Saturday, December 20, 2008

麻生太郎首相誤讀漢字的啟示

2008年9月1日晚上,福田康夫忽然宣布辭去首相職務,還差20多天才滿一年。這個消息雖然來得突然,但因為執政自民黨的民望一路下滑,所以也不能說是完全不可理解的。


福田在記者會上交待他的決定,主要是為了能化解日本參眾兩院的紛爭,而且為了自民黨黨魁在下次大選能夠勝出鋪路,需要一個較能獲得人民支持的政府(那時候福田政府的支持率只得百分之20左右),所以認為自己辭職是最好的方法。





9月24日,剛慶祝完68歲生日的麻生太郎(Aso Taro,b.1940.9.20)接任首相一職,企圖挽回自民黨及首相本身低迷的支持率。可惜,這時剛好碰到繼1929年美國大蕭條以來最嚴重的「金融海嘯」席卷全球,日本和美國經濟關係密切,當然也不能幸免。


惡劣的經濟大環境讓民眾看到政府政策的混亂,在一些振興國內經濟的政策上,包括向日本國民發放現金、把道路整修納入財政預算等議題,麻生往往前言不對後語。這些都動搖了民眾對自民黨執政的信心。麻生現在的個人支持率只得百分之28,比起10月份的時候跌了百分之15。而不支持率更高達百分之58。




有關麻生首相的事情,可以寫的東西實在太多。他有很強的政治背景。上一任福田首相的父親也是首相,可以說是出生在政治世家。但麻生也不弱。他是戰後日本第一任首相吉田茂(Yoshida Shigeru)的外孫,而其夫人千賀子是前首相鈴木善幸(Suzuki Zenko)的三女。父親是實業家,家族生意從鋼礦業和水泥業上賺了很多錢。


而麻生是出名的漫畫愛好者,2007年出任外務大臣時更設立了一個國際漫畫比賽的獎項,對推動漫畫不遺餘力,另外,他也是動畫家宮崎駿的大學同學。

或許麻生對文字真的不太敏感(其實他曾居住巴西、美國和英國,懂得葡萄牙語和英語),11月中旬的時候,日本媒體廣泛報道他讀錯漢字的事情。這個似乎是一樁小事情,但不可不知,原來日本國民普遍對一個人的漢字能力非常看重。如果漢字能力不強,可以認為是文化程度低。


麻生誤讀漢字,被一些人說成是KY先生。KY者,原來指的是日本年青人間所流行的「火星文」。KY是「空気が読めない(Kuu-ki ga Yo-me-nai)」的簡寫,用來表示一個人不會察言觀色。直接翻譯的意思是,一個人讀不懂氣氛。現在用來批評麻生不能讀通漢字「漢字がよめない(Kan-ji ga Yo-me-nai)」,所以他就理所當然地變成KY san了。


他讀錯的字,包括﹕


將 踏襲(とうしゅう)Toushuu 讀成 ふしゅう Fushuu;
有無(うむ)Umu 變成 ゆうむ Yuumu;
未曽有(みぞう)Mizou 變成 みぞうゆう Mizouyuu;
前場(ぜんば)Zenba 變成 まえば Maeba。


其實,麻生不只讀錯漢字,最重要的是,他說話不只偏激,而且有種族歧視之嫌。真的好像沒有經過大腦說話一樣。政治人物絕對不能這般淺薄。尤其他對日本的歷史理解,還是抱著錯誤的觀點。這是很大的問題。


譬如說,2001年,他說希望日本能發展成一個有錢猶太人希望居住的富裕地方。2005年,他稱贊日本是一個單一民族、同一語言、文明、文化所組成的國家。這基本上是無視日本多元文化的特性,也是歧視居日少數族裔。同年12月,他發表言論,認為中國最近軍費增加,是威脅東亞穩定的國家。這是以「中國威脅論」來抹黑中國的做法。2006年1月,他更建議日本天皇參拜靖國神社。2月份,又說日本帝國時代在台灣推行的教育制度是一項優良的政策。這完全忽視日本帝國在台灣殖民時代造成嚴重文化破壞的問題。


從漢字誤讀一事可以看得出,日本國民開始對麻生的管治能力存疑,因為麻生的思惟方式真的跟國際潮流脫節。在全球化的影響下,日本已經不能再採取冷戰那種思惟跟鄰國打交道。最近歷史性的中、日、韓三國的峰會,證實了日本已經朝著這個方向進發。而且,日本應該明白,國際化絕對不代表歐美化。亞洲地區的和諧合作和發展,是未來日本所應多所關懷的事情。

現在,「中日關係的雙贏」,或許不再是老生常談的口號了,因為,能否成功抵禦金融海嘯的衝擊,的確取決於大家對對方文化的認識和包容。如果一個日本首相對漢字也不甚了了,那麼我們能認為他會對中國釋出善意嗎?只能做個務實的虛偽者吧。


看來,自民黨(LDP)在麻生的領導下,也很難短期內改變日本國民對他們的壞印象。那麼,是不是說,日本最大反對黨民主黨(DPJ)將能從自民黨手中奪取政權?民主黨的小澤一郎,是否能成為日本的奧巴馬?當然,不是說小澤的思惟就是很開通。真的,我們很期望看到日本能出現一顆政治新星。


無論如何,我覺得日本的政治文化似乎也在不知不覺地改變。這的確是我們所親眼看到的事實,不容質疑。

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

中、日、韓三國峰會

在日本「每日新聞」讀到下面的報道。

中、日、韓三國現在能直接對話,意味著大家對合作的確拿出了誠意。
大家經歷著金融海嘯,合作是唯一能有利大家的做法了。

Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing agree on vision, responsibility for East Asia region
The leaders of Japan, China and South Korea recently gathered in Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture, and issued a joint statement on the promotion of trilateral cooperation. The leaders agreed to make trilateral summits a regular event, deciding to hold the next one in China in 2009.

It was the first time for the leaders of the three countries to gather independently in one place in such a form. In fact, it is unnatural that, while being neighbors, the countries had never held such a summit in the past. It is hoped that the trilateral summit will function as the axis of a stability system in East Asia, overcoming such hurdles as differences in political systems and territorial and history awareness issues.

Since 1999, when then Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, then Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung gathered in a breakfast meeting at the ASEAN summit, meetings between the leaders of Japan, China and South Korea have been held every year, with the exception of 2005. This time was the ninth meeting, but the first time such a meeting was held separate from any international conference.

The joint declaration on a trilateral partnership signed by Prime Minister Taro Aso, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, said that they shared a "vision and responsibility for creating a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable future for the region and the international community." The handling of the global financial crisis and a response to the North Korean nuclear issue are pressing issues faced by the three countries in order to fulfill that responsibility.

As a response to the global financial crisis, the three leaders confirmed that they would strengthen regional cooperation, while welcoming the fact that their governments agreed to expand the size of bilateral currency swap agreements between Japan, South Korea and China in order to support South Korea, which is struggling due to the depreciation of its currency.
The combined gross domestic products of Japan, China and South Korea exceeds 16 percent of the world total, and accounts for 70 percent of the figure for all of East Asia. Considering the immensity of this economic power, the strengthening of collaboration among the financial authorities of the three countries is vital. The fact that regular meetings are to be convened among the governors of the central banks of the three countries should be applauded.

The six-party talks ended without producing results on the North Korean nuclear issue, but the three leaders confirmed that they would collaborate over this issue in the future. In order to make a breakthrough in the stalled six-party talks, there needs to be a greater extent of coordination among Japan, the United States and South Korea, and leadership from China, as chair of the talks. The cooperation between Japan, China and South Korea that the countries' three leaders agreed upon this time should be used in policies toward North Korea.

Between Japan and China, light remains to be shed on a poisoning incident involving Chinese-made frozen dumplings. In addition, Chinese survey vessels made an intrusion into Japanese waters off the Senkaku Islands earlier this month.

The fact that over 70 percent of people in a Cabinet Office opinion poll took a negative view of relations between Japan and China is probably not unrelated to such events. The trilateral summit that will be held regularly should provide an opportunity for the leaders to talk frankly about such bilateral issues.
Click here for the original Japanese story
(Mainichi Japan) December 15, 2008