「一億総活躍担当大臣」の英語名は？

きのう７日の内閣改造で安倍総理が新設した「一億総活躍担当相」をめぐって、一般の関心は「他の大臣の仕事と何が違うのか、どう線引きするのか」、つまりは「いったい何をするのか」にあると思う。「一億総活躍社会」というスローガンに対しては「大きなお世話」との声もあるようだ。

そして、英語学習者として私が関心を持っていたのが、英語の名前はどうなるのか、ということだった。すでに英文メディアによる訳には接していたが（のちほど紹介する）、政府がどんな公式名称にするのだろうか、と思い続けてきた。

そしてきょう首相官邸の公式サイトを見たら、さっそく英語名が掲載されていた。

任命された加藤勝信大臣は下記のように一人で複数の担当を兼務しており、順に「一億総活躍担当」「女性活躍担当」「再チャレンジ担当」「拉致問題担当」「国土強靱化担当」「内閣府特命担当（少子化対策　男女共同参画）」となる。

- Katsunobu KATO
Minister in Charge of Promoting Dynamic Engagement of All Citizens
Minister in charge of Women's Empowerment
Minister in charge of "Challenge Again" Initiative
Minister in charge of the Abduction Issue
Minister in charge of Building National Resilience
Minister of State for Measures for Declining Birthrate
Minister of State for Gender Equality
(http://japan.kantei.go.jp/97_abe/meibo/daijin/index_e.html)

ネイティブスピーカーでない私が言うのも何だが、「一億総活躍」を表すのにこれで大丈夫なのかな、と思った。

同じ「活躍」でも「女性～」に当てられている empowerment はまだイメージがわくように思うが、「一億総～」の engagement という言葉は、何に engage するのかを示さないと舌足らずなような気がする。例えば「一億総活躍社会」に沿って in society を付け加えたがより明確になるのではないだろうか。

そもそも日本語が具体性に欠けているので、公式名称が発表される前の英訳もメディアによってまちまちだった。いくつかメモしてみよう。無理に「一億」を入れず、国民全員という意味を取って訳した例が目立つ。

- the administration's much touted ministerial post for promoting "a society in which all 100 million people can be active"
- a newly created ministerial post in charge of measures to encourage all Japanese nationals to play active roles in society
- a new ministerial post for measures enable all people in Japan to play active roles at their workplaces and homes
- realizing a society that offers all people in Japan the opportunity to play an active role at work and at home
- creating a society in which every citizen realizes their potential
（every ～を his or her でなく their で受けているのがいま風だ）

どのような経緯でこの名称に決まったのかはわからないし、ネイティブスピーカーがどのように決定に加わったのも不明だが、dynamic engagement という組み合わせは、ネットで検索するとヒットがないわけではなかったが、それほど見聞きするものではないのではという印象がある。メディアが使っている active の方が自然な感じがするようにも思える。engagement には「歯車の噛みあわせ」という意味もあるが、日本経済の発展のために国民全員を歯車としてダイナミックに使役する、というブラックジョークも作れそうだ。

それはともかく、公的な立場にあるわけではない一般の英語学習者は、政府が使っている公式名称にとらわれず、上記マスメディアのような表現を参考にして説明的に訳すのもひとつの手だと思う（繰り返すが、そもそも日本語からしてよくわからないのだから）。

専門用語などで日本語と英語が一対一で対応するのであれば「定訳」を知っておくべきだが、そうではないもの、特に日本独特の事物は、言葉だけをなぞって英単語を当てはめれば理解してもらえるとは限らない。英語でどういえばわかりやすいか、いろいろ言い換えを考えてみることが実力向上にもつながるだろう。

ところで、上記の担当兼務を見ていると、「拉致問題」も同じ大臣の担務であることがわかる。解決に道筋が見えないこちらの問題が、どんな施策を打ち出すのか注目を集める「一億総活躍」の蔭に隠れてしまうことがなければいいのだが、と思った。

コメント 6

中学校で社会科を教えている多言語学習と編み物のオタクです。特命担当大臣と言うのができだしてから、何をするのか？？？匿名じゃないの？と思うようになりました。ＵＮもＳＤＦでも何でも英語にしたら良く分かるよ、と普段から話していますので、自分だったらどう言うかと考えつつ、公式訳は何か、気になって、検索を掛けるとこちらが、トップでした。テレビなしの人間なので、報道のされ方も気になっておりました。ありがとうございます。そもそも、他言語に訳すのが、困難なものこそ怪しいわけで、だからこそ、報道ではつらつらと冗長な訳語になるのでしょうね。
中学三年の社会科の先生が、日本国憲法の前文を英語で示して下さって説明を受けて以来、そこまで公立でできませんので意味不明の社会科の用語は元の言語で考えると良く分かる事を説明しています。
by lunachan335 (2015-10-13 20:32) 

lunachan335さん、コメントありがとうございました。お役に立ちましたらうれしいです。
それにしても、「一億総～」と名付ける感覚もどうかと思うとともに、そもそも日本語でも何をするのかわからない肩書名って何なんでしょうね。
by tempus fugit (2015-10-14 08:16) 

Hi,

I was probably among the first people who heard this new ministerial name. A friend of mine is working for the Foreign Ministry. He was just curious to know how I would translate 一億総活躍担当相 into English ad lib. My instantaneous response was “All-Japanese-Doing-Great Minister” then.
A little later I was informed that the government had decided to put it as “Minister in Charge of Promoting Dynamic Engagement of All Citizens”.
Then, I had a call from another friend of mine. His translation was “National Mobilization Minister” because he said, “This kind of job title should be kept short.” I couldn’t agree with him more. Yes, the shorter, the better!

Best,
Ryo

P.S.:
I am sometimes asked to act as interpreter. My impression is that the Japanese are apt to use words so ambiguously they could be taken in many ways. Even in conference-level meetings, I am afraid they don’t define terms properly and their words often times sound vague to me.

I firmly believe we should make it a practice to define important words first, and then use them. It is particularly needed in conference-level meetings. I often find myself at a loss to make sense of Japanese representatives when I listen to their remarks interpreted into English.

In Japanese, people listen to politicians, forming their own images in mind which, I’m afraid, are usually vague. You have to know your images might differ from those of the other listeners. It seems like a habit of the Japanese, or more like their custom now. I think Japanese politicians are good at using abstract words. For example, how do you feel or what do you think when Prime Minister Abe speaks of 美しい国日本 ("the beautiful country, Japan")? Do you have any images in mind?

It may be true when we hear Mr. Abe say "美しい国、日本" in Japanese, some images spring out to mind. It is strange, though, when I hear the translation, "the beautiful country, Japan" in English, I'd very much like to ask him what he really means by that.

I am not convinced unless he explains such and such is expressed by his phrase, "the beautiful country, Japan." I think he is accountable to the general public for what he really means by that, because he is a representative for us all. I firmly believe politicians and company leaders should define important words or phrases they would use.

It is particularly true when we send messages for overseas countries. Definitions of words are indispensable.

Bye for now.
Ryo

by Ryoichi Chida (2015-11-04 15:08) 

Belatedly, thank you very much for your comment, Ryo-san.

The expression "national mobilization" reminds me of a law enacted in the pre-war Japan. I'm curious to know if the term may sound dictatorial or even millitaristic and possibly be misinterpreted by non-Japanese, given the fact that some foreign media outlets are eager to label Prime Minister Abe as an outright nationalist. This also makes me wonder if the proposed title, while short and concise, is a suitable choice for the new ministerial portfolio. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

About you opinion in the post-script, I have encountered situations where native English speakers seemed to have used loaded words that could be interpreted in more than one way. So I would say what you call the habit, or practice, of that kind is not the monopoly of the Japanese people.

But while verbal vagueness admittedly works in our society and culture, I do agree with you that we must be aware that "the art of being ambiguous" is not necessarily highly appreciated overseas, and that playing the game with their rules would benefit us better.

I believe the skill of articulation is something you learn and acquire, and basic education in Japan should put more emphasis on it, namely in classes of Japanese （国語) as well as English. That will make us ready for better interacting with people with different cultural background.

Just for your reference, I posted the following article with regard to Prime Minister Abe 9 years ago, when he first assumed the post (yes, almost a decade ago--time certainly flies!).
「気になる安倍総理のカタカナ語」
http://eigo-kobako.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2006-10-01

Also for your information, to my knowledge, 「美しい国日本」 has been more commonly translated as "A" beautiful Japan, instead of the definite article "THE."

Anyway, I appreciate you giving me some food for thought.

by tempus fugit (2015-11-05 22:41) 

Hi again, Temous Fugit - san.

Firs, thanks for your info on the use of the indefinite article, "A," to express 「美しい国日本」 as "A beautiful Japan." That makes me mull over the meaning of the translation anew. It's a very good translation, because images must differ from one person to another when it is heard spoken by Abe-san.

Now, getting back to the main point, although I said to my friend "the shorter, the better" for a post name, I thought he had missed the point of the argument.

The people who lived through the war might particularly be sensitive to the law during the war: 国家総動員法 (National Mobilization Law). It is easy to imagine that those wartime slogans conjure up unregretted phase of the history in their minds.

When he mentioned "National Mobilization Minister," I knew he didn't have any political intentions whatsoever.
He told me he had found out similarities in the correlative concept between 一億総活躍 and National Mobilization (国家総動員). So, he just referred to 一億総活躍相 as National Mobilization Minister.

But he didn't notice what he did was very risky - obviously too dangerous. That means even people like him (whose English level is rather high) are less aware about the dangers in translation. He seems to have forgotten that people are always there with words, and words express people's feelings: "No people, no words."

Best,
Ryo



by Ryoichi Chida (2015-11-09 12:24) 

Ryoさん, thank you very much for your followup. I'm looking forward to hearing you again.
ところで私も気づいていなかったのですが、このso-netブログは英語など１バイト文字だけのコメントは受け付けないようです。過去に英語のコメントをお送りいただいていて表示されないことがありましたらお詫びいたします。
by tempus fugit (2015-11-11 08:58)