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The Yomiuri Shimbun
Quick action needed in dealing with side effects of cervical cancer vaccine
子宮頸がん ワクチンの副作用対策を急げ
The most important task is to clarify any cause and effect relationship between the vaccinations and the side effects.
ワクチン接種と副作用の因果関係を解明することが、何より重要だ。
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry recently delivered to an expert panel the results of a follow-up survey on patients who experienced negative side effects from a cervical cancer vaccine.
子宮頸けいがんワクチンの副作用問題で、厚生労働省が、患者の追跡調査結果を有識者検討会に報告した。
The ministry’s report confirmed 186 people had not returned to full health and were still suffering from serious side effects. In response to this finding, the panel decided to put off resuming recommending that people receive the vaccination. This recommendation has been suspended since June 2013.
１８６人が「未回復」の状態と判明し、深刻な副作用が残ることが確認された。これを受け、検討会は、２０１３年６月以降、控えてきたワクチン接種の勧奨について、再開の見送りを決めた。
The panel had no option on this matter, given that the cause of the side effects has yet to be pinpointed.
原因が究明されていないことを考えれば、やむを得まい。
About 3.38 million women received the vaccination from December 2009, when the vaccine went on the market, to November 2014. The survey covered 2,584 of these women who reported suffering some sort of symptoms. The survey was able to confirm developments in the cases of 1,739 women.
調査では、０９年１２月のワクチン発売から１４年１１月までに接種を受けた約３３８万人の女性のうち、何らかの症状が報告された２５８４人を追跡調査した。経過が確認できたのは１７３９人だった。
The proportion of people who reported side effects is not remarkably high compared with rates in other nations, where such vaccinations are being increasingly widely done.
副作用報告の割合は、接種が拡大している海外に比べて、格段に高いわけではない。
However, a significant number of specialists have said that Japan is conspicuous for patients suffering from comparatively severe symptoms. The various ongoing symptoms include headaches, fatigue, aching joints and a decline in cognitive function. These are serious health issues.
しかし、日本では、比較的症状の重い患者が目立つと指摘する専門家が相当数いる。頭痛や倦怠けんたい感、関節痛、認知機能の低下など、症状は様々で、深刻だ。
There were limits to how much data could be gleaned from this survey, which was based mostly on information these patients reported to doctors who treated them. There needs to be a detailed examination of the diagnoses and treatments given to these patients, as well as a comparative review of the health conditions of women in the same age brackets who did not receive the vaccinations, and other factors.
主に医師の報告データに基づく今回の調査には限界がある。患者の詳細な診断、治療に加え、接種歴のない同世代女子の体調などとの比較検討も求められる。
Reducing distrust vital
The health ministry will establish consultation counters in every prefecture and strengthen support provided to the victims, including treatment. It also has kicked into gear a stalled review of relief provided to people who suffered health problems.
厚労省は、相談窓口を全都道府県に設け、治療などの支援を強化する。滞っていた健康被害救済の審査も本格化させた。
It is impossible to reduce the risk accompanying a vaccination to zero. Advanced nations such as the United States and those in Europe have set up systems to quickly pay compensation when there are suspicions a vaccination has caused negative side effects. If the government takes a long time to provide relief, distrust would grow among patients and hamper steps to prevent infectious diseases from spreading.
ワクチン接種のリスクは、ゼロにできない。欧米先進国は、副作用の疑いがあれば、速やかに補償する制度を設けている。救済に長期間を要するようでは、患者たちに不信が増大し、感染症対策に支障を来すためだ。
We think such relief measures should be swiftly put in place in Japan, too.
日本も救済を急ぎたい。
The number of women in Japan with cervical cancer is increasing, with about 10,000 developing the disease each year. About 3,000 die from it annually.
国内では子宮頸がん患者が増加し、年間約１万人が発症している。死亡者は約３０００人に上る。
The cervical cancer vaccine is said to prevent the virus that causes the cancer from being transmitted from men to women through sexual relations. In Australia, such a vaccine is administered to both males and females during routine immunizations.
子宮頸がんワクチンは、性交渉により、男性から女性に原因ウイルスが感染するのを防ぐ効果が期待されている。豪州では、男女両方が定期接種の対象だ。
Although the vaccine is currently not promoted in Japan, the system in place includes it among routine vaccinations for women. People wishing to receive the vaccine can have it subsidized by the government, but clearly the current situation does not enable them to take the vaccine with peace of mind.
国内でも現在、勧奨はしていないものの、女性を対象にした定期接種の制度が設けられている。希望者は公的な助成を得られるが、安心して接種を受けられる状況にないのは明らかだろう。
Having regular checkups is important for detecting cervical cancer at an early stage. However, this does not contribute to preventing the disease, so the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology and other bodies have stressed the significance of the inoculations.
子宮頸がんの早期発見には、定期検診を受診することが重要である。ただし、予防にはつながらず、日本産科婦人科学会などは接種の意義を訴えている。
Reducing distrust in the vaccine will be a major prerequisite for achieving this. The health ministry must move fast on this issue.
そのためには、ワクチン不信の軽減が大前提だ。厚労省は対応を急がねばならない。
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 24, 2015)
Quick action needed in dealing with side effects of cervical cancer vaccine
子宮頸がん ワクチンの副作用対策を急げ
The most important task is to clarify any cause and effect relationship between the vaccinations and the side effects.
ワクチン接種と副作用の因果関係を解明することが、何より重要だ。
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry recently delivered to an expert panel the results of a follow-up survey on patients who experienced negative side effects from a cervical cancer vaccine.
子宮頸けいがんワクチンの副作用問題で、厚生労働省が、患者の追跡調査結果を有識者検討会に報告した。
The ministry’s report confirmed 186 people had not returned to full health and were still suffering from serious side effects. In response to this finding, the panel decided to put off resuming recommending that people receive the vaccination. This recommendation has been suspended since June 2013.
１８６人が「未回復」の状態と判明し、深刻な副作用が残ることが確認された。これを受け、検討会は、２０１３年６月以降、控えてきたワクチン接種の勧奨について、再開の見送りを決めた。
The panel had no option on this matter, given that the cause of the side effects has yet to be pinpointed.
原因が究明されていないことを考えれば、やむを得まい。
About 3.38 million women received the vaccination from December 2009, when the vaccine went on the market, to November 2014. The survey covered 2,584 of these women who reported suffering some sort of symptoms. The survey was able to confirm developments in the cases of 1,739 women.
調査では、０９年１２月のワクチン発売から１４年１１月までに接種を受けた約３３８万人の女性のうち、何らかの症状が報告された２５８４人を追跡調査した。経過が確認できたのは１７３９人だった。
The proportion of people who reported side effects is not remarkably high compared with rates in other nations, where such vaccinations are being increasingly widely done.
副作用報告の割合は、接種が拡大している海外に比べて、格段に高いわけではない。
However, a significant number of specialists have said that Japan is conspicuous for patients suffering from comparatively severe symptoms. The various ongoing symptoms include headaches, fatigue, aching joints and a decline in cognitive function. These are serious health issues.
しかし、日本では、比較的症状の重い患者が目立つと指摘する専門家が相当数いる。頭痛や倦怠けんたい感、関節痛、認知機能の低下など、症状は様々で、深刻だ。
There were limits to how much data could be gleaned from this survey, which was based mostly on information these patients reported to doctors who treated them. There needs to be a detailed examination of the diagnoses and treatments given to these patients, as well as a comparative review of the health conditions of women in the same age brackets who did not receive the vaccinations, and other factors.
主に医師の報告データに基づく今回の調査には限界がある。患者の詳細な診断、治療に加え、接種歴のない同世代女子の体調などとの比較検討も求められる。
Reducing distrust vital
The health ministry will establish consultation counters in every prefecture and strengthen support provided to the victims, including treatment. It also has kicked into gear a stalled review of relief provided to people who suffered health problems.
厚労省は、相談窓口を全都道府県に設け、治療などの支援を強化する。滞っていた健康被害救済の審査も本格化させた。
It is impossible to reduce the risk accompanying a vaccination to zero. Advanced nations such as the United States and those in Europe have set up systems to quickly pay compensation when there are suspicions a vaccination has caused negative side effects. If the government takes a long time to provide relief, distrust would grow among patients and hamper steps to prevent infectious diseases from spreading.
ワクチン接種のリスクは、ゼロにできない。欧米先進国は、副作用の疑いがあれば、速やかに補償する制度を設けている。救済に長期間を要するようでは、患者たちに不信が増大し、感染症対策に支障を来すためだ。
We think such relief measures should be swiftly put in place in Japan, too.
日本も救済を急ぎたい。
The number of women in Japan with cervical cancer is increasing, with about 10,000 developing the disease each year. About 3,000 die from it annually.
国内では子宮頸がん患者が増加し、年間約１万人が発症している。死亡者は約３０００人に上る。
The cervical cancer vaccine is said to prevent the virus that causes the cancer from being transmitted from men to women through sexual relations. In Australia, such a vaccine is administered to both males and females during routine immunizations.
子宮頸がんワクチンは、性交渉により、男性から女性に原因ウイルスが感染するのを防ぐ効果が期待されている。豪州では、男女両方が定期接種の対象だ。
Although the vaccine is currently not promoted in Japan, the system in place includes it among routine vaccinations for women. People wishing to receive the vaccine can have it subsidized by the government, but clearly the current situation does not enable them to take the vaccine with peace of mind.
国内でも現在、勧奨はしていないものの、女性を対象にした定期接種の制度が設けられている。希望者は公的な助成を得られるが、安心して接種を受けられる状況にないのは明らかだろう。
Having regular checkups is important for detecting cervical cancer at an early stage. However, this does not contribute to preventing the disease, so the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology and other bodies have stressed the significance of the inoculations.
子宮頸がんの早期発見には、定期検診を受診することが重要である。ただし、予防にはつながらず、日本産科婦人科学会などは接種の意義を訴えている。
Reducing distrust in the vaccine will be a major prerequisite for achieving this. The health ministry must move fast on this issue.
そのためには、ワクチン不信の軽減が大前提だ。厚労省は対応を急がねばならない。
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 24, 2015)
PR
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Tenacious talks with Russia key to ending impasse in territorial dispute
日露外相会談 領土対立打開へ対話を重ねよ
Russia’s hard-line stance toward the northern territories has become more conspicuous. Nevertheless, the only way to improve Japan-Russia relations is for politicians of the two countries to hold talks tenaciously and repeatedly.
北方領土問題に関するロシアの強硬姿勢がより鮮明になった。それでも、日露関係の改善には、政治家間の対話を粘り強く重ねるしかあるまい。
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Monday in Moscow and protested a recent series of visits by the Russian prime minister and cabinet ministers to the northern territories, saying, “Their visits are extremely regrettable and not acceptable.” Lavrov reportedly refuted this by saying, “Russia has its own standpoint.”
岸田外相がモスクワで、ラブロフ外相と会談し、ロシアの首相や閣僚の相次ぐ北方領土訪問について「極めて遺憾で、受け入れられない」と抗議した。ラブロフ氏は「ロシアにはロシアの立場がある」などと反論した。
On the other hand, Kishida and Lavrov agreed “to explore ways to a solution acceptable to both sides.” They also agreed to resume vice-ministerial-level talks early next month — for the first time in one year and nine months — regarding the conclusion of a peace treaty. The two countries will reportedly seek to hold talks between their top leaders and foreign ministers on the sidelines of international conferences.
一方で、「双方に受け入れ可能な解決策を模索する」ことでは一致した。来月上旬に次官級の平和条約交渉を１年９か月ぶりに再開することでも合意した。今後は、国際会議などの場で首脳や外相の対話を継続するという。
Negotiations on the peace treaty have been suspended following sanctions imposed by Japan on Russia in connection with the Ukrainian situation and Russia’s retaliatory steps. We cannot expect immediate results, but we appreciate the fact that the two countries agreed to resume talks.
平和条約交渉は、ウクライナ情勢に基づく日本の対露制裁や露側の対抗措置に伴い、中断していた。すぐに成果は期待できないが、交渉再開自体は評価したい。
Kishida, who had postponed his visit to Russia, told Lavrov during the meeting, “Because there are issues pending between us, it’s all the more important to hold talks repeatedly.” His assertion is understandable.
訪露を延期してきた岸田氏は会談で、「問題があるからこそ、対話を重ねていくことが重要だ」と強調した。理解できる主張だ。
However, the two countries stand far apart in their positions on the territorial dispute.
ただ、領土問題を巡る日露の立場の隔たりは大きい。
During a joint news conference after the meeting, Lavrov said: “We didn’t discuss the northern territories. The agenda of the talks was the conclusion of a peace treaty.”
ラブロフ氏は会談後の共同記者会見で、「北方領土については協議しなかった。議題は平和条約の締結だった」と語った。
Illogical argument
It cannot be overlooked, however, that Lavrov tried to justify the illegal occupation of the northern territories for 70 years and make it a fait accompli by saying “the reality of postwar history should be recognized.”
看過できないのは、ラブロフ氏が「戦後の歴史の現実を認識すべきだ」と述べ、７０年に及ぶ北方領土の不法占拠を正当化し、既成事実化しようとしていることだ。
A joint statement issued by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2013 called for holding negotiations on a peace treaty based on all accords adopted by the two countries, including the Irkutsk Statement that specified efforts toward a solution to the sovereignty issue over the four islands off Hokkaido. In this sense, Lavrov’s argument is illogical.
安倍首相とプーチン大統領による２０１３年の日露共同声明は、北方４島の帰属問題解決を明記した「イルクーツク声明」など、両国が採択した全合意に基づき、条約交渉を進めるとうたっている。ラブロフ氏の発言は筋違いだ。
It seems that Russia wants to draw concessions from Japan, such as the lifting of sanctions and economic cooperation, by swaying Japan through hard-line and moderate approaches.
露側には、日本を硬軟両様で揺さぶり、制裁解除や経済協力を引き出したい思惑があるようだ。
Russia’s economy has been deteriorating due to economic sanctions imposed by the United States and European countries and the decline in crude oil prices. Russian expectations on Japan, it may be said, are reflected by the fact that Igor Shuvalov, first vice premier in charge of economic affairs, conferred with Kishida.
米欧の経済制裁や原油価格下落などの影響で、国内経済は悪化している。経済担当のシュワロフ第１副首相が岸田氏と会談したのも露側の期待の表れと言えよう。
A focal point for the time being is whether Putin’s visit to Japan can be realized before the end of this year.
当面の焦点は、プーチン氏の年内来日の行方である。
Japan is forward-looking in regard to Putin’s visit. But even if it is realized, it will come to nothing if meaningful talks are not held. It may end up merely disrupting the unity of the Group of Seven industrialized countries on anti-Russia sanctions.
日本側は前向きだが、来日が実現しても、中身のある会談ができなければ、意味がない。対露制裁に関する先進７か国（Ｇ７）の結束を乱すだけになりかねない。
Does Putin have the resolve and ability to earnestly tackle the tasks of repairing relations with Japan and proceeding with a solution to the territorial issue? The Japanese government must deal with the matter carefully after seeing Russian responses. Strategic negotiating capabilities are called for in this regard.
プーチン氏は、対日関係の修復と領土問題の前進に本気で取り組む意思と能力があるのか。日本政府は、露側の出方を見極めつつ、慎重に対処しなければなるまい。戦略的な交渉力が求められる。
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 23, 2015)
Tenacious talks with Russia key to ending impasse in territorial dispute
日露外相会談 領土対立打開へ対話を重ねよ
Russia’s hard-line stance toward the northern territories has become more conspicuous. Nevertheless, the only way to improve Japan-Russia relations is for politicians of the two countries to hold talks tenaciously and repeatedly.
北方領土問題に関するロシアの強硬姿勢がより鮮明になった。それでも、日露関係の改善には、政治家間の対話を粘り強く重ねるしかあるまい。
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Monday in Moscow and protested a recent series of visits by the Russian prime minister and cabinet ministers to the northern territories, saying, “Their visits are extremely regrettable and not acceptable.” Lavrov reportedly refuted this by saying, “Russia has its own standpoint.”
岸田外相がモスクワで、ラブロフ外相と会談し、ロシアの首相や閣僚の相次ぐ北方領土訪問について「極めて遺憾で、受け入れられない」と抗議した。ラブロフ氏は「ロシアにはロシアの立場がある」などと反論した。
On the other hand, Kishida and Lavrov agreed “to explore ways to a solution acceptable to both sides.” They also agreed to resume vice-ministerial-level talks early next month — for the first time in one year and nine months — regarding the conclusion of a peace treaty. The two countries will reportedly seek to hold talks between their top leaders and foreign ministers on the sidelines of international conferences.
一方で、「双方に受け入れ可能な解決策を模索する」ことでは一致した。来月上旬に次官級の平和条約交渉を１年９か月ぶりに再開することでも合意した。今後は、国際会議などの場で首脳や外相の対話を継続するという。
Negotiations on the peace treaty have been suspended following sanctions imposed by Japan on Russia in connection with the Ukrainian situation and Russia’s retaliatory steps. We cannot expect immediate results, but we appreciate the fact that the two countries agreed to resume talks.
平和条約交渉は、ウクライナ情勢に基づく日本の対露制裁や露側の対抗措置に伴い、中断していた。すぐに成果は期待できないが、交渉再開自体は評価したい。
Kishida, who had postponed his visit to Russia, told Lavrov during the meeting, “Because there are issues pending between us, it’s all the more important to hold talks repeatedly.” His assertion is understandable.
訪露を延期してきた岸田氏は会談で、「問題があるからこそ、対話を重ねていくことが重要だ」と強調した。理解できる主張だ。
However, the two countries stand far apart in their positions on the territorial dispute.
ただ、領土問題を巡る日露の立場の隔たりは大きい。
During a joint news conference after the meeting, Lavrov said: “We didn’t discuss the northern territories. The agenda of the talks was the conclusion of a peace treaty.”
ラブロフ氏は会談後の共同記者会見で、「北方領土については協議しなかった。議題は平和条約の締結だった」と語った。
Illogical argument
It cannot be overlooked, however, that Lavrov tried to justify the illegal occupation of the northern territories for 70 years and make it a fait accompli by saying “the reality of postwar history should be recognized.”
看過できないのは、ラブロフ氏が「戦後の歴史の現実を認識すべきだ」と述べ、７０年に及ぶ北方領土の不法占拠を正当化し、既成事実化しようとしていることだ。
A joint statement issued by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2013 called for holding negotiations on a peace treaty based on all accords adopted by the two countries, including the Irkutsk Statement that specified efforts toward a solution to the sovereignty issue over the four islands off Hokkaido. In this sense, Lavrov’s argument is illogical.
安倍首相とプーチン大統領による２０１３年の日露共同声明は、北方４島の帰属問題解決を明記した「イルクーツク声明」など、両国が採択した全合意に基づき、条約交渉を進めるとうたっている。ラブロフ氏の発言は筋違いだ。
It seems that Russia wants to draw concessions from Japan, such as the lifting of sanctions and economic cooperation, by swaying Japan through hard-line and moderate approaches.
露側には、日本を硬軟両様で揺さぶり、制裁解除や経済協力を引き出したい思惑があるようだ。
Russia’s economy has been deteriorating due to economic sanctions imposed by the United States and European countries and the decline in crude oil prices. Russian expectations on Japan, it may be said, are reflected by the fact that Igor Shuvalov, first vice premier in charge of economic affairs, conferred with Kishida.
米欧の経済制裁や原油価格下落などの影響で、国内経済は悪化している。経済担当のシュワロフ第１副首相が岸田氏と会談したのも露側の期待の表れと言えよう。
A focal point for the time being is whether Putin’s visit to Japan can be realized before the end of this year.
当面の焦点は、プーチン氏の年内来日の行方である。
Japan is forward-looking in regard to Putin’s visit. But even if it is realized, it will come to nothing if meaningful talks are not held. It may end up merely disrupting the unity of the Group of Seven industrialized countries on anti-Russia sanctions.
日本側は前向きだが、来日が実現しても、中身のある会談ができなければ、意味がない。対露制裁に関する先進７か国（Ｇ７）の結束を乱すだけになりかねない。
Does Putin have the resolve and ability to earnestly tackle the tasks of repairing relations with Japan and proceeding with a solution to the territorial issue? The Japanese government must deal with the matter carefully after seeing Russian responses. Strategic negotiating capabilities are called for in this regard.
プーチン氏は、対日関係の修復と領土問題の前進に本気で取り組む意思と能力があるのか。日本政府は、露側の出方を見極めつつ、慎重に対処しなければなるまい。戦略的な交渉力が求められる。
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 23, 2015)
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Drinking, smoking ban should stay when age of majority is lowered to 18
飲酒喫煙の年齢 １８歳解禁は理解を得られない
Reducing the age of majority would affect various fields. It is essential to look into the advisability of meticulously revising relevant laws one by one.
「大人」になる年齢の見直しは、様々な分野に影響が及ぶ。根拠となる法律ごとに、改正の是非を丁寧に検討することが重要である。
The Liberal Democratic Party has put together recommendations to lower the age of majority set at 20 under the Civil Code to 18. The ruling party will report the recommendations to the government by the end of this month.
自民党が、民法で２０歳と定めている成人年齢を１８歳に引き下げるよう求める提言をまとめた。月内にも政府に提出する。
The move is in response to the enactment of the revised Public Offices Election Law under which the voting age has been lowered to 18. The age for exercising the right to vote should correspond to the age of eligibility for other rights and the obligation to take responsibility under the Civil Code.
改正公職選挙法の成立で、選挙権年齢が２０歳以上から１８歳以上に引き下げられることを受けたものだ。選挙権を行使する年齢と、民事上の権利や責任が生じる年齢は一致させるべきだろう。
If the age of majority is lowered to 18, it will become possible to take out loans and enter other commercial contracts without parental approval. Efforts must be made to promote consumer education at school and with other programs to prevent young people from falling victim to illegal business practices.
成人年齢が１８歳になると、親の同意なしに、ローンなど商取引の契約が結べるようになる。悪徳商法の被害に遭わないよう、学校での消費者教育の充実など、環境整備を進めることが欠かせない。
The LDP has postponed a decision on whether to lower the legal age for drinking and smoking.
飲酒や喫煙を解禁する年齢については、結論を先送りした。
Initially, the party tried to come up with a proposal to permit drinking and smoking from the age of 18 but kicked the plan down the road in the face of opposition from within the party and the medical world. The postponement is quite natural.
当初、１８歳から認める案をまとめようとしたが、党内や医療関係者などから、反対論が続出したためだ。当然だろう。
If smoking starts early in adolescence, it increases the risk of lung cancer and heart disease, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. The Japan Medical Association warns that habitual smoking by those aged less than 20 adversely affects brain growth and leads to early onset of dementia and other diseases.
厚生労働省によると、青少年期に喫煙を始めると、肺がんや心疾患にかかるリスクが大きくなる。日本医師会は、２０歳未満の喫煙習慣が脳の発育にも悪影響を与え、認知症などの早期発症につながる恐れがあると警告している。
Adverse health impacts
Furthermore, the younger one starts drinking, the higher the risk of suffering from alcoholism, according to experts.
酒を飲み始める年齢が早いほど、アルコール依存症になる確率が高まるとも指摘される。
Considering the possible adverse health effects, lowering the age for permitting smoking and drinking will never obtain social understanding.
健康面への影響を踏まえれば、解禁年齢の引き下げは到底、社会の理解を得られまい。
How to rein in social welfare spending amid dire fiscal straits is a huge challenge. From this point of view, too, no policy change that would entail an increase in medical spending should be made.
厳しい財政状況の中、社会保障費をどう抑制するかが、大きな課題だ。その観点からも、将来的に医療費の増大を招くような制度変更はすべきでない。
Drinking and smoking can also lead to juvenile delinquency. Moreover, student guidance at high school would become confused if students aged 18, who are allowed to drink and smoke, and those aged 17 attended the same school. Lowering the legal age for drinking and smoking would also make it more difficult for schools to give guidance to students under school rules that ban such behavior.
飲酒や喫煙は、非行の引き金になる危険をはらむ。酒やたばこが許される１８歳の生徒と、そうでない１７歳の生徒が混在すれば、高校の生徒指導は混乱する。法律で認められれば、校則で禁止しても限界があるのではないか。
Concerning the minimum age for application of the Juvenile Law, the LDP has proposed lowering it from “less than 20” to “less than 18.”
一方、少年法の適用年齢に関し、自民党は、２０歳未満から１８歳未満への引き下げを提言した。
To encourage rehabilitation for those aged 18 and 19 who will be excluded from the application of the Juvenile Law if the age of application is lowered, the party has called for implementing such probational measures as provided for by the Juvenile Law by prioritizing correctional education over punishment. This recommendation is reasonable.
更生を促すため、対象から外れる１８歳と１９歳に、刑罰より矯正教育を重視する少年法上の保護処分のような措置を講じることも求めた。妥当な内容だ。
Sending teenage violators to reformatories where correctional education is provided or placing them on probation to give them chances for rehabilitation in society is greatly helpful in preventing juvenile recidivism. If the age for application of the Juvenile Law is lowered to “less than 18,” it will be necessary to deepen discussions about when to apply probational measures to those aged 18 and 19.
矯正教育を行う少年院への送致や、社会内で立ち直りを図る保護観察の処分が、少年の再犯防止に果たす役割は小さくない。引き下げを前提に、どのようなケースで１８歳や１９歳に保護的措置を適用するのか、議論を深めたい。
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 22, 2015)
Drinking, smoking ban should stay when age of majority is lowered to 18
飲酒喫煙の年齢 １８歳解禁は理解を得られない
Reducing the age of majority would affect various fields. It is essential to look into the advisability of meticulously revising relevant laws one by one.
「大人」になる年齢の見直しは、様々な分野に影響が及ぶ。根拠となる法律ごとに、改正の是非を丁寧に検討することが重要である。
The Liberal Democratic Party has put together recommendations to lower the age of majority set at 20 under the Civil Code to 18. The ruling party will report the recommendations to the government by the end of this month.
自民党が、民法で２０歳と定めている成人年齢を１８歳に引き下げるよう求める提言をまとめた。月内にも政府に提出する。
The move is in response to the enactment of the revised Public Offices Election Law under which the voting age has been lowered to 18. The age for exercising the right to vote should correspond to the age of eligibility for other rights and the obligation to take responsibility under the Civil Code.
改正公職選挙法の成立で、選挙権年齢が２０歳以上から１８歳以上に引き下げられることを受けたものだ。選挙権を行使する年齢と、民事上の権利や責任が生じる年齢は一致させるべきだろう。
If the age of majority is lowered to 18, it will become possible to take out loans and enter other commercial contracts without parental approval. Efforts must be made to promote consumer education at school and with other programs to prevent young people from falling victim to illegal business practices.
成人年齢が１８歳になると、親の同意なしに、ローンなど商取引の契約が結べるようになる。悪徳商法の被害に遭わないよう、学校での消費者教育の充実など、環境整備を進めることが欠かせない。
The LDP has postponed a decision on whether to lower the legal age for drinking and smoking.
飲酒や喫煙を解禁する年齢については、結論を先送りした。
Initially, the party tried to come up with a proposal to permit drinking and smoking from the age of 18 but kicked the plan down the road in the face of opposition from within the party and the medical world. The postponement is quite natural.
当初、１８歳から認める案をまとめようとしたが、党内や医療関係者などから、反対論が続出したためだ。当然だろう。
If smoking starts early in adolescence, it increases the risk of lung cancer and heart disease, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. The Japan Medical Association warns that habitual smoking by those aged less than 20 adversely affects brain growth and leads to early onset of dementia and other diseases.
厚生労働省によると、青少年期に喫煙を始めると、肺がんや心疾患にかかるリスクが大きくなる。日本医師会は、２０歳未満の喫煙習慣が脳の発育にも悪影響を与え、認知症などの早期発症につながる恐れがあると警告している。
Adverse health impacts
Furthermore, the younger one starts drinking, the higher the risk of suffering from alcoholism, according to experts.
酒を飲み始める年齢が早いほど、アルコール依存症になる確率が高まるとも指摘される。
Considering the possible adverse health effects, lowering the age for permitting smoking and drinking will never obtain social understanding.
健康面への影響を踏まえれば、解禁年齢の引き下げは到底、社会の理解を得られまい。
How to rein in social welfare spending amid dire fiscal straits is a huge challenge. From this point of view, too, no policy change that would entail an increase in medical spending should be made.
厳しい財政状況の中、社会保障費をどう抑制するかが、大きな課題だ。その観点からも、将来的に医療費の増大を招くような制度変更はすべきでない。
Drinking and smoking can also lead to juvenile delinquency. Moreover, student guidance at high school would become confused if students aged 18, who are allowed to drink and smoke, and those aged 17 attended the same school. Lowering the legal age for drinking and smoking would also make it more difficult for schools to give guidance to students under school rules that ban such behavior.
飲酒や喫煙は、非行の引き金になる危険をはらむ。酒やたばこが許される１８歳の生徒と、そうでない１７歳の生徒が混在すれば、高校の生徒指導は混乱する。法律で認められれば、校則で禁止しても限界があるのではないか。
Concerning the minimum age for application of the Juvenile Law, the LDP has proposed lowering it from “less than 20” to “less than 18.”
一方、少年法の適用年齢に関し、自民党は、２０歳未満から１８歳未満への引き下げを提言した。
To encourage rehabilitation for those aged 18 and 19 who will be excluded from the application of the Juvenile Law if the age of application is lowered, the party has called for implementing such probational measures as provided for by the Juvenile Law by prioritizing correctional education over punishment. This recommendation is reasonable.
更生を促すため、対象から外れる１８歳と１９歳に、刑罰より矯正教育を重視する少年法上の保護処分のような措置を講じることも求めた。妥当な内容だ。
Sending teenage violators to reformatories where correctional education is provided or placing them on probation to give them chances for rehabilitation in society is greatly helpful in preventing juvenile recidivism. If the age for application of the Juvenile Law is lowered to “less than 18,” it will be necessary to deepen discussions about when to apply probational measures to those aged 18 and 19.
矯正教育を行う少年院への送致や、社会内で立ち直りを図る保護観察の処分が、少年の再犯防止に果たす役割は小さくない。引き下げを前提に、どのようなケースで１８歳や１９歳に保護的措置を適用するのか、議論を深めたい。
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 22, 2015)
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Increase opportunities for elderly to remain active in aging society
生涯現役社会 高齢者の活躍の場を増やそう
The average Japanese life expectancy stands at 80.5 years for men and 86.83 years for women. Both are projected to rise even more in the future. This will herald the era of 90-year life spans.
日本の平均寿命は、男性８０・５歳、女性８６・８３歳だ。今後も延びると予測される。人生９０年時代の到来である。
On Monday, Respect for the Aged Day, we should rejoice in the fact that Japan has become one of the world’s leading nations in terms of longevity.
敬老の日のきょう、世界屈指の長寿国となったことを、改めて喜びたい。
Those aged 65 and over account for more than 25 percent of the overall population, and this figure is expected to reach 40 percent in 2060.
総人口に占める６５歳以上の割合は２５％を超え、２０６０年には４０％となる見込みだ。
With Japan’s society aging faster, such serious problems as a shrinkage in the workforce and swelling expenses for social security programs have arisen.
高齢化が進むに連れて、労働力人口の減少や社会保障費の膨張など、深刻な問題も生じている。
It is important to increase opportunities in which the elderly who want to work can exhibit their ability so they can actively help support society. The creation of such a “society in which people actively contribute through their whole lives” will hold the key for Japan to overcome the ultra-aging of its society.
意欲のある高齢者が、能力を発揮して活躍できる場を増やし、社会の支え手になってもらう。「生涯現役社会」の実現が、超高齢社会を乗り切るカギとなる。
Fifty percent of those in the 35-64 age group want to continue working after 65. Aiming for the creation of a society in which people can actively contribute their whole lives will help enrich the lives of the elderly and financially stabilize their daily lives.
６５歳を超えても働きたいと思っている人が、３５～６４歳の５割を占めている。生涯現役社会を目指すことは、高齢者一人一人の生活を充実させ、経済的に安定させる上でも重要だろう。
With the enforcement of the revised Law for the Stabilization of Employment of Elderly People in April 2013, all employees are allowed to stay on the payroll until they turn 65 if they want to. Yet the present reality is that work opportunities for those aged 65 and over are limited.
１３年４月に改正高年齢者雇用安定法が施行され、希望すれば６５歳まで継続雇用されるようになった。だが、６５歳以降の就労機会については限られるのが現状だ。
A report compiled in June by a study panel of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry proposed measures to promote the continued employment of those aged 65 and older and to boost support for skills development and the reemployment of middle-aged and older people, with an eye to the realization of a society in which people can actively contribute their whole lives.
厚生労働省の検討会が６月にまとめた報告書は、生涯現役社会の実現に向け、６５歳以上の継続雇用の促進や、中高年の能力開発・再就職の支援強化を打ち出した。
More company opportunities
More businesses are keeping people on after they reach 65 by having them use their knowledge and experience to serve as advisers for young workers and allowing the elderly to work flexible hours to suit their lifestyle. We hope businesses will promote such measures in conformity with their needs.
高齢者の知識や経験を生かし、若手の指導役にする。本人の生活パターンに合わせた柔軟な働き方を認める。こうした工夫で、６５歳以上を引き続き雇用する企業が増えた。各企業が実情に応じた対策を進めてもらいたい。
Changes in the consciousness of workers are also important. To remain active in their later years, workers must make clear plans while still young and continually work to enhance their skills.
働く側の意識改革も重要だ。長く働き続けるには、若いうちから将来設計を明確にし、能力の向上に取り組む必要がある。
It is also important to create labor markets in which middle-aged and older people can change jobs more easily.
中高年が転職しやすい労働市場の形成も求められる。
The elderly differ greatly from person to person in terms of health and economic status. To meet their diverse needs, it is essential for local governments, in cooperation with such entities as local economic organizations and nonprofit organizations, to build a system that can cultivate jobs for the elderly.
高齢者は、健康や経済力の面で個人差が大きい。多様なニーズに対応するには、自治体が地域の経済団体やＮＰＯなどと連携し、高齢者向けの仕事を開拓する体制作りが欠かせない。
It will also become a challenge for society to reinforce the functions of human resources centers that offer light work and other suitable jobs to elderly people.
軽作業などの働き口を提供しているシルバー人材センターの機能強化も課題となる。
The government of Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, has created job opportunities for elderly people in the farming and welfare sectors, under the concept of “offering jobs to help elderly people make their lives worth living.”
千葉県柏市は「生きがい就労」として、農業や福祉の仕事を創出し、高齢者に提供している。
The prefectural government of Fukuoka has established a center to help elderly people find jobs or take part in volunteer activities until they reach the age of 70, or even older in some cases.
福岡県は「７０歳現役応援センター」を開設し、高齢者の就労やボランティア活動を手助けしている。
These efforts should help solve local problems, by, for instance, making up for labor shortages in nursing care and child care.
介護や保育分野の人手不足を補うなど、地域の問題解決にもつながる取り組みだ。
Expanding opportunities for elderly people to take an active role in society will also prevent them from becoming isolated in society and declining to the point that they need nursing care.
高齢者の活躍の場を広げることは、孤立防止や介護予防にも有効だろう。
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 21, 2015)
Increase opportunities for elderly to remain active in aging society
生涯現役社会 高齢者の活躍の場を増やそう
The average Japanese life expectancy stands at 80.5 years for men and 86.83 years for women. Both are projected to rise even more in the future. This will herald the era of 90-year life spans.
日本の平均寿命は、男性８０・５歳、女性８６・８３歳だ。今後も延びると予測される。人生９０年時代の到来である。
On Monday, Respect for the Aged Day, we should rejoice in the fact that Japan has become one of the world’s leading nations in terms of longevity.
敬老の日のきょう、世界屈指の長寿国となったことを、改めて喜びたい。
Those aged 65 and over account for more than 25 percent of the overall population, and this figure is expected to reach 40 percent in 2060.
総人口に占める６５歳以上の割合は２５％を超え、２０６０年には４０％となる見込みだ。
With Japan’s society aging faster, such serious problems as a shrinkage in the workforce and swelling expenses for social security programs have arisen.
高齢化が進むに連れて、労働力人口の減少や社会保障費の膨張など、深刻な問題も生じている。
It is important to increase opportunities in which the elderly who want to work can exhibit their ability so they can actively help support society. The creation of such a “society in which people actively contribute through their whole lives” will hold the key for Japan to overcome the ultra-aging of its society.
意欲のある高齢者が、能力を発揮して活躍できる場を増やし、社会の支え手になってもらう。「生涯現役社会」の実現が、超高齢社会を乗り切るカギとなる。
Fifty percent of those in the 35-64 age group want to continue working after 65. Aiming for the creation of a society in which people can actively contribute their whole lives will help enrich the lives of the elderly and financially stabilize their daily lives.
６５歳を超えても働きたいと思っている人が、３５～６４歳の５割を占めている。生涯現役社会を目指すことは、高齢者一人一人の生活を充実させ、経済的に安定させる上でも重要だろう。
With the enforcement of the revised Law for the Stabilization of Employment of Elderly People in April 2013, all employees are allowed to stay on the payroll until they turn 65 if they want to. Yet the present reality is that work opportunities for those aged 65 and over are limited.
１３年４月に改正高年齢者雇用安定法が施行され、希望すれば６５歳まで継続雇用されるようになった。だが、６５歳以降の就労機会については限られるのが現状だ。
A report compiled in June by a study panel of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry proposed measures to promote the continued employment of those aged 65 and older and to boost support for skills development and the reemployment of middle-aged and older people, with an eye to the realization of a society in which people can actively contribute their whole lives.
厚生労働省の検討会が６月にまとめた報告書は、生涯現役社会の実現に向け、６５歳以上の継続雇用の促進や、中高年の能力開発・再就職の支援強化を打ち出した。
More company opportunities
More businesses are keeping people on after they reach 65 by having them use their knowledge and experience to serve as advisers for young workers and allowing the elderly to work flexible hours to suit their lifestyle. We hope businesses will promote such measures in conformity with their needs.
高齢者の知識や経験を生かし、若手の指導役にする。本人の生活パターンに合わせた柔軟な働き方を認める。こうした工夫で、６５歳以上を引き続き雇用する企業が増えた。各企業が実情に応じた対策を進めてもらいたい。
Changes in the consciousness of workers are also important. To remain active in their later years, workers must make clear plans while still young and continually work to enhance their skills.
働く側の意識改革も重要だ。長く働き続けるには、若いうちから将来設計を明確にし、能力の向上に取り組む必要がある。
It is also important to create labor markets in which middle-aged and older people can change jobs more easily.
中高年が転職しやすい労働市場の形成も求められる。
The elderly differ greatly from person to person in terms of health and economic status. To meet their diverse needs, it is essential for local governments, in cooperation with such entities as local economic organizations and nonprofit organizations, to build a system that can cultivate jobs for the elderly.
高齢者は、健康や経済力の面で個人差が大きい。多様なニーズに対応するには、自治体が地域の経済団体やＮＰＯなどと連携し、高齢者向けの仕事を開拓する体制作りが欠かせない。
It will also become a challenge for society to reinforce the functions of human resources centers that offer light work and other suitable jobs to elderly people.
軽作業などの働き口を提供しているシルバー人材センターの機能強化も課題となる。
The government of Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, has created job opportunities for elderly people in the farming and welfare sectors, under the concept of “offering jobs to help elderly people make their lives worth living.”
千葉県柏市は「生きがい就労」として、農業や福祉の仕事を創出し、高齢者に提供している。
The prefectural government of Fukuoka has established a center to help elderly people find jobs or take part in volunteer activities until they reach the age of 70, or even older in some cases.
福岡県は「７０歳現役応援センター」を開設し、高齢者の就労やボランティア活動を手助けしている。
These efforts should help solve local problems, by, for instance, making up for labor shortages in nursing care and child care.
介護や保育分野の人手不足を補うなど、地域の問題解決にもつながる取り組みだ。
Expanding opportunities for elderly people to take an active role in society will also prevent them from becoming isolated in society and declining to the point that they need nursing care.
高齢者の活躍の場を広げることは、孤立防止や介護予防にも有効だろう。
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 21, 2015)
September 20, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)
Kaleidoscope of the Heart: The potential of humans
香山リカのココロの万華鏡：「人間の底力」 ／東京
Torrential rain and flood damage recently struck the northern Kanto and Tohoku regions. I happened to be visiting the Tohoku region for work over the weekend, and even looking out from the window of the bullet train, I saw countless rice paddies and fields that had been flooded by water overflowing from streams and irrigation channels. If we were to include everything that wasn't reported, I wonder just how much damage there was.
北関東から東北を襲った大雨と水害。ちょうど週末に仕事で東北を訪れたのだが、道中、新幹線の窓から見ているだけでも、小さな河川や用水路からあふれた水をかぶった田畑が無数に目に入った。報道されていないものも含めると、被害はいったいどれくらいになるのだろう。
On television I saw a reporter pointing a microphone at a person who had barely escaped with their life after their home had been flooded. This is a common sight during disasters, but reporters aren't as pushy as they used to be. Now more start off saying something like, "I'm sorry to be asking you at a time like this, but ..."
自宅も水にのまれ、命からがら逃げ出した人にテレビリポーターがマイクを向ける。災害時のいつもの光景だが、昔ほどは強引ではない。「こんなときに申し訳ありませんが」とひとこと言ってから質問を繰り出す人も増えてきた。
The people who respond all say things like, "It's the first time this has happened. I was shocked." And many of them make such comments as, "I'm just happy to be safe," or, "I'm thankful to have been rescued."
答える人たちは一様に「こんなことははじめて。驚いた」と言い、そのあと多くが「助かっただけでもありがたい」「救出してもらえて感謝しています」と話す。
On TV and on the Internet, one hardly ever encounters people in such disasters getting angry and saying things like, "Why did this have to happen to me?"
「どうして私がこんな目にあわなければいけないのか」と怒りを口にする人は、テレビニュースでもネット上でもほとんど目にしない。
Some people give accounts like, "Neighbors have evacuated together and are helping each other," or, "I spent the night in an isolated apartment, but residents brought food and shared it."
「家が近い人どうしで避難して励まし合っている」「孤立したアパートで一夜をすごしたが、住民で食べものを持ち寄って分けた」といった経験談を語る人もいる。
Meanwhile, rescuers and supporters -- from the Self-Defense Forces to firefighters and members of local bodies -- have gone beyond all expectations in their efforts to help.
また、今回も自衛隊や消防、地元の自治体職員など救援、支援する側の人たちも、想像を超えたがんばりを見せている。
In my consultation rooms, I hear so many tragic stories. "I was abused by my parents," one person says. "I was betrayed by a friend," says another. It leaves me tending to think, "Humans are bad by nature." I get the impression that humans are always cheating someone, always trying to get a good deal for just themselves.
診察室にいると「親に虐待された」「友人に裏切られた」といった悲惨な話ばかり聞くものだから、つい「人間って、本質的には悪人なのではないか」と思いがちになる。常にだれかをあざむこう、自分だけが得をしよう、と思っているのが人間、と思ってしまうのだ。
But in the latest disaster, looking at the people who have cooperated with those around them in an attempt to overcome their difficulties, at those who have remembered to thank others amid such trying circumstances, and at those putting a full effort into saving and supporting victims, I'm compelled to amend my line of thinking.
しかし、このような災害が起きて、それでもまわりと協力し合って乗り切ろうとする人、こんなときでも感謝の気持ちを忘れない人、被害者のために持てる力をフルに発揮しようとする救援・支援の人を目にすると、「いや、人間の本質は悪なんかじゃない」と自分の考えを訂正したくなる。
Deep down, surely, people have compassion and kindness, thinking, "I want to help someone," or "I want to tell them, 'Thank you.'" But I guess that as they are forced into tough situations, those feelings are gradually pushed back, and people resort to attacking others or conning them to survive.
きっとどんな人でも、心の底には「誰かを助けたい」「“ありがとう”と伝えたい」という思いやりや、やさしさを持っているのだ。それが、自らが厳しい状況に追い込まれるうちに、次第に奥に隠れ、生き延びるために他人を攻撃したり、あざむいたりしてしまうのではないだろうか。
I convey my sympathy to those affected by the latest disaster. And in my words here, I leave my thoughts on the potential of humans that I have felt through the disaster.
今回の災害にあった方たちへのお見舞いを伝えるとともに、そこで感じた「人間の底力」について書かせていただいた。
(By Rika Kayama, psychiatrist)
（精神科医）
毎日新聞 2015年09月15日 地方版
Kaleidoscope of the Heart: The potential of humans
香山リカのココロの万華鏡：「人間の底力」 ／東京
Torrential rain and flood damage recently struck the northern Kanto and Tohoku regions. I happened to be visiting the Tohoku region for work over the weekend, and even looking out from the window of the bullet train, I saw countless rice paddies and fields that had been flooded by water overflowing from streams and irrigation channels. If we were to include everything that wasn't reported, I wonder just how much damage there was.
北関東から東北を襲った大雨と水害。ちょうど週末に仕事で東北を訪れたのだが、道中、新幹線の窓から見ているだけでも、小さな河川や用水路からあふれた水をかぶった田畑が無数に目に入った。報道されていないものも含めると、被害はいったいどれくらいになるのだろう。
On television I saw a reporter pointing a microphone at a person who had barely escaped with their life after their home had been flooded. This is a common sight during disasters, but reporters aren't as pushy as they used to be. Now more start off saying something like, "I'm sorry to be asking you at a time like this, but ..."
自宅も水にのまれ、命からがら逃げ出した人にテレビリポーターがマイクを向ける。災害時のいつもの光景だが、昔ほどは強引ではない。「こんなときに申し訳ありませんが」とひとこと言ってから質問を繰り出す人も増えてきた。
The people who respond all say things like, "It's the first time this has happened. I was shocked." And many of them make such comments as, "I'm just happy to be safe," or, "I'm thankful to have been rescued."
答える人たちは一様に「こんなことははじめて。驚いた」と言い、そのあと多くが「助かっただけでもありがたい」「救出してもらえて感謝しています」と話す。
On TV and on the Internet, one hardly ever encounters people in such disasters getting angry and saying things like, "Why did this have to happen to me?"
「どうして私がこんな目にあわなければいけないのか」と怒りを口にする人は、テレビニュースでもネット上でもほとんど目にしない。
Some people give accounts like, "Neighbors have evacuated together and are helping each other," or, "I spent the night in an isolated apartment, but residents brought food and shared it."
「家が近い人どうしで避難して励まし合っている」「孤立したアパートで一夜をすごしたが、住民で食べものを持ち寄って分けた」といった経験談を語る人もいる。
Meanwhile, rescuers and supporters -- from the Self-Defense Forces to firefighters and members of local bodies -- have gone beyond all expectations in their efforts to help.
また、今回も自衛隊や消防、地元の自治体職員など救援、支援する側の人たちも、想像を超えたがんばりを見せている。
In my consultation rooms, I hear so many tragic stories. "I was abused by my parents," one person says. "I was betrayed by a friend," says another. It leaves me tending to think, "Humans are bad by nature." I get the impression that humans are always cheating someone, always trying to get a good deal for just themselves.
診察室にいると「親に虐待された」「友人に裏切られた」といった悲惨な話ばかり聞くものだから、つい「人間って、本質的には悪人なのではないか」と思いがちになる。常にだれかをあざむこう、自分だけが得をしよう、と思っているのが人間、と思ってしまうのだ。
But in the latest disaster, looking at the people who have cooperated with those around them in an attempt to overcome their difficulties, at those who have remembered to thank others amid such trying circumstances, and at those putting a full effort into saving and supporting victims, I'm compelled to amend my line of thinking.
しかし、このような災害が起きて、それでもまわりと協力し合って乗り切ろうとする人、こんなときでも感謝の気持ちを忘れない人、被害者のために持てる力をフルに発揮しようとする救援・支援の人を目にすると、「いや、人間の本質は悪なんかじゃない」と自分の考えを訂正したくなる。
Deep down, surely, people have compassion and kindness, thinking, "I want to help someone," or "I want to tell them, 'Thank you.'" But I guess that as they are forced into tough situations, those feelings are gradually pushed back, and people resort to attacking others or conning them to survive.
きっとどんな人でも、心の底には「誰かを助けたい」「“ありがとう”と伝えたい」という思いやりや、やさしさを持っているのだ。それが、自らが厳しい状況に追い込まれるうちに、次第に奥に隠れ、生き延びるために他人を攻撃したり、あざむいたりしてしまうのではないだろうか。
I convey my sympathy to those affected by the latest disaster. And in my words here, I leave my thoughts on the potential of humans that I have felt through the disaster.
今回の災害にあった方たちへのお見舞いを伝えるとともに、そこで感じた「人間の底力」について書かせていただいた。
(By Rika Kayama, psychiatrist)
（精神科医）
毎日新聞 2015年09月15日 地方版
September 19, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)
Editorial: Diet distorts Constitution by passing security bills into law
社説：安保転換を問う 安全保障法成立
◇憲法ゆがめた国会の罪
The Diet's enactment of the security-related legislation, opening the way for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense, has raised serious questions about the fate of Japan's democratic politics. Numerous members of the public, including those who staged demonstrations against the legislation in front of the Diet building and elsewhere, undoubtedly have questions over the legislation, feel angry and are worried about the laws.
日本の民主政治は一体どうなってしまうのか。国会周辺を中心に全国各地で反対デモを続ける人々だけでなく、多くの国民が疑問や怒り、そして不安を感じているだろう。
The House of Councillors passed the bills, which will drastically change Japan's basic national policy that the country has nurtured since the end of World War II, into law at a plenary session without addressing numerous questions and inconsistencies.
戦後築いてきた国のかたちを大きく変える安全保障関連法案が与党などの賛成多数により参院本会議で可決され、成立した。数々の疑問や矛盾点を置き去りにしたまま、
With the enactment of the legislation, Japan can exercise the right to collective self-defense, and the overseas activities of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) will be drastically expanded.
これで集団的自衛権の行使が認められ、自衛隊の海外での活動が拡大する。
Ruling coalition legislators, who belong to the legislative branch of the government, would not listen to the opinions of constitutional scholars and other experts who raised suspicions that the legislation violates the Constitution, which is the country's supreme law.
しかも、この法案は国の最高法規である憲法に違反している疑いが極めて濃いにもかかわらず、その指摘に立法府に属している与党議員が耳を傾けようともしなかった。今回の特異さはそこにある。
◇言論封じる言論の府
Yoshitada Konoike, chairman of the upper house special committee on the legislation, was quoted as saying that "I thought that there were so many flawed answers" that officials of the executive branch gave to questions during deliberations on the bills. Konoike made the remark after the panel railroaded the bills on Sept. 17 amid confusion. The minute of the session only states, "Impossible to hear" what the chairman and other members said during voting because of the confusion.
「どうしても不備な（政府）答弁が目立った気がする」
議事録も「聴取不能」としか残せないような大混乱の中で１７日、参院特別委員会での強行採決に踏み切った鴻池祥肇委員長（自民党）は採決後、こう語ったという。
One cannot help but wonder how many ruling coalition legislators can proudly say the Diet had thorough debate on the bills.
これで議論を尽くしたと胸を張れる与党議員はどれだけいるだろうか。
The governing bloc not only unilaterally terminated deliberations at the committee but also submitted and passed a motion calling for limiting the time for debate on censure motions and other resolutions that opposition parties submitted in a bid to block the passage of the bills at a plenary session.
審議を一方的に打ち切っただけではない。与党はその後の参院本会議で野党が提出した問責決議案などに対する討論を時間制限する動議まで出して可決した。
In other words, the citadel of discourse suppressed debate. The ruling coalition acted as if to say opposition parties should stop useless resistance because ruling coalition legislators far outnumber those from opposition parties.
「言論の府」自らが言論を封じ込める。それは「与党の数が上回っているのだから無駄な抵抗はやめろ」と言わんばかりの姿勢だった。
Opposition parties attempted to block the move to pass the bills into law by also submitting a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the House of Representatives. However, legislators from the ruling bloc obviously felt they were simply waiting as time passed.
野党は衆院でも内閣不信任決議案を提出するなど抵抗を試みたが、与党議員からすれば時間が経過するのをひたすら待つという心境だったろう。
Throughout Diet deliberations, the Abe government maintained its self-righteous attitude with which it dismissed any opposition and opinions calling for prudence in enacting the legislation.
結局、安倍政権はこうした異論や慎重論を封じ込める独善的な姿勢に終始したといっていい。
Numerous members of the general public are dissatisfied with and worried about the Abe administration's high-handed manner in which it dealt with the bills and the Diet that failed to stop the government's move as well as the contents of the laws.
国民の多くは今回の法律の中身とともに、安倍政権の強引な手法と、それを食い止めることができなかった国会に強い不満や不安を感じているはずだ。
It was one of Prime Minister Abe's long-cherished goals to open the way for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense. The move leading up to the enactment of the security legislation began in summer 2014 when the Abe Cabinet reversed the government's longstanding interpretation of the war-renouncing Constitution as banning Japan from exercising this right.
集団的自衛権の行使容認は安倍晋三首相の長年の悲願であり、今回は昨夏、集団的自衛権の行使は違憲だとしてきた歴代内閣の憲法解釈を、強引に覆したことに始まる。
However, constitutional scholars and other experts pointed out one after another that the security bills are unconstitutional and public opposition to the bills intensified. However, the prime minister and other top government officials responded by only citing the 1959 Supreme Court ruling on the so-called Sunagawa Incident, in which the top court said Japan inherently has the right to self-defense, and other views, but failed to provide any convincing counter-argument to critics.
だが、憲法違反だと憲法学者ら多くの専門家が批判し、反対世論が一段と強まったのに対し、首相らは砂川事件の最高裁判決（１９５９年）などを持ち出すだけで、最後まで説得力のある反論ができなかった。
Article 98 of the Constitution stipulates that the Constitution is "the supreme law of the nation," and that no law contrary to the Constitution "shall have legal force or validity." The prime minister and other top government officials should know this. However, Yosuke Isozaki, an adviser to the prime minister who played a leading role in developing the legislation, stated that "legal stability is irrelevant."
憲法９８条は憲法は国の最高法規であり、それに反する法律は効力を有しないと明記している。当然、それは承知しているはずだが、首相の側近で今回の法整備をリードしてきた礒崎陽輔首相補佐官は「法的安定性は関係ない」と語った。
This remark by Isozaki apparently reflects the true intentions of the Abe government. It is no exaggeration to say the administration went beyond the bounds of its authority as the executive branch and distorted the Constitution. Ruling coalition legislators went along with the move without raising questions. Komeito, the LDP's junior ruling coalition partner, also bears serious responsibility as it helped quickly enact the legislation while being aware that some of the party's supporters were opposing the bills.
再三指摘してきたように、この発言こそが安倍政権の本音だったろう。政権は行政権の範囲を逸脱し、憲法をゆがめたといっていい。そして与党議員もそれに疑いをはさむことなく追認した。自民党のみならず、支持者の一部にも反対論が出ているのを知っていながら成立を急いだ公明党の責任も重い。
◇安倍手法を自公後押し
Article 99 of the Constitution states that the Emperor or the Regent as well as Cabinet ministers, Diet members, judges and all other public servants "have the obligation to respect and uphold the Constitution." It is the basic principle of constitutionalism that the Constitution is not something that binds members of the public but something that restrains those in power and prevents them from abusing their power.
さらに憲法９９条は、憲法を尊重し擁護する義務を負うのは、天皇または摂政、国務大臣、国会議員、裁判官、その他の公務員だと記している。憲法を守る義務があるのは首相や国会議員らだということだ。憲法は国民を縛るものではなく、権力側を制限し、その独走、暴走を防ぐためにあるというのが立憲主義の基本的な考え方である。
However, a draft of a new Constitution that the LDP worked out in 2012 states that the people should be aware that their freedom and rights are accompanied by duties and responsibilities and must not run counter to public good and public order.
これに対して自民党が２０１２年に決定した憲法改正草案には「（国民は）自由及び権利には責任及び義務が伴うことを自覚し、常に公益及び公の秩序に反してはならない」などとある。
The LDP's tendency to place priority on the state over individuals' rights has been growing since Prime Minister Abe returned to power in late 2012. The enactment of the Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets in 2013 and the security legislation is part of this tendency.
第２次安倍政権発足後、自民党には個人の権利よりも国家を優先する傾向が一段と強まっているのは間違いない。一昨年成立した特定秘密保護法も今回の法整備もそうした流れの中にある。
Diet deliberations on the security bills failed to clarify the criteria for cases in which Japan can deploy Self-Defense Forces (SDF) troops overseas under the legislation.
今回の法律で自衛隊の海外派遣はどんな場合に認められるのか。審議を重ねても基準はあいまいなままだった。
In other words, such decisions are left largely to the discretion of the executive branch of the government.
要するに政府の判断に委ねられる範囲が極めて大きいということだ。
Needless to say, the procedure for gaining approval of overseas deployment of SDF personnel from the Diet is of great importance.
言うまでもなく今後は国会の承認手続きも重要となる。
However, serious questions remain as to whether the legislative branch can check whether dispatching SDF personnel overseas is appropriate in each mission, considering the way legislators deliberated the bills.
だが今のような国会できちんとチェックできるのか。疑問が深まるのは当然だ。
In 1960, the Diet ratified revisions to the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty while fierce demonstrations against the move were staged outside the Diet building, just like the latest enactment of the security legislation. After then Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, Abe's grandfather, stepped down, his successor Hayato Ikeda pledged to double the people's income, shifting the government's emphasis from security to economic growth.
６０年の日米安全保障条約改定も激しい反対デモが国会を取り巻く中で承認された。そして首相の祖父である当時の岸信介首相が退陣した後、政権に就いた池田勇人首相は「所得倍増計画」を打ち出し、安保から経済重視への転換を図ってみせた。
Prime Minister Abe is expected to emphasize that his government will again attach importance to economic policies.
安倍首相も今後、再び経済政策重視をアピールしていくと思われる。
The prime minister and the ruling coalition made haste to enact the security legislation for fear that if deliberations on the bills continued until shortly before the summer 2016 upper house election, it would adversely affect the governing bloc's chance of winning the race.
来年夏には参院選がある。今回、首相や与党が成立を急いだのは、参院選の直近まで審議が続いて選挙戦に影響するのを避けたかったからでもある。
The coalition apparently wants members of the public to forget the security legislation as soon as possible.
国民には早く忘れてほしいというのが本音であろう。
All the more because of this, members of the public must not forget legislators who helped the government recklessly move to enact the legislation by force of numbers.
だからこそ私たちは、数の力で政権の独走を後押しした議員たちを忘れてはならないのである。
毎日新聞 2015年09月19日 02時30分
Editorial: Diet distorts Constitution by passing security bills into law
社説：安保転換を問う 安全保障法成立
◇憲法ゆがめた国会の罪
The Diet's enactment of the security-related legislation, opening the way for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense, has raised serious questions about the fate of Japan's democratic politics. Numerous members of the public, including those who staged demonstrations against the legislation in front of the Diet building and elsewhere, undoubtedly have questions over the legislation, feel angry and are worried about the laws.
日本の民主政治は一体どうなってしまうのか。国会周辺を中心に全国各地で反対デモを続ける人々だけでなく、多くの国民が疑問や怒り、そして不安を感じているだろう。
The House of Councillors passed the bills, which will drastically change Japan's basic national policy that the country has nurtured since the end of World War II, into law at a plenary session without addressing numerous questions and inconsistencies.
戦後築いてきた国のかたちを大きく変える安全保障関連法案が与党などの賛成多数により参院本会議で可決され、成立した。数々の疑問や矛盾点を置き去りにしたまま、
With the enactment of the legislation, Japan can exercise the right to collective self-defense, and the overseas activities of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) will be drastically expanded.
これで集団的自衛権の行使が認められ、自衛隊の海外での活動が拡大する。
Ruling coalition legislators, who belong to the legislative branch of the government, would not listen to the opinions of constitutional scholars and other experts who raised suspicions that the legislation violates the Constitution, which is the country's supreme law.
しかも、この法案は国の最高法規である憲法に違反している疑いが極めて濃いにもかかわらず、その指摘に立法府に属している与党議員が耳を傾けようともしなかった。今回の特異さはそこにある。
◇言論封じる言論の府
Yoshitada Konoike, chairman of the upper house special committee on the legislation, was quoted as saying that "I thought that there were so many flawed answers" that officials of the executive branch gave to questions during deliberations on the bills. Konoike made the remark after the panel railroaded the bills on Sept. 17 amid confusion. The minute of the session only states, "Impossible to hear" what the chairman and other members said during voting because of the confusion.
「どうしても不備な（政府）答弁が目立った気がする」
議事録も「聴取不能」としか残せないような大混乱の中で１７日、参院特別委員会での強行採決に踏み切った鴻池祥肇委員長（自民党）は採決後、こう語ったという。
One cannot help but wonder how many ruling coalition legislators can proudly say the Diet had thorough debate on the bills.
これで議論を尽くしたと胸を張れる与党議員はどれだけいるだろうか。
The governing bloc not only unilaterally terminated deliberations at the committee but also submitted and passed a motion calling for limiting the time for debate on censure motions and other resolutions that opposition parties submitted in a bid to block the passage of the bills at a plenary session.
審議を一方的に打ち切っただけではない。与党はその後の参院本会議で野党が提出した問責決議案などに対する討論を時間制限する動議まで出して可決した。
In other words, the citadel of discourse suppressed debate. The ruling coalition acted as if to say opposition parties should stop useless resistance because ruling coalition legislators far outnumber those from opposition parties.
「言論の府」自らが言論を封じ込める。それは「与党の数が上回っているのだから無駄な抵抗はやめろ」と言わんばかりの姿勢だった。
Opposition parties attempted to block the move to pass the bills into law by also submitting a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the House of Representatives. However, legislators from the ruling bloc obviously felt they were simply waiting as time passed.
野党は衆院でも内閣不信任決議案を提出するなど抵抗を試みたが、与党議員からすれば時間が経過するのをひたすら待つという心境だったろう。
Throughout Diet deliberations, the Abe government maintained its self-righteous attitude with which it dismissed any opposition and opinions calling for prudence in enacting the legislation.
結局、安倍政権はこうした異論や慎重論を封じ込める独善的な姿勢に終始したといっていい。
Numerous members of the general public are dissatisfied with and worried about the Abe administration's high-handed manner in which it dealt with the bills and the Diet that failed to stop the government's move as well as the contents of the laws.
国民の多くは今回の法律の中身とともに、安倍政権の強引な手法と、それを食い止めることができなかった国会に強い不満や不安を感じているはずだ。
It was one of Prime Minister Abe's long-cherished goals to open the way for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense. The move leading up to the enactment of the security legislation began in summer 2014 when the Abe Cabinet reversed the government's longstanding interpretation of the war-renouncing Constitution as banning Japan from exercising this right.
集団的自衛権の行使容認は安倍晋三首相の長年の悲願であり、今回は昨夏、集団的自衛権の行使は違憲だとしてきた歴代内閣の憲法解釈を、強引に覆したことに始まる。
However, constitutional scholars and other experts pointed out one after another that the security bills are unconstitutional and public opposition to the bills intensified. However, the prime minister and other top government officials responded by only citing the 1959 Supreme Court ruling on the so-called Sunagawa Incident, in which the top court said Japan inherently has the right to self-defense, and other views, but failed to provide any convincing counter-argument to critics.
だが、憲法違反だと憲法学者ら多くの専門家が批判し、反対世論が一段と強まったのに対し、首相らは砂川事件の最高裁判決（１９５９年）などを持ち出すだけで、最後まで説得力のある反論ができなかった。
Article 98 of the Constitution stipulates that the Constitution is "the supreme law of the nation," and that no law contrary to the Constitution "shall have legal force or validity." The prime minister and other top government officials should know this. However, Yosuke Isozaki, an adviser to the prime minister who played a leading role in developing the legislation, stated that "legal stability is irrelevant."
憲法９８条は憲法は国の最高法規であり、それに反する法律は効力を有しないと明記している。当然、それは承知しているはずだが、首相の側近で今回の法整備をリードしてきた礒崎陽輔首相補佐官は「法的安定性は関係ない」と語った。
This remark by Isozaki apparently reflects the true intentions of the Abe government. It is no exaggeration to say the administration went beyond the bounds of its authority as the executive branch and distorted the Constitution. Ruling coalition legislators went along with the move without raising questions. Komeito, the LDP's junior ruling coalition partner, also bears serious responsibility as it helped quickly enact the legislation while being aware that some of the party's supporters were opposing the bills.
再三指摘してきたように、この発言こそが安倍政権の本音だったろう。政権は行政権の範囲を逸脱し、憲法をゆがめたといっていい。そして与党議員もそれに疑いをはさむことなく追認した。自民党のみならず、支持者の一部にも反対論が出ているのを知っていながら成立を急いだ公明党の責任も重い。
◇安倍手法を自公後押し
Article 99 of the Constitution states that the Emperor or the Regent as well as Cabinet ministers, Diet members, judges and all other public servants "have the obligation to respect and uphold the Constitution." It is the basic principle of constitutionalism that the Constitution is not something that binds members of the public but something that restrains those in power and prevents them from abusing their power.
さらに憲法９９条は、憲法を尊重し擁護する義務を負うのは、天皇または摂政、国務大臣、国会議員、裁判官、その他の公務員だと記している。憲法を守る義務があるのは首相や国会議員らだということだ。憲法は国民を縛るものではなく、権力側を制限し、その独走、暴走を防ぐためにあるというのが立憲主義の基本的な考え方である。
However, a draft of a new Constitution that the LDP worked out in 2012 states that the people should be aware that their freedom and rights are accompanied by duties and responsibilities and must not run counter to public good and public order.
これに対して自民党が２０１２年に決定した憲法改正草案には「（国民は）自由及び権利には責任及び義務が伴うことを自覚し、常に公益及び公の秩序に反してはならない」などとある。
The LDP's tendency to place priority on the state over individuals' rights has been growing since Prime Minister Abe returned to power in late 2012. The enactment of the Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets in 2013 and the security legislation is part of this tendency.
第２次安倍政権発足後、自民党には個人の権利よりも国家を優先する傾向が一段と強まっているのは間違いない。一昨年成立した特定秘密保護法も今回の法整備もそうした流れの中にある。
Diet deliberations on the security bills failed to clarify the criteria for cases in which Japan can deploy Self-Defense Forces (SDF) troops overseas under the legislation.
今回の法律で自衛隊の海外派遣はどんな場合に認められるのか。審議を重ねても基準はあいまいなままだった。
In other words, such decisions are left largely to the discretion of the executive branch of the government.
要するに政府の判断に委ねられる範囲が極めて大きいということだ。
Needless to say, the procedure for gaining approval of overseas deployment of SDF personnel from the Diet is of great importance.
言うまでもなく今後は国会の承認手続きも重要となる。
However, serious questions remain as to whether the legislative branch can check whether dispatching SDF personnel overseas is appropriate in each mission, considering the way legislators deliberated the bills.
だが今のような国会できちんとチェックできるのか。疑問が深まるのは当然だ。
In 1960, the Diet ratified revisions to the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty while fierce demonstrations against the move were staged outside the Diet building, just like the latest enactment of the security legislation. After then Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, Abe's grandfather, stepped down, his successor Hayato Ikeda pledged to double the people's income, shifting the government's emphasis from security to economic growth.
６０年の日米安全保障条約改定も激しい反対デモが国会を取り巻く中で承認された。そして首相の祖父である当時の岸信介首相が退陣した後、政権に就いた池田勇人首相は「所得倍増計画」を打ち出し、安保から経済重視への転換を図ってみせた。
Prime Minister Abe is expected to emphasize that his government will again attach importance to economic policies.
安倍首相も今後、再び経済政策重視をアピールしていくと思われる。
The prime minister and the ruling coalition made haste to enact the security legislation for fear that if deliberations on the bills continued until shortly before the summer 2016 upper house election, it would adversely affect the governing bloc's chance of winning the race.
来年夏には参院選がある。今回、首相や与党が成立を急いだのは、参院選の直近まで審議が続いて選挙戦に影響するのを避けたかったからでもある。
The coalition apparently wants members of the public to forget the security legislation as soon as possible.
国民には早く忘れてほしいというのが本音であろう。
All the more because of this, members of the public must not forget legislators who helped the government recklessly move to enact the legislation by force of numbers.
だからこそ私たちは、数の力で政権の独走を後押しした議員たちを忘れてはならないのである。
毎日新聞 2015年09月19日 02時30分
September 18, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)
Editorial: Abe gov't turns its back on public opinion
社説：安保転換を問う 参院委採決強行 民意に背を向けた政権
Controversial legislation opening the way for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense was rammed through a House of Councillors special committee on security policy on Sept. 17. It was an abnormal way of approving the bills, as it cannot be confirmed whether the panel actually put the bills to a vote amid loud protests from opposition party lawmakers.
参院平和安全法制特別委員会は安全保障関連法案の採決を強行した。野党が抵抗する中、採決が行われたかどうかすらわからない、不正常な可決だった。
The executive branch of the government failed to convince the public that the bills are either constitutional or necessary, even after over 200 hours of deliberations in both houses of the Diet. Nevertheless, the ruling coalition went ahead with the vote while being aware that it had failed to narrow a perception gap with the public over the issue. Therefore, the vote cannot be considered a conclusion arrived at through the democratic process, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has emphasized.
衆参両院で２００時間を超す審議を経ても、政府は法案の合憲性や「なぜ必要か」について納得できる説明ができなかった。にもかかわらず、与党は民意との乖離（かいり）を自覚しながら採決に踏み切った。これでは安倍晋三首相らが強調していた「民主主義のルール」を尊重した結論とは言えまい。
◇正常な手続きではない
The bills were put to a vote while committee Chairman Yoshitada Konoike could not even be seen behind the pushing, shoving jumble of lawmakers scrumming around his desk in the committee room. As soon as a no-confidence motion against Konoike was voted down and he took a seat, ruling and opposition party legislators rushed to the chairman's seat and surrounded him. What Konoike said when he put the bills to a vote could not be heard. One cannot help but wonder what such a violent vote looked like in the eyes of the public.
委員長の姿が見えない、異様な採決だった。鴻池祥肇委員長の不信任動議が否決され鴻池氏が着席すると、いきなり与党も含めた議員が取り囲んだ。委員長が採決する声も聞き取れなかった。国民の目にどう映っただろう。
The situation in the upper house shifted drastically after a local hearing on the bills was held in Yokohama on Sept. 16. The ruling coalition attempted to conclude a question-and-answer session in the special committee on the bills and put the proposed legislations to a vote, while opposition parties tried to block the move.
参院審議の状況は１６日の地方公聴会の終了を境に一変した。与党は質疑の終結と採決を図り、野党はこれを阻止しようと対立した。
Protesters staged demonstrations against the bills in many areas, including in front of the Diet building, on a daily basis, and opinion polls conducted by various media outlets show a large majority opposing passage of the legislation during the current Diet session. As the ongoing Diet session ends on Sept. 27, the ruling coalition is rushing to enact the legislation apparently for fear that demonstrations and other forms of protests against the bills could grow during the five-day holiday period beginning on Sept. 19. If the governing coalition feared public sentiment against the bills, it should have abandoned enacting the bills during the current session.
国会周辺のデモなどの抗議活動は連日続き、各種世論調査では今国会成立に反対する意見が賛成派を大差で上回っている。２７日の会期末を控え、与党が１８日までの成立を急ごうとしているのは、週末や連休にかけて反対デモなどの運動が一層拡大することを警戒したためだとされる。世論をおそれたのであれば、ここで踏みとどまるべきだった。
The Abe Cabinet's biggest mistake in drawing up the security bills, and thereby open by any and all means at the administration's disposal the way for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense, was its failure to hold calm and measured debate on the realities of Japan's changing security environment, including China's rise.
今回の法整備のそもそもの誤りは、中国の台頭など安全保障環境の変化に対応した冷静な議論もないまま、集団的自衛権の行使容認という結論を押し付け、実現しようとした安倍内閣の姿勢にある。
Under parliamentary democracy, legislative processes are left to the discretion of members of the Diet, who are representatives of the public. However, legislators must hold thorough debate on policy issues and try all possible roads to consensus.
議会制民主主義の下では、国民の代表である国会議員の手に立法機能が確かに委ねられている。だが、それはあくまで熟議を重ね、合意形成の努力が尽くされるのが大前提だ。
Moreover, the security bills affect the basis of the Constitution, which stipulates that Japan must be a peaceful country. The Abe Cabinet twisted the government's 1972 official view that Japan could not exercise the right to collective self-defense to make it possible. Such being the case, many constitutional scholars have concluded that the bills are unconstitutional.
しかも今回の法案の中身は平和国家を規定する憲法の根幹に関わる。政府は集団的自衛権行使を否定していた１９７２年の政府見解をねじまげて、行使に道を開いた。このため、憲法学者の多くは法案を違憲だと断じている。
The executive branch also failed to provide a clear explanation of why the development of security legislation is necessary. The government had initially placed special emphasis on minesweeping in the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East as an example of operations that Japan can conduct by exercising the right to collective self-defense, but later stated that it does not specifically assume such a mission will take place. The government's explanation became increasingly unclear as deliberations on the bills progressed.
法整備の必要性も、政府は最後まではっきりと説明できなかった。最初は強調していたホルムズ海峡での機雷掃海は「具体的に想定していない」と後退した。審議が進めば進むほど説明はほころんだ。
The governing coalition could have pursued common ground with key opposition parties over the bills through negotiations on modification of the bills. The executive branch submitted 11 security-related bills in a package to the Diet. However, some bills, including one on Japan's participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations, should have been separated from the package.
国会での議論を通じ、主要な野党と修正協議で接点を探る選択肢も与党にはあったはずだ。安保関連法案は１１本もの法案をたばねたものだ。国連平和維持活動（ＰＫＯ）に関する部分などは切り離すべきだった。
Prime Minister Abe appears to have lacked any willingness to face the public and try to win their understanding.
そもそも、首相は国民と正面から向き合い、理解を得ようとする発想に乏しかったのではないか。
When he dissolved the House of Representatives late last year for a snap general election, Prime Minister Abe called it the "Abenomics dissolution," and declared that he would ask voters if he should go ahead with the Abenomics economic policy mix. However, security legislation was characterized as just one of numerous election pledges. Neither did the prime minister place emphasis on the bills during his policy speech at the outset of the current Diet session.
昨年末の衆院解散・総選挙を首相は「アベノミクス解散」と命名し、「アベノミクスを前に進めるか、止めてしまうのかを問う」と訴えた。安保法制は多くの公約のひとつとされ、首相は今国会の施政方針演説でも安保関連法案を強調しなかった。
◇国民の分断を避けよ
The government had failed to provide a sufficient explanation even before the bills were submitted to the legislative branch, or to show its eagerness to deepen public understanding of the proposed legislation through Diet deliberations.
法案提出前から説明が不足していたうえ、国会で理解を深めようとする姿勢もあまり感じられなかった。
In 2013, the Abe Cabinet also forcibly enacted the Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets, which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party had not even listed in its election pledges. If the administration had decided that the security measures needed by Japan exceeded the limitations set by the Constitution, the government should have sought constitutional amendments through a national referendum, should have asked the sovereign citizens of this country for their backing.
安倍内閣は２０１３年、自民党公約になかった特定秘密保護法も強引に成立させた。あるべき安全保障の姿が現行憲法の枠を超えると仮に判断したのであれば、主権者である国民の投票による憲法改正というゴールを追求すべきだった。
Scholars, legal experts, local assemblies and people across the generations have launched campaigns against the security legislation. If the government attempts to change basic national policy without making the issue a point of contention during an election campaign, peaceful demonstrations are one of voters' limited means of protest. Aki Okuda, a member of the Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy-s (SEALDs) organization, told a national hearing at the upper house special panel, "It's you members of the ruling bloc that created the current situation." He was right on-point.
法整備に対し、学界、法曹界、地方議会に加え、幅広い世代を巻き込んだ広範な反対運動が起きている。選挙の争点ともならないまま政府が国の骨格を変えようとすれば、有権者が平和的なデモで意思表示することは限られた抗議の手段となる。学生団体「ＳＥＡＬＤｓ（シールズ）」の奥田愛基（あき）さんが特別委の中央公聴会で「現在の状況を作ったのは与党のみなさんだ」と指摘したのは的外れではない。
Most of the opposition parties are strongly opposed to the bills. It is true that opposition parties played a certain role in grilling the government over the contents of the bills and the administration's attitude toward the issue through Diet debate.
民主党など大半の野党は採決に強く反発している。論戦を通じ、野党が法案の中身や政権の姿勢の追及に一定の役割を果たしたのは事実だ。
However, opposition parties' failure to block the ruling coalition from putting the bills to a vote is not attributable solely to a lack of numbers in the Diet. The DPJ failed to produce any counter-proposal to the government-sponsored legislation. Despite its criticism of the bills, the DPJ has failed to gain support from voters. It is also true that the government thought that railroading the bills would not deal a fatal blow to the administration, as the opposition parties lack strong public backing.
ただ、採決を阻止できなかった原因は議員の数不足だけではない。民主党は集団的自衛権の行使について結局、対案を示さなかった。法案への批判にもかかわらず、有権者の野党への期待はふくらんでいない。不正常な強行採決も与党が「政権を失うほどの打撃にならない」と野党の足元をみたことは否定できまい。
For Prime Minister Abe, ramming the bills through the upper house panel may recall his grandfather Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi's administration's railroading of a resolution to ratify an amended Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.
首相にとって、批判の中での強行劇は祖父、岸信介首相がかつて実現した日米安保条約改定の再現なのかもしれない。
However, politics that makes light of consensus would split the public. Any political method that places priority on the administration's goals at the cost of public understanding would fundamentally damage the public's trust in politics.
だが、合意をないがしろにした政治は、国民を分断してしまう。政権の目的を優先させ、国民の理解を二の次にするような手法は政治への信頼を根底から損なう。
Serious questions remain as to whether laws deeply relevant to basic national policy should be created through such reckless procedures. We once again express stiff opposition to enacting the security legislation.
国のありかたに関わる法律をこれほど乱暴な手続きで作っていいのか。成立に改めて強く反対する。
毎日新聞 2015年09月18日 東京朝刊
Editorial: Abe gov't turns its back on public opinion
社説：安保転換を問う 参院委採決強行 民意に背を向けた政権
Controversial legislation opening the way for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense was rammed through a House of Councillors special committee on security policy on Sept. 17. It was an abnormal way of approving the bills, as it cannot be confirmed whether the panel actually put the bills to a vote amid loud protests from opposition party lawmakers.
参院平和安全法制特別委員会は安全保障関連法案の採決を強行した。野党が抵抗する中、採決が行われたかどうかすらわからない、不正常な可決だった。
The executive branch of the government failed to convince the public that the bills are either constitutional or necessary, even after over 200 hours of deliberations in both houses of the Diet. Nevertheless, the ruling coalition went ahead with the vote while being aware that it had failed to narrow a perception gap with the public over the issue. Therefore, the vote cannot be considered a conclusion arrived at through the democratic process, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has emphasized.
衆参両院で２００時間を超す審議を経ても、政府は法案の合憲性や「なぜ必要か」について納得できる説明ができなかった。にもかかわらず、与党は民意との乖離（かいり）を自覚しながら採決に踏み切った。これでは安倍晋三首相らが強調していた「民主主義のルール」を尊重した結論とは言えまい。
◇正常な手続きではない
The bills were put to a vote while committee Chairman Yoshitada Konoike could not even be seen behind the pushing, shoving jumble of lawmakers scrumming around his desk in the committee room. As soon as a no-confidence motion against Konoike was voted down and he took a seat, ruling and opposition party legislators rushed to the chairman's seat and surrounded him. What Konoike said when he put the bills to a vote could not be heard. One cannot help but wonder what such a violent vote looked like in the eyes of the public.
委員長の姿が見えない、異様な採決だった。鴻池祥肇委員長の不信任動議が否決され鴻池氏が着席すると、いきなり与党も含めた議員が取り囲んだ。委員長が採決する声も聞き取れなかった。国民の目にどう映っただろう。
The situation in the upper house shifted drastically after a local hearing on the bills was held in Yokohama on Sept. 16. The ruling coalition attempted to conclude a question-and-answer session in the special committee on the bills and put the proposed legislations to a vote, while opposition parties tried to block the move.
参院審議の状況は１６日の地方公聴会の終了を境に一変した。与党は質疑の終結と採決を図り、野党はこれを阻止しようと対立した。
Protesters staged demonstrations against the bills in many areas, including in front of the Diet building, on a daily basis, and opinion polls conducted by various media outlets show a large majority opposing passage of the legislation during the current Diet session. As the ongoing Diet session ends on Sept. 27, the ruling coalition is rushing to enact the legislation apparently for fear that demonstrations and other forms of protests against the bills could grow during the five-day holiday period beginning on Sept. 19. If the governing coalition feared public sentiment against the bills, it should have abandoned enacting the bills during the current session.
国会周辺のデモなどの抗議活動は連日続き、各種世論調査では今国会成立に反対する意見が賛成派を大差で上回っている。２７日の会期末を控え、与党が１８日までの成立を急ごうとしているのは、週末や連休にかけて反対デモなどの運動が一層拡大することを警戒したためだとされる。世論をおそれたのであれば、ここで踏みとどまるべきだった。
The Abe Cabinet's biggest mistake in drawing up the security bills, and thereby open by any and all means at the administration's disposal the way for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense, was its failure to hold calm and measured debate on the realities of Japan's changing security environment, including China's rise.
今回の法整備のそもそもの誤りは、中国の台頭など安全保障環境の変化に対応した冷静な議論もないまま、集団的自衛権の行使容認という結論を押し付け、実現しようとした安倍内閣の姿勢にある。
Under parliamentary democracy, legislative processes are left to the discretion of members of the Diet, who are representatives of the public. However, legislators must hold thorough debate on policy issues and try all possible roads to consensus.
議会制民主主義の下では、国民の代表である国会議員の手に立法機能が確かに委ねられている。だが、それはあくまで熟議を重ね、合意形成の努力が尽くされるのが大前提だ。
Moreover, the security bills affect the basis of the Constitution, which stipulates that Japan must be a peaceful country. The Abe Cabinet twisted the government's 1972 official view that Japan could not exercise the right to collective self-defense to make it possible. Such being the case, many constitutional scholars have concluded that the bills are unconstitutional.
しかも今回の法案の中身は平和国家を規定する憲法の根幹に関わる。政府は集団的自衛権行使を否定していた１９７２年の政府見解をねじまげて、行使に道を開いた。このため、憲法学者の多くは法案を違憲だと断じている。
The executive branch also failed to provide a clear explanation of why the development of security legislation is necessary. The government had initially placed special emphasis on minesweeping in the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East as an example of operations that Japan can conduct by exercising the right to collective self-defense, but later stated that it does not specifically assume such a mission will take place. The government's explanation became increasingly unclear as deliberations on the bills progressed.
法整備の必要性も、政府は最後まではっきりと説明できなかった。最初は強調していたホルムズ海峡での機雷掃海は「具体的に想定していない」と後退した。審議が進めば進むほど説明はほころんだ。
The governing coalition could have pursued common ground with key opposition parties over the bills through negotiations on modification of the bills. The executive branch submitted 11 security-related bills in a package to the Diet. However, some bills, including one on Japan's participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations, should have been separated from the package.
国会での議論を通じ、主要な野党と修正協議で接点を探る選択肢も与党にはあったはずだ。安保関連法案は１１本もの法案をたばねたものだ。国連平和維持活動（ＰＫＯ）に関する部分などは切り離すべきだった。
Prime Minister Abe appears to have lacked any willingness to face the public and try to win their understanding.
そもそも、首相は国民と正面から向き合い、理解を得ようとする発想に乏しかったのではないか。
When he dissolved the House of Representatives late last year for a snap general election, Prime Minister Abe called it the "Abenomics dissolution," and declared that he would ask voters if he should go ahead with the Abenomics economic policy mix. However, security legislation was characterized as just one of numerous election pledges. Neither did the prime minister place emphasis on the bills during his policy speech at the outset of the current Diet session.
昨年末の衆院解散・総選挙を首相は「アベノミクス解散」と命名し、「アベノミクスを前に進めるか、止めてしまうのかを問う」と訴えた。安保法制は多くの公約のひとつとされ、首相は今国会の施政方針演説でも安保関連法案を強調しなかった。
◇国民の分断を避けよ
The government had failed to provide a sufficient explanation even before the bills were submitted to the legislative branch, or to show its eagerness to deepen public understanding of the proposed legislation through Diet deliberations.
法案提出前から説明が不足していたうえ、国会で理解を深めようとする姿勢もあまり感じられなかった。
In 2013, the Abe Cabinet also forcibly enacted the Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets, which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party had not even listed in its election pledges. If the administration had decided that the security measures needed by Japan exceeded the limitations set by the Constitution, the government should have sought constitutional amendments through a national referendum, should have asked the sovereign citizens of this country for their backing.
安倍内閣は２０１３年、自民党公約になかった特定秘密保護法も強引に成立させた。あるべき安全保障の姿が現行憲法の枠を超えると仮に判断したのであれば、主権者である国民の投票による憲法改正というゴールを追求すべきだった。
Scholars, legal experts, local assemblies and people across the generations have launched campaigns against the security legislation. If the government attempts to change basic national policy without making the issue a point of contention during an election campaign, peaceful demonstrations are one of voters' limited means of protest. Aki Okuda, a member of the Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy-s (SEALDs) organization, told a national hearing at the upper house special panel, "It's you members of the ruling bloc that created the current situation." He was right on-point.
法整備に対し、学界、法曹界、地方議会に加え、幅広い世代を巻き込んだ広範な反対運動が起きている。選挙の争点ともならないまま政府が国の骨格を変えようとすれば、有権者が平和的なデモで意思表示することは限られた抗議の手段となる。学生団体「ＳＥＡＬＤｓ（シールズ）」の奥田愛基（あき）さんが特別委の中央公聴会で「現在の状況を作ったのは与党のみなさんだ」と指摘したのは的外れではない。
Most of the opposition parties are strongly opposed to the bills. It is true that opposition parties played a certain role in grilling the government over the contents of the bills and the administration's attitude toward the issue through Diet debate.
民主党など大半の野党は採決に強く反発している。論戦を通じ、野党が法案の中身や政権の姿勢の追及に一定の役割を果たしたのは事実だ。
However, opposition parties' failure to block the ruling coalition from putting the bills to a vote is not attributable solely to a lack of numbers in the Diet. The DPJ failed to produce any counter-proposal to the government-sponsored legislation. Despite its criticism of the bills, the DPJ has failed to gain support from voters. It is also true that the government thought that railroading the bills would not deal a fatal blow to the administration, as the opposition parties lack strong public backing.
ただ、採決を阻止できなかった原因は議員の数不足だけではない。民主党は集団的自衛権の行使について結局、対案を示さなかった。法案への批判にもかかわらず、有権者の野党への期待はふくらんでいない。不正常な強行採決も与党が「政権を失うほどの打撃にならない」と野党の足元をみたことは否定できまい。
For Prime Minister Abe, ramming the bills through the upper house panel may recall his grandfather Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi's administration's railroading of a resolution to ratify an amended Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.
首相にとって、批判の中での強行劇は祖父、岸信介首相がかつて実現した日米安保条約改定の再現なのかもしれない。
However, politics that makes light of consensus would split the public. Any political method that places priority on the administration's goals at the cost of public understanding would fundamentally damage the public's trust in politics.
だが、合意をないがしろにした政治は、国民を分断してしまう。政権の目的を優先させ、国民の理解を二の次にするような手法は政治への信頼を根底から損なう。
Serious questions remain as to whether laws deeply relevant to basic national policy should be created through such reckless procedures. We once again express stiff opposition to enacting the security legislation.
国のありかたに関わる法律をこれほど乱暴な手続きで作っていいのか。成立に改めて強く反対する。
毎日新聞 2015年09月18日 東京朝刊
September 17, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)
Editorial: Public understanding of security bills far from sufficient
社説：安保転換を問う 参院委採決へ 国民の納得には程遠い
Deliberations in the House of Councillors over a set of government backed security-related bills remain tense. The ruling coalition parties are prepared to complete a questioning session in the Special Committee on Legislation for the Peace and Security of Japan and the International Community, where the bills are being discussed, and put the bills to a vote.
安全保障関連法案の参院審議をめぐる状況が緊迫している。与党は平和安全法制特別委員会での質疑を終結させ、採決に踏み切る構えだ。
Ahead of a planned vote, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner Komeito reached an agreement with three opposition parties -- the Assembly to Energize Japan, the Party for Future Generations and the New Renaissance Party -- on the details of a supplementary resolution. A meeting of leaders of the five parties was also held with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in attendance.
採決を前に自民、公明両党は日本を元気にする会、次世代の党、新党改革の３野党と付帯決議の内容などで合意した。安倍晋三首相をまじえた５党の党首会談も行われた。
The ruling parties are saying that the environment for voting on the legislation has been prepared. But the nature of the bills remains unchanged, and we are far from able to say that the public is convinced.
与党は合意を受けて法案採決の環境が整ったとアピールしているが、法案の本質は変わらない。国民が納得したとはとても言えない状態だ。
After the special committee held a regional public hearing in Yokohama on Sept. 16, ruling and opposition parties wrangled into the night over whether a final questioning session would be held. If the ruling coalition forces a vote on the legislation, the opposition parties are prepared to resist with countermeasures, including submitting a no-confidence resolution against the Abe Cabinet.
１６日の特別委員会は横浜市での地方公聴会を終えた後、最後の質疑を行うかどうかで夜まで与野党が駆け引きを続けた。与党が採決を強行すれば、野党側は内閣不信任決議案などを提出して抵抗する構えだ。
Under the agreement reached between the five political parties, when the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) are dispatched overseas, a supplementary resolution and Cabinet decision would be incorporated to bolster Diet involvement in the process.
５党合意は自衛隊の海外派遣にあたり、国会の関与を強めるため付帯決議や閣議決定などを加えるものだ。
When dispatching SDF members to the Persian Gulf, for example, and exercising the right to collective self-defense in situations not linked directly to an armed attack on Japan, advance approval would be sought from the Diet without exception, and the activities of dispatched SDF members would be reported to the Diet every 180 days.
ペルシャ湾への派遣など、日本への武力攻撃に直接結びつかない集団的自衛権の行使にあたっては「例外なく国会の事前承認を求める」とし、派遣した自衛隊の活動を１８０日ごとに国会に報告する。
The three opposition parties that reached the agreement with the ruling coalition are small parties with just 14 upper house seats. But the fact that they informally decided to support the security bills under this agreement, means the ruling parties can avoid passing the bills by their own weight alone -- a welcome development for the coalition.
３野党は参院会派で１４議席を有する小党だが、この合意を受けて法案への賛成方針を固めたため、与党は単独での可決が回避できたと歓迎している。
The question over how the Diet can control the SDF is an important point of discussion. But supplementary resolutions, with no written amendments to the law, are not binding. And the "appropriate response" forming the backdrop to Cabinet decisions is vague. In cases not involving a direct armed attack on Japan, it is only natural for the Diet to give advance approval. It is difficult to say that checks will be thoroughly implemented through the agreement between the ruling coalition and three opposition parties.
自衛隊を国会がどう統制するかは重要な論点のひとつだ。だが、法案修正によらない付帯決議には拘束力がなく、政府の閣議決定による裏付けも「適切な対処」とあいまいだ。日本への武力攻撃に直接結びつかないようなケースで国会が事前承認するのは当然で、合意によってチェックが徹底されるとは言い難い。
Furthermore, the agreement does nothing to fundamentally amend the legislation, which has been criticized by many constitutional scholars as being unconstitutional. Surely what's really happening is that the ruling coalition is putting up a camouflage to avoid being criticized for voting on the bills on its own steam. The stance of the three opposition parties in settling on a loose agreement is questionable.
そもそも合意は、憲法学者の多くから「違憲法案」と指摘される法案の根幹を修正するものではない。与党による単独採決と言われないためのカムフラージュというのが実態ではないのか。不十分な合意に応じた３野党の姿勢は疑問である。
Aside from the agreement between the five parties, discussions between the ruling coalition and the Japan Innovation Party on amending the legislation fell apart. Just like with deliberations in the House of Representatives, which ended unsatisfactorily, we cannot conclude that the ruling parties are showing any great desire to search seriously for common ground. The ruling parties should really have seriously considered such options as leaving out the questionable parts of the bills.
５党合意をよそに、与党と維新の党による修正協議は決裂した。不調に終わった衆院段階での協議と同様に、本気で接点を探る意欲が与党にあったとは思えない。本来であれば、法案の一部を分離することも含め、さまざまな選択肢を真剣に検討すべきだったはずだ。
Day after day, people opposed to the security bills have staged rallies around the National Diet Building, and protests have spread across Japan.
法案に反対する人たちが国会周辺で連日デモを行うなど、全国で抗議活動が広がっている。
The reason that the ruling parties are fixated upon passing the legislation into law on Sept. 18 is surely because they are worried about protests expanding over the weekend or during the subsequent "Silver Week" national holidays. If they really fear public opinion then forcing a vote on the bills is something they should avoid.
与党が１８日中の成立にこだわるのは、週末や連休に入ると反対デモが一層拡大することを警戒しているためなのだという。世論を本当におそれるのであれば、採決の強行こそ見送るべきであろう。
毎日新聞 2015年09月17日 東京朝刊
Editorial: Public understanding of security bills far from sufficient
社説：安保転換を問う 参院委採決へ 国民の納得には程遠い
Deliberations in the House of Councillors over a set of government backed security-related bills remain tense. The ruling coalition parties are prepared to complete a questioning session in the Special Committee on Legislation for the Peace and Security of Japan and the International Community, where the bills are being discussed, and put the bills to a vote.
安全保障関連法案の参院審議をめぐる状況が緊迫している。与党は平和安全法制特別委員会での質疑を終結させ、採決に踏み切る構えだ。
Ahead of a planned vote, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner Komeito reached an agreement with three opposition parties -- the Assembly to Energize Japan, the Party for Future Generations and the New Renaissance Party -- on the details of a supplementary resolution. A meeting of leaders of the five parties was also held with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in attendance.
採決を前に自民、公明両党は日本を元気にする会、次世代の党、新党改革の３野党と付帯決議の内容などで合意した。安倍晋三首相をまじえた５党の党首会談も行われた。
The ruling parties are saying that the environment for voting on the legislation has been prepared. But the nature of the bills remains unchanged, and we are far from able to say that the public is convinced.
与党は合意を受けて法案採決の環境が整ったとアピールしているが、法案の本質は変わらない。国民が納得したとはとても言えない状態だ。
After the special committee held a regional public hearing in Yokohama on Sept. 16, ruling and opposition parties wrangled into the night over whether a final questioning session would be held. If the ruling coalition forces a vote on the legislation, the opposition parties are prepared to resist with countermeasures, including submitting a no-confidence resolution against the Abe Cabinet.
１６日の特別委員会は横浜市での地方公聴会を終えた後、最後の質疑を行うかどうかで夜まで与野党が駆け引きを続けた。与党が採決を強行すれば、野党側は内閣不信任決議案などを提出して抵抗する構えだ。
Under the agreement reached between the five political parties, when the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) are dispatched overseas, a supplementary resolution and Cabinet decision would be incorporated to bolster Diet involvement in the process.
５党合意は自衛隊の海外派遣にあたり、国会の関与を強めるため付帯決議や閣議決定などを加えるものだ。
When dispatching SDF members to the Persian Gulf, for example, and exercising the right to collective self-defense in situations not linked directly to an armed attack on Japan, advance approval would be sought from the Diet without exception, and the activities of dispatched SDF members would be reported to the Diet every 180 days.
ペルシャ湾への派遣など、日本への武力攻撃に直接結びつかない集団的自衛権の行使にあたっては「例外なく国会の事前承認を求める」とし、派遣した自衛隊の活動を１８０日ごとに国会に報告する。
The three opposition parties that reached the agreement with the ruling coalition are small parties with just 14 upper house seats. But the fact that they informally decided to support the security bills under this agreement, means the ruling parties can avoid passing the bills by their own weight alone -- a welcome development for the coalition.
３野党は参院会派で１４議席を有する小党だが、この合意を受けて法案への賛成方針を固めたため、与党は単独での可決が回避できたと歓迎している。
The question over how the Diet can control the SDF is an important point of discussion. But supplementary resolutions, with no written amendments to the law, are not binding. And the "appropriate response" forming the backdrop to Cabinet decisions is vague. In cases not involving a direct armed attack on Japan, it is only natural for the Diet to give advance approval. It is difficult to say that checks will be thoroughly implemented through the agreement between the ruling coalition and three opposition parties.
自衛隊を国会がどう統制するかは重要な論点のひとつだ。だが、法案修正によらない付帯決議には拘束力がなく、政府の閣議決定による裏付けも「適切な対処」とあいまいだ。日本への武力攻撃に直接結びつかないようなケースで国会が事前承認するのは当然で、合意によってチェックが徹底されるとは言い難い。
Furthermore, the agreement does nothing to fundamentally amend the legislation, which has been criticized by many constitutional scholars as being unconstitutional. Surely what's really happening is that the ruling coalition is putting up a camouflage to avoid being criticized for voting on the bills on its own steam. The stance of the three opposition parties in settling on a loose agreement is questionable.
そもそも合意は、憲法学者の多くから「違憲法案」と指摘される法案の根幹を修正するものではない。与党による単独採決と言われないためのカムフラージュというのが実態ではないのか。不十分な合意に応じた３野党の姿勢は疑問である。
Aside from the agreement between the five parties, discussions between the ruling coalition and the Japan Innovation Party on amending the legislation fell apart. Just like with deliberations in the House of Representatives, which ended unsatisfactorily, we cannot conclude that the ruling parties are showing any great desire to search seriously for common ground. The ruling parties should really have seriously considered such options as leaving out the questionable parts of the bills.
５党合意をよそに、与党と維新の党による修正協議は決裂した。不調に終わった衆院段階での協議と同様に、本気で接点を探る意欲が与党にあったとは思えない。本来であれば、法案の一部を分離することも含め、さまざまな選択肢を真剣に検討すべきだったはずだ。
Day after day, people opposed to the security bills have staged rallies around the National Diet Building, and protests have spread across Japan.
法案に反対する人たちが国会周辺で連日デモを行うなど、全国で抗議活動が広がっている。
The reason that the ruling parties are fixated upon passing the legislation into law on Sept. 18 is surely because they are worried about protests expanding over the weekend or during the subsequent "Silver Week" national holidays. If they really fear public opinion then forcing a vote on the bills is something they should avoid.
与党が１８日中の成立にこだわるのは、週末や連休に入ると反対デモが一層拡大することを警戒しているためなのだという。世論を本当におそれるのであれば、採決の強行こそ見送るべきであろう。
毎日新聞 2015年09月17日 東京朝刊
September 16, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)
Editorial: We strongly oppose passage of government-backed security bills
社説：安保関連法案 成立に強く反対する
Does Prime Minister Shinzo Abe think he's a prophet?
安倍晋三首相は予言者になったつもりだろうか。
"The public's understanding and support toward the security bills will undoubtedly spread after the bills are enacted and time passes," he told the House of Councillors special committee on special legislation on Sept. 14.
安全保障関連法案について「成立し、時が経てゆく中において間違いなく理解は広がっていく」と１４日の参院特別委員会で述べた。
Saying that "people will understand in time" while having provided no convincing counterarguments to the many objections that have been voiced against the bills demonstrates the great extent to which Abe, full of conceit, belittles the public.
提起された数々の異論に適切な反証ができていないのに、「いずれは分かる」と根拠なく言うのは国民を見くびる慢心の表れだ。
The objections toward the bills are not temporary, nor are they purely emotional. They are based on the real fear of the possibility that common sense will be distorted and Japan's accomplishments over the years as a peaceful nation will be sabotaged.
法案への反発は、一時の感情ではない。平和国家としての積み重ねが崩れ、常識がゆがめられることへの危機感に基づいている。
Japan's national security policy is the result of a delicate balancing act between war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution and the Japan-U.S. security treaty. It has comprised the solid backbone of post-World War II Japan, born from a coexistence of deep remorse for a reckless war and the realistic need to protect the country.
日本の安全保障政策は、憲法９条と日米安保条約との強い緊張関係の下で成り立ってきた。無謀な戦争への反省と、現実の国防とを両立させるために生み出された、戦後日本の太い背骨だ。
However, the security bills now before the Diet, if passed, would greatly reduce the binding force of Article 9, allowing the center of gravity of Japan's security policy to shift dramatically to the Japan-U.S. security alliance.
しかし、安保法案が成立すれば９条の持っていた拘束力は極端に緩められ、政策の重心は日米安保の側に大きく傾く。
Seventy years have passed since the end of World War II. There would be room for debate if this significant change in policy were being taken through the appropriate legal channels. But that has not been the case.
戦後７０年。まっとうなプロセスを経た政策転換ならば議論の余地はある。ただし、今回は違う。
In the nearly four months that these bills have been under deliberation in the Diet, close Abe aide Yosuke Isozaki's comment that legal stability is irrelevant has left the strongest impression. Those words, uttered by the Abe government's core national security strategist, have made the philosophy behind the bills' design glaringly obvious.
４カ月近い安保国会で最も印象に残るのは「法的安定性は関係ない」という礒崎（いそざき）陽輔首相補佐官の発言だ。安保政策の実務者である礒崎氏の言葉こそ、法案の設計思想を如実に示している。
The administration is placing utmost priority on military demands based on Cold War-era thinking. In one swift move, it made a complete about-face on an interpretation of the Constitution that had been maintained for over 40 years, citing "changes in the environment." And when a former Supreme Court chief justice pointed out the many holes in the bills' logic, the prime minister brushed the criticism aside, saying the former justice was now merely "a private citizen."
冷戦型の思考で軍事上の必要性を最優先させる。４０年以上維持されてきた集団的自衛権の憲法解釈を「環境が変わった」のひと言で正反対にする。最高裁長官の経験者から論理の粗雑さを批判されても「今や一私人」と無視する。
Abe has called on China to observe the rule of law in light of its growing naval presence, but has shown blatant disregard for legal order in his own country. He has exceeded the authority given to him.
中国の強引な海洋進出に対して「法の支配」を訴えてきた安倍首相だが、国内の法秩序を軽視しているのは明らかだ。行政権ののりを超えた越権行為である。
The security bills are flawed not only in their quality, but also in their volume. Under the banner of guaranteeing "seamless" responses to security situations, the bills aim to maximize the range of activities the Japan Self-Defense Forces are permitted to carry out.
法案は質のみならず量の面でも欠陥がある。「切れ目のない対応」を旗印に自衛隊の活動を極大化していることだ。
Among the activities that the bills would allow the SDF to conduct are logistics support on a global scale, the provision of ammunition to foreign militaries, and the protection of the U.S. military's weapons without prior approval by the Diet. Any one of these stipulations would be a significant deviation from current policy, but they were submitted to the Diet lumped together as two bills. Because of this, some aspects of the bills have barely been addressed by the Diet.
安保法案には、地球規模での後方支援や外国軍への弾薬の提供、国会の承認なしに米軍を守る武器等防護などが盛り込まれている。その一つひとつが戦後安保政策の重大な変更であるのに、一括して提出されたために、国会の審議では手つかず同然のものもある。
Since risk management is one of the core responsibilities of the state, it must prepare for possible dangers. However, the process of deciding how to protect the country must meet certain standards in a range of areas, including legal stability, national strength and the public's understanding and support.
国家の要諦が危機管理である以上、起こり得るリスクへの備えは必要だ。ただし、内容の決定にあたっては法秩序の安定や国力、国民の理解度などの要素に見合った水準でなければならない。
The security bills backed by the Abe Cabinet meet none of these criteria. And yet, the ruling coalition is trying to rush these half-baked bills to a vote.
安倍内閣の安保法案は、いずれの条件もクリアできていない。にもかかわらず、生煮えのままで採決を迎えようとしている。
Politics is the process of selecting the course a country takes. Political leaders are simultaneously responsible for undertaking that process and for bringing the public together. We cannot abide the prime minister's pipe dream that time will solve everything, when he has not demonstrated any prospects for repairing the deep rifts that run through Japanese society.
政治は国の針路を選び取る営みだが、政治指導者は同時に国民を統合していく責任を負う。国内に生じている亀裂を修復する展望を持ち合わせずに、時間が解決するのを夢想するのは許されない。
Japan is at a crossroads, perhaps its biggest since the end of World War II. We face a watershed moment as significant as or more significant than the 1954 establishment of the Self-Defense Forces or the 1960 revision of the Japan-U.S. security treaty. We are greatly alarmed that taking the wrong fork in the road will inflict great injury on our country.
日本は今、戦後史の大きな分岐点にさしかかっている。自衛隊の創設や安保条約の改定時に匹敵するかそれ以上だ。日本を傷つける分岐になることを強く憂う。
毎日新聞 2015年09月16日 02時30分
Editorial: We strongly oppose passage of government-backed security bills
社説：安保関連法案 成立に強く反対する
Does Prime Minister Shinzo Abe think he's a prophet?
安倍晋三首相は予言者になったつもりだろうか。
"The public's understanding and support toward the security bills will undoubtedly spread after the bills are enacted and time passes," he told the House of Councillors special committee on special legislation on Sept. 14.
安全保障関連法案について「成立し、時が経てゆく中において間違いなく理解は広がっていく」と１４日の参院特別委員会で述べた。
Saying that "people will understand in time" while having provided no convincing counterarguments to the many objections that have been voiced against the bills demonstrates the great extent to which Abe, full of conceit, belittles the public.
提起された数々の異論に適切な反証ができていないのに、「いずれは分かる」と根拠なく言うのは国民を見くびる慢心の表れだ。
The objections toward the bills are not temporary, nor are they purely emotional. They are based on the real fear of the possibility that common sense will be distorted and Japan's accomplishments over the years as a peaceful nation will be sabotaged.
法案への反発は、一時の感情ではない。平和国家としての積み重ねが崩れ、常識がゆがめられることへの危機感に基づいている。
Japan's national security policy is the result of a delicate balancing act between war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution and the Japan-U.S. security treaty. It has comprised the solid backbone of post-World War II Japan, born from a coexistence of deep remorse for a reckless war and the realistic need to protect the country.
日本の安全保障政策は、憲法９条と日米安保条約との強い緊張関係の下で成り立ってきた。無謀な戦争への反省と、現実の国防とを両立させるために生み出された、戦後日本の太い背骨だ。
However, the security bills now before the Diet, if passed, would greatly reduce the binding force of Article 9, allowing the center of gravity of Japan's security policy to shift dramatically to the Japan-U.S. security alliance.
しかし、安保法案が成立すれば９条の持っていた拘束力は極端に緩められ、政策の重心は日米安保の側に大きく傾く。
Seventy years have passed since the end of World War II. There would be room for debate if this significant change in policy were being taken through the appropriate legal channels. But that has not been the case.
戦後７０年。まっとうなプロセスを経た政策転換ならば議論の余地はある。ただし、今回は違う。
In the nearly four months that these bills have been under deliberation in the Diet, close Abe aide Yosuke Isozaki's comment that legal stability is irrelevant has left the strongest impression. Those words, uttered by the Abe government's core national security strategist, have made the philosophy behind the bills' design glaringly obvious.
４カ月近い安保国会で最も印象に残るのは「法的安定性は関係ない」という礒崎（いそざき）陽輔首相補佐官の発言だ。安保政策の実務者である礒崎氏の言葉こそ、法案の設計思想を如実に示している。
The administration is placing utmost priority on military demands based on Cold War-era thinking. In one swift move, it made a complete about-face on an interpretation of the Constitution that had been maintained for over 40 years, citing "changes in the environment." And when a former Supreme Court chief justice pointed out the many holes in the bills' logic, the prime minister brushed the criticism aside, saying the former justice was now merely "a private citizen."
冷戦型の思考で軍事上の必要性を最優先させる。４０年以上維持されてきた集団的自衛権の憲法解釈を「環境が変わった」のひと言で正反対にする。最高裁長官の経験者から論理の粗雑さを批判されても「今や一私人」と無視する。
Abe has called on China to observe the rule of law in light of its growing naval presence, but has shown blatant disregard for legal order in his own country. He has exceeded the authority given to him.
中国の強引な海洋進出に対して「法の支配」を訴えてきた安倍首相だが、国内の法秩序を軽視しているのは明らかだ。行政権ののりを超えた越権行為である。
The security bills are flawed not only in their quality, but also in their volume. Under the banner of guaranteeing "seamless" responses to security situations, the bills aim to maximize the range of activities the Japan Self-Defense Forces are permitted to carry out.
法案は質のみならず量の面でも欠陥がある。「切れ目のない対応」を旗印に自衛隊の活動を極大化していることだ。
Among the activities that the bills would allow the SDF to conduct are logistics support on a global scale, the provision of ammunition to foreign militaries, and the protection of the U.S. military's weapons without prior approval by the Diet. Any one of these stipulations would be a significant deviation from current policy, but they were submitted to the Diet lumped together as two bills. Because of this, some aspects of the bills have barely been addressed by the Diet.
安保法案には、地球規模での後方支援や外国軍への弾薬の提供、国会の承認なしに米軍を守る武器等防護などが盛り込まれている。その一つひとつが戦後安保政策の重大な変更であるのに、一括して提出されたために、国会の審議では手つかず同然のものもある。
Since risk management is one of the core responsibilities of the state, it must prepare for possible dangers. However, the process of deciding how to protect the country must meet certain standards in a range of areas, including legal stability, national strength and the public's understanding and support.
国家の要諦が危機管理である以上、起こり得るリスクへの備えは必要だ。ただし、内容の決定にあたっては法秩序の安定や国力、国民の理解度などの要素に見合った水準でなければならない。
The security bills backed by the Abe Cabinet meet none of these criteria. And yet, the ruling coalition is trying to rush these half-baked bills to a vote.
安倍内閣の安保法案は、いずれの条件もクリアできていない。にもかかわらず、生煮えのままで採決を迎えようとしている。
Politics is the process of selecting the course a country takes. Political leaders are simultaneously responsible for undertaking that process and for bringing the public together. We cannot abide the prime minister's pipe dream that time will solve everything, when he has not demonstrated any prospects for repairing the deep rifts that run through Japanese society.
政治は国の針路を選び取る営みだが、政治指導者は同時に国民を統合していく責任を負う。国内に生じている亀裂を修復する展望を持ち合わせずに、時間が解決するのを夢想するのは許されない。
Japan is at a crossroads, perhaps its biggest since the end of World War II. We face a watershed moment as significant as or more significant than the 1954 establishment of the Self-Defense Forces or the 1960 revision of the Japan-U.S. security treaty. We are greatly alarmed that taking the wrong fork in the road will inflict great injury on our country.
日本は今、戦後史の大きな分岐点にさしかかっている。自衛隊の創設や安保条約の改定時に匹敵するかそれ以上だ。日本を傷つける分岐になることを強く憂う。
毎日新聞 2015年09月16日 02時30分
September 15, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)
Editorial: Ruling coalition wrong to put security bills to quick vote
社説：安保転換を問う 週内採決方針 議会政治壊すつもりか
"We shouldn't resort to the force of numbers to suppress opposition. We should humbly reflect on what we do, and work hard to persuade opponents to accept our proposals in an effort to form a consensus."
こんな言葉を記したい。
「ご支持いただけないからといって、安易に数の力で抑えこもうというようなことは、とるべき道ではない。常に自ら謙虚に反省し、額に汗しながら説得につとめ、合意を求めてまいりたい」
This is what the late former Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira, who was a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), once said.
自民党の大平正芳元首相が生前、語った言葉である。
Ohira, who called for "politics of consensus" and "politics conducted in unison with the public," also said, "Those who do not support us (the LDP) are also members of the public."
「和の政治」「国民と一体の政治」を唱え続けた大平氏は「（自民党を）支持していただけない方々も国民のみなさんであることに変わりはない」とも言っている。
This is what political leaders should respect in all eras, and is the basic principle of parliamentary democracy.
時代を超えて政治のリーダーが守るべき姿勢であり、これが議会制民主主義の基本でもあろう。
◇首相のやじと異論排除
As 60 days have passed since the security-related bills were referred to the House of Councillors following their passage through the House of Representatives, the lower chamber can now pass the bills into law in a second vote by a two-thirds majority.
安全保障関連法案は参院に送付されて６０日が経過し、衆院での再可決も可能な段階に入った。
Under Article 59 of the Constitution, "failure by the House of Councillors to take final action within 60 days after receipt of a bill passed by the House of Representatives, with time in recess excepted, may be determined to constitute a rejection of the bill" by the upper chamber. The same clause stipulates that a bill voted down by the upper chamber can be passed into law by the lower house in a second vote by two-thirds of members present.
与党はこの「６０日ルール」の適用もちらつかせながら、週内に成立させる方針でいる。
One cannot help but wonder how Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is desperate to ensure that the bills will be passed into law during the current Diet session, takes Ohira's words. It's like Abe is thinking, it would be unavoidable to enact the legislation even if it cannot win public understanding.
もはや国民に理解されなくても仕方がないとばかりに成立を急ぐ安倍晋三首相は今、大平氏の言葉をどう受け止めるだろう。
As the prime minister says, in the end, any decision is made by a majority vote in parliamentary politics. However, deliberations have clarified that the security-related bills in question should not become law. First of all, the executive branch of the government failed to provide a convincing explanation to the public in response to experts' arguments that the bills would constitute a violation of the war-renouncing Constitution. Nor did the government clearly explain why Japan needs to exercise the right to collective self-defense, which means coming to the aid of allies under armed attack even if Japan itself is not attacked. The purpose of the bills has become increasingly unclear as deliberations progressed.
首相が言うように確かに最後は多数決で決するのが議会政治だ。だがこの法案は、むしろ審議の結果、成立させるべきでないことが明白になったというべきだ。第一に憲法違反との指摘に対し、政府は結局、納得のいく説明ができなかった。そしてなぜ集団的自衛権を行使する必要があるのか、法案の目的も審議するほど不明確になったからだ。
There are flaws in the methods of deliberating the bills as well.
ここに至る手法にも問題がある。
In late May, shortly before the lower chamber launched deliberations on the security bills, the Mainichi Shimbun in an editorial commented that the prime minister should change his attitude in refusing to listen to opposition and calls for prudence in enacting security legislation.
法案の衆院審議が始まる直前の５月下旬、私たちは異論や慎重論に耳を傾けない首相の姿勢をまず改めよと書いた。
However, it is regrettable that the prime minister only held black-or-white, friend-or-foe sorts of discussions during Diet deliberations on the bills.
残念ながら白か黒か、敵か味方かしかないような首相の「決めつけ議論」は変わらなかった。
Moreover, Prime Minister Abe showed his arrogance by saying things like, "Ask your questions quickly" and "Never mind such a thing," to interrupt questions by opposition legislators.
国会の審議では首相が野党に対し「早く質問しろよ」「まあいいじゃん。そういうことは」と乱暴なやじを飛ばして議論をさえぎった。
Yosuke Isozaki, an adviser to the prime minister, also stated during a meeting in his home constituency, "Legal stability is irrelevant," suggesting that consistency between the security bills and the war-renouncing Constitution is unimportant. Numerous members of the general public interpreted his remark as revealing the government's true intentions.
側近の礒崎陽輔首相補佐官は地元での会合で「法的安定性は関係ない」と語った。憲法との整合性など二の次だということだ。多くの国民はこれが政権の本音と受け取ったろう。
In a study session organized by junior LDP legislators, one member remarked that advertising revenue should be cut off to media outlets that are opposed to the bills. There is a growing tendency to suppress opposing opinions.
自民党の若手の勉強会では「法案に反対するマスコミを懲らしめるには広告料収入をなくせばいい」との暴言も出た。異論を封殺しようとする傾向は一段と強まっている。
The bills were drafted based on the Abe Cabinet's decision in July 2014 to reverse the government's longstanding interpretation of the Constitution in a limited way to open the way for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense. However, Prime Minister Abe declared during the campaign for the December 2014 lower house race that his decision to postpone the planned consumption tax hike was the key point of contention. With regard to the security bills, the LDP only stated in the last half of its some 300 campaign pledge topics that security legislation would be swiftly developed to ensure seamless responses to contingencies.
この法案は昨夏、歴代内閣が長年保ってきた憲法解釈を覆し、限定的とはいえ集団的自衛権の行使を認める閣議決定をしたことに始まる。しかし、昨年末の衆院選で首相は「消費増税先送りの是非」を最大の争点に掲げ、安保法案は自民党の公約に羅列した約３００項目の政策の後半に「切れ目のない対応を可能とする安全保障法制を速やかに整備」などと記されたに過ぎない。
In his policy speech at the outset of the current Diet session in February this year, the prime minister only briefly said the government would aim to be able to ensure a seamless response to any situation. On the other hand, Abe pledged in his speech before U.S. Congress in late April that Japan would enact security legislation by summer. At the time, the government had not even submitted the bills to the Diet.
今国会が始まった今年２月の施政方針演説でも首相は「あらゆる事態に切れ目のない対応を可能とする」などと述べただけだ。一方で首相はまだ法案が国会に提出されていない４月末、米議会での演説で「夏までに必ず実現する」と宣言したのだ。
What Abe has done shows that he makes light of the Diet, elections and the general public. He would be extremely self-righteous if he were to believe that the public has given him carte blanche by giving the LDP a majority in the lower chamber.
国会軽視、選挙軽視、国民軽視の極みである。衆院選で勝てば、すべてが白紙委任されたと首相が考えているとしたらあまりにも独善的だ。
◇独走抑えるのが国会だ
Prime Minister Abe cited the amendment made to the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty in 1960 when his grandfather Nobusuke Kishi was prime minister to justify the security legislation. "At the time, the revisions were criticized as Japan could be dragged into war, but history has proved that the amendment wasn't wrong," Abe said. He has repeated similar remarks.
首相は祖父の岸信介氏が首相だった１９６０年の日米安保条約改定を例に挙げ、「あの時も戦争に巻き込まれると批判されたが、改定が間違っていなかったのは歴史が証明している」と繰り返す。
LDP Vice President Masahiko Komura said, "Japan couldn't have set up the Self-Defense Forces (SDF), revised the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty or enacted the Act on Cooperation with United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and Other Operations if Japan had relied on public opinion of the moment."
自民党の高村正彦副総裁も「刹那（せつな）的な世論だけに頼っていたら自衛隊も日米安保改定も国連平和維持活動（ＰＫＯ）協力法もできなかった」と言う。
Demonstrations protesting against the bills, mainly those around the Diet building, have been expanding regardless of participants' affiliation with political parties and other organizations. Many participants are apparently wary of not only the contents of the bills but also the Abe government's high-handed political method, and are dissatisfied with the Diet's failure to stop the prime minister's reckless move. Opinion polls conducted by various news organizations show that a majority of members of the general public are opposed to the bills. Komura's remark suggesting that he regards such public opinion as momentary apparently demonstrates that the LDP has lost its humility.
今回の法案に対し、党派や組織を超えて国会周辺を中心に反対デモが広がっている。法案の中身だけではない。多くの参加者は安倍政権の強引な手法に不安や危うさを感じるとともに、首相らの独走を抑えられない国会にも不満を感じているから行動を起こしているのではないだろうか。世論調査でも依然、反対意見が優勢だ。それを刹那的だと語ること自体が、おごりの表れだろう。
The security policy as well as the social security policy is something that should not drastically change whenever the government changes. Therefore, it is necessary to form a broad consensus on these policies.
安保政策や社会保障政策は本来、政権が交代するたびに激変していいものではない。だから与野党の幅広い合意が必要なのである。
The government submitted the first bill aimed at deploying SDF personnel overseas to the Diet in 1990, but the LDP decided to scrap it after officials failed to explain how it could conform with the Constitution. At the same time, the LDP agreed with its now ruling coalition partner Komeito and the now defunct Democratic Socialist Party to consider opening the way for Japan to dispatch SDF troops exclusively for the purpose of participating in U.N. peacekeeping operations. The move paved the way for the enactment of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations law.
日本が初めて自衛隊の海外派遣を検討した９０年の国連平和協力法案は憲法との整合性などを説明できず、自民党自ら廃案を決断した。同時に自民党はＰＫＯに限定して自衛隊が参加する検討を始めることを公明党と旧民社党との間で合意し、後に３回にわたる国会審議を経てＰＫＯ法を成立させるきっかけを作った。
There are some points in the security bills over which the ruling coalition could have compromised with the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition parties, except for clauses on the right to collective self-defense. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Abe only urged opposition parties to choose between voting for and against all the bills, and failed to try to form a broad consensus.
今回も集団的自衛権の関連などを除けば、民主党も含め歩み寄りが可能な点はあったはずだ。だが、首相らはすべてに賛成するのか、しないのかの選択を迫るのみで幅広い合意を形成しようという姿勢はついぞ見られなかった。
If the current situation is to continue, it would shake the foundations of Japan's parliamentary politics. The government should abandon passing the bills into law during the ongoing session and start over from scratch.
このままでは議会政治の根幹が崩れてしまう。成立を断念して出直すよう重ねて強く求める。
毎日新聞 2015年09月15日 東京朝刊
Editorial: Ruling coalition wrong to put security bills to quick vote
社説：安保転換を問う 週内採決方針 議会政治壊すつもりか
"We shouldn't resort to the force of numbers to suppress opposition. We should humbly reflect on what we do, and work hard to persuade opponents to accept our proposals in an effort to form a consensus."
こんな言葉を記したい。
「ご支持いただけないからといって、安易に数の力で抑えこもうというようなことは、とるべき道ではない。常に自ら謙虚に反省し、額に汗しながら説得につとめ、合意を求めてまいりたい」
This is what the late former Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira, who was a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), once said.
自民党の大平正芳元首相が生前、語った言葉である。
Ohira, who called for "politics of consensus" and "politics conducted in unison with the public," also said, "Those who do not support us (the LDP) are also members of the public."
「和の政治」「国民と一体の政治」を唱え続けた大平氏は「（自民党を）支持していただけない方々も国民のみなさんであることに変わりはない」とも言っている。
This is what political leaders should respect in all eras, and is the basic principle of parliamentary democracy.
時代を超えて政治のリーダーが守るべき姿勢であり、これが議会制民主主義の基本でもあろう。
◇首相のやじと異論排除
As 60 days have passed since the security-related bills were referred to the House of Councillors following their passage through the House of Representatives, the lower chamber can now pass the bills into law in a second vote by a two-thirds majority.
安全保障関連法案は参院に送付されて６０日が経過し、衆院での再可決も可能な段階に入った。
Under Article 59 of the Constitution, "failure by the House of Councillors to take final action within 60 days after receipt of a bill passed by the House of Representatives, with time in recess excepted, may be determined to constitute a rejection of the bill" by the upper chamber. The same clause stipulates that a bill voted down by the upper chamber can be passed into law by the lower house in a second vote by two-thirds of members present.
与党はこの「６０日ルール」の適用もちらつかせながら、週内に成立させる方針でいる。
One cannot help but wonder how Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is desperate to ensure that the bills will be passed into law during the current Diet session, takes Ohira's words. It's like Abe is thinking, it would be unavoidable to enact the legislation even if it cannot win public understanding.
もはや国民に理解されなくても仕方がないとばかりに成立を急ぐ安倍晋三首相は今、大平氏の言葉をどう受け止めるだろう。
As the prime minister says, in the end, any decision is made by a majority vote in parliamentary politics. However, deliberations have clarified that the security-related bills in question should not become law. First of all, the executive branch of the government failed to provide a convincing explanation to the public in response to experts' arguments that the bills would constitute a violation of the war-renouncing Constitution. Nor did the government clearly explain why Japan needs to exercise the right to collective self-defense, which means coming to the aid of allies under armed attack even if Japan itself is not attacked. The purpose of the bills has become increasingly unclear as deliberations progressed.
首相が言うように確かに最後は多数決で決するのが議会政治だ。だがこの法案は、むしろ審議の結果、成立させるべきでないことが明白になったというべきだ。第一に憲法違反との指摘に対し、政府は結局、納得のいく説明ができなかった。そしてなぜ集団的自衛権を行使する必要があるのか、法案の目的も審議するほど不明確になったからだ。
There are flaws in the methods of deliberating the bills as well.
ここに至る手法にも問題がある。
In late May, shortly before the lower chamber launched deliberations on the security bills, the Mainichi Shimbun in an editorial commented that the prime minister should change his attitude in refusing to listen to opposition and calls for prudence in enacting security legislation.
法案の衆院審議が始まる直前の５月下旬、私たちは異論や慎重論に耳を傾けない首相の姿勢をまず改めよと書いた。
However, it is regrettable that the prime minister only held black-or-white, friend-or-foe sorts of discussions during Diet deliberations on the bills.
残念ながら白か黒か、敵か味方かしかないような首相の「決めつけ議論」は変わらなかった。
Moreover, Prime Minister Abe showed his arrogance by saying things like, "Ask your questions quickly" and "Never mind such a thing," to interrupt questions by opposition legislators.
国会の審議では首相が野党に対し「早く質問しろよ」「まあいいじゃん。そういうことは」と乱暴なやじを飛ばして議論をさえぎった。
Yosuke Isozaki, an adviser to the prime minister, also stated during a meeting in his home constituency, "Legal stability is irrelevant," suggesting that consistency between the security bills and the war-renouncing Constitution is unimportant. Numerous members of the general public interpreted his remark as revealing the government's true intentions.
側近の礒崎陽輔首相補佐官は地元での会合で「法的安定性は関係ない」と語った。憲法との整合性など二の次だということだ。多くの国民はこれが政権の本音と受け取ったろう。
In a study session organized by junior LDP legislators, one member remarked that advertising revenue should be cut off to media outlets that are opposed to the bills. There is a growing tendency to suppress opposing opinions.
自民党の若手の勉強会では「法案に反対するマスコミを懲らしめるには広告料収入をなくせばいい」との暴言も出た。異論を封殺しようとする傾向は一段と強まっている。
The bills were drafted based on the Abe Cabinet's decision in July 2014 to reverse the government's longstanding interpretation of the Constitution in a limited way to open the way for Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense. However, Prime Minister Abe declared during the campaign for the December 2014 lower house race that his decision to postpone the planned consumption tax hike was the key point of contention. With regard to the security bills, the LDP only stated in the last half of its some 300 campaign pledge topics that security legislation would be swiftly developed to ensure seamless responses to contingencies.
この法案は昨夏、歴代内閣が長年保ってきた憲法解釈を覆し、限定的とはいえ集団的自衛権の行使を認める閣議決定をしたことに始まる。しかし、昨年末の衆院選で首相は「消費増税先送りの是非」を最大の争点に掲げ、安保法案は自民党の公約に羅列した約３００項目の政策の後半に「切れ目のない対応を可能とする安全保障法制を速やかに整備」などと記されたに過ぎない。
In his policy speech at the outset of the current Diet session in February this year, the prime minister only briefly said the government would aim to be able to ensure a seamless response to any situation. On the other hand, Abe pledged in his speech before U.S. Congress in late April that Japan would enact security legislation by summer. At the time, the government had not even submitted the bills to the Diet.
今国会が始まった今年２月の施政方針演説でも首相は「あらゆる事態に切れ目のない対応を可能とする」などと述べただけだ。一方で首相はまだ法案が国会に提出されていない４月末、米議会での演説で「夏までに必ず実現する」と宣言したのだ。
What Abe has done shows that he makes light of the Diet, elections and the general public. He would be extremely self-righteous if he were to believe that the public has given him carte blanche by giving the LDP a majority in the lower chamber.
国会軽視、選挙軽視、国民軽視の極みである。衆院選で勝てば、すべてが白紙委任されたと首相が考えているとしたらあまりにも独善的だ。
◇独走抑えるのが国会だ
Prime Minister Abe cited the amendment made to the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty in 1960 when his grandfather Nobusuke Kishi was prime minister to justify the security legislation. "At the time, the revisions were criticized as Japan could be dragged into war, but history has proved that the amendment wasn't wrong," Abe said. He has repeated similar remarks.
首相は祖父の岸信介氏が首相だった１９６０年の日米安保条約改定を例に挙げ、「あの時も戦争に巻き込まれると批判されたが、改定が間違っていなかったのは歴史が証明している」と繰り返す。
LDP Vice President Masahiko Komura said, "Japan couldn't have set up the Self-Defense Forces (SDF), revised the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty or enacted the Act on Cooperation with United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and Other Operations if Japan had relied on public opinion of the moment."
自民党の高村正彦副総裁も「刹那（せつな）的な世論だけに頼っていたら自衛隊も日米安保改定も国連平和維持活動（ＰＫＯ）協力法もできなかった」と言う。
Demonstrations protesting against the bills, mainly those around the Diet building, have been expanding regardless of participants' affiliation with political parties and other organizations. Many participants are apparently wary of not only the contents of the bills but also the Abe government's high-handed political method, and are dissatisfied with the Diet's failure to stop the prime minister's reckless move. Opinion polls conducted by various news organizations show that a majority of members of the general public are opposed to the bills. Komura's remark suggesting that he regards such public opinion as momentary apparently demonstrates that the LDP has lost its humility.
今回の法案に対し、党派や組織を超えて国会周辺を中心に反対デモが広がっている。法案の中身だけではない。多くの参加者は安倍政権の強引な手法に不安や危うさを感じるとともに、首相らの独走を抑えられない国会にも不満を感じているから行動を起こしているのではないだろうか。世論調査でも依然、反対意見が優勢だ。それを刹那的だと語ること自体が、おごりの表れだろう。
The security policy as well as the social security policy is something that should not drastically change whenever the government changes. Therefore, it is necessary to form a broad consensus on these policies.
安保政策や社会保障政策は本来、政権が交代するたびに激変していいものではない。だから与野党の幅広い合意が必要なのである。
The government submitted the first bill aimed at deploying SDF personnel overseas to the Diet in 1990, but the LDP decided to scrap it after officials failed to explain how it could conform with the Constitution. At the same time, the LDP agreed with its now ruling coalition partner Komeito and the now defunct Democratic Socialist Party to consider opening the way for Japan to dispatch SDF troops exclusively for the purpose of participating in U.N. peacekeeping operations. The move paved the way for the enactment of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations law.
日本が初めて自衛隊の海外派遣を検討した９０年の国連平和協力法案は憲法との整合性などを説明できず、自民党自ら廃案を決断した。同時に自民党はＰＫＯに限定して自衛隊が参加する検討を始めることを公明党と旧民社党との間で合意し、後に３回にわたる国会審議を経てＰＫＯ法を成立させるきっかけを作った。
There are some points in the security bills over which the ruling coalition could have compromised with the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition parties, except for clauses on the right to collective self-defense. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Abe only urged opposition parties to choose between voting for and against all the bills, and failed to try to form a broad consensus.
今回も集団的自衛権の関連などを除けば、民主党も含め歩み寄りが可能な点はあったはずだ。だが、首相らはすべてに賛成するのか、しないのかの選択を迫るのみで幅広い合意を形成しようという姿勢はついぞ見られなかった。
If the current situation is to continue, it would shake the foundations of Japan's parliamentary politics. The government should abandon passing the bills into law during the ongoing session and start over from scratch.
このままでは議会政治の根幹が崩れてしまう。成立を断念して出直すよう重ねて強く求める。
毎日新聞 2015年09月15日 東京朝刊
プロフィール
ＨＮ：
srachai
ＨＰ：
性別：
男性
職業：
civil engineer
趣味：
子育て
自己紹介：
妻はタイ人、娘ばかり３人も！
■近況
２００９年の９月１５日に脳梗塞を発症、右手が少し不自由になりました。
MRAで脳梗塞の部位を特定でき、素早い処置をとれたので大事に至りませんでした。
快復にむけてリハビリ中です。
(2011/01/01更新)
■自己紹介・リンク
[ はじめに ]
タイのスラチャイです。
英語学習に王道はありません。
毎日毎日の地道な努力の積み重ねが必要です。
スラチャイはＮＨＫのラジオ英語会話で現在の英語力を身につけました。
一日僅か１５分の学習でも数年間継続すれば相当な学習効果が期待できます。
[ 名前 ]
松井 清 （スラチャイ）
[ 略歴 ]
・福岡県出身
・国立高知大学卒業
・準大手建設会社に就職
・50歳で会社を早期退職
・99/10 タイ全土を旅行
・00/10 タイに移住
・03/07 カイちゃん誕生
・07/06 シーファーちゃん誕生
・現在タイ国コンケン在住
[ 座右の銘 ]
Slow and steady wins the race.
遅くとも着実な者が勝利する
（NHK基礎英語芹沢栄先生）
[ 学習の手引き ]
・音読して耳から英語を吸収
・Think in English.
・ネイティブ発音付辞書活用
・英英辞典を活用（英和も）
・翻訳和文で専門用語確認
[ English Newspapers ]
Yomiuri
Mainichi
Asahi
Japan Times
Washington Post
Newyork Times
Bangkok Post
The Nations
Phuket Gazette
[ 英字新聞の英和対訳学習 ]
英字新聞（読売）
英字新聞（毎日）
英字新聞（朝日）
英字新聞（朝日２）
[ スラチャイ編集の辞書 ]
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seesaaサイト内リンク一覧：
01 あいさつ
02 別れのあいさつ
03 声をかけるとき
04 感謝の言葉と答え方
05 謝罪の言葉と答え方
06 聞き直すとき
07 相手の言うことがわからないとき
08 うまく言えないとき
09 一般的なあいづち
10 よくわからないときの返事
11 強めのあいづち
12 自分について述べるとき
13 相手のことを尋ねるとき
14 頼みごとをするとき
15 申し出・依頼を断るとき
16 許可を求めるとき
17 説明してもらうとき
18 確認を求めるとき
19 状況を知りたいとき
20 値段の尋ね方と断り方
21 急いでもらいたいとき
22 待ってもらいたいとき
23 日時・場所・天候を尋ねるとき
24 その他
基礎タイ語一覧(タイ文字、音声付き）
サイト外HPリンク一覧：
01 あいさつ
02 別れのあいさつ
03 声をかけるとき
04 感謝の言葉と答え方
05 謝罪の言葉と答え方
06 聞き直すとき
07 相手の言うことがわからないとき
08 うまく言えないとき
09 一般的なあいづち
10 よくわからないときの返事
11 強めのあいづち
12 自分について述べるとき
13 相手のことを尋ねるとき
14 頼みごとをするとき
15 申し出・依頼を断るとき
16 許可を求めるとき
17 説明してもらうとき
18 確認を求めるとき
19 状況を知りたいとき
20 値段の尋ね方と断り方
21 急いでもらいたいとき
22 待ってもらいたいとき
23 日時・場所・天候を尋ねるとき
24 その他
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タイの文化一覧:
01 雨の日にも傘をささないタイ人
02 勉強熱心なタイ人女性たち
03 タイ人は敬謙な仏教徒
04 タイの市場
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07 果物王国タイランド
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第０１番目の戒律
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第１０番目の戒律
第１１番目の戒律
第１２番目の戒律
第１３番目の戒律
第１４番目の戒律
1４の戒律（テラワーダ仏教戒律）
サイト外HPリンク一覧：
１４の戒律解説
第０１番目の戒律
第０２番目の戒律
第０３番目の戒律
第０４番目の戒律
第０５番目の戒律
第０６番目の戒律
第０７番目の戒律
第０８番目の戒律
第０９番目の戒律
第１０番目の戒律
第１１番目の戒律
第１２番目の戒律
第１３番目の戒律
第１４番目の戒律