Opinion Natsukashii By Jennifer Matsui	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
「ナツカシイ」をめぐる考察 先行き不透明な時代には過去がなつかしく思い出される。 その「なつかしさ」には人それぞれのフィルターがかかっている。 だが、そんな懐古の情の陰で見逃されがちな、根本的な問題とは…。

In troubling and uncertain times, there is a tendency to idealize the past rather than face the reality of a troubling and uncertain future. "Natsukashii," which roughly translates in English as "nostalgia," is a term that is often used to describe a sudden sense of warm, fuzzy deja-vu. These days it brings to mind the simple pleasures of the past, a feeling of mom and miso soup in those lean post-war years, when employment was guaranteed for life and crime statistics were low.

It's a term that's also been used by "both the political right and left.

For the left, "natsukashii" means anti-globalization, increased environmental awareness and a rejection of rampant consumerism, corporate greed and urban sprawl. It looks back to the days before avian flu, GM crops, mad cow disease, before fast food and cheap imports replaced the healthy and balanced Japanese meal.

For the right, "natsukashii" looks back at the "good, old days" when authority was never openly questioned, patriarchal power was absolute and the Emperor reigned supreme. In the face of growing social and economic uncertainty, the desire to sentimentalize the time when everyone knew their place within a rigidly enforced hierarchy is understandable. Unfortunately, hawkish politicians and powerful right-wing groups are selectively filtering the past for their own purposes — in some extreme cases to support arguments for renewed militarism, diminished roles for women in the workplace, and scapegoating minorities. There is evidence that these tactics are working. Just look at the best-selling book that uses the term "natsukashii" to suggest that a lack of "patriotism" among the masses is one of the main reasons for Japan's deteriorating social structures.

For the average person, even those too young to remember life before Playstation, "natsukashii" has a more vague appeal, but it still has an appeal. However much their lives are determined by the ever-present convenience store and digital technology, Japan's increasingly disaffected youth want a more meaningful existence, and one that isn't merely determined by test scores and the buying of luxury brand products. Unfortunately, "natsukashii" has become more of a fashion statement that describes the vintage charm of a thrift-store kotatsu rather than a starting point for a genuine discussion about globalization.

As usual, the media examines the symptoms and not the root causes of Japan's social malaise, preferring to focus on the selfishness of the individual rather than the destructive forces of an unfettered market economy and "reform"-minded politicians. By not addressing the economic forces at work that have degraded Japan's natural environment and destroyed the very idea of community, corporate robber barons and their political cronies can pursue business-as-usual policies while mouthing platitudes about the need to return to a kinder, gentler past.

(449 words)