よく調査せずのちょっとした翻訳

こんばんは、BBC世界ニュースのジェームズ・クーマラサミです。
今日の大ニュースです。

ドイツのケルン市にて「ペギダ」という反イスラム運動のデモ隊を追い払う為、警察が放水銃を使用した。大晦日に起きた様々な襲撃や強盗事件に対して、ライバルのデモ行進もケルン市の中心部にて行われた。

援助団体は11日に、包囲されたシリアの町マダヤに食糧や医薬品を供給する予定です。マダヤの住民達は飢餓状態で死んでいると見られている。シリア北部にあるもう二つの町も援助を受ける予定です。

半年前、メキシコの重警備刑務所から脱獄した麻薬王ホアキン・グスマン受刑者が遂に再逮捕された。証拠として再逮捕した保安隊はがマスコミの前にグスマン受刑者の姿を見せた。

エジプトの保安隊は攻撃された紅海のホテルに乱入し、一人のイスラム過激派容疑者を射殺した。もう一人のイスラム過激派容疑者が負傷した。二人の容疑者の手によって、ヨーロッパ人観光客3人が負傷している。観光客に対する攻撃は、この2日間で2度目となる。

手紙、東野 圭吾

A book recommended to me by a friend.
A book that I just couldn't put down.

In order to kill her cheating husband, your mother sets fire to the family home and plans to escape with her two sons. The fire does kill your father, but unfortunately your mother gets mixed up in the chaos and dies too. Your older brother quits high school and gets a hard labour job at a moving company in order to support you. You both move into a small apartment and try to make ends meet. Your brother can see the potential you have and is adamant that you should go to university and not miss out like him. He reassures you that he will find the money. You don't want to put pressure on your brother who is already struggling to keep the job he has due to severe back problems, so you try to secure yourself a job. Anything to ease the stress on your brother.

But your brother realises what you are doing and panics. He promised your parents at their grave that he would look after you. He cannot fail you. So your brother secretly thinks up a plan to ensure your path into university. If only it was legal. If only it had gone to plan. If only the old lady didn't come home. If only the screwdriver your brother was holding hadn't accidentally stabbed her in the neck. If only.

Your brother was caught red-handed and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

While you try and get your head around what your brother did, your landlord knocks on your door and gives you two weeks to get out. He doesn't want "your sort" in his property. You get a job but as soon as your boss finds out that your brother is in prison for murder he finds a way to sack you. You get another job but again and again you are sacked when the truth about your brother comes to light. You fall in love, you join a band, you have a daughter... but again and again it is your brothers crime which stops things from succeeding.

Your brother makes your every move a struggle.
You write him a letter telling him that you are disowning him.
You pretend he never existed.
But, isn't that just confirming the prejudices that society holds?


***

English title: The Letters, by Keigo Higashino.
An easy read for JLPT N2 beginner.
I haven't watched the movie yet, but the trailer looks somewhat removed from the novel - the main character was never part of a comedy duo.

世界を中心で、愛をさけぶ 【小説】片山恭一

It was voted high up in the "Japan Top 100 Novels", I'd already seen the movie and liked it, so I decided to read this short book. It's a smooth and easy read. However, maybe it's due to the fact I saw the movie first, or to the fact that the movie is very far removed from Katayama's original novel, I preferred the movie best. The movie has moments that pull on your heartstrings, albeit sometimes cheesy. The book lacks in moments of the two main characters before her death, rather it seems to dwell more on moments after her death for too long.

The story of the book is a simple one: a boy meets a girl at school, they fall in love and want to spend every moment of their lives together. They share views together, steal dead people's bones together (for a good cause, obviously), and walk home together from school every day (they take the extra extra long route, obviously). But the girl falls ill with leukaemia and ends up spending her days in hospital. The boy tries everything he can do to keep her spirits up, but the girl becomes more and more depressed as she learns of her fate. Bored at hospital and eager to go back to high school, she studies about Australian Aborigines. The boy promises to take her there when she gets better. The boy does keep his promise, and the girl does eventually get to go to Australia, even if it is after her funeral.

The synopsis of the movie is somewhat different. It concentrates on the grown up 33 year old man and his new girlfriend. The story is told through his new girlfriends discoveries and the man's memories. The person who was the boys grandfather in the book is now his uncle in the movie. The movie is shot beautifully and if you had to chose between the two, I'd recommend watching the movie rather than reading the book.

The book is an easy read for JLPT N2 and above.

5年3組リョウタ組 石田衣良

He is young, hasn't much experience, has dyed brown hair and wears a necklace to work. He might not seem like the most reliable teacher around, but 25 year old bicycle-riding Ryota Nakamichi does things his way. And they usually don't get him anywhere. But this year was different. He had a student who felt claustrophobic inside the classroom and kept running out during class. Then he had to try and encourage a fellow teacher, who was being bullied by coworkers, not to  throw his career away. Then there was the fire incident and the mass media on his doorstep. Somehow he turned it all around and became a star. The students trusted him, his fellow coworkers took a second look at him. His way of working - tackling problems from a child's point of view and encouraging the students to take pride and find a road of their own - was working much better than the old school system of forcing the students to memorise things. And on top of all that, he got a girlfriend.

It just had to be Ryota's year.

ちょっとした復習 「一」

◼︎ 一括して《いっかつ》
Lump together. Collectively.
月ごとよりは1年分一括して払いたいのですが。

***

◼︎ 一様に 《いちよう》
Uniformly. Alike.
映画を見た人たちは一様に興奮してた。

◼︎ 一律 《いちりつ》
Evenly. Across the board.
一律2千円の賃上げ。

「一様」には「に」か「な」が必要。
「一律」には助詞無しでも使える。

***

◼︎ 一貫して 《いっかん》
Beginning to end consistently.
◼︎ 一気に 《いっき》
No stopping. In one gulp/stretch.
◼︎ 一挙に 《いっきょ》
Finish once and for all.
◼︎ 一斉に 《いっせい》
All together.

「一気に」⇆ 「一挙に」

彼は最後まで一貫して忠実であった。
一気に5時間働く。
生徒達は一斉に答えた。

***

◼︎ 一向に 《いっこう》
Not at all. Not in the least. (程度)
◼︎ 一切 《いっさい》
Completely. (量的)

「一向に…ない」

***

◼︎ 一段と 《いちだん》
More than (something else). More than before.
◼︎ 一層 《いっそう》
More than before ONLY.

これは他のものより一段と良い。
日向を歩いたため一層頭痛がひどくなった。

そして父になる (佐野 昌・是枝 裕和)

「金でな、買えるもんと買えへんもんがあるねん。」

Imagine you have a son.
You work hard to give him everything you can.
You prepare him for his school life.
You teach him right from wrong.
You would do anything for him.
After all, he is your son.

But then, after six years of bringing him up you get a call to say there was a mistake at the hospital and he isn't your son at all. The hospital and the lawyers recommend that you give the boy back to his true parents. In return you will get your true son.

You question why you didn't realise.
You question what it is to be a father.

You are torn between a boy you know and love and a boy who is related to you but you don't know. You feel as though you are betraying the boy you brought up if you begin to love your real, "new" son. The boy you brought up, your "old" son doesn't understand why Daddy is sending him away to live with other people. Maybe it's because he failed his piano classes. Your new son finds you boring and just wants to go back to his old life. You find escape at work. You work even when you don't need to. Anything to avoid going home and facing reality.

What can you do to be a good father to both your new and old sons?
What should you choose? Love or blood?
Should you even be choosing at all?  

「そうだよな、パパじゃない… でもな、6年間は…。 6年間はパパだったんだ。出来損ないだったけど、パパだったんだよ。」
「ごめんな。ごめん…」

***

Good book and very smooth to read.
Intermediate-advanced level.

人種問題の革命を起こしたい

ミスユニバース日本代表、宮本エリアナさんはそもそもどうしてコンテストに参加しようと思っていたのか、参加することでどんな目的を果たしたのか、世の中はどういう視点で彼女を見ているのか、どうやって子供時代の人種差別の経験を受け入れたのかなど、このインタビューで明らかとなった。

ハーフの友人の自殺がきっかけでコンテストに出場してみたという。しかし、実際に賞を取ったら肌の色のせいで宮本さん自身も人種差別を受けてしまった。一世代前、ファッション業界の文化の壁を取り除いたイギリスのスーパーモデル、ナオミ・キャンベルさんと同じように、宮本さんは反発を恐れずに、全国の注目を利用して人種差別主義に立ち向かおうとしている。

アフリカ系アメリカ人の父と日本人の母を持つ21歳の宮本さんは火曜日のインタビューで「頑固ですよ、私は」と語った。

「批判を受ける心構えができていたんですよ、もちろん。それにしても全く傷つけなかったと言ったら嘘です。だって、電話中でもお辞儀するぐらいの日本人だから。しかしその批判は逆に意欲を与えてくれたんですよ。そもそもコンテストに参加する理由は自殺したハーフの友人のおかげでした。人種差別に対する人々の意識を高めるのが参加する目的でした」と語った。宮本さんも子供の頃、長崎県佐世保市の学校で肌の色のせいでよく虐められてしまったという。

勝利後、ネット上の批判が相次ぐ。「日本代表はハーフだなんてだめじゃない… 日本人じゃないじゃない…！」キャラメル色の肌を持つ身長173センチの宮本さんは、道端で人をよく振り返られる。「子供の頃、虐めでつらい目に遭った。自己防衛の為、自然に精神的に強くなった」と語った。彼女には日本語が母語なのにレストランでよく英語のメニューを渡されるという。

「出る釘は打たれるとはよくいうことじゃないですか。小さい頃、私はその釘だと気付き、人目をひかないよう、周りの人々にちゃんと溶け込めるように一生懸命頑張った。でも今は違う。思ったことははっきり言えるようになった。」

少し笑いながら「革命を起こしたいだよね」と言った。「一晩では何も変わらないとわかっているけど、100、200年後、いわゆる「ピュア」な日本人があまりいないと思う。だからこそ「日本人である」とはどういうことなのか、早いうちに考え直すべきだと思う。」

宮本さんに対する敵意は外国観光客引き向けの2020年の東京オリンピックの「クール・ジャパン」政策と正反対。

ベンガル、ロシアと日本の血筋を引いているローラさんとイギリスと日本人のハーフ、ベッキーさんは日本では大人気です。彼女らの人気さは日本の多文化社会変化を受け入れていると思われている人々もいるという。

「伝統的な日本人美女のイメージとだいぶ違っているので宮本エリアナさんはミスコンテストの日本代表としてふさわしくないと思われている方がいるでしょうかね」と、テレビ上で心理学者の遙洋子さんが語った。「日本人は新しいものに苦手の証拠でしょうかね。ミスコンテスト日本代表と選ばれた宮本さんは日本人の考え方を変更させるよう、とても良い立場にいると思います。」

宮本さんによると、均質社会の日本は黒人より白人やユーラシア人を好む嫌いがあるという。「日本では浅黒い肌のタレントや有名人がほとんどいない。ローラやベッキーみたいな白人種が断然多いと思う。浅黒い肌の人々にもチャンスに与えてあげたいです。」

読者たちの意見はいかがでしょうか？もし宮本エリアナさんはミスコンテストの勝利者となったら、日本の皆さんは彼女を受け入れるようになると思いますか？ この記事に語ったことについてどう思いますか？

サウスバウンド 奥田英朗

Southbound
Hideo Okuda

You are an 11 year old boy living in Tokyo. You deal with bullies by standing on your own two feet, even if it means getting punched. You don't trust adults. You are beginning to realize your sexuality and attraction to other girls. You have decent mates to hang around with and you would do anything for them. Your dad doesn't work and is renowned for being an extremist anarchist. He often comes to your school to complain. He often has visitors from people asking him to pay his taxes. Your dad and his mates don't believe in the "system" and soon enough you find yourself wrapped up in a murder case. Your dad isn't to blame, but his reputation does him no good. Your mother just rolls her eyes at your fathers antics and carries on with life. But rumours have it that she isn't as innocent as she seems...

You wake up one morning to find most of your belongings gone and a ticket to move to a remote island in southern Okinawa. Your mum is delighted by your fathers plans. Suddenly your father becomes very reliable - he works and provides for his family. But then the "system" catch up with him. Your father just loves a fight. And to your dismay, you find yourself agreeing with his views. But to what cost?

A two-part book about the pursuit of freedom, the bond of a family, and the growth of an adolescent boy.

And, of course, the added benefit of Okinawa :p

陽だまりの彼女

Ok. I admit to knowing the twist of this book before I read it. But I think knowing the twist helps you to enjoy the book more. Otherwise the majority of the book is just another bulk standard love story. Saying that, I've no intention of telling you what the twist is in this post ;p

I read the book before I saw the movie. The movie completely changes the ending, misses out important big sections of the book (Bank issue anyone...? How about the journey home from the hospital..?), as well as adds in new characters (where did that woman in Enoshima come from?!)... I can't say which is better - the ending of the book or the ending of the movie - they are that different it's like it's a different story. But at least the book is less concerned about pretty close up shots of Jun Matsumotos face. :/

If you do read the book, read the last few pages first. It'll make the journey that little bit more fun ;p

Design + Translation = One happy bunny.

Got to say.
I like all this translating stuff.

The design industry always tends to attract the same kind of people.
The laid-back, anti-establishment, sarcastic, heavy-drinking, adventurous kind of people.
I like that.
But.
Since coming back I sought something else.
Something to challenge me.
Something to enable me to use my Japanese.

Translation.

I geared up with a friend and so far we've done two fast turn-around translation jobs. I have also done a couple of translation jobs solo via Gengo. Gengo isn't the greatest, but it builds up experience and enables you to translate real things for real people in real time. Not only does it broaden my language ability in both Japanese and English, it also broadens my knowledge - we have to understand what we are translating before we attempt to translate it.

And then theres the arguments.

Theres always one sentence which can be read a thousand ways.
Theres always one.

Translation wont ever become my day job.
But its a decent side job.

Design + Translation = One happy bunny.