英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun April 30, 2013
Don't forget importance of Japan's return to international community after WWII
主権回復の日　国際社会復帰の重み忘れまい（4月29日付・読売社説）

The San Francisco Peace Treaty took effect April 28, 1952, freeing Japan from the postwar Occupation by the Allied Powers. That date is of deep significance as the day Japan pledged to become a responsible member of the international community.
　日本が、サンフランシスコ講和条約の発効によって戦後の占領支配から解放されたのは、１９５２年４月２８日だ。国際社会の責任ある一員になると誓った意義深い日である。

On Sunday, 61 years later, the government sponsored a ceremony to commemorate the restoration of Japan's sovereignty and its return to the international community at the Memorial Hall of Constitutional Politics near the Diet Building.
　政府は６１年後のこの日、主権回復と国際社会復帰を記念する式典を憲政記念館で開いた。

Delivering a speech at the ceremony, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, "I wish to make this a day on which we renew our hopes and our determination toward the future, as we reflect on the path we have followed until now."
　「これまでの足跡に思いを致しながら、未来へ向かって希望と決意を新たにする日にしたい」

Memories fading

Looking back on the Occupation, the prime minister noted, "In the long history of this country, those days marked our first and longest-lasting age of discontinuity and hardship."
　そう語った安倍首相は、占領期を、「わが国の長い歴史で初めての、そして最も深い断絶であり、試練だった」と振り返った。

Under the Occupation, the nation could not make any decisions on such matters as appointing cabinet members and enacting laws against the wishes of the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers (GHQ). The GHQ also limited freedom of speech.
　占領下では、閣僚人事も国の予算や法律も、連合国軍総司令部（ＧＨＱ）の意に反しては決められなかった。言論統制もあった。

These historical facts, however, are now on the verge of being forgotten by the public.
　こうした歴史が、国民の間で忘れ去られようとしている。

It is highly important for each of us to coolly review the past once more, including how and why this country plunged itself into circumstances that resulted in losing its sovereignty.
主権を失う事態に至った経緯も含め、冷静に見つめ直すことが肝要だ。

The wars Japan fought in the Showa era, which caused tremendous suffering to many people at home and abroad, were started by Japanese leaders who had lost their international perspective. The nation's defeat in World War II and the subsequent Occupation were the end result of their mistakes.
　内外に惨禍をもたらした昭和の戦争は、国際感覚を失った日本の指導者たちの手で始められた。敗戦と占領は、その結末である。

After restoring its sovereignty, Japan joined the United Nations and achieved remarkably high economic growth, thus successfully building today's affluent, peaceful society.
　日本は主権回復後、国連に加盟し、高度成長を成し遂げて、今日の豊かで平和な社会を築いた。

Japan's sovereignty over its land and territorial waters, however, is still threatened even today. This country is confronted by such challenges as the repeated intrusion of Chinese surveillance vessels into Japan's waters off the Senkaku Islands, Okinawa Prefecture, and the unlawful occupation by South Korea of the Takeshima islets, Shimane Prefecture. In addition, Russia is currently taking steps apparently meant to perpetuate its seizure of Japan's northern territories off eastern Hokkaido.
　だが、沖縄県・尖閣諸島沖での中国監視船の領海侵入や、韓国の竹島不法占拠、北方領土で進行する「ロシア」化など、領土・領海を巡る問題は今もなお、日本の主権を揺さぶっている。

The government-sponsored ceremony this year is a milestone for making us consider the issues now affecting the nation's sovereignty.
　今年の政府式典は、そんな主権の現状を考える節目となった。

Meanwhile, a protest rally was held in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, against the government-backed ceremony. The municipal assembly's opposition forces, which sponsored the protest, called it a convention on a "day of humiliation" for Okinawa.
　一方、沖縄県宜野湾市では、政府式典に抗議する「屈辱の日」沖縄大会が県議会野党会派などの主催で開催された。

At the same time the San Francisco Peace Treaty took effect, Okinawa Prefecture, along with the Amami Islands and the Ogasawara Islands, was separated from the mainland of Japan and put under the administration of the U.S. military.
　沖縄は、奄美、小笠原と共に講和条約発効と同時に日本から切り離され、米軍施政下に置かれた。

Okinawa Prefecture was the country's fiercest battlefield in the last stage of the war. It nevertheless was excluded from the restoration of Japan's sovereignty and U.S. military installations were built on large tracts of land there.
かつて戦場となり、主権回復からも取り残され、米軍基地建設が進んだ。

April 28 is called a "day of humiliation" for the prefecture for this reason.
このため沖縄では４月２８日は「屈辱の日」と呼ばれる。

It can be said, however, that the Japanese government was able to negotiate with the United States for the reversion of Okinawa Prefecture to Japanese rule, realized in 1972, precisely because Japan recovered its sovereignty.
　しかし、日本が主権を回復したからこそ、米国と交渉し、沖縄返還を実現できたことも事実だ。

Think again about Okinawa

It goes without saying that this year's ceremony was never intended to belittle the sufferings of Okinawa Prefecture.
　沖縄を軽視した式典でないことは言うまでもない。

Abe referred in his speech to the prefecture, saying, "Any casual statement would be meaningless in light of the suffering the people of Okinawa had to endure, both during and after the war."
首相は式辞で「沖縄の人々が耐え忍ばざるを得なかった、戦中戦後のご苦労に対し、通り一遍の言葉は意味をなさない」と沖縄にも言及した。

Okinawa Deputy Gov. Kurayoshi Takara, who attended the ceremony in place of Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima, expressed his understanding of the ceremony to a certain extent, saying he understood the prime minister was trying to "face up, relatively, to the problems of Okinawa."
　仲井真弘多沖縄県知事の代理で式典に出席した高良倉吉副知事は「首相は比較的、沖縄の問題に向き合って発言された」と語り、式典に一定の理解を示した。

This occasion should be utilized as an opportunity to consider a path toward resolving the issue of U.S. military bases in Okinawa Prefecture, based on the vicissitudes of Okinawa's history.
　沖縄の歴史も踏まえて、米軍基地問題の解決への道筋を考える機会にもしたい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 29, 2013)
（2013年4月29日01時10分 読売新聞）