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終戦の日 追悼めぐる論議を深めよ

The Yomiuri Shimbun(Aug. 15, 2009)
Time to discuss how to commemorate war dead
終戦の日 追悼めぐる論議を深めよ(8月15日付・読売社説)

Whenever we ponder on those
who dedicated their lives
for the cause of our nation,
our heart aches with deep emotion
 「くにのためいのちささげし ひとびとの ことをおもへば むねせまりくる」

This poem by Emperor Showa (1926-1989) is inscribed on the monument to the memory of the war dead at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.
 東京・千代田区の千鳥ヶ淵戦没者墓苑の碑に刻まれた昭和天皇のお歌である。

Once again, the day has arrived on which the nation commemorates the end of World War II. The government will host a memorial service for the war dead at Nippon Budokan hall, which is close to the national cemetery.
 今年も「終戦の日」を迎えた。千鳥ヶ淵の墓苑にほど近い日本武道館では、政府主催の全国戦没者追悼式が行われる。

In an ordinary year, the ceremony is attended by the Emperor and Empress as well as the heads of the three branches of state power: the heads of both houses of the Diet, the prime minister and the Supreme Court chief justice. In this regard, it is the nation's most solemn event.
This year, however, the House of Representatives speaker will not attend because the lower house has been dissolved ahead of the upcoming general election.
 天皇、皇后両陛下と共に、例年、三権の長である衆参両院議長、首相、最高裁長官が列席する。日本国として最も厳粛な儀式である。とは言え、今回は衆院が解散されているため衆院議長は不在だ。

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II. The war broke out with the German invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. Germany had concluded a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union only a week earlier on Aug. 23.
 今年は第2次大戦勃発(ぼっぱつ)から70周年の年でもある。1939年9月1日、ドイツのポーランド侵攻で始まった。直前の8月23日には独ソ不可侵条約が締結された。

Soon after, Soviet forces invaded Poland and annexed three Baltic states. The three states only regained their independence shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
 ソ連もポーランドに侵攻し、バルト3国を併合した。3国が独立を回復するのは、91年にソ連が崩壊する直前のことである。

In July, the parliamentary assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe adopted a resolution calling for the anniversary of the day the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact was concluded to be a day of remembrance for victims of Stalinism and Nazism. The session was held in Lithuania--one of the Baltic states that came under Soviet control.
 バルト3国の一つ、リトアニアで今夏開催された全欧安保協力機構(OSCE)の議会は、独ソ不可侵条約が締結された日を、「スターリニズムとナチズムの犠牲者追悼の日」とすることなどを求める宣言を採択した。

===

Diplomatic blunders

During the war years, Japan repeatedly made diplomatic blunders by making approaches to Germany and the Soviet Union.
 このドイツとソ連に接近して外交上の失敗を繰り返したのが、当時の日本だった。

The Imperial Japanese Army initially believed it could keep the Soviet Union in check by forming an alliance with Germany. The signing of the nonaggression treaty between those two countries, however, stunned the Cabinet of Prime Minister Kiichiro Hiranuma, which resigned en masse after issuing a statement that said, "Europe's heaven and earth are complicated and inscrutable."
 日本陸軍は当初、ドイツと同盟を結び、ソ連をけん制しようと考えていた。その独ソによる不可侵条約の締結に驚いた平沼騏一郎内閣は「欧州の天地は複雑怪奇」との声明を出して総辞職した。

Later, the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe concluded the Tripartite Alliance with Germany and Italy as well as the Japanese-Soviet Neutrality Pact. Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka apparently thought the impasse in Japan-U.S. relations could be broken by balancing against Britain and the United States by strengthening cooperation among four countries--Japan, Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union.
 その後、近衛文麿内閣は日独伊三国同盟と日ソ中立条約を締結した。松岡洋右外相は日独伊にソ連を加えた4か国の連携で、英米との力の均衡をはかり、日米関係を打開しようと考えていた。

But Matsuoka's plan was scuttled by the outbreak of hostilities between the Soviet Union and Germany. The next cabinet, that of Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, decided to go to war with the United States--a reckless undertaking on Japan's part.
 だが、独ソ戦が始まり構想は破綻(はたん)した。続く東条英機内閣は、米国との無謀な戦争に踏み切る。

As the conflict drew closer to its end, the Cabinet of Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki asked the Soviet Union to broker a deal with the Allies to end the war. However, the Soviet Union turned its back on the neutrality pact with Japan and invaded Manchuria (what is now northeastern China). As a result, 575,000 Japanese officers and soldiers were captured and detained in Siberia and other parts of the Soviet Union. An estimated 55,000 Japanese are believed to have died in the Soviet Union after the war.
 戦争末期、鈴木貫太郎内閣はソ連に終戦の仲介を依頼したが、ソ連は日ソ中立条約を破って旧満州(現中国東北部)に侵攻した。57万5000人の将兵がシベリアなどに抑留され、5万5000人が死亡したと推定されている。

A massive amount of documents detailing the Japanese detainees has recently been discovered at a Russian archive. We hope these documents will help identify the Japanese who died in Soviet detention.
 最近、ロシアの公文書館で抑留者の資料が大量に見つかった。ロシア側資料による死亡者の情報の裏付けが期待されている。

Looking back, it is clear that Japanese leaders grossly misinterpreted what was happening on the international stage.
 こうした経緯からも、当時の日本の指導者たちは世界の情勢を見誤っていたのは明らかだろう。

The House of Representatives election to choose the leaders who will be tasked with navigating Japan through uncharted waters will be officially announced Tuesday, opening an 11-day campaign.
 これからの日本を託す指導者を選ぶ総選挙の公示は、3日後に控えている。

Both the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan have mapped out policies they plan to implement should they hold the reins of government. The battle to woo voters will be fierce.
 自民、民主両党が政権構想を示して競い合っているが、

===

Grandfathers' experiences

The current state of affairs no doubt reminds many people of the grandfathers of Prime Minister Taro Aso and DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama.
思い起こされるのは、麻生首相と民主党・鳩山代表の祖父たちのことだ。

Aso's grandfather, former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, served as ambassador to Britain before the war and was a strong proponent of closer ties with Britain and the United States. Yoshida, who engaged with Konoe and other like-minded people in a futile effort to bring the fighting to an end in the closing months of World War II, was arrested by military police and detained for 40 days.
Yoshida fell ill after being released. The war ended while he was recuperating in Oiso, Kanagawa Prefecture.
 麻生首相の祖父、吉田茂は戦前駐英大使を務め、英米との連携を強く主張した。戦争末期には、近衛元首相らと連携して終戦工作に動き、憲兵隊に逮捕された。
 40日間拘束され、釈放されたあと、病に倒れ、神奈川県大磯の別宅で静養中に終戦を迎えた。

Hatoyama's grandfather, former Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama, was a lawmaker focused on party politics who had served as education minister. Hatoyama clashed with Tojo and, as a result, he had to spend some time in seclusion at a villa in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. He listened to the radio broadcast in which Emperor Showa announced Japan's surrender while he was tucked away in Karuizawa.
 鳩山代表の祖父、鳩山一郎は文相なども務めた政党政治家だったが、東条首相と対立して軽井沢の別荘で隠とん生活を送った。玉音放送も軽井沢で聞いた。

While at his villa, Hatoyama regularly read a book written by Austro-Hungarian diplomat Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, who is widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of European integration. The book stressed the need for "fraternal revolution." Hatoyama later translated the book under the title of "Jiyu to Jinsei" (Liberty and Life).
 別荘では、欧州統合の父とされるクーデンホーフ・カレルギーが「友愛革命」を説いた著書を愛読し、「自由と人生」と題して後に翻訳した。

===

Lessons of history

What historical lessons can Aso and Hatoyama learn from the bitter experiences of their grandfathers?
 戦後は首相を務めた2人のかつての苦い経験から、麻生首相と鳩山代表は、どのような歴史の教訓をくみとるだろうか。

Aso will observe the war anniversary for the first time since becoming prime minister. He has said he will not visit Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo because it would be wrong to make "the people who sacrificed their precious lives for the country" a matter of political contention.
 麻生首相は就任後初めて「終戦の日」を迎えるが、靖国神社には参拝しないという。「国家のために尊い命をささげた人たち」を政争の具などにするのは間違っていると、理由を語った。

Fourteen Class-A war criminals, including Tojo and Matsuoka, are enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine along with other war dead.
 靖国神社には、東条元首相や松岡元外相ら、14人の「A級戦犯」が合祀(ごうし)されている。

Some LDP members insist the Class-A war criminals must be enshrined elsewhere. Some other LDP members have advocated constructing a national memorial facility. However, the party has not formulated a united position on the matter.
 自民党内には、靖国神社に合祀された「A級戦犯」の分祀や国立追悼施設の建設の主張もあるが、党の方針は示されていない。

Hatoyama said he would not visit Yasukuni should he become prime minister, and he would urge his cabinet ministers to refrain from going to the shrine. Hatoyama has suggested he favors establishing a national memorial facility for the war dead.
 民主党の鳩山代表は、仮に首相になっても参拝せず、閣僚にも自粛を求めるとともに、国立追悼施設の設置に向けて取り組みを進める方針を示している。

DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada said he wants to have a group of experts discuss building a national facility, possibly making use of the Chidorigafuchi cemetery.
 岡田幹事長も、追悼施設について、千鳥ヶ淵戦没者墓苑を生かすことも含め有識者に議論してもらう考えを表明した。

Emperor Showa expressed concern that the essence of Yasukuni Shrine, a resting place for the spirits of the nation's war dead, has been distorted with the enshrinement of the Class-A war criminals.
 昭和天皇は、戦死者の魂を鎮めるという靖国神社の性格が「A級戦犯」の合祀で変わってしまうのではないかと懸念されていた。

Yasukuni Shrine insists the teachings of Shintoism prevent it from separating the war criminals from the shrine.
 靖国神社は、いったん合祀した「A級戦犯」の分祀は、神道の教学上できないとしている。

However, even if Yasukuni Shrine refuses to separately enshrine the Class-A war criminals, discussions about establishing a national facility will gain momentum regardless of the outcome of this month's general election.
 だが、神社側が分祀に応じない限り、選挙の結果がどうであれ、国立追悼施設建立に向けての議論は、勢いを増していくだろう。

It is time to deepen national-level discussions on the best way to pay tribute to the people who sacrificed their lives for the country, and to settle this issue.
 国のために尊い命を犠牲にした人々の追悼のあり方について、改めて国民的な議論を深め、結論を導き出す時期に来ているのではないだろうか。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 15, 2009)
(2009年8月15日01時23分 読売新聞)
by kiyoshimat | 2009-08-15 08:57 | 英字新聞

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