翻訳 49
＜コラム＞地球文明の国になれるか日本 その9
2020年4月25日 21:00
滅びゆくか日本。穏やかではない。
中国の勃興が本ものになるかどうかも、いま問われている。共産党一党支配を続けつつ、例えば連邦制を加味して自由と民主主義を取り入れられるかが焦点である。
日本もまた、世界をリードする地球文明の国になれるか否か、それとも滅びゆくかの分岐点にある。
中国の場合は、儒教文化を再評価して取り入れられるかどうかの中国とも軌を一にする。孔子起源の「儒教」の基本理念は「仁（じん）」である。仁は「仁・義・礼・智・信」の要である。人を愛し、思いやることだ。唯物論の共産主義国家と、人の生き方のこの基本が相反するけではない。ただ、発展途上国から中進国、先進国へと歩み出した中国が、それをどう取り入れられるかという問題である。いわば、世界に展開可能な中華文明の原点に戻ると言うことだろうか。
我が国はどうだろうか。先進国だが閉塞感・停滞する経済からは脱却出来ていない。新型コロナウイルスの蔓延で、その問題点が垣間見られる。低所得階層に所得保障をするという政策が一つである。低所得の捉え方は難しい。単身・家族数などで異なるからだ。が、大雑把に言うと年収200万未満が37パーセント、300万円未満が5割を超える。
低所得階層がこれだけ日本にいるというのにも驚く。まさに「格差社会」が日本に現出しているのだ。アメリカなどに比べて富の偏在は少ないし、セーフティネットの生活保護、或いは医療・介護などの社会保険制度が進んでいるので、貧困が見えにくい。
「6枚切り食パンが77円！」
私が驚いて随筆に書いたことがある。近所のスーパーで著名製パンメーカーの品である。テレビ広告に出る食パンは目玉の時「6枚切り108円」だが、通常は140円くらいする。そしてこのスーパーでは200円前後と、もっと高い食パンもある。もちろん、美味しいパン屋さんで有名な店では「300円以上」する。だが、いつも買い物するスーパーで、77円と140円、200円のものがあって、77円のものも大量に売れている。
私事で恐れ入るが、（…いつも私事か…）、うどんが好きで、温かいモノをよく作る。このうどん玉、著名メーカーの冷凍でひと玉60円ほど。だが棚には、ひと玉20円のものも大量にある。「まあ、何も贅沢しないし、これくらいいいか」と冷凍うどんを買う。20円のモノは三分の一の出費ですむが、もちろん「コシ」はない。
これが格差である。余りに卑近過ぎるので、背広を考えてみれば判る。大規模な洋服店では、1着1万円からある。私はもう最近は着ないので買ったことがないが、百貨店ではイージーオーダーが数万円からだ。だが、百貨店のスーツ売り場の奥には、生地だけで100万円という背広がある。「議員さんのスーツいいなあ」とテレビ中継を見ながら思ったが、これも見えにくい格差である。
この手の状況が、我が国にはもう久しく広がって、しかも拡大している気がする。では、自由はどうだろうか。
https://www.excite.co.jp/news/article/Recordchina_20200425027/?p=1
Can Japan become a key player in the globalized society? Part 9
April 25th 2020, 21:00
Japan faces a fight for its future. It is a precarious state to be in.
It is now being called into question whether China's sudden economic rise was the real thing or not. While the Communist Party's one-party rule continues, there is a focus on whether, for example, freedoms and democracy can be incorporated with the federal system. Japan is also at a crossroads, with one path leading to the role of a world leader in the globalized society, and the other leading downhill, into existential crisis. The situation is not unlike that of China, which has been deliberating whether to re-evaluate and adopt Confucian culture.
Confucianism has its origins in the virtue of 'ren.' It is the cornerstone of the five Confucian virtues of benevolence, justice, courtesy, wisdom and sincerity, and implies love and consideration for others. Living one's life embracing ren is not necessarily at odds with the materialistic Communist state, but more than that, there is the question of how China can implement such an idea as it transforms from a developing country, to a semi-developed country, to an advanced nation. In other words, it faces a process of returning to the starting point of Chinese civilization, whilst also evolving as a world player.
What about Japan? Despite being an advanced country, it has not been able to escape the fate of a stagnant economy. The recent spread of coronavirus has offered a window into the reality of that fact. One proposed policy is to provide income security to low income earners, though in practical terms it is difficult to define 'low income.' Various factors are at play, such as the number of individuals relying on that salary. Roughly speaking, however, of the group known as low income earners, 37% have an annual salary of 2 million yen or less ($18,000), while more than 50% have an yearly income of 3 million yen ($27,000). I was surprised to hear that there are quite so many people living on low incomes in Japan. This is the reality of the disparate society that is emerging in this country. As wealth is more evenly distributed than in countries like the United States, and with the safety net of income security and the social insurance system covering medical and nursing care, poverty is not always easy to see.
“Six slice bread loaf for 77 yen (70¢)!”
I was so shocked seeing this advert that I ended up writing an essay on it. This 'six slice loaf' was made by a well known bakery firm, and sold in my local supermarket. It had been advertised on television, and was 108 yen ($1) at a special discount price, and 140 yen ($1.30) normally. The same supermarket also sold more expensive alternatives at around 200 yen ($1.90). Of course, a famous bakery could charge over 300 yen ($2.80) for their products. But at the supermarket where I did my shopping, there were 77 yen (70¢), 140 yen ($1.30) and 200 yen ($1.90) options, with the 77 yen (70¢) loaves selling in large quantities.
Personally speaking, I often cook hot meals and I particularly like udon noodles. The kind of frozen udon made by a popular brand, where one serving costs about 60 yen (60¢). There are also plenty of single serving options that work out at 20 yen (20¢) per person. I buy the kind of frozen udon that do the job, and are certainly nothing extravagant. The 20 yen (20¢) ones are a third of the price, but they lack chewiness.
These differences are what disparity is. Maybe, if it's too close to home, it might be easier thinking about it in terms of business suits. In a large clothes store, prices for suits start at 10,000 yen (＄93). I haven't been wearing them recently so I haven't bought any for a while but at department stores, a semi-tailored suit will set you back several hundred dollars. At the back of the suits section in department stores, there are suits where the fabric alone costs over a million yen ($9,000). Those must be the kind of suits politicians wear, I thought, while I was watching them featured on TV, but this again is a kind of disparity that is hard to see. I feel like this kind of situation has been taking hold in Japan for some time, and is only increasing. It makes me think, what about freedom?
