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コザ発の最終バス
コザ発の最終バス
ある日の夜、筆者が沖縄で那覇行きのバスに乗ると
米兵が日本人の女の子をしつこくナンパしていた。
日米安全保障条約が掲げる平和や安定とはうらはらに
沖縄の住民は米兵からの脅威に耐えている。
Last Bus From Koza
By DOUGLAS LUMMIS
Okinawa — I got on the bus at Ginowan City at around 11:30 p.m. It was the last bus from Koza City
to Naha. Few people were on the bus, but right in the middle there were four U.S. Marines —
teenagers — trying to pick up two Okinawan girls.
They were doing it very loudly. Apparently it meant nothing to them that everyone on the bus had
to listen. All the other passengers were silent. Some had pained expressions. The white-haired
old man across the aisle from me had his eyes closed and was trying, or pretending, to sleep.
The girls were pretending not to understand English. They did not look at the Marines, but looked
straight ahead. Their only reaction was to giggle. If the Marines thought that meant the girls
found them amusing, they were very much mistaken.
The giggling was partly an expression of nervous fear, but it was also an effective defense
tactic. It made the Marines feel that the girls were responding to them, and kept them from getting angry and hostile. But in fact the "response" had no content, and was no response at
all.
At first the Marines used the "language teaching" ploy: "I teach you English, you teach me
Japanese, OK? We help each other. I teach, you teach, you understand? Teach, teach."
When this got no response they began trying more direct approaches: "You like American? American?
You like Marine?" "You know rock music? You like rock? You like dance? You good dancer?" "You
got short skirt. Skirt very short. Nice legs." "You got sexy lips. Sexy mouth. Very sexy. Sexy.
You know sexy?" None of that worked either.
The next question showed the Marines' growing frustration: "You go for dollar? You go for yen?
Dollar, yen, you know? You go? You go?"
The girls got off the bus before it arrived in downtown Naha. The Marines didn't follow them. The
zero-response tactic had been successful. As they paid their fares at the front of the bus,
the driver said something to them in a low voice. I couldn't hear what it was - some words of
encouragement, I suppose. One of the Marines shouted in a threatening tone, "Hey! That driver
talkin' about us?!"
Then as the girls got off the bus, the Marines called after them: "So long. Bye. Bye now.
BITCHES!" Not surprisingly, their pretended friendliness turned instantly into hostile
contempt.
This is how the dynamics of military violence works. The U.S. Marines is an organization for
killing people, and which trains young people, mostly teenage boys, to kill people. Trained by
violent methods to do violence, these boys look for objects on which to vent their anger.
Dominated by the fierce discipline of the military system, they look for something to
dominate. For half a century the U.S. Marines has taught its troops (not formally, of
course, but informally) that one of the things they are permitted to dominate is Okinawan women.
Next time you hear that the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty brings peace and stability to Japan,
remember that aside from such abstractions one thing it brought — a very concrete and
specific thing — is these four Marines.
Okinawa — I got on the bus at Ginowan City at around 11:30 p.m. It was the last bus from Koza City
to Naha. Few people were on the bus, but right in the middle there were four U.S. Marines —
teenagers — trying to pick up two Okinawan girls.
They were doing it very loudly. Apparently it meant nothing to them that everyone on the bus had
to listen. All the other passengers were silent. Some had pained expressions. The white-haired
old man across the aisle from me had his eyes closed and was trying, or pretending, to sleep.
The girls were pretending not to understand English. They did not look at the Marines, but looked
straight ahead. Their only reaction was to giggle. If the Marines thought that meant the girls
found them amusing, they were very much mistaken.
The giggling was partly an expression of nervous fear, but it was also an effective defense
tactic. It made the Marines feel that the girls were responding to them, and kept them from getting angry and hostile. But in fact the "response" had no content, and was no response at
all.
At first the Marines used the "language teaching" ploy: "I teach you English, you teach me
Japanese, OK? We help each other. I teach, you teach, you understand? Teach, teach."
When this got no response they began trying more direct approaches: "You like American? American?
You like Marine?" "You know rock music? You like rock? You like dance? You good dancer?" "You
got short skirt. Skirt very short. Nice legs." "You got sexy lips. Sexy mouth. Very sexy. Sexy.
You know sexy?" None of that worked either.
The next question showed the Marines' growing frustration: "You go for dollar? You go for yen?
Dollar, yen, you know? You go? You go?"
The girls got off the bus before it arrived in downtown Naha. The Marines didn't follow them. The
zero-response tactic had been successful. As they paid their fares at the front of the bus,
the driver said something to them in a low voice. I couldn't hear what it was - some words of
encouragement, I suppose. One of the Marines shouted in a threatening tone, "Hey! That driver
talkin' about us?!"
Then as the girls got off the bus, the Marines called after them: "So long. Bye. Bye now.
BITCHES!" Not surprisingly, their pretended friendliness turned instantly into hostile
contempt.
This is how the dynamics of military violence works. The U.S. Marines is an organization for
killing people, and which trains young people, mostly teenage boys, to kill people. Trained by
violent methods to do violence, these boys look for objects on which to vent their anger.
Dominated by the fierce discipline of the military system, they look for something to
dominate. For half a century the U.S. Marines has taught its troops (not formally, of
course, but informally) that one of the things they are permitted to dominate is Okinawan women.
Next time you hear that the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty brings peace and stability to Japan,
remember that aside from such abstractions one thing it brought — a very concrete and
specific thing — is these four Marines.
Shukan ST: January 19, 2001
(C) All rights reserved
chu.htm
- Koza
- 基地の町として知られるコザ市(現沖縄市)
- right in the middle
- 真ん中に
- U.S. Marines
- 米海兵隊員
- pick up
- ナンパする。
- Apparently〜
- 〜 らしい
- it meant nothing to them that〜
- 〜 ということに彼らは無頓着だった
- passengers
- 乗客
- had pained expressions
- 不快さを顔に表していた
- across the aisle from 〜
- 通路を隔てて 〜 の向いの
- was trying, or pretending, to sleep
- 眠ろうとしていた、あるいは眠ったふりをしていた
- giggle
- くすくすと笑う
- found them amusing
- 面白がる
- were very much mistaken
- まったくの勘違いをしていた
- expression of nervous fear
- 緊張し、びくびくしていることの表れ
- tactic
- 作戦
- kept them from getting〜
- 彼らが 〜 するのを防いだ
- hostile
- 敵意を抱いた
- had no content
- 中身がなかった
- ploy
- 駆け引き
- None of that worked either
- どの方法もうまくいかなかった
- go for〜
- 〜 で応じる
- zero-response tactic
- 反応しないという作戦
- paid their fares
- 運賃を支払った
- encouragement
- 励まし
- threatening tone
- 脅すような口調で
- BITCHES
- あばずれ
- contempt
- 侮辱
- dynamics
- 力学(社会集団などの動きに見られる一般的傾向)
- objects
- 対象
- vent
- ぶちまける
- Dominated by〜
- 〜 に威圧されて
- fierce discipline
- 厳しい規律
- For half a century
- 50年間
- troops
- 隊員たち
- formally
- 正式に
- are permitted to〜
- 〜 してもよい
- Japan-U.S. Security Treaty
- 日米安全保障条約
- stability
- 安定
- aside from〜
- 〜 のほかに
- abstractions
- 抽象的概念を言葉で表したもの
- concrete and specific
- 具体的で明確な