New York Times がここまで書いた♪
le mondeに続いてNew York Timesも、ついにここまで書いたかというかんじです。素晴らしい。「島国根性」「お上の逆鱗」など見事なまでに日本の異常さを紹介しています。「okami(お上)」っていう言葉、この一件で「tsunami(津波)」とおなじで辞書に加えられたかも。日本の政治家をひきあいに、アメリカの政治家がいかに人間としてまともであるかについても書いてあります。なさけないけど本当です。良識派も含めて、かなり多くのアメリカ人が「日本人は本当にバカだ、日本は野蛮なアジアの国だ、やっぱりアメリカがしつかり監督してあげないとねっ」と思ったことでしょう。帰国した5人の方々、とくに高遠さんと今井さんの健康が一日も回復することを祈っています。高遠さん、今井さん、郡山さん、安田さん、渡辺さんあなた方は世界から尊敬されていますよ。どうか自分の活動を誇りに思って下さい。Freed From Captivity in Iraq, Japanese Return to More PainPublished: April 23, 2004http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/23/international/asia/23JAPA.html[抜粋][The three] landed here on Sunday, in the eye of a peculiarly Japanese storm.Beneath the surface of Japan's ultra-sophisticated cities lie the hierarchical ties that have governed this island nation for centuries and that invariably reassert themselves.Their [five Japanese hostages'] sin was to defy what people call here "okami," or, literally, "what is higher."Treated like criminals, the three former hostages have gone into hiding, effectively becoming prisoners inside their own homes. The kidnapped woman, Nahoko Takato, was last seen arriving at her parents' house, looking defeated and dazed from tranquilizers, flanked by relatives who helped her walk and bow deeply before reporters, as a final apology to the nation.Dr. Satoru Saito, a psychiatrist who examined the three former hostages twice since their return, said the stress they were enduring now was "much heavier" than what they experienced during their captivity in Iraq.To the angry Japanese, the first three hostages had acted selfishly. Two others kidnapped and released in a separate incident were equally guilty.Pursuing individual goals by defying the government and causing trouble for Japan was simply unforgivable.The criticism began almost immediately after the first three civilians were kidnapped two weeks ago. The environment minister, Yuriko Koike, blamed them for being "reckless."The Japanese, like the villagers in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," had to throw stones.Even as the kidnappers were still threatening to burn alive the three hostages, Yukio Takeuchi, an official in the Foreign Ministry, said of the three, "When it comes to a matter of safety and life, I would like them to be aware of the basic principle of personal responsibility."Defying the okami are young Japanese people like the freed hostages, freelancers and members of nonprofit organizations, who are traditionally held in low esteem in a country where the bigger one's company, the bigger one's social rank.The okami reacted with fury at such defiance ["We have to check ourselves what the Japanese government is doing in Iraq," Mr. Yasuda quoted as saying]. Some politicians proposed a law barring Japanese from traveling to dangerous countries; even more of them said that the hostages should pay the costs incurred by the government in securing their release."This is an idea that should be considered," The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's biggest daily newspaper, said in an editorial. "Such an act might deter other reckless, self-righteous volunteers."Mr. Koizumi's handling of the hostage crisis translated into positive evaluations in public opinion polls, and the issue diverted attention from Iraq's worsening security situation and the fact that Japan's troops, according to this country's war-renouncing Constitution, are supposed to be in a noncombat zone.