Yuki's Web

Author: Masayuki (Yuki) Kawagishi

  • Annus miserabilis

    Gate 68 NH413 to Kobe
    View of the City of Kobe from UKB airport

    日本文が後ろに続きます。

    The year 2011 would be “annus miserabilis” (a miserable year) for Japan. This year will go down as one of the most appalling in Japan’s history, due to the dreadful first-in-1,000-years earthquake and tsunami and the consecutive nuclear plant damage in Fukushima on 11 March.

    On the day when the earthquake struck our land, I was working at the office as usual in Tokyo. At the very time when the quake occurred, I was walking on the stairway, and I saw everything beginning to swing. At first, I thought it was because I had a dizzy spell due to my high blood pressures, but soon I found out it was the land that was swaying because I saw a string suspended from the ceiling do so together with any other things. Then the amplitude of the tremor grew larger and larger. It reminded me of the Hanshin Awaji earthquake I had experienced in 1995 when living in Nishinomiya. I felt the quake lasted for one or two minutes, but I couldn’t do anything but let the matter take its own course.

    After it ceased, I entered the office room, where everybody was shocked. Some escaped under the desk, and some stood still holding the books on the shelf so that they wouldn’t fall. Tellys in the office was turned on. Every TV station was broadcasting the breaking news on the earthquake. The government announced tsunami alerts nationwide, but I didn’t think that a tsunami would suffer so much even if it would come, because a similar situation was just one year before when an earthquake happened in Chile followed by a tsunami, which came to the Sanriku area but didn’t hurt it at all.

    However, about an hour later, I saw on the TV screen the seawater overflow over the banks and coastal roads into the rice fields, washing up cars, buildings, and everything that was right there. I felt like watching an action film, as the scene was too far from reality.

    On that day, I had to stay in the office until midnight, because the Tokyo area was suffered a great deal as well and there were no trains and public transportations available, and some networks in the Tohoku area were damaged, and we had to fix it. At midnight trains started moving again, but they were very crowded with millions of people rushing home, so I returned home on foot. It took about an hour to get back home.

    After the disasters, most roads were full of thousands of unmovable cars in the first two days. After the roads were clear, petrol was running short. Many cars had to queue up in front of petrol stations to had them filled up. Thank god my car’s fuel tank was almost full because I had filled it up one week before.

    I was not so troubled with my everyday life after the disasters. Bath tissues were running short, but I had bought 30 rolls of them at Costco one week before, so they were quite enough for a single household. The pet bottles of drinking water disappeared at convenience stores and supermarkets due to the likelihood of tap water contaminated by radioactive materials. However, the pet bottles of tea and soda were still on sale. My inconvenience was negligible, compared with the survivors who were forced to stay in evacuation facilities.

    In the first few weeks after the disasters, people all over Japan were united. They considered the disasters as a national issue, not a Tohoku-specific local one, unlike the Hanshin-Awaji case. They all cared for the survivors in the suffered area and did their best to try to save them by donations and volunteer activities. Their mind was beautiful, one of the Japanese virtues to take pride in.

    On the last day of this year, the time has come to recall what I did and experienced this year. Though this event is unforgettable, my end-of-year review will focus on more positive aspects.

    The keywords of the year 2011 are: a car, British culture and China.
    A car is what I purchased in January. Having my own car was the first in three years. Driving a car with a manual gearbox was the first in 17 years. I reviewed how to drive on educational videos posted on YouTube to get used to manoeuvres early.

    British culture is what I experienced deeply this year as well as in the last four years. This year I was able to enjoy the British Hills in Fukushima I desired to visit for ages.

    The last one, China, is that I visited Shanghai in January for business and Hong Kong in November for personal purposes. It was the first time to visit mainland China and the first in six years to Hong Kong. Actually, I wanted to visit Beijing in March, but I gave it up because of the disasters.

    The year 2011 is really “annus miserabilis” for many people and me in Japan, but I hope the next year be “annus mirabilis” (miracle year).

    2011年は「annus miserabilis」（悲惨な年）でした。日本の歴史上、最も悪い年として人々の記憶に残ることでしょう。もちろん、311の地震・津波・それに引き続いて起こった福島原発事故のせいです。

    その日は、私は東京でいつも通り仕事をしていました。地震が起こった瞬間は廊下にいて、まわりが揺れ始めたときは、高血圧のせいでめまいでも起こしたのかと思ったんですが、天上からぶらさがっていた糸状のものまで揺れているのを見て、これは自分ではなく周りが揺れているのだと確信したのもつかの間、揺れの振幅が大きくなり始め、1995年に西宮で経験した阪神淡路大震災を思わせるほどのひどい揺れが１〜２分続きました。その間、なすすべもなく身をまかせるよりほかありませんでした。

    揺れがおさまって、オフィスの中に入ると、みんな騒然としていました。机の下に逃れる人、本棚の本が落ちないように支える人。テレビがつけられました。どの局も震災の特番をやってました。政府から津波警報が全国的に出されましたが、１年前のチリ地震の際も三陸沖に津波警報が出されて結局たいした被害もなく終わっていたので、このときはあまり深刻にとらえていませんでした。

    しかし、約１時間後、テレビを見ると、海水が堤防からあふれ、沿岸の道路から田んぼを洗い流し、果ては車から建物からその他すべてにわたってなぎ倒していくのが見えました。あまりにも現実感に乏しく、まるでアクション映画でも見ているかのようでした。

    その日は夜中まで会社にいることを余儀なくされました。東京も地震のせいで交通機関が止まっていた上に、ネットワークに故障が発生して復旧しなければならなかったからです。夜中になって電車が動き出しましたが、電車は帰宅を急ぐ人でごったがえしていたので、私は１時間歩いて帰宅したのでした。

    そのあと、最初の２日間は、道には車が動けずにあふれかえっていました。道がすいたあとは、ガソリンが不足し始めました。ガソリンスタンドの前には車がいっぱい列をなして給油を待たなければなりませんでした。幸い私の車は１週間前に満タンにしていたので助かりました。

    私にとっては、震災後の日常生活はそれほど困るものではありませんでした。トイレットペーパーが不足しましたが、１週間前にコストコで大量に買い込んでいたおかげで一人身には十分すぎるぐらいは確保していました。放射性物質のせいでペットボトルの水がコンビニやスーパーから姿を消しましたが、お茶やジュースは普通に売ってました。被災地の方々に比べれば、私の不便など取るに足りないものでした。

    震災後の最初の数週間、日本中の人々は一つになりました。阪神淡路の場合とは違い、地域的な問題ではなく日本全体の問題として考えられました。みんな被災者のことを考え、募金やボランティアなどで被災者を助けようと努力していました。このマインドは美しく、日本が誇るべき美徳の一つといってよいでしょう。

    今年最後の日にあたり、今年自分が何をしたり経験したかを振り返るときが来ました。この出来事は忘れられないことですが、私の年末振り返りはもっと明るい話題にフォーカスしたいと思います。

    2011年のキーワードは、クルマ、イギリス文化、そして中国です。

    クルマは、１月に３年ぶりにクルマを買ったことです。マニュアル車の運転はじつに17年ぶりです。運転に早く慣れるようにYouTubeでドライビングレッスンを見たりしたものです。

    イギリス文化という点では、かねてから行ってみたかった福島県のブリティッシュヒルズに今回行けたことです。

    最後の中国は、１月に上海出張、11月に香港へプライベート旅行に行ったことです。大陸へは初めて、香港へは６年ぶりでした。ホントは３月に北京にも行きたかったんですが震災があり断念しました。

    2011年は私にとっても日本中にとっても本当に「annus miserabilis」だったんですが、次の年は「annus mirabilis」（驚異の年）になってほしいものです。

  • Off to Hong Kong / 香港行ってきます

    Gate 14

    日本文が後ろに続きます。

    I’m going to Hong Kong tonight. I last visited there six years ago. I’ll be back in Japan on Sunday 6th.

    Action items in Hong Kong: to get SIM-lock-free iPad2 and, if possible, iPhone4S at Mong Kok; registration of new address and passport number for my account of HSBC; and sightseeing at Stanley, Aberdeen, and Lamma Island.

    (more…)

  • National Azabu Supermarket closed / ナショナル麻布スーパーマーケット閉店

    National Azabu Supermarket
    日本文が後ろに続きます。

    National Azabu Supermarket at Hiroo, where foods, groceries, books, toiletries and stationery imported from abroad were available, terminated operation as of today due to the age of its building.

    The Hiroo neighbourhood is one of the places I visited very frequently because the training centre of the company I worked for was in that area. I visited there from time to time to have an English test or training for English writing or business skills when I was a young worker. Every time I had classes there, I dropped in on the supermarket to see the shoppers coming from abroad, mainly the United States, who looked rich enough to afford the imported products sold there. To see such successful people encouraged me to do my best to learn English and business skills for my success.

    However, several years later the training centre was closed and moved to another place. Most of the products sold in the supermarket has become what I can get online for the same prices as in their home countries, without paying extra money at such imported grocery shops. Besides, the United States is no longer the goal for successful persons, seeing the current circumstances of it.

    The supermarket was a dream for me, and a wonderland that offered me a space of extraordinariness, but it ended the role as a symbol of success with the change of the times. Without the supermarket, I will visit the Hiroo area more rarely than ever.

    輸入ものの食品や日用品、本、文房具、化粧品などを売っている広尾のナショナル麻布スーパーマーケットが建物の老朽化のため本日をもって閉店しました。

    広尾地区は、会社の研修センターがあった関係で、けっこうよく訪れる場所でした。若手社員のころ、ＴＯＥＩＣのテストやら英文ライティング研修やらビジネススキル系の研修やらでちょくちょく研修センターに行っては、帰りにはここのスーパーに立ち寄って外国人の買い物客を見に行ったものでした。だいたいがアメリカ人で、仕事で成功しいっぱい稼いでこういうスーパーで買い物できる身分になっているのを見るにつけ、これから仕事頑張ろう、英語頑張ろう、頑張ってこういう人たちみたいに成功者になりたい、と思ったものでした。

    そうこうしてるうちに、何年かたつと研修センターが他の場所に移転してしまい、またここのスーパーで売ってる輸入品も、今ではネットで現地価格で買えるようになりました。何よりも、アメリカの今の状況を見るにつけ、アメリカが必ずしも成功者の目標でなくなったということがあります。

    このスーパーは私にとって非日常の空間を与えてくれた夢の場所だったんですが、時代の移り変わりとともに、成功のシンボルとしての役割は終わったのかもしれません。このスーパーがなくなった今、もう広尾に行くこと自体、あまりないでしょう。

  • Play

    日本文が後ろに続きます。

    When I studied at university, attending the classes for “liberal arts” was mandatory for the first two years. There was a wide variety of subjects to choose from, from English, Germany, chemistry, mathematics, and economics to Chinese history, Japanese literature, and Japanese linguistics. Most of them were nothing to do with my major (engineering), so I thought that taking them was a waste of time and the university should teach us more practical techniques focusing on our major studies. I even thought that I should go to a professional school because they might teach only professional skills that would be necessary for my future.

    Nevertheless, I found out, when I had started my career and had some job experience, that culture would win in the end. Acquiring practical knowledge and skills related to jobs is a matter, of course. Your worth consists of how much cultured besides skilled. For example, in an English class, I read Tristan and Isolde’s tragic love story, which was originally written by Gottfried von Strassburg and made operatic by Richard Wagner, that a knight named Tristan fell in love with a king’s wife, Isolde, and they ruined after illicit love. When I attended the class, I suspected if the story could contribute to my future career. Still, now I know that it is common knowledge among general people, especially in the Western countries, and ignorance of it is regarded as uncultured.

    Your culture is cultivated not from hard work, but play. Play is the space in which a mechanism moves or, in more comprehensive words, the emptiness in the activeness. It seems to be a waste, but it sometimes broadens your horizons and deepens your insight. As it is often said that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, play is indispensable for everything. Who dares drive a car with a steering wheel with no play?

    Play is important in spending vacation. Doing nothing is the right way to spend a vacation because the word “vacation” derives from “vacant,” which means empty. Wasting time is an extreme luxury. Many people, however, trying to making good use of holidays, go to crowded spots resulting in getting more tired than before. In particular, Japanese people are so conscious of eliminating what is wasteful that they feel guilty about wasting time. They are so obliged to waste no time on holidays; their vacation ironically ends by wasting time and energy rather than saving them.

    In the midst of your career, play sometimes helps you guide in a better way. Studying a different field, seeing people doing different types of business, and even meditating in your room would be useful, besides throwing yourself into your work. They are not directly related to your current work, but they may give you some hints for your future career.

    There is nothing wasteful in your life in the long run. As long as you are alive, what you are doing is helpful in something, even goofing off in the bed.

    大学に通っていたころ、最初の２年間はいわゆる「一般教養」の授業をとらなきゃいけなくて、英語や第二外国語や化学、数学から、東洋史学、国文学、国語学までバラエティーに富んだ科目がありました。ほとんどは専門（工学）とは関係ない授業ばっかりで、こんなの取って何の意味があるんだろう、そんなこと教えるぐらいならもっと専門の実用的な科目を教えてくれればいいのに、まだ専門学校のほうが実学を教えてくれるだけましなんじゃないか、と思ったものでした。

    でも、社会に出てしばらくして、「人間、最後には教養がモノを言うんだな」って気づいたわけです。実用的なこととか、仕事に関係のあることを身に付けるのは当たり前のこと。それ以上に教養が人間の価値を決めるんですね。

    大学の英語の時間に、教材にヨーロッパの宮廷恋愛の話を使っていたのがありました。

    ゴットフリート・フォン・シュトラスブルクの原作で、のちにワーグナーという人がオペラにした話なんだけど、トリスタンっていう騎士と、国王に嫁いだイゾルデという妃がお互いに恋する。当然、妃のほうは人妻なのでこの恋は”不倫”になるわけで、人目を忍びながら逢瀬を重ねるんですが、最後にはお互いが破滅するという形で終わる、というストーリーです。

    「そんなのオレの専門に関係ないじゃん」って授業受けてたときはそう思ってたんですが、この話は特に欧米では常識みたいなもので、知らないと恥、というより、常識を疑われたりするんですね。

    一見、無駄だと思えるようなことが、人間の奥行きを広げてくれるってことは、けっこうあるもんだな、と思うのです。これを、機械でいう”遊び”、英語に訳すと”play”、可動部分の中のすき間部分のことをいうんですが、人間にもこの”遊び”の中から教養が生まれたりするんですね。ハードワークだけが人生じゃないし、無駄をなくすことが善、というわけでもないんです。

    たとえば、休日。私たちは、せっかくの休みだからついつい”有意義に過ごそう”として、わざわざ行楽地に疲れに行ったりしてしまうことがよくありますが、休日って英語で言うとvacation、つまりvacant（空）なものであって、vacationというのは「何もしない日」っていう意味なんですね。休日というのは”何もしないでぼーっとする”のが正しい過ごし方であって、”時間を無駄に使う”ということこそ最高の贅沢なんだと思うんです。

    日本人って、そこのところをあまりにもなおざりにしすぎたんじゃないかな〜と思うんです。”無駄を省く”ことに躍起になってしまって、”無駄”な贅沢を楽しむことに罪悪を感じる人が多いというか。でもその”無駄”こそが”遊び”であって、重要な部分だと思うんです。

    キャリア形成でも、”遊び”が将来のために役立つことがあったりします。本業に打ち込むだけじゃなく、違う分野について勉強する、異業種の人と会う、あるいは部屋の中でぼーっと考えるだけでも、仕事と直接関係なくても、将来のヒントになるかもしれません。

    長い目で見れば、人生で無益なところなんて何もなくて、ただボケーッとしてるだけでも、生きてる限り、何かの役に立つこともあるんだと思います。

  • Tribute to stewardesses / 機上の女神

    日本文が後ろに続きます。

    I love stewardesses, or female flight attendants working on the aeroplane. As is often the case with Asian airlines, Japan’s airlines such as Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways have many attractive-looking stewardesses because of the history they once hired such women as flight attendants.

    Nevertheless, I love them not only because they look good. It goes without saying that they aren’t so much “the waitresses on the plane” as “the security staff” who maintain the security of the aircraft cabin. To satisfy passengers in normal or emergency conditions, they need to have hard training and pass tests to be qualified as flight attendants. Even after they manage to become stewardesses, they should have and pass periodic tests to avoid being disqualified. Their attractive smiles, dignified attitudes, and graceful behaviour on the plane backed up with their pride in strict training, mesmerise us very much. They are really noble and saintly women, differing from similarly good-looking women like newscasters of telly stations or campaign girls in pits of motor racing circuits.

    Their brave and cool-headed actions often save many passengers. When the ANA 857 aeroplane was hijacked at Hakodate Airport in Hokkaido, Japan on 21 June 1995 by a desperate banker, a flight attendant was captured by him, being got a full nelson with a knife pointed at her, and taken in hostage in the cabin for tens of hours with the passengers and the other crew. After police and all the passengers released had captured the criminal, she attended a press conference. She had an interview with the press corps, talking calmly in front of TV cameras about what had been going on in the cabin at that time. She behaved like a real professional. A standard young girl would’ve been too shocked and mentally damaged to appear in public and talk in front of press staff if she had experienced such tough circumstances. The crew members were so calm, disciplined, and strong-minded that the criminal didn’t get so much furious, resulting in killing or injuring no personnel until arrested.

    When it comes to strong-minded actions in a dangerous situation, policewomen and military servicewomen may have such professionalism as well. They don’t enchant me, however, for police officers are the person who controls us, regulates us and exercises power over us, and the soldiers, sailors, and airwomen don’t appear in our daily lives, so they aren’t familiar to me.

    For me, flight attendants offering us their best service on board are the best women. It’s the happiest time for me that, on the taxiing aeroplane preparing for takeoff, I catch the eyes of a stewardess sitting in the jump seat facing me and when our eyes meet we smile at each other.

    As a passenger, I always respect them. When getting aboard, I don’t forget to say hello to the greeting crew at the entrance door. When I lift my heavy luggage to stow it into the overhead stowage, I do it by myself instead of making her do it. I order food or drink in a polite attitude, and when she serves me and clears the table, I always say thank you to her with a smile. Of course, I say thank you and goodbye to them to show my most gratitude when I’m getting off the aircraft at destination.

    Needless to say, annoying the cabin crew is absolutely unacceptable. Deplorably, there are such idiots that smoke in the lavatory, use a mobile phone in the cabin, yell at her for trivial matters, or even use violence or pervert actions on her. Such vulgar passengers should get off the plane, as they don’t reach the level of class to be qualified to use it.

    An aircraft cabin is a salon for sophisticated ladies and gentlemen. The noble hostesses will smile at only such cultivated persons that can prudently enjoy travel.

    ぶっちゃけ、スッチーが好きです。そう、飛行機で働く客室乗務員（ＣＡ）のことです。

    アジアのエアラインにはよくあるように、日系のＪＡＬやＡＮＡなどの航空会社のＣＡは、かつて募集要項に「容姿端麗であること」という採用条件があったこともあり、キレイどころがいっぱいいらっしゃいます。

    ただ、キレイというだけでスッチーが好きなのではないのです。言うまでもなく客室乗務員はただの「機上のホステス」ではなく、機内の安全を確保しなきゃいけない「保安要員」でもあるわけです。ＣＡになるためには、何ヶ月もにわたる厳しい訓練を受け、それにパスしなきゃいけないし、なったらなったで、定期的に監査フライトがあって、それに落ちると飛行機を降りなきゃいけなくなるわけです。

    飛行機が落ちれば当然自分も命を落とすわけだし、そういう極限状態に陥ったときに、乗客をパニックにさせないように最後まで職務を果たさなきゃいけない。すごく重労働だし危険な職務なのに、乗客の安全を守るために身を挺して命を賭けて働く姿、プロとして自分の仕事に誇りと使命感を持って働く姿、そういうカッコイイ姿に、魅せられるんだと思うんです。女子アナやレースクイーンとも違う、ただ笑顔を振りまいているだけじゃなくて、保安要員としての厳しい訓練と誇りに裏打ちされた凛とした姿がそこに見えるのです。彼女たちは高潔で気品あふれる「女神」に映ります。

    冷静な判断で、多くの乗客が救われることがあります。１９９５年６月２１日に起こった函館空港の全日空８５７便ハイジャック事件のとき。ＣＡの１人が犯人の男に羽交い絞めにされて凶器を突きつけられて、乗客と一緒に十何時間も人質にされて極限状態に置かれたんですが、犯人が逮捕されたあとの記者会見に出てたんです。ＣＡっていったってそのへんにいる普通の若い女の子のはずだし、事件に遭ったショックはシャレにならないだろうしそのまま出社拒否にでもなってもおかしくないと思うんですが、記者会見で冷静にそのときの情況を詳細に語っていたんですね。これはホントのプロじゃなきゃできないことだと思うんです。そのときからですね、ＣＡって凄ぇな～って思い始めたのは。結局、彼女たちの冷静な行動のおかげで、犯人を刺激せず、誰も死なずに済んだんですから。

    じゃ婦人警官や女性自衛官はどうなんだ、ということになるんですが、警察官はわれわれからみて「取り締まる側」の人間だし、自衛官は日ごろ目に触れないから、あまり萌えることはないんですね。

    私としては、機内でベストなサービスをするスチュワーデスが最高の女性と思うわけです。シートに体を預け、シートベルトを締めて、静かに離陸の時を待つ。タキシーウェイを静かに滑ってく機内で、向かいのジャンプシートに腰を掛け、機内アナウンスの練習で口をもごもごさせているクルーに目をやる。ふと目が合い、お互いに笑みを交わす至福のひととき……これが飛行機の旅の醍醐味なわけです。

    乗客として、私は彼女たちに最大限の敬意を払っています。機内に乗り込むときは、少なくとも出迎えるクルーに挨拶ぐらいはします。座席の上の棚に荷物を入れるときは、重い荷物なら、ＣＡに任せないで自分で積み込みます。機内ではレディファーストが基本。通路ですれ違うときも、女性が通りやすいようによけてあげたりするとカッコイイと思います。

    食事や飲み物をオーダーするときは、単語で話すのではなく、ちゃんと会話文の形で言うようにします。友人のＣＡがよく嘆いてるのが、何か頼むとき「コーヒー」とか「ビーフ」とか、とにかく単語しか話さない日本人乗客が多いとのこと。「コーヒーお願いします」とか「ビーフにしてください」とか、文の形にしてお願いすることができれば、受ける印象もだいぶ違ってくるんだそうです。

    もちろん、食事や飲み物を頂くときや、下げてもらうときなどは、ちゃんと「ありがとうございます」とお礼を言うようにしています。そのとき、相手の目を見つめて、ニコッと微笑むことも忘れません。

    目的地で飛行機を降りるときは、最大限の感謝の気持ちをこめて「お疲れさまでした」と声をかけるようにしています。この一言で彼女たちの疲れはたちまち吹っ飛び、とびっきりの笑顔を返してくれます。

    当然のことながら、女神様を困らせるような行為は絶対ご法度。注意したＣＡを殴ったり機内で出迎えているＣＡの胸をすれ違いざまに触ったりなどは論外ですが（いるんだな、こういうことするバカが）、携帯を機内で使う、ラバトリーでタバコを吸う、ささいなことでキレてＣＡに怒鳴りつける……こんなことをするＤＱＮな客は飛行機を利用すべき階層の人間ではないので即刻機内から立ち去るべきです。

    飛行機は、洗練された紳士淑女のためのサロン。身を慎み、旅を愉しむことができる余裕のある者にのみ、機上の女神たちは微笑むのです。

  • Apples I’ve ever used

    私がこれまで使ってきたApple製品。

    • PowerBook 1400cs (1997/10 – )
    • Power Macintosh 6100 (1999/03 – )
    • iPod nano (2005/12 – )
    • MacBook Pro (2009/10 – )
    • iPhone 3GS (2010/03 – )
    • iPhone 4 (2010/12 – )

    …thanks to Steve. Rest in peace.
    スティーブ＝ジョブズ教祖様に感謝。
    ご冥福をお祈りします。

  • My current views in English / 英語について

    日本文が後ろに続きます。

    We Japanese know that English is the world’s de facto standard language everyone in the world needs to learn to communicate with each other in this fast-globalising society. Mastering English is, nevertheless, one of the greatest hardships for most of Japanese who were born in Japan and raised by Japanese parents within Japan. They learn English as a mandatory subject in middle school, high school, and even college for up to eight years, but very few of them have a good command of it.

    Quite a few analysts have given comments on why most Japanese are weak in English. Some say it’s because English’s structure of language is quite different from that of the language they usually speak. Others point out the problem with Japan’s English education policies, relying overly on teaching translation techniques from English to Japanese rather than communicative English.

    It is also said that English isn’t necessary for Japanese people’s everyday life. Even if English is taught in school, it’s what they can forget after managing to pass the entrance examination of their highest education facility at long last. Once they finish studying for exams, they can do without English for life as long as they stay within Japan. Rather, showing off English is considered in many cases as rude, affected, and disgusting behaviour by other average Japanese, especially older people who have less chance to learn English.

    Why do average Japanese living in Japan hate such people who speak English fluently, though they may neither feel rude, affected nor disgusting to good painters, professional musicians, skilled karate masters, or those who are good at something other than English? Japan has been subject to America’s control in business, economy, military, culture, and everything else since WWII, and various kinds of things have been brought into Japan. People in Japan have been mesmerised by such American-style things and, because it has been noised about especially for the last 15 years that all examples in America are the global standard they should follow, they have done their best to try to incorporate them in their daily life. However, a few things are what they can’t manage to do it —- English is the one. Affection to what they try to get in vain turns into hatred over time and the hatred will be expressed at those who successfully have it. Due to such nature of Japanese people, most of them don’t or pretend not to speak English well so that they won’t generate unexpected resentment among people. Because it’s considered affected to show off speaking English in public, they have less motivation to use it.

    In my humble opinion, one of the important attitudes to master English is to stop admiring America too much. English is not a language for Americans only, but a lingua franca everybody in the world learns whether or not he is a native English speaker. You’ll find out that American English mainly taught in Japan is not dominant in the world if you travel to countries in Europe, Middle East, or Southeast Asia, where British English is widely used in conversation and signs in public. People in the UK, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia use their own local English. Even within the United States, you’ll see various kinds of people from businesspersons to hotel clerks, taxi drivers, and newsstand workers who speak in various kinds of accents. Nothing is right, and nothing is wrong. Nothing is fashionable, and nothing is dowdyish. They are all in English.

    We should be a master of English, not a slave of it. We should learn it as not so much one of American cultures as an interface language to get our views over anybody in the world, regardless of his mother tongue, representing the nation we stand. The more Japanese can do it, the more they can influence in the world, resulting in the benefit of our country.

    昨今のグローバル社会、世界のデファクトスタンダード言語である英語をやらなきゃというのはわかっていても、日本で生まれて日本で日本人の親のもとで育った日本人にとって、中学・高校果ては大学まで最大８年勉強しても、マスターするのは至難の業です。

    なぜ日本人は英語が弱いのか、数えきれないほどの専門家が意見を述べています。やれ英語の構造が日本語と全然違うからだとか、英語教育が英文和訳に偏り過ぎていて会話を教えないだとか、そもそも英語は日常生活に必要なくて、入試になんとか合格してしまえば忘れちゃって、日本にいる限り英語なしでも生きていけるからとか。むしろ英語をひけらかすほうが（特に英語を学ぶ機会の少なかった年配者に対しては）無礼で、キザで、ムカツクなどと受け取られちゃったりします。

    英語ができる人に対して鼻持ちならない感情を抱く人がいます。「絵がうまい人」とか「プロのミュージシャン」とか「空手の達人」とか、「何かが得意」という点では同じはずなのに、彼らに対しては嫌悪感を抱かずに、英語ができる人に対してだけ不快感を抱くのも変な話だと思うんですが、戦後ずっと日本はアメリカのコントロールを受け、ビジネス面、経済面、軍事面、文化面すべてにおいてアメリカの影響を受けており、アメリカからいろんな事物が入ってくると日本人はそれに魅了され、特にここ１５年ほどはアメリカの事例がすべて「グローバル・スタンダード」で、日本人も身につけるべきと喧伝されているのもあって、アメリカのものをなんとかして手に入れたいと頑張ってきました。とはいっても、頑張っても身につけられないものもいくつかあり、その一つが「英語」で、いくら頑張っても手に入れられないものへの愛情は、しだいに憎しみへと変わっていき、それが、それを簡単に身につけられた者に向けられるんじゃないか、と。そういう日本人の国民性があるので、予期しないところで人から恨みを買うのを避けるために、ほとんどの日本人は英語を話せないか、話せないふりをするようになったんじゃないでしょうか。人前で英語を使うのがキザと取られるのでは、英語を使うモチベーションは下がっていくでしょう。

    私の個人的な考えとしては、英語をマスターするにあたってとるべき態度は「アメリカに過度に憧れるのをやめる」ことじゃないかと思っています。英語はアメリカ人だけの言葉ではなく、世界中の人が、ネイティブであってもそうでなくても、学んでいる「リングア・フランカ」だからです。海外に行くと、日本で主に教えられているアメリカ英語は実は世界的にはそんなに優位ではなく、特にヨーロッパや中東や東南アジアなど、むしろ会話や公共の表示などはイギリス英語のほうが使われていることがわかります。イギリス、インド、香港、シンガポール、マレーシア、オーストラリア……そこの人たちはそれぞれ地元の英語を使ってます。アメリカの中でも、ビジネスマンからホテルのフロント係員、タクシーの運転手、ニューススタンドの店員、いろんな人がいていろんなアクセントで話してるのがわかります。そこには正しいとか間違っているとかはなく、カッコいいとかダサいとかはないんです。みな英語なのです。

    私達は英語の主人であるべきで、英語の奴隷であるべきではありません。英語を学ぶのは、アメリカの文化としてではなく、自分の拠って立つ国を代表して、自分の考えを世界のどの母語の人にも伝えられるようにするためのインタフェースとして学ぶべきと思います。そういう日本人が増えれば、日本人がもっと世界で影響力を発揮することができ、それが日本の国益にもつながるんじゃないでしょうか。

  • Deep in England / イギリス漬け

    Deep in England / イギリス漬け

    日本文が後ろに続きます。

    Last weekend was happy days for me because I deeply experienced a British taste last Saturday and Sunday. From the beginning, I preferred the USA to the UK or other English-speaking countries. Still, my affection has been shifting to England for years since I happened to read Kaoru Mori’s Emma, a romance manga about a maid in England in the Victorian Era who falls in love with a member of the gentry.

    先週は、イギリスにどっぷり浸かってきました。

    もともとはアメリカ一辺倒だったんですが、森薫の「エマ」と出会って以来ここ数年はむしろイギリスのほうに興味がシフトしていってまして、まずは初日は毎年恒例の國學院栃木高校の文化祭「國學院祭」のミュージカル部公演「Ｏｌｉｖｅｒ！」を見に行きました。

    Gate of Cultural Festival
    On the first day, the first thing I did is to see Oliver! by the Musical Club of Kokugakuin Tochigi High School playing for the school’s cultural festival held this weekend. Oliver! is, as you may already know, an English musical based on Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist. It’s the story that Oliver Twist, who has missing parents and is in a workhouse, is forced to get out of the workhouse and gets involved in a group of pickpockets. He tries to pick a pocket of a well-off lady, who finally takes him in and brings him up, and then he gets happy.

    「Ｏｌｉｖｅｒ！」は、以前にも書いたとおり、イギリスのチャールズ・ディケンズの小説「オリバー・ツイスト」をもとにしたミュージカルで、孤児となって救貧院に入れられていたオリバー・ツイストがスリの一味に引き入れられながらも、財布をすろうとした相手の金持ちに拾われて幸せになるというお話です。

    今年も講師の三枝幹音センセイはお元気でいらっしゃいました。

    ということでまずイギリス気分に浸ったあとは、クルマを走らせて福島県のブリティッシュ・ヒルズに向かいました。

    ブリティッシュ・ヒルズの旅行記はフォートラベルに書いてあります。以降は英語だけです。

    https://4travel.jp/travelogue/11722398


    British Hills Directory British Hills Bump


    I parked my car in the car park and took my iPhone to tweet in Gowalla, but the iPhone couldn’t connect to the 3G network because Softbank wasn’t in service in this area, whilst my Blackberry, where NTT DoCoMo’s SIM card was installed, was okay.

    British Hills
    I got out of my car with all of my luggage and walked to the reception desk, following the signs put on the roadside.

    British Hills
    The Manor House
    The reception desk was in the Manor House. A Caucasian receptionist accepted my check-in. She gave me a room key and a brochure where my name and dates of stay were printed and gave a detailed explanation of the building where I was supposed to stay, as well as each of the premises in British Hills. Unlike the people you may see in the countries other than Japan, she behaved in a manner as polite and gentle as Japanese clerks would do. She also advised me that a handbell was available at the reception desk and anybody who was walking in the nature trail of British Hills should carry it in hand so that its sound might scare bears which might appear in front of the walker.

    Guestroom 725
    This is the guestroom I stayed in. It was a gorgeously furnished suite room.

    Guestroom Guestroom Guestroom
    It wasn’t air-conditioned so as to meet the taste of a Medieval British house, but I could cool off by an electric fan put in the room.

    Bathroom
    This is the bathtub made of the fabric imported from the UK. The amenities (shampoo, conditioners, soap, and body moisturiser) are imported from the UK as well.

    After putting my holdall in the guestroom, I went out to walk around the grounds around the buildings. Unlike US military bases, you could go and walk wherever you wanted, although some “No Entry” zones for staff only were only exceptions.

    British Hills Refectory dining facility and courtyard Main gate and Sports Wing The Manor House and courtyard Stone monument William Shakespeare statue
    Every building was built in an ancient British manner, from Yeoman to Stuart, Georgian, and Tudor styles.

    Housing complex
    Each guest house was named after a historical person popular in the UK.

    The Wren
    This building is named “Wren,” who was an astronomer in Oxford making a great contribution to the reconstruction of London burnt down by fire in the 17th century.

    The Turner
    This is the Turner, where I stayed. Turner was a landscape painter in the 18th century.

    The Drake
    This is the Drake, derived from Francis Drake, the first British sea captain who sailed around the world in the Elizabethan era.

    The Henry II
    This is the Henry II, the first King of England.

    The Ascot tea house
    I dropped in on the Ascot tea house to have a tea set. An Englishmen and some Japanese girls served me there.

    Tea set
    This is what was served at Ascot: tea with a scone, a quiche, fresh cream (not clotted cream), and strawberry jam. They had got an afternoon tea set or a high tea set with more scones and sandwiches, but I didn’t order them because the dinner time was coming soon and I didn’t want to be stuffed there.

    The Ye Shoppe
    This is the Ye Shoppe, a souvenir shop selling tea leaves, mugs, shortbread, sweets, letter sets, bookmarks, keyrings, pens, toiletries, and other items imported from the UK. I found a gorgeous feather pen used in ancient times, so I bought it with a bar of English soap, bottles of bath foam, and a key ring celebrating the marriage of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

    Nature trail Nature trail
    Then I dropped in on the reception to borrow a handbell and walked the nature trail. It was a 2-mile long unpaved footpath around the building area, with many ups and downs. It was a good exercise for me.

    View point Celtic cross
    I had got a viewpoint and special places to see on my way of the trail. Fortunately, I saw no bears or any other scary wildlife, but I had got a heavy thunderstorm while walking, so I gave up walking all of the trails and went back to the guest house halfway through the walk.

    Stage at the Refectory
    Dinner time began at 6:30 pm at the Refectory dining room. It was the main dining room modelling a refectory of British traditional public schools. It had dress codes and no admission for casually dressed personnel. I changed clothes into a suit with a tie before going there.

    Full course dinner at the Refectory
    It was a full course dinner starting from pumpkin & yoghurt veloute, followed by salmon terrine, consommé soup, sorbet, and the main dish in the above picture. This is some slices of the roast beef marinated with gravy and horseradish sauce. When serving it to me, the chef of the Refractory himself came to me and carved from a chunk of beef. Of course, it tasted excellent! It was a bit too luxurious for me, as I always eat simple foods daily.

    After dinner, I went to the pub next to the Refectory and got a glass of 1-pint beer. A Canadian girl sat next to me, so I talked a bit with her. She said she was a staff member of the Refectory and she was coming to drink there because that day was her day off. After a while, a group of the staff finishing the work at the Refectory and changing their clothes more casually came to her and invited her to the inner seats to talk together. She went and joined them. Then I made a little conversation with a Japanese bartender, drank some dry martini, and played darts with him a bit. He told me that many more foreign staff members usually worked there and made merry in the pub every night, but in those days there were less because many of them were returning to their home countries to renew the working visas expiring in that season.

    Foggy morning in British Hills
    The next morning it was very foggy, and it was hard to see even ten yards ahead.

    Buffet for breakfast
    It’s breakfast at the Refectory. It was a buffet style. I thought it would’ve been perfect if there had been baked beans.

    While eating breakfast, a supervisor came to me and asked me to have a guided tour in the Manor House if I had time. When checking out the hotel, I told her I was ready for the tour. Then she took two young girls to me and told them to guide me as attendants. They were just college students studying the hotel industry and were coming there for one of the education programmes of the college.

    They took me inside the Manor House and explained the history of the Manor House, how and why those kinds of houses had been built in the Medieval times, with what fabrics the rooms were furnished, in what manner the walls and the ceilings were decorated, and more. They explained a bit falteringly, but with all their might.

    Upper Hall
    One of the most instructive pieces of knowledge from their explanations was why the level where there was the main entrance was called “the ground floor” and the upper level called “the first floor” in the UK or the British Commonwealth. According to their explanations, the downstairs wasn’t considered as a residential area because it was used just for a butler who greeted incoming guests, judging whether the guests were going down well with the master or not. Only the guests judged as welcome persons could be shown upstairs by the butler and arranged to meet the master at the upper hall like the picture above. That’s why the place was on “the first floor,” whilst the downstairs hall was on “the ground floor.”

    In this picture above, you can see in the middle the gorgeous stained glass weighing 1 tonne specially crafted at Scotland, Queen’s and King’s rooms on the right side, and the left, a library of more than 1,000 volumes of old books stored in the bookshelves. Of course, Oliver Twist was one of the collections.

    Aisle Aisle
    On both sides of the aisle were the portrait pictures of the people who had made a great contribution to the UK and Japan, including former Emperor Hirohito and his Empress, as well as Emperor Meiji, the first east Asian person on whom the Order of the Garter was conferred.

    Queen's room Queen's room Queen's room
    It’s the Queen’s room named “Her Majesty,” modelling the private room of the mistress.

    King's room King's room Bed at King's room King's room
    The King’s room called “His Majesty,” the master’s private room. The furniture had a fierce-animal-shaped decoration in many parts to show off his power and strength. Prince Hitachinomiya actually stayed in this room when he visited British Hills. The attendants said even an ordinary person could stay here for 250,000 yen per night.

    Snooker rooom Bar counter at the snooker room
    The last place they guided me was the snooker room, where snooker was available as well as drinking brandy at the bar counter. Snooker looked like billiard, but they said snooker used a wider table and smaller balls than billiard, and it was much more difficult to play.

    I enjoyed the stay until noon on that Sunday. The staff members were very polite, well trained, and had much elegance and hospitality. I thought it would’ve been better if the uniforms of the staff had been like those of British maids and footmen :-p as everything in British Hills was modelling the ancient British cultures. Apart from that, that “theme park” is my No.1 recommendation that is good for taking a rest if you get tired of your routine days. I think that the company I’m working for, trying to get involved in global business, should arrange a few days of English lessons in British Hills as an education programme for encouraging the employees to be more skilful in English.

  • I’m alive

    Although I’m now active on Facebook or Twitter rather than this blog, I want to tell you that I’m still alive.

    It was a big headache to me that the page design of this blog’s home page had been wrong for a few months. Flickr’s thumbnail pictures on the top of the page and the sidebar hadn’t been displayed. But today I’ve restored it! The reason is straightforward. I tried to comment out a </div> tag into <!– /div –> but I forgot to add two hyphens before the greater-than symbol and it looked like <!– /div>, so it affected the page design after that tag.

    このごろFacebookやTwitterばかりでこのブログはすっかりごぶさたですが、生存報告です。

    さてここ数ヶ月、英語版のブログのトップページのデザインが変になってて、Flickrのサムネイルやサイドバーが見えなくなっていたんですが、今日解決しました。理由は簡単、</div>タグをコメントアウトして<!– /div –>にしようとしたところ、間違えて<!– /div>になっていたのでそれ以降のページデザインに影響していたのでした。