英字新聞

June 19, 2014
EDITORIAL: Ishihara’s remark about interim storage facility adds insult to injury
環境相の発言―「最後は金」が蝕むもの

No doubt about it. Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara’s insensitive remark about the problem of selecting a site to temporarily store radiation-contaminated soil reflected a slice of the grim reality of the terrible mess caused by the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
　そうだ。石原伸晃環境相の言葉が無神経に映したのは、いまの福島の一断面である。

“In the end, it will come down to money,” Ishihara said, giving the impression that giving wads of cash to residents in Fukushima Prefecture was the only way to resolve the problem.
　「最後は金目でしょ」

Indeed, there are a slew of issues in areas affected by the nuclear catastrophe that cannot be solved without payments of money. A huge amount of funds will be needed to pay compensation to victims, complete decontamination work of affected areas and rebuild disaster-hit areas. There is also the question of returning local residents to their homes and providing support for evacuees who are living in new areas.
　損害賠償も除染も帰還も、移転先での新しい生活も。復興でさえも。原発事故の被災地には、「最後は金目」な案件がうずまいている。

But it is not money people in the affected areas in Fukushima really want.
　だけど、福島の人たちが本当に欲しいのはお金じゃない。

What they really crave is a return to the good old days when they didn’t have to worry about radiation while working their rice and vegetable fields or spending their leisure time on the beach laughing with their children and grandchildren.
　放射能なんかこれっぽっちも気にしなくてよかった日々であり、田んぼや畑や海で汗をぬぐうひとときであり、子どもや孫と笑って過ごせる生活だ。

They know full well that they can’t get that life back. That is what makes their current situation all the more wretched.
　取り戻せないことはわかっている。だからこそ、やりきれない。

It is the central government, not residents in areas around the Fukushima nuclear plant, that wants to solve all the problems with money.
金目で済ませたいのは、住民ではない。国のほうなのだ。

Money is certainly a convenient tool. It seems to be a panacea for issues involving compensation.
　確かに、お金は便利だ。「代償」の道具として万能にみえる。

Since the triple meltdown in 2011, however, money has been undermining the affected communities in Fukushima.
だけど、そのお金は原発事故のあと、福島をひたすら蝕（むしば）んでもきた。

Some people in these communities have received payouts, while others haven’t. Some have received what was seen as “too much” compensation, while others felt the payments to them were “insufficient.”
　「もらった」「もらえない」「足りない」「もらいすぎだ」――。

Despite appearing to be neutral and impartial, the money has aggressively intruded into local communities, families and relationships between friends in a divisive manner.
無色透明を装いながら、遠慮なしに地域や家族や友人関係に踏み込み、分断した。

Over the past three years, people in Fukushima have had enough painful experiences to make them aware of how money can create contradictions and emptiness. During the period, they have also had to fight the perception that they are pursuing money as their ultimate goal.
　この３年間、その矛盾と空虚さをいやというほどかみしめてきた。「どうせ金なんだろ」という目と闘いながら。

Given these circumstances, they have been struggling to pull themselves together, rebuild their relations with people around them and figure out how to live. It is people in Fukushima, not the central government, who have been addressing these weighty problems.
　その中で自分をどう取り戻し、周りとの関係を結びなおし、いかに生きるか。重たい問いと向き合ってきたのは、国ではない。彼らのほうだ。

The same can be said about the proposed facility for interim storage of radioactive soil. The residents, quite naturally, do not want such a facility in their hometowns. But there can be no progress in the efforts to rebuild Fukushima unless contaminated soil can be stored somewhere.
　中間貯蔵施設もそうだ。ふるさとに、そんなものは欲しくない。だが、除染した汚染土をどこかで保管しなければ、福島全体の復興が進まない。

Some people probably attended explanatory meetings for local residents as a way to escape from their anxieties and find answers for the way forward.
　葛藤から抜け出し、なにか前を向いていくための答えを探しに住民説明会へと足を運んだ人たちもいただろう。

Ishihara’s remark broke the hearts of those people.
　石原氏の言葉は、そういう人たちの心をへし折った。

The government’s promise to dispose of the soil outside the prefecture within 30 years can now only sound hollow.
　「３０年以内の県外処分」も、もはやそらぞらしい響きにしか聞こえまい。

Which community outside the prefecture would be willing to accept a huge amount of contaminated soil?
　膨大な量の汚染土を、いったい県外のどこが引き取るというのか。

The grossly irresponsible way the government has been making empty promises concerning the issue seems to be reflected in the callous attitude of the minister, who bluntly said that it is after all a question of money.
あてもないまま「約束します」と繰り返す国の軽さが、「最後は金目」と言い放つ大臣の姿と重なる。

Since the controversial remark, Ishihara has been busy explaining what he meant and offering apologies.
　発言後、石原氏は釈明と陳謝に追われている。

The negotiations over the storage site have already been difficult and arduous.
ただでさえ、むずかしさを増していた交渉だ。

It will be a formidable task to repair the government’s relations with the local communities that have been badly damaged by Ishihara’s gaffe.
こんな形で断ち切ってしまった関係を修復するのは、容易ではないだろう。

Ishihara, the minister responsible for the issue of the storage site, didn’t attend any of the explanatory meetings held over a period of about two weeks.
　約２週間にわたった説明会に担当大臣である石原氏は一度も出席しなかった。

Ishihara should visit the communities and listen to what their residents say.
まずは現地に足を運び、耳を傾けるといい。

Doing so would help him realize the grave implications of what he said and the seriousness of the damage it caused to the communities.
　自らの発言の罪深さを、蝕んでしまったものの重さを、骨身で実感するために。

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 19