Never Too Old to Learn (6/6投稿記事「六十の手習い」の翻訳）
There is a saying that goes “You 're never too old to learn.” After officially retiring at 65, I began to actually focus on translating. Until then, while I did spend a long time living overseas, and even had many opportunities to use English when I returned to Japan, reading and writing essays, doing editing and so forth, I was worried, in the end I still felt like as a translator, I was at an amateur level. However, at the place where I found re-employment [1], there were American checkers permanently stationed and would everyday provide corrections to the translations done by my humble self. Japanese checkers would identify the unnatural parts of any Japanese I dealt with. Furthermore, very kind customers have even pointed out when a translation did not convey the nuance which they desired. These were all precious learning experiences.
Unlike for doctors or lawyers, translators do not have a national qualification. I have taken the Japanese Translation Federation sponsored certification exam many times, and over the course of the last year have earned the top qualification for the field of Scientific Technology in both Japanese to English and English to Japanese. Due to this, I was able to register for the Japanese Registration of Certificated Auditors and Experts (JRCA) Registration Center for Certified Translators (RCCT) as an Advanced Professional Translator (International Translation Standard ISO17100) in Japanese and English as well as English to Japanese for the fields of industry and science technology.
To sum all that up, as a professional translator I was able to earn a satisfactory amount of qualifications. This is all of course due to the help of the customers, the president of the company where I found re-employment, my co-workers and my family. However, there is still a profound depth to foreign languages and even Japanese, which I have yet to even explore the half of. From here on out I will continue to devote myself to my studies.
These people are pros (6/4投稿記事「先方はプロ」の翻訳）
Some people say that more than 80% of the reason why Tokyo was able to host the Olympic Games is thanks to Christel Takigawa's famous speech. Unmistakably, it was an amazing speech. In her speech, she mentioned that "Japan is a safe country. Even if you lose your wallet, it will almost always come back to you." Certainly, Japan is a safe country. About 20 years ago, one of the wives of the researchers that came to my office from Europe on a long-term visit often lost her stuff. She lost her wallet five times in Japan, but each time her wallet was handed to the police and returned to her. Of course, the cash and cards inside remained untouched. There is no exaggeration in Takigawa's speech.
However, this is not the case for large cities outside Japan. Such stories of chases and theft have no end. I lived abroad and had many business trips, so I took my own precautions. This meant not going out alone at night, especially downtown, and not carrying lots of cash. No flashy clothing. Only housing and hotels in safe places.
I’ve always taken caution like this, but one time, on a business trip to the East Coast of the U.S., I got lost and took a wrong exit into a bad neighborhood. The windows of buildings were left broken. It was midday, but there was a group of young people on the side of the road staring at me. I realized that I was in danger. Needless to say, I left in a frenzy, looking for the highway entrance.
One other time two friends from my school days came to visit me in Southern France, so we went out together for the night. After dinner, we went walking downtown and were invited by a tout (already dangerous enough at this stage!) to enter a small bar, but one of my friends sensed that something was wrong and said, "This place is not safe, let's leave." Thank goodness for my friend with good intuition.
Although I had scary moments, I have never once been a victim. Sometimes I get asked, "You’ve been abroad for such a long time, but you’ve never been a victim?" I would usually answer back with, "Maybe I was lucky, but these people are pros. They choose their targets. I guess they can tell who isn't rich."
Pedestrian Hell (6/1投稿記事「歩行者地獄」の翻訳）
Under road traffic laws, you must slow down and be able to stop if needed when approaching pedestrian or bicycle crossings, unless, of course, there is clearly nobody in sight. However, in 2021 the JAF (Japan Automobile Federation) presented a study that showed around 70% of drivers do not stop before said crossings. In my years of living in France, cars always stopped when I was at a crossing. As I had gotten used to this, shortly after returning to Japan, I encountered quite dangerous situations. In terms of Japanese roads, besides pedestrian-only roads referred to as Pedestrian Heavens, walking can be seen as Pedestrian Hell. Therefore, in Japanese schools, they instruct students to thoroughly ensure that no cars are approaching and that they can safely cross.
After years of being back in Japan, it is still a habit (and me respecting the rules) to stop before a crossing if anyone is there. As the hours during which I commute to work overlap with the hours in which many students go to and from school, I often see elementary school students waiting by intersections. When I stop, the students will lean their heads out, check if any other cars are approaching, and then cross. As they cross, they often look in my direction and give a little bow of the head， although going to that extent is unnecessary. All elementary school students are cute, of course, but the polite ones have to be the cutest. In France, pedestrian traffic is given a priority, so a car stopping is an ordinary thing, and these kinds of things do not happen.
The police are now cracking down on matters, promoting and informing people on the matter to give top priority to pedestrians at intersections without traffic lights. If police continue promoting awareness, priority for pedestrians might be given, and if autonomous automobiles become widespread, that may be perfect. If that happens, it might become a thing of the past to see that charming custom of someone peeking their head in your direction and giving a polite little bow as they cross, but given the circumstances, that is okay with me.
"?" "!" （5/31投稿の記事の翻訳）
It is said that the shortest letter exchange in the world is the "?" and "!". Victor Hugo (1802-1885), a great writer, who was concerned about the sales of his newly published "Les Misérables," sent a letter to the publisher with “?” in the middle of his letter paper, meaning to ask, "Is my book selling well?" The publisher replied with a "!", meaning "Of course, it's selling!"
As a former researcher, I thought about what kind of research is good research. I had the opportunity to read some "useful papers" and hear some "inspiring lectures." Many of them included a "?" and a "!". In other words, when you read the title, abstract, and preface, you should be thinking, "Is this useful?" "Is this possible?" "Does this work?"
In short, there must be something unexpected. When you finish reading a paper, or at the end of a lecture, there should be a "!” meaning "That makes sense!" and "Interesting!"
Looking back on my life, I am not sure how much I have done to meet the above criteria. More than a quarter of a century ago, I had the opportunity to present my experiment results to Dr. Tihiro Ohkawa [1 and 2], who has made many original achievements in the field of nuclear fusion. He rarely praised anybody, but after our short discussion, he said, "Interesting!" That one word gave me confidence in myself. After retiring from the institute, I continue to work with the university faculty as a part-time volunteer, and my goal is to do work that meets the above criteria.
Couldn't the same be said for blogs like this one? My goal is to have my readers first feel surprised (?) but then feel, "That makes sense!" "Interesting!" afterwards.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tihiro_Ohkawa（English）
[2] https://fusion-holy-grail.net/ (English, partially Japanese)
A tes suets and Gesundheit （5/26投稿の「アテスエとガズンタイ」の翻訳）
I have a bad habit of "sneezing loudly." Or, more accurately, I used to. When I am about to sneeze, I would take a big breath in, and that would make the sneeze sound ridiculously loud. When I was in high school, I used to be stared down by my teacher for sneezing too loud during class. He thought that I was making fun of his class. Indeed, it was ungentleman-like of me.
For my work, I used to live in the U.S. and France for extended periods of time and took many short business trips to Germany and the U.K. No matter where I went, I used to always make oversized sneezes while riding on the train or on other public transportation. Then, in the U.S. and the U.K., my sneezes were returned with a "Bless you!" by strangers. This is short for "God bless you!" In France, it is “A tes suets” (meaning "I pray that you may be saved"), and in Germany, it is “Gesundheit” (meaning "May you be in good health"). They all mean "Take care of yourself." On the train, you can see this message being transmitted from the person sitting in front of you to another person far away, like a relay. What a kind-hearted and smiling custom!
However, amid the recent corona epidemic, if one were to show an oversized sneeze in public, he or she might get cold feet or even be thrown out of the train. So, I came up with a plan. If you ever feel like sneezing, resist the urge to breathe in and, conversely, breathe only out. By doing so, the sneeze will have no charge to become any louder than the sound of an empty breath. It seems like I will no longer cause a disturbance to others now. But, it’s going to be lonely to not hear the relays of “A tes suets” or “Gesundheit” anymore.
ルルドの泉
ルルドは、フランスとスペインとの国境近くの小さな村であったが、カトリック最大の巡礼地となっている。1858年にベルナデットという少女が、洞窟で「白い貴婦人」を見たと発言した。この貴婦人は、少女にしか見えなかった。少女が貴婦人に名前をたずねたところ、貴婦人は、「私は『無原罪の御宿り』です」とルルドの方言で告げた。これは、教会用語で「聖母マリア」のこと。少女は家が貧しくて学校に通えず、教会用語を知るはずはないので、最初は懐疑的であった神父をはじめ周囲の人々も聖母の出現を信じるようになった。「聖母」が指さしたところに泉が湧いた。これまでこの泉で「説明不可能な治癒」が起こったのは2,500件とされる。しかしカトリック教会は奇跡と認定するために厳しい基準を課しているため、奇跡と公式に認定される症例は68件となっている。[1]
フランスに滞在中に、私の親友であるN君が末期ガンに侵されていると聞いた。私もN君もカトリック信者ではないし、N君は最先端の治療を受けているのだから、無駄なこととは思いながら、もしかしてルルドの水で奇跡が起こるのではないか、いや、おこって欲しい、と願って旅行の計画を立てた。しかしながら旅行の前に、N君は容態が急変して帰らぬ人となってしまった。
N君のためには遅くなってしまったけれども、ルルドのことは高校時代の恩師から聞いていたので、家族で出かけることにした。それは忘れられない体験になった。「ルルドの泉」の恩恵に浴しようと、数多くの重病患者が家族に伴われて列をなしていた。小瓶に泉の水を汲んで、カトリック信者の恩師や知人たちに送ったところ、とても喜ばれた。まことに信仰の力は大きい。信者にとってはルルドの水は特別な意味を持つのだ。
Only one problem (5/26投稿の「たった一つの問題」の翻訳）
Even though it’s obvious, when you learn a language, you can make friends with the locals and enjoy life. My language training is still in its infancy, but even so, I have made many friends in the United States and France, where I have stayed for extended periods.
There is an old town in southern France called Manosque, with a population of about 15,000, where I stayed for seven years. When I was eating at a restaurant in this old town, the owner, an elderly man, spoke to me and we talked about many things, as it was rare to see a Japanese person that knows French. One of those things was how the owner’s son recently opened a restaurant near my house. So, I also went to try out his son's restaurant for dinner. Afterwards, I met back with the owner again and told him about my experience. He asked me what I thought about his son’s restaurant.
I said, "The food was good, the decor was beautiful, and the service was courteous. It's a good restaurant." The owner and his wife both seemed pleased to hear this.
But I also said, "Unfortunately, there was only one problem." Startled and with straight faces, the couple asked, "What's that one problem? Please tell us."
I said, "You see, it was really hard to get a reservation."
Hearing this, the owner and his wife, as well as the owner's friends who were around listening, burst into laughter. The owner and his wife were all smiles again.
From this moment, whenever the owner saw me at his son's or his own restaurant, he would serve me a large glass of wine, smiling.
I can still picture him bragging to his friends and customers about his son, saying, "You have to hear this story about this interesting Japanese guy I met.”
