このページはフレーム対応ブラウザ用に作成されています。下のリンクは非フレーム使用ページですのでそちらをご覧ください。
この記事をプリントする
自らの文化を誇りに思うこと
石垣島への旅を通して気付いたこと - -
それは日本が今、失ってしまっている
自らの文化に対する健全な誇りの大切さだった。
Ishigaki: a model for Japan
I had the good fortune, in early June, to travel to Ishigaki, more than 2,000 kilometers from Tokyo. The rainy season was still upon the island, though this did not seem to deter the intrepid tourists in their heavily logoed T-shirts and shorts. (Ishigaki draws 600,000 tourists a year, the vast majority of them Japanese.)
This was not my first time on the island, which is one of a group of islands known as the Yaeyama Islands. I spent a month on the Yaeyamas at the end of 1977, traveling around from Taketomi to Iriomote and the somewhat remote Hatoma. What I found on this trip, however, was a Japan that is not only vital, beautiful and unspoiled, but one that seems to have genuinely retained certain values that most of the country has long ago forfeited.
It may come as a surprise to you that the people of Yaeyama do not consider themselves Okinawans. They are Yaeyamans. When they travel to Naha, they say they are "going to Okinawa." Needless to say, the people of both Yaeyama and Okinawa see themselves as being very different from the Japanese, whom they usually refer to as being natives of Yamato or naichi, which here means "mainland."
Yaeyamans are, in fact, a mixture of a number of nationalities: Japanese, Ryukyu, Chinese and perhaps even Polynesian. In their look, manner, demeanor and attitudes, you can see that they have a more relaxed and open view to life than you find up north.
I have always been impressed by their unabashed pride in their unique culture, as it is represented in their food, dance and fabrics, in particular. They need not justify their preferences or attempt to explain them away in the face of the American-style pseudo-internationalization that has overtaken most of the rest of Japan. There is no McDonald's on Ishigaki, nor is there a Starbucks. And as one old resident told me, "Even after years of American occupation, we are still the worst speakers of English in Japan. That's an achievement!"
It is the fabric design that one finds most stunning. The minsah weaving is Ishigaki's traditional art, with its symbolic 5-4 pattern that means itsu no yo made, or "forever and ever." The jofu weave is exquisite and sophisticated, often using banana leaf and linen, as well as cotton. This fabric was originally woven in and around Ishigaki and sent up to the Okinawan court.
But perhaps the most striking thing about Ishigaki is the consideration and compassion of its inhabitants. Three American fliers were captured and killed there in April 1945. Many years later, the people of the island erected a huge peace monument in their honor, inviting the families of the fliers to Ishigaki to attend the unveiling ceremony. It would be nice to see other countries express the sentiments of regret in this way.
As I walked along the lovely beaches in the rain, leaned against the tropical trees that cover the island, spoke with Yaeyamans who would rather have their natural tranquility than a host of garish hotels, it struck me that true internationalization of customs and ideas begins at home. A healthy pride in your own culture combined with an honest compassion may be just what is needed more than ever in today's Japan.
Shukan ST: July 4, 2003
(C) All rights reserved
- had the good fortune
- 幸運に恵まれた
- rainy season
- 雨季、梅雨
- deter
- 思いとどまらせる
- intrepid
- 恐れを知らない
- heavily logoed T-shirts
- 社名や商品名のロゴが派手にプリントされたTシャツ
- vast majority of them
- 彼らのうちのほとんど
- somewhat remote
- やや隔たった
- is not only vital, beautiful and unspoiled, but 〜
- 活気があり、美しく、昔のままであるだけでなく、〜
- have genuinely retained
- 正真正銘、持ち続けている
- (has)forfeited
- 失った
- It may come as a surprise to you that 〜
- 〜ということにあなたは驚くかもしれない
- Needless to say
- 言うまでもなく
- 〜 whom they usually refer to as 〜
- 八重山や沖縄の人が普通〜と呼ぶ〜
- natives of Yamato or naichi
- 大和の人(やまとんちゅ)または内地の人(ないちゃー)
- nationalities
- 国籍
- demeanor
- 振る舞い
- open view
- 率直な見方
- up north
- 石垣島より北の方で
- unabashed
- あけすけな
- unique
- 独特の
- fabrics
- 織物、布
- explain them away
- 釈明する
- in the face of 〜
- 〜に直面して
- pseudo-internationalization
- えせ国際化
- That's an achievement!
- たいしたものだろう
- stunning
- 素晴らしい
- minsah weaving
- ミンサー織り
- symbolic 5-4 pattern
- 4つ玉と5つ玉が交互に織られる象徴的な模様
- itsu no yo made
- 「いつ(5つの玉)の世(4つの玉)までも「こころ(合わせて)9つ」はひとつ」という意味
- jofu weave
- 八重山上布(薄地の溶質な麻織物の着尺地)
- exquisite
- 見事な
- (was)woven
- 織られた
- fliers
- 空軍兵士
- erected
- 建てた
- monument
- 記念碑
- in their honor
- 彼らの名誉を称えて
- unveiling ceremony
- 除幕式
- sentiments of regret
- 哀悼の念
- tranquility
- 静けさ
- a host of 〜
- たくさんの〜
- garish
- ごてごてした
- it struck me that 〜
- 〜ということが突然頭に浮かんだ