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あんな看板は捨ててしまえ!
最近、風俗関係の派手な看板が路上に氾濫している。いわゆる「捨て看板」である。看板を出した店の名もはっきり分かるし、明らかに違法なのに、取り締まりがなされていない…。
I met the woman a few months ago. That day I woke up early as usual and, after getting
dressed, went outside to get the morning paper. And there she was, at 6:30
a.m., staring down at me from the electric pole just outside our front gate.
She was telling me I could enjoy her services for just ¥6,000 for 60 minutes
while having as much as I liked to drink.
Her hand beckoned to me, while her low-cut dress barely contained her huge breasts.
Of course this woman wasn't real. In
fact, she wasn't even drawn very well.
But she, and several dozen copies of her,
had been attached to electric poles,
fences and trees all over our area sometime
during the previous evening on behalf
of a so-called "salon." The obnoxious, fluorescent yellow and orange of the signs
made them quite an eyesore. I took down several near our house and promptly threw them in the trash.
These throwaway signs, or
"sute-kanban" as they are called in Japanese, have become quite common in
the last year or two. They are usually for drinking or sex-related establishments, but
many other businesses are now using them too.
The good news is that analysts say this
is a sign that the Japanese economy is picking up. The bad
news is that these signs are illegal, ugly, often offensive, and make neighborhoods look seedy. Worse, most Japanese don't realize they are
illegal, or else people are simply apathetic about their neighborhood and don't bother to take the signs down. I,
however, have made tearing down these
outlaw ads something of a personal crusade.
The next day, I went to my local police
box and asked about the signs. "Yes, those are illegal. That's why the people who put them up do it in the middle of the night," the officer
there informed me. "So why don't you prosecute the stores that are having them
put up?" I asked. "After all, their address and phone number is right on the
sign itself!" His explanation shocked me. "Under Japan's petty crime laws, an offense punishable by less than a year in
prison must be witnessed by a
police officer to be prosecuted. So we'd
have to actually see the sign being put up before we could take any action."
I was at a loss for words. Sure, it may
be petty crime, but it's mucking up my
neighborhood! Can you imagine if a police officer said, "Yes, we' ve got the body, but we can't do anything
about this murder since we didn't
actually see anyone kill the victim." How much more crime-friendly could a law
be?
So what's a citizen to do in a spot like
this? Since I doubt the local police
are going to start midnight "anti-sign" patrols any time soon, I guess it's just going to be up to me to keep taking
them down. And you.
Shukan ST: Nov. 1, 1996
(C) All rights reserved
- Trash
- 捨てろ
- woke up early as usual
- いつものように早起きした
- staring down at 〜
- 〜を見おろして
- electric pole
- 電柱
- while having as much as I liked to drink
- 飲み放題の
- beckoned to 〜
- 〜を手招きした
- low-cut dress
- 衿ぐりの深い服
- barely contained her huge breasts
- 大きな胸があらわになった
- real
- 本物の
- wasn't even drawn very well
- あまり上手に描かれてさえいなかった
- several dozen copies
- 数十枚のコピー
- had been attached to 〜
- 〜にくくり付けられていた
- sometime during the previous evening
- 前の晩のいつかに
- on behalf of 〜
- 〜のために
- so-called
- いわゆる
- "salon"
- 俗にサロンと呼ばれる風俗店
- obnoxious
- 不快な
- fluorescent
- 光色の
- made them quite an eyesore
- それら(の看板)をひどく醜いものにしていた
- took down
- とり外した
- promptly
- 直ちに
- threw them in the trash
- ごみ箱に捨てた
- throwaway signs
- 使い捨ての看板
- drinking or sex-related establishments
- 飲み屋や性風俗関係の
- analysts
- 解説者
- sign
- 兆し
- Japanese economy is picking up
- 日本経済が上向きである
- illegal
- 違法の
- ugly
- 醜い
- offensive
- 不愉快な
- make neighborhoods look seedy
- 近隣をいかがわしい所だと感じさせる
- Worse
- さらに悪いことには
- illegal
- 違法な
- (are)apathetic about 〜
- 〜に無関心である
- don't bother to 〜
- 面倒がって〜しない
- have made tearing down these outlaw ads something of a personal crusade
- 個人的な撲滅運動をやっているような形で これらの違法広告を取り壊している
- local police box
- 地元の交番
- people who put them up
- 看板を取り付ける人たち
- do it in the middle of night
- 真夜中にやる
- informed
- 教えた
- prosecute
- 起訴する
- petty crime laws
- 軽犯罪法
- offense punishable punishable by less than a year in prison
- 禁固1年以下に科せられる罪
- must be witnessed by 〜
- 〜によって目撃されなければならない
- to be prosecuted
- 起訴されるには
- take any action
- 何かしら行動を起こす
- was at a loss for words
- 何と言ったらよいものか途方に暮れた
- (is)mucking up 〜
- 〜を台無しにしている
- (have)got the body
- 死体はある
- murder
- 殺人
- victim
- 被害者
- How much more crime-friendly could be law be?
- 法律はどこまで犯罪にやさしくなれるんだろう
- in a spot like this
- このような困った場合で
- local
- 地元の
- it's just going to be up to me to 〜
- 〜するのは私にかかっている