Washington for the special meeting, was among those who deplored the naive
nature of the Japanese corporations which have hired lobbyists to try to ensure
that Congress does not block their exports.
According to officials, Hatano said that many of the
corporations are just "dancing to their (lobbyists') tunes." The
lobbyists - big-name lawyers, consulting firms, former politicians and
government officials - collect intelligence, give advise and help influence
Congress and the administration.
While they are a necessity and some of them are quite
good, others try to get hired by first creating problems through such
means as anonymous and excessive public accusations that Japan is engaging in
unfair trade practices. They then offer help to Japanese corporations for
exorbitant fees, Hatano was quoted by officials as saying at the meeting.
Japanese diplomats believe a certain American public
relations firm, which in a major campaign repeated through various media that
"Japan has unfair trade practices" over and over again like in a TV
commercial last spring, is responsible for forcing that impression on many
Americans.
The PR firm was at that time hired by an American computer
company. The Washington meeting decided that the ministry and the embassy will,
upon enquiry, advise Japanese firms on which consulting firms to choose and what
to expect of them. So far, about 15 firms have called for advice, according to
one official.
"Corporations from other countries would require
their American lobbyists to report their activities in detail, and give specific
instructions on what to do and who to meet. Japanese business managers, however,
only say 'Nanka attara yoroshiku,' (Please handle problems when they occur) and
do not check on their activities," a high ministry official said.
"And they pay from 10 to 20 times the amount the
Foreign Ministry pays to its consultants," he added. According to records
at the U.S. Justice Department, at least $14,294,000 was spent for lobbying
activities by Japanese government agencies and firms, such as Toyota, Nissan and
Sony, in 1984. The sum was the biggest among foreign nations.
Millions more are said to be spent on lobbying and related
activities for which reporting is not required.
To show a good example, the ministry itself may reduce its
spending on the American consultants, another high official said recently. Other
officials said, however, that it will only seek a more effective use of them,
without reducing the cost.
Officials claimed the Japanese Embassy in Washington does
not hire any lobbyists for direct negotiations with Congress members. "The
embassy hires public relations consultants, not lobbyists as such. The consultants
write speeches (in English) for the diplomats, brief us on the economic
situation in the U.S. collect reference materials, and serve as brains,"
one official said.
The embassy hires more than 10 such individual or
corporate consultants and pay nearly $2 million per year, according to
registration documents at the U.S. Justice Department. The exact amount cannot
be determined because the expenses are buried in a secret diplomatic budget
item which the ambassador can use to obtain outside help.
...
（中略）
Lobbyists hired by the embassy include William Fulbright
and other former Congressmen. One factor which apparently made it
psychologically easier for the ministry to criticize lobbying firms is that Gray
& Company, one of the best known in the field, has angered governing
Liberal-Democratic Party Vice President Susumu Nikaido.
Nikaido used the firm, according to a source, to try to
get an appointment to see President Ronald Reagan when he visited Washington
last October. Gray was not very useful, and what's worse, he demanded that
Nikaido submit a list of possible Japanese market-opening policies he could
bring to please Reagan.
"Why do I have to bring (political souvenirs when I
want to see Reagan," an angry Nikaido was quoted as saying by the source.
Ambassador Matsunaga scrambled to get the appointment
himself, and Nikaido decided not to use Gray again.
The American firm, however, was paid $246,000 for
handling his U.S. visit. The government has also been worried about increasing
coverage in U.S. media of the Japan lobby and a move by some Congressmen to bar
former high-level federal employees from representing foreign interests.
It hopes these developments do not turn into an issue
resembling the Koreagate scandal of the late 1970s.
Early Lobbying a
Failure
It has been more than two decades since Japan started to use lobbyists. In an
early case, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), an arm of the
Ministry of International Trade and Industry, in 1959 hired Thomas Dewey, the
former New York governor who lost a presidential race against Harry Truman by a
slim margin in 1948.
In a then-secret contract, Dewy was paid $100,000 per year
to calm down Congress after it threatened to impose surcharges on imported
cotton-made clothing from Japan -- Japan's largest export item at the time.
Japan lost in this early phase of the bilateral trade war
and made a humiliating concession, "voluntarily" limiting exports of
cotton products to the U.S. in 1961.
Despite the failure, JETRO, or rather the MITI, still uses
many lobbyists today, including Frank Church, former chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee. One of the biggest lobbyist organizations for Japan
was the U.S.-Japan Trade Council, an organ of the Foreign Ministry inaugurated
in Washington in 1956.
It spent more than $500,000 per annum for direct and
indirect lobbying. The Justice Ministry filed a complaint in 1976, charging that
this organization's misleading name has covered up the nature of its activities.
The council admitted later in the year that it is an agent for Japan, and has
changed its name to the Japan Economic Institute.
Much of the lobbying activities have been shrouded in
secrecy. Breaking with this tradition, a Japanese firm publicized its contract
with William Colby in 1978.
It turned out that the firm was trying to attract
customers who would pay it to hear the former Central Intelligence Agency
chief's opinions of the various American lobbyists. He can tell customers if the
lobbyists they are hiring are good, and if the fees are not too high, the firm
advertized.
↑■ソ連にゴルバチョフ登場、日ソ関係も進展か
トップ 言葉の壁 コスタリカ 人質 ロビイスト ゴルバチョフ サミット レーガン モンゴル 新人研修 香港返還 Globalization
 1986.6クレムリン脇の寺院にて。
ソ連は長年、停滞していました。高齢で病弱な独裁指導者の時代が続きました。そこに登場した若くてエネルギッシュな西欧型リーダー。世界にとって衝撃でした。実際、ゴルバチョフ氏は半世紀続いた冷戦を終結させ、世界から核戦争の恐怖が遠のいたのです。でも、勢い余ってソ連自身を崩壊させてしまったのも彼です。
略年表
帝政ロシアが３世紀続く（いわば江戸幕府）→革命
レーニン1917-22
革命で世界初の社会主義国を樹立
スターリン1922-53: 一国社会主義/大粛清/独裁/独ソ戦勝利の英雄/冷戦/以後「スターリン体制」と呼ばれる独裁体制がソ連崩壊まで続く
フルシチョフ 52-64
スターリン批判、のち失脚
ブレジネフ 1964-82
ソ連停滞
アンドロポフ82-84 改革図るが病死
チェルネンコ84-85
Gorbachev 85/3-91 ペレストロイカ 冷戦終結→核戦争恐怖遠のく
91/12 ソ連崩壊ロシア（Boris Yeltsin）が継承 Dec.
8, 1991 - Russia, Belorussia and Ukraine create the Commonwealth of Independent
States and declare the Soviet Union no longer exists; Gorbachev announces his
resignation Dec. 25.
ロシア（Boris Yeltsin）が継承
2000/1
プーチン大統領 Vladimir
Putin
ゴルバチョフ登場後の変化をみて安倍晋太郎外相は訪ソを決定。ジャパンタイムズは記者を同行させました。ゴルバチョフ総書記やシェバルゼナッゼ外相（後にグルジア大統領）との会談などをカバーしました。
モスクワは通信事情が悪く、記事を日本へパソコンで送信するのは大変でした。盗聴もされていたようです。パソコン送信やファックスの「ピー～～」という音が電話線を介して流れると、オペレーターが回線を切ってしまうのにも困りました。なんとか送信した一つがこの記事です。
↑■Gorbachev will consider request for grave visits
Territorial talks still at impasse
The Japan Times, June 1, 1986
 MOSCOW - The Soviet Union has promised to give positive
consideration to a Japanese request that former residents of the Soviet-held
northern islands be allowed to visit their family graves there without Soviet
visas.
A joint communiqué issued Saturday at the
conclusion of the Japan-Soviet foreign ministerial consultations said that the
Soviet Union was ready to "positively" deal with the problem.
The communiqué touched in a very vague way on the
longtime Japanese demand for reversion of the northern islands off Hokkaido.
The two countries will take up the territorial issue
during the next ministerial talks in Tokyo.
Thus the statement confirmed what Abe and Shevardnadze
agreed during their talks in Tokyo in January.
The communiqué did not give any details of Soviet
leader Mikhail Gorbachev's promise to give positive consideration to ...以下長いので略
↑■霞ヶ関にロケット弾、プレスも「突撃!」
米高官の外務大臣表敬を取材するため、記者やテレビクルーが外務省４階に集結していました。そこに「過激派が外務省前でロケット弾発射」の第一報が飛び込みます。もう高官取材どころではありません!
各社はすぐさまテロ現場へ走ります。米高官が外務省玄関に到着したとき、おりしもプレスが自分めがけてドドドと突進してきました。
1986/10/15
Bombs or the Press:
‘Attacks’ Startle Envoy
Perhaps one of the most startled people regarding a
bombing attempt at the Foreign Ministry and other buildings Tuesday evening was
Edward Rowny, U.S. President Ronald Reagan's envoy who had just arrived from
Iceland to brief Japan about the superpower summit.
Several projectiles were fired from a sedan parked in
Kasumigaseki only minutes before Rowny arrived at the ministry's front gate.
At the news, about 30 press photographers and TV crewmen
who had assembled in a ministry room to cover Rowny's session with Foreign
Minister Tadashi Kuranari rushed out of the building.
The throng ran at top speed toward Rowny and his aides,
who were about to walk into the ministry's front entrance, and swerved to the
right to head for the scene without realizing they had passed the American
guests.
The press, most of them unable to spot the projectile,
quickly ran back and were in time for the Rowny-Kuranari session. One projectile
had landed on a street outside the ministry.
■リクルート事件、野党連立政権に現実味 (JT Weekly) JTW 99/4/29
  
Coalition chances best in years
But many experts question ability of
opposition parties to eliminate differences
and form working alliance
For the first time in three decades, Japan's opposition parties -- long ridiculed as the "eternal opposition" -- have found themselves with a good chance of taking over the government.
The ever-widening Recruit case has led to arrests of more than a dozen on bribery charges and prompted politicians to propose anti-corruption reforms. The scandal's real impact on society, however, has yet to be felt and may well be a historic one.
Seeing that voters are increasingly distrustful of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the opposition has predicted they can finally wrest power from the allegedly corrupt LDP. The results will be known after the next general election, which must be called by the summer of 1990.
"Japanese politics is now in its most important phase in the last 30 or 40 years," Chairwoman Takako Doi of the No.1 opposition Japan Socialist Party said to party members in a recent pep speech.
Early Stages
In early April, the JSP, Komeito, the Democratic Socialist Party, and Shaminren announced the start of consultations for an opposition coalition government. If that ever comes into power, Doi will be the first female prime minister of Japan.
The four-party talks are in their early stages and difficulties remain. Some observers see them largely as a publicity game. But theoretically, they can grab power if they can unite and perhaps get a little help from sympathizers in the LDP.
Meanwhile, melancholy has swept through the LDP. Prospects for future Diet elections are very bad, as the Recruit case and the new consumption tax have dragged the party's public approval rates to record low levels.
LDP Crisis
According to a Kyodo News Service poll of mid-April, support for the LDP plummeted to 24.1 percent, while the four non-communist opposition parties enjoyed a total of 37 percent. Most of the rest of the respondents said they do not support any party.
If the poll translates into election results, the LDP is certain to lose its Diet majority. "The LDP now faces its biggest crisis since its inauguration (in 1955). And more importantly, we face a crisis _of the free-economy system," Seiichiro Murakami of the LDP said.
Fear of election losses are especially strong among younger LDP members, such as the 36-year-old Murakami, whose re-election prospects were already unpredictable before the advent of Recruit.
In an attempt to improve their public image, LDP members have launched a total of seven organizations, some with opposition members, which call for anti-corruption reforms.
For the opposition side, the Recruit investigation developments since autumn and the April 1 imposition of the 3-percent consumption tax have generally been good news, as they probably mean fewer votes for the LDP.
Thirteen LDP members are known to have directly or indirectly received cheap pre-flotation shares of Recruit Cosmos Co. Opposition casualties are lower, at four.
Fair Wind
To take advantage of the "fair wind," the four opposition parties announced their coalition government plans in late March. On April 7, party heads met in Kyoto for a discussion. In a joint statement issued afterwards, they hailed the "historic" meeting as "the first concrete step for stopping the LDP's long and dictatorial rule. "
Senior officials of the four parties are now consulting on coalition specifics, and have reported that work is going smoothly.
"When we discussed a coalition 20 years ago, the meetings had to be separated into two
groups, one between the Socialist Party and Komeito, and the other between Komeito and the DSP. The JSP and the DSP refused to sit at the same table because of policy gaps," Komeito Secretary-General Naohiko
Continued on Page 6
Friction between factions seems to be dissipating
Major obstacles over defense, nuclear power
and foreign policy still exist, which are precisely
the same reasons efforts to form a coalition failed
in the past, critics say
Continued from Page 4
Okubo said in a recent news conference. "At that time, there was much friction and the negotiators were not happy. But today, representatives of all the parties sit at one table, smiling. "
This time, they share the same table and indeed appear eager to join hands. But observers have pointed out that behind the facade of solidarity, the four are evidently not very serious about a coalition.
Policy Gaps
Primarily, the leaders could not reach any breakthrough in Kyoto on policy coordination. Explains a senior JSP official, who spoke on condition of anonymity: "The four are aware that they can only agree to discuss, and that's the end. Because if they really search for a common policy, they will find
nothing. "
That was exactly why the opposition parties failed to form a coalition in the past.
Major obstacles to a coalition are disagreements over defense, nuclear power and foreign policy.
For instance, the JSP considers the Self-Defense Forces unconstitutional and opposes the Japan-U.S. mutual defense treaty. The DSP takes a firm stand on the opposite side: these are the very differences that 29 years ago caused several JSP men to bolt and form the DSP.
Conflicts
Komeito's policy stands somewhere between these two parties. The policy gaps reflect the conflicting interests of the trade unions and other groups that fund and support the parties. LDP leaders do not think the opposition can bury their differences. LDP Secretary-General Shintaro Abe said that is "next to impossible." Former Vice Premier Shin Kanemaru cynically described the Kyoto conference a "meeting of (four) wild monkeys."
The Japan Communist Party -- the only opposition party left out of the coalition talks -- said they are "merely propaganda in advance of upcoming elections. "
Still, the four parties maintain that a coalition is possible this time, since they are going to agree to disregard the policy gaps for a while and stress what little they can agree on.
Even so, an opposition coalition is not considered by most observers to be realistic. For one thing, the LDP will certainly seek to form a coalition with Komeito and/or DSP if it loses the majority. The LDP formed a coalition in late 1983 with the miniparty New Liberal Club, made up of members who had bolted from the LDP. Most of them later returned to their home party.
Invitation
Some opposition officials say they will not consider an LDP-opposition coalition, but instead invite LDP members to quit and join the opposition coalition.
What happens if the coalition actually takes over?
The opposition parties say there will be "clean politics," less taxes and bigger pension payments.
Things will not change much, in the Communist Party's view. It has said that the other four opposition parties have become conservative over the years. Others, including LDP's Abe, foresee economic as well as political "confusion."
A senior government official said: "If Takako Doi becomes prime
minister, the stock market will crash and the economy will be shaky."
Confusion
Some predict that such confusion would force Doi to call an election in a half-year or so, only to see the LDP return to power.
If Doi becomes prime minister, she would be the second socialist premier of Japan.
The JSP's Tetsu Katayama formed a coalition with two conservative parties in 1947. He was in power only eight months, as he was pressured to quit amid controversies over a bill to nationalize the coal industry. Since then, all the Japanese premiers have belonged to what is now the LDP.
↑■スクープ: 日本、南アフリカ政策転換へ
南アフリカではアパルトヘイト(人種隔離)時代が長く続きました。白人支配と闘うANC(アフリカ民族会議)は白人政府によって非合法化され、マンデラ元議長は投獄されていました。私も南アフリカ大使館から「ANCは極悪非道のテロ団体。絶対に支持しないでほしい」と何度も頼まれました。
日本は少しずつANCを支持するようになり、風向きが変わってきました。
1987年4月、当時の中曽根首相が当時の議長と直接会見。日本によるANC認知です。
Feb. 2, 1990 - South African President F.W. de Klerk
ends the ban on the African National Congress and nine days later Nelson
Mandela, the world's most celebrated political prisoner, is released from jail
after 27 years.
1991
アパルトヘイト撤廃
94.
4 multiracial election 初の全人種参加選挙 →マンデラ大統領 人種和解を進める →欧州人の最後のアフリカ支配終わる
1987/4/3? Nakasone to meet ANC Tambo
Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone will meet African
National Congress Chairman Oliver Tambo during Tambo's visit to Tokyo from April
19 to 24, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Thursday.
Tambo will also meet with Foreign Minister Tadashi
Kuranari on April 20 and will deliver a speech to the Japanese public later in
the day.
The ANC, South Africa's oldest anti-apartheid group, has
been banned by Pretoria since 1960. Its headquarters are in Lusaka, Zambia.
The Foreign Ministry official said Nakasone's unofficial
meeting with Tambo does not signal any fundamental change in Japan's policy
toward South Africa, but that it would "certainly bring up the
international status of the ANC."
Helping Nakasone's image
The meeting is also expected to help Nakasone's image. The
prime minister's comment last September on the intelligence of American
minorities caused a furor in the States.
The Foreign Ministry planned the Tambo visit after
Kuranari decided to meet in Tokyo last September with South African Foreign
Minister Roelof "Pik" Botha. The ministry was also reportedly moved by
unexpectedly low support for Japan in October's election of non-permanent
members to the U.N. Security Council, which reflected the view of several
nations that Japan was too soft on apartheid.
Japan was elected with 107 votes, the lowest among the
five elected states
↑■東京で主要国サミット開催
トップ 言葉の壁 コスタリカ ロビイスト ゴルバチョフ サミット レーガン モンゴル 新人研修 香港返還 Globalization
サミット終了後、記者会見席で記念撮影。終わってホッとしています。
どんな記事を書いたかは、忘れてしまいました!
 1986/4/24 元赤坂の迎賓館にて事前取材。記念撮影をしていたら、NTVの布施記者が駆け寄ってきて一緒にパチリ。よく取材で助けてもらいました。
↑■ホワイトハウスで日米首脳会談
トップ 言葉の壁 コスタリカ ロビイスト ゴルバチョフ サミット レーガン モンゴル 新人研修 香港返還 Globalization
 1987年、中曽根総理訪米に同行取材。
ワシントン滞在中はひたすら仕事。超高級Madison Hotelに泊まりましたが、食事はほとんどカップラーメンですませ働きました。
よく覚えているのは、帰りの特別機の機内。エコノミー席の列に横になって眠りました。
故・レーガン大統領のご冥福を祈ります。
■Further decline in dollar
called
counterproductive
The Japan Times, May 2, 2987
WASHlNGTON - U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Prime
Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone agreed Friday that a further decline in the U.S.
dollar would be "counterproductive" to the economic growth of both
countries and to their efforts to reduce bilateral trade imbalances.
In a joint statement following two rounds of talks, the
two leaders reaffirmed the need for both governments to cooperate closely to
foster exchange market stability. Thus, they gave their full endorsement to the
G-7 accords reached in Paris in February and in Washington in April.
Although the joint statement did not refer to the
bilateral semiconductor trade dispute, Reagan said in separate press remarks
that he had agreed with Nakasone to reexamine related trade data in mid-May.
He added that his government wants to withdraw the
retaliatory measures it imposed last month against three Japanese export items
as early as possible.
Reagan also said that he had strongly urged Nakasone to
provide increased access for American agricultural products to the Japanese
market.
He said that the two leaders, who held talks on Thursday
and Friday, had agreed to take up the issues of agricultural trade, Third-World
debtor nations and macroeconomic policy coordination at the summit meeting of
seven major industrial democracies scheduled for June in Venice.
The Reagan-Nakasone joint statement also said that the
reduction of the bilateral trade imbalance should be a key objective of the two
countries' policy efforts.
They described the imbalance as "politically
unsustainable."
"The president and prime minister agreed that
outstanding trade issues between the two countries need to be resolved
expeditiously," the statement said.
Reagan reiterated his determination, in the joint
statement, to firmly resist protectionist pressures in the United States and to
reduce the U.S. budget deficit. In return, Nakasone pledged increased Japanese
efforts to stimulate domestic growth. ...以下略
 帰りの機中で。
↑■クレムリンで日ソ首脳会談
トップ 言葉の壁 コスタリカ ロビイスト ゴルバチョフ サミット レーガン モンゴル 新人研修 香港返還 Globalization
 再びモスクワへ出張。クレムリン内は、暗殺を避けるためか迷路だらけの設計になっています。あちこち歩き、ゴルバチョフ大統領執務室へたどり着きました。宇野総理（故人）との会談などをカバー。
以下の記事は、直後にモンゴルで書いた、中ソ関係正常化についての記事です。
■Soviets set pullback date
for China-border troops
The Japan Times, May 7, 1989, Page One
ULAN BATOR -A planned withdrawal of some 41,000 Soviet
troops from the Chinese border of Mongolia will begin May 15, the first day of a
scheduled Sino-Soviet summit, Mongolian leader Jambyn Batmunkh said Saturday.
Batmunkh disclosed the date in a meeting with visiting
Japanese Foreign Minister Sousuke Uno, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said
late Saturday.
The pullout was apparently timed to coincide with the
start of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's trip to Beijing.
Gorbachev and Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping are to meet in
Beijing on May 15 and 16 for a historic summit that could end nearly three
decades of hostility between the two communist giants. The troop withdrawal had
been one of three conditions set by China for a normalization of relations with
the Soviet Union.
The Soviet and Mongolian governments announced in March
that 75 percent of the 55,000-strong Soviet force in Mongolia - including five
divisions - would be withdrawn by the end of 1990. The exact date the pullback
would start, however, had not been revealed.
During talks Saturday with Uno, the Mongolian leader
pledged broader ties with the West, citing a need for "expanded relations
with the capitalist countries" as the nation embarks on economic and social
reform.
In separate talks with Mongolia's foreign minister,
Tserenpiliyn Gombosuren, Uno pledged grants from Japan totaling \60 million in
fiscal year 1989.
Mongolia would like to see Japan become "a second
partner," behind only the Soviet Union. Gombosuren told Uno, and the
Japanese minister emphasized Japan's desire to "turn a new leaf" in
bilateral relations.
In addition to the grant, of which \10 million will be
earmarked for medical equipment and \50 million for audio-visual equipment,
Japan will send an economic assistance team to the border nation to explain
Japan's foreign aid program, according to the Japanese spokesman.
Mongolian Prime Minister Dumaagijn Sodnom accepted an
invitation from Uno for a visit to Japan, the official said, perhaps as early as
December.
Uno was also told that Japanese requests to lift
restrictions on diplomatic travel in Mongolia, including visits by Japanese
nationals to the graves of relatives, would be "responded to
favorably."
↑■ジャパンタイムズ新入社員研修
トップ 言葉の壁 コスタリカ ロビイスト ゴルバチョフ サミット レーガン モンゴル 新人研修 香港返還 Globalization
 1991.4 ジャパンタイムズ新入社員研修で、私が引率して首相官邸見学。中央で首をしめられているのが私。
官邸以外にも霞ヶ関官庁街、日銀、国会、東京証券取引所などに連れて行きました。
■戦前のジャパンタイムズ史
昭和初期に戦争に協力し、少し抵抗したジャパンタイムズの歴史です。
Through war's darkest days
Ex-bureaucrat led paper as it fell under state control
→全文は「ジャパンタイムズの歴史」ページ
In the 100-year history of The Japan Times, the early 1940s was an exceptional period in which the paper kept roaring ahead with big and forceful headlines to glorify its stories.
The time could also be considered the darkest days for the paper because it had to serve the military-ruled empire of Japan under state censorship.
During World War II, the media fanned public hatred toward Americans, British and other enemies, and justified Japan's conquest of much of Asia. The Japan Times, then under control of the government, was no exception.
"My instruction to The Japan Times was to stress that Japan shall have a perfect victory, and that the nation shall fight it out to the very last person," Yasuhiko Nara, 79, a former Foreign Ministry bureaucrat who supervised the paper at the time, said in an interview.
"And of course, the announcements (of battle victories) by the (wartime) Imperial Headquarters were an absolute must for the paper," he said.
In the 1930s, almost all the shares in the newspaper were purchased by individuals at the request of the ministry, which funded the purchase, according to Nara.
The ministry's control of the paper lasted until September 1945, a month after Japan's surrender, when the U.S.-led Occupation forces ordered the government to relinquish all media share holdings.
Five decades later, Nara is a well-to-do businessman, serving as adviser to three giant corporations:
... .
↑■香港返還で何が変わったか
トップ 言葉の壁 コスタリカ ロビイスト ゴルバチョフ サミット レーガン モンゴル 新人研修 香港返還 Globalization
アヘン戦争以来、英国の植民地だった香港は97/7/1未明、中国に返還されました。
返還式典の前後はメディアが大騒ぎしました。パニックで香港人は海外に脱出するのではとか､共産中国のもとで政治的自由のない暗い雰囲気になってしまうのではと。ところが3週間たち香港に行ってみたら､以前と変わらない香港に思えました。中国の兵士も北京政府のお役人の姿もどこにも見あたらないのです｡しかしそれは､香港資本が逃げ出さないために周到に準備された光景なのでした。
1840~アヘン戦争 →1842香港島は「永久割譲」
1856第２次アヘン戦争 →1860九竜半島は「永久割譲」
1898新界は99年間租借
1941～5 日本が占領(3年8ヶ月)
「英文記事の読み方｣にくわしい注釈があります。この記事を例として、長文記事の構成法を解説しました。
AS THE MEDIA HOOPLA SUBSIDES, RESIDENTS HARBOR MIXED FEELINGS
SAR
Hong Kong’s business remains business
The Japan Times, July 22, 1997
①
HONG KONG ─ Three weeks
after the handover of this former British colony to China, the city-state has a
palpable business-as-usual ambience about it.
②
There is neither a sense of jubilation, nor
fear of an imminent wave of repression by its new ruler, the People's Republic
of China.
③
The prevailing sense of normalcy has been
brought about by years of design; London and Beijing have spent over a decade
thrashing out the details of this unprecedented geopolitical power shift.
④
In addition, both Hong Kong and Beijing are
apparently exercising restraint to avoid political acrimony; new Chief Executive
Tung Chee-hwa has told Hong Kong's people to "leave behind the baggage of
Tiananmen," referring to the 1989 Beijing massacre that led to a sudden
chill in trilateral relations among Beijing, London and Hong Kong.
⑤
"There has been no change in Hong Kong
since the handover day, . . . but maybe there will he some change 10 years from
now," said 27-year-old hotel worker Thomas Ng in a comment characteristic
of remarks made to The Japan Times by local residents.
⑥
"The People's Liberation Army soldiers are
now here, but none of us have seen any one of them since July 1, because they
are not allowed to walk around in town in uniform," he said.
⑦
The former colony, now called the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region, is China's richest, and, in a sense, newest city.
⑧
It is also its most democratic due to reforms
installed in recent years.
⑨
On the surface, few things appear to have
changed.
⑩
Beijing did not abolish the Hong Kong dollar,
which is still the only legal currency, and the border with mainland China will
remain closed to prevent unauthorized immigrants from pouring in.
⑪
Beijing has, thus far, shown no desire to
suppress the laisse-faire economic system and its free-port policy, elements
that have helped the tiny region half the size of Tokyo to grow into an economy
one fourth the size of mainland Chinese economy.
⑫
The apparent absence of Chinese control here is
stipulated in China's 1990 HKSAR Basic Law, enacted after years of negotiations
with Britain.
⑬
China has given Hong Kong a "high degree
of autonomy" and introduced a "one country, two systems" formula,
a major factor in the smooth transfer.
⑭
Residents apparently harbor mixed feelings.
⑮
Many said they cannot yet conclude if they are
happy to return to motherland China or unhappy due to the underlying fear of
abuses by the Chinese Communist Party.
⑯
"We were alert at first," said Nicky
Chan, a sales manager at a five-star hotel in Kowloon.
⑰
"But after one or two days, everything was
as usual. Nothing had changed. We go to karaoke, go watch movies, and we go to
work at our offices," he said.
⑱
Despite these residents' claims, there have
been some key changes, including the disappearance of British emblems from
everything from government offices to public trash bins in favor of the new
HKSAR emblems, as well as perceived civil rights reversals enacted by the new
legislature.
⑲
This legislature, the Provisional Legislative
Council, has been contentious as it replaced the Legislative Council, or LEGCO.
⑳
However Chan asserted that "Hong Kong is a
(former) colony; we are used to listening to what the government says. Most of
us are not interested in politics and this will remain so as long as the Basic
Law and its 50-year guarantee (of keeping Hong Kong's socioeconomic system
intact) are observed."
21
Nevertheless, many have shown what they have thought of this guarantee ─ by emigrating to
Canada, the U.S. and other nations with large overseas Chinese populations.
22
This pattern of emigration increased sharply after the 1989 Tiananmen
crackdown on democracy activists, but peaked in 1992 when 66,000 left, according
to a Hong Kong government source.
23
Some residents, however, feel a sense of patriotic joy.
24
"As a Chinese, I'm very happy. We now know what a nationality is,
and have a sense of belonging," said 36-year-old Joanna Kan.
25
"It's impossible to predict how Beijing would act toward us in the
future, but China has changed so much in the last 10 years that misgivings about
its future action could prove unwarranted," Kan said.
26
Hong Kong residents enjoy imperfect but reasonable democratic rights, and
the current rights are acceptable to many, she said.
27
"We have received colonial education from the British. The majority
of people say they are not interested in politics. We were trained like
that," she said.
28
Everyone in Hong Kong felt sorry for what happened in Tiananmen, but
"what happened happened. We look forward to the future," she stated
with an optimistic smile.
29
Others continue to disapprove of China.
30
"Are you asking me if I'm happy? No kidding. I hate the
Communists," said a barber who asked that she not be named.
31
Deanna Lee, 26, who attended schools for British nationals, said more
voting rights should be given to the residents.
32
A British national because her mother is British, Lee said Hong Kong
should have been granted independent country status just like other former
British colonies.
33
"Of course, we prefer not to be (under Beijing rule). We prefer to
be an independent country . . . like Australia and India," she said.
34
For its part, the new administration has done well to make its presence
in Hong Kong appear as innocuous as possible in order to avoid provoking hostile
sentiments during these ear]y days.
35
The 1984 Joint Declaration that led to the handover allows China to
station military units in Hong Kong.
36
Hong Kong clearly faces no external threats but Deng Xiaoping, who inked
the agreement with Margaret Thatcher 13 years ago, wanted a deterrent against
mass rallies and civil unrest.
37
This is the interpretation of many China watchers.
38
Since June 30, some 5,000 PLA soldiers have crossed the border in trucks
and armored cars, but most of them are being kept out of the city; they are
mostly stationed at rural locations in the New Territories.
39
The PLA headquarters, however, are located in the heart of the city in a
tall building overlooking Victoria Harbor.
40
Elements of the British military command previously occupied this
building, the Prince of Wales tower, until their departure June 30.
41
PLA soldiers are under orders not to walk around in uniform, and no
guards are seen at the gates of its HQ, leaving the impression that the building
is deserted.
42
The PLA's low-profile strategy is expected to continue until Aug. 18, the
Sino-Japanese War Victory Day that marks the defeat of the Japanese who ousted
the British and ruled Hong Kong during late 1941 and 1945.
43
The British military used to hold a yearly march through the city on this
anniversary, and the PLA is expected to hold its own public ceremony.
44
Beijing's Foreign Ministry has opened a 20-story office somewhere in
central Hong Kong.
45
But little information has been released concerning this branch, and none
of the residents interviewed knew its exact location or how many
Beijing-appointed cadres and staffers currently work there.
46
A phone call to this enigmatic organization made by The Japan Times was
answered by an English-speaking man who gave another number to call.
47
It turned out to be the number of Hong Kong's tourist office.
↑空飛ぶ日本式英語
(ここでは日英両文あります｡どちらも私が書いたもので、英文はジャパンタイムズに掲載したものです｡まず日本語を読んでから英文を読めば読みやすいかと思います｡)
新しい企業が誕生するとき、素敵な名前をもらえればお客様の受けもよく、大きく成長するかもしれません。逆に、奇妙な名前をつけてしまうとその会社は前途多難です。近年は英語風の企業名をつけるのがはやっていますが、日本人にとってはかっこいい名前でも、外国では誤解されてしまう名前がかなりあります。
とくに国際的な業務である航空業界では、外国人にとっても好感度の高い企業名を選ぶことが必要でしょう。ところが、最近の航空会社の企業名にはトンデモナイものがあります。
96年の冬から97年にかけて、日本には新しい航空会社(正確には航空会社としての認可を求める会社)が六つも誕生しました。近年進められている航空産業の規制緩和と、羽田空港の沖合移転・拡大をきっかけに設立されたものです。
一番先に産声を上げたのは、東京の旅行代理店のH.I.S.などがつくった航空会社です。96年の１１月１２日にこの新会社は登記され、「航空業界でのひさびさの新規参入」として大きなニュースになりました。ジャパンタイムズでも大きくとりあげましたが、この日はまだ会社の名前が決まりませんでした。その後６日間にわたり、投資をした母体企業の重役たちが協議を続け、新会社の飛躍を願って命名したものが記者会見で発表されました。スカイマーク航空です。
スカイは空ですが、この会社によると「青、公正」というイメージをかもしだすために使ったそうです。また、マークは「出発点」として使い、スカイマーク航空には「公正なスタート地点から航空業界に参入する」という意味をこめたとのことです。日本語としてみるかぎり、なかなかスマートな名前です。
★あぶない企業イメージ
ところが、この記者会見についての記事を出稿したところ、読み始めたアメリカ人の校正記者がゲラゲラ笑いだしました。理由を聞くと、Skymark
Airlines Co.という文字を見たとたん、頭の中にアメリカの戦争映画の情景が浮かんだとのこと。その情景とは、出撃した戦闘機のパイロットがレーダーで敵機を捕捉、"Mark
at 10 o'clock!"と叫ぶものです。戦争映画にでてくるスラングとしてはmarkはレーダー上で点滅する敵機の標的マークを意味し、10
o'clockとはレーダーを時計にみたてると１０時の方向にあるということです。
markにはいろいろな意味がありますが、この会社名では「skyにあるmark」ということで、markの意味の一つであるtarget（標的）という意味を連想しやすくなります。つまり、スカイマーク航空とは「空飛ぶ撃墜目標」と解釈することも可能です。この会社が将来米国に就航したとき、米国の乗客はSkymark
Airlines（いわば「大空標的航空」）という会社名を見て何を感じるのでしょうか。
単なるブラックユーモアですむかもしれませんが、墜落事故があった際には、英語圏のメディアはこの名前と墜落との因果関係についてきっと議論するのでは。ちなみに、８３年９月には大韓航空機が旧ソ連の戦闘機に敵機標的と誤認されミサイルで撃墜された事件がありました。
★飛ばない飛行機
さて、スカイマーク航空に続いて名乗りを上げたのが、札幌の財界が設立した北海道国際航空です。当初、英語名はなく、ジャパンタイムズで問い合わせたところ、「適当に訳しておいてください」ということなので、Hokkaido
International Airlinesとして報道しました。
ところが、97年春ごろ、Hokkaido
Operating Systemという英語名を使い始めました。略称HOPSです。北海道名産のビール原料のホップをひっかけたのでしょう。HOPSについての英文記事をオーストラリア人の校正記者に出稿したところ、「この会社の飛行機はいったい目的地までたどり着けるのか？」と苦笑していました。
この命名にあたっては「ホップ・ステップ・ジャンプ」という言葉も連想してさわやかな成長イメージを与えたかったのだと思いますが、陸上競技種目の三段跳びの「ホップ」の部分は何か考えてみてください。hop(s)とは「片足で跳ぶこと」や「（うさぎが）ピョンピョン跳ぶ」（上に跳んですぐ地面に落ちる）ことであり、「飛ぶ」ことではないのです。英語圏の乗客にとっては、HOPS航空は「ピョンピョン航空」という感じで、搭乗すると大ケガをしそうです。
その後、この会社はHOPSという名前をやめました。札幌にある日本航空の関連会社に同名のものがあることがわかり、この名称は使用不可能であることに気がついたのです。そこで英語名はHokkaido
International Airlinesとし、今度は愛称を全国から一般公募しました。
そして８月に発表されたのがAIR
DOです。記者会見での説明によると、DOは「行動」と「（北海道の）道」の二つの意味で、「北海道の活性化のために行動する航空会社を表現している」そうです。このニュースを聞くや、私は校正記者たちの前に行って言いました。
「北海道国際航空の愛称が決まったので発表します。AIR
DOです」 一同爆笑でした。
この名前を聞いて誰もが連想したのはhairdo
（髪形）です。英語圏の乗客にとってはAIR DO航空は「美容室航空」と聞こえるでしょう。
さて、福岡ではハーレクイン航空(Harlequin
Air)が97年1月に設立されました。この会社によると、ハーレクインはイタリアの古典喜劇の登場人物からとったもので、女性に人気の同名のロマンス小説集とは関係ないそうです。気になるのは、米国のこの種の小説の典型的テーマの一つが、プレイボーイのパイロットとの「失楽園」的関係であることです。
７月になって、この会社は「スチュワーデスを９７名採用しました」と発表しましたが、やはりアメリカ人記者らが笑っていました。
なお、きちんとした名前の会社も設立されています。同じく福岡にできた会社はPan
Asia Airwaysといいますが、社長さんはむかし米国の大航空会社だったPan
Amで乗務員をしていたそうです。この方は英会話学校の経営者でもあり、そのために奇妙な英語名を避けることができたのではと思われます。
↑■以下はジャパンタイムズ掲載(97年8月9日)のほぼ同内容の英文記事です。速読用に傍注を追加しました｡
NEW
AIRLINE FAD
Airline
deregulation spurs crazy names | 
伊藤サム
英語の世界