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1 | Should Japan's Children Be Reading This Comic About a Hiroshima A-Bomb Survivor? | 「はだしのゲン」書架に残る |
2 | A watch stopped at 8:15 in the morning when atomic bomb was dropped. | 原爆投下の朝8:15で止まった時計。 |
3 | Taken at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum by Flickr user Fidel Ramos (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) One Japanese city's attempt to restrict access in school libraries to “Barefoot Gen“, a comic book series that illustrates the story of a boy named “Gen” who is a survivor of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima city in 1945, has thrust the book into the spotlight. | 広島平和記念資料館にて、flickerユーザーFidel Ramos撮影 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) |
4 | Mainstream media revealed on August 16, 2013 that the elementary and middle schools in Matsue city, the capital of Shinema Prefecture in the westernmost region of Japan's main island, had been restricting children's access [ja] to “Barefoot Gen” without teacher's permission since December 2012 on the request of the city's Board of Education. | 被爆した少年ゲンの成長を描いたマンガが、松江市内の小中学校の図書館で閲覧が制限された問題をきっかけに、原爆投下から68年目のこの夏、熱い注目を浴びることになった。 |
5 | After the news broke, the city received more than 2,200 letters of protests and opinions from all over the nation. | 「はだしのゲン」は1973年から1985年まで連載されたマンガで、作者中沢啓治自らの被爆体験が元になっている。 |
6 | The teacher's union also requested the the restriction order should be withdrawn. | 小中学校では通常、娯楽的マンガは学習を阻害するものと考えられ、学校図書館にもほとんど置かれないことが多い。 |
7 | Following intense scrutiny, the city's Board of Education decided to take back [ja] the call for limited access at a special meeting on August 26, 2013, saying that decision should be made in schools, and that the process was not appropriate. | しかし原爆の残虐さ・平和の大切さを伝えるこのマンガは例外であり、80年代から現在に至るまで、小中学校の図書館に置かれた数少ないマンガとして、抜群の知名度を誇ってきた。 |
8 | Comic books, known as “manga”, are usually considered distracting for students in school, and so most Japanese elementary and middle schools have very few in their libraries. | 戦争を知らない世代の子どもたちは、堂々と読めるマンガを手にとり、その内容に驚愕することになった。 |
9 | However, the “Barefoot Gen” series is a well-known exception. The series, which was published from 1973 to 1985, is based on the experience of the author Keiji Nakazawa, who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. | マンガを読む子どもたち、広島市まんが図書館にて。flickerユーザーRyan Latta撮影 (CC BY-ND 2.0) |
10 | School libraries have featured the comic since the 1980s so that children can learn about the brutality of atomic bombs and the importance of peace. | そこに描かれるのはこんな情景だ。 |
11 | Children without wartime experience are often shocked by the horrible scenes and stories of war by reading the comic book freely available in schools. | 1945年8月6日の朝、2年生のゲン一家の住む広島の街は一転する。 |
12 | The story goes like this: On the morning of August 6, 1945, the lives of people of Hiroshima, including that of 7-year-old protagonist Gen and his family, suddenly change when an atomic bomb is dropped to the city. | 火の迫る瓦礫の下で「あんちゃん、逃げるのか、ずるいぞ! |
13 | Under the debris amid the raging flames, his younger brother cries for help, “Brother! | あついよー」と泣き叫ぶ幼い弟。 |
14 | Are you going away? | 燃える家族を救いだせず半狂乱のあまり笑いだす身重の母。 |
15 | It's not fair, not fair! | ぼろ布のように熔けた皮膚をまとい水を求めてさまよう大勢の人々。 |
16 | It's hot!” His pregnant mother, after trying to rescue her burning family in vain, begins to laugh frantically. | なんとか生き延びた後もゲンたちを襲う、深刻な食糧難、すさまじい被爆者差別、孤児を食い物にするヤクザ、原爆後遺症。 |
17 | Many people are wandering the city with their burnt skin melted and hanging off. After the war, Gen and other survivors are faced with multiple hardships - serious food shortages, terrible discrimination against atomic bomb victims, gangs exploiting orphans, and atomic bomb aftereffects. | 視覚的な衝撃もさることながら、苦労してやっと手に入れたミルクが間に合わず、死体となった赤ん坊の妹の口に流し込みこぼれ出すシーンなど、想像を絶するエピソードの衝撃も大きい。 |
18 | The series can be shockingly tragic, such as when Gen feeds the milk he has gone through much trouble to acquire to his baby sister, and feed the milk only to be spilled out from her dead mouth. | 作者はこれでも読者を考慮して「かなり抑えて描いた」と言っている。 |
19 | Author Nakazawa said [ja] he “toned down the depiction from extremely harsh reality ” for readers. | しかし、このマンガの描写の生々しさに、トラウマになった、うなされたという声は多い。 |
20 | Yet, many readers say that vivid depiction of atomic horrors found in the comic book cause trauma or nightmares. | 昨年12月から、松江市の教育委員会が市内の小中学校に、教師の許可なく自由に閲覧できない閉架措置を求め、全校が応じていたことが発覚、8月16日各紙で報道された。 |
21 | In August 2012, the request to restrict access to the book started with a citizen petition submitted to the Matsue city government, arguing that the comic book should be removed from school libraries because “the book offers the wrong version of history”. | 松江市には、全国から2,200件以上の抗議や意見が寄せられ、教職員組合などからも、制限の撤回を求める申し入れが相次いだ。 |
22 | In the last volume of the book, Gen explicitly accuses the emperor and the Japanese government of being responsible for aggression, blaming their conduct during wartime. | 事の起こりは2012年8月、ある市民活動家の男性が「間違った歴史認識を植え付ける」として学校図書室から撤去を求める陳情を市議会に出したことである。 |
23 | Also in the comic book, there are scenes in which a character opposes singing the national anthem. | 12月、陳情は却下されたが、市教委があらためて「描写が過激」であることを問題視し校長らに閲覧制限を要請した。 |
24 | The national anthem signifies the emperor, and the atomic bomb survivor directs his anger toward the emperor as a war criminal. | ここで「過激」とされた描写は、実は原爆のシーンのことではない。 |
25 | In December 2012, the petition was turned down by the Matsue city council, but the city's Board of Education requested for restricted access because they considered the comic's depiction of post-atomic Hiroshima “too extreme”. | 市教委が問題とした描写は、単行本全10巻のうちの最終巻で、「旧日本軍の残虐行為」としてゲンが力説している内容のことである。 |
26 | Interpretations of wartime history are not unanimous among Japanese. | 「はだしのゲン」は当初の少年向き流行誌から1975年以降教育関係者向け雑誌などに連載の場を移した。 |
27 | Some believe that the war was not aggression, but was for the liberation of fellow Asian nations that were oppressed under Western imperialism. | 戦後を描く後半部分では、ゲンはティーンエイジャーに成長して、天皇の戦争責任を厳しく批判し、旧日本軍の残虐行為を糾弾するようになった。 |
28 | The petition organizer considered the Gen plots to be un-educational, disrespectful to the emperor and unpatriotic. | 中国商品の不買運動を展開する保守系のブロガーのぼやきくっくりは「はだしのゲン」は偏った思想だとし、子どもの目に触れさせることについて問題視してこう書いた。 |
29 | | 今回は残虐な描写のみが問題にされたようですが、それよりも、「日本軍がアジアで3000万人以上の人を残酷に殺した」とか、朝鮮人を“強制連行”したとか、支那軍お得意の「三光作戦」を日本軍がやったと断定するなど史実に反するセリフ、また、君が代斉唱を妨害したり、天皇を「殺人者」「戦争犯罪者」と呼ぶなど極端に偏った思想が語られていることの方が、大きな問題ではないでしょうか。 |
30 | Children reading comic books at Hiroshima city library of comic books. | […]まだ判断力のつかない子供たちが、偏った歴史観や思想を刷りこまれないかと心配です。 |
31 | Taken by Flickr user Ryan Latta (CC BY-ND 2.0) Support for limited access | また、教育の場でマンガを見せようとすることに反感を覚えるという声もある。 |
32 | Nationalist blogger Boyakikokkuri, who also boycotts Chinese products, wrote [ja] in support of withdrawing the book from school libraries because he think that the book advocates a “distorted” interpretation of the history: | ツイッターユーザーの@Feynman_Lはこうつぶやく。 |
33 | It seems that this time that the Board of Education [of Matsue City] took the shocking illustrations of wartime into consideration, and thus opted to withdraw it. | はだしのゲンは普通にR指定かZ指定(18禁)な漫画なのだから、子供に読ませようとする大人、それも、教育効果を狙って読ませようとする大人は、その時点で教育センスが無い。 |
34 | But I think there are bigger issues with this comic book. | そもそも教育のために漫画読ませようとする発想が貧困。 |
35 | It writes that the Japanese army brutally killed more than 30 million people in Asia, and that Japan had abducted Koreans, and The Burn to Ash Strategy was operated by Japan but not by China. | - FeynmanLeighton (@Feynman_L) August 26, 2013 |
36 | Calling the Japanese emperor a killer and war criminal is obviously such extreme, distorted thinking. | また映画のレーティングのような制限を設けるなど、子どもの目に触れる本は吟味されるべきとの声もある。 |
37 | […] I am concerned that such depictions would give children the wrong perception of history and ideas, especially when they are yet to make their own judgement. | ITジャーナリストのまつもとあつしは、ダ・ヴィンチ電子ナビのまとめ記事の中で次のように書いている。 |
38 | Some think that making the comic book available in school is problematic. | 残虐な表現やあるいは性的な表現についてはどうでしょうか? |
39 | A comment by Twitter user Feynman Leighton wrote: | […] 幅広い年齢の子供達が利用することになり、また蔵書点数に限りがある学校図書館に、どのような内容の本が備わっているべきか、は吟味されるべきです。 |
40 | I think Barefoot Gen should be R-rated, or should be restricted to those over 18 years old. Adults who wish to make children read such books, especially for educational purposes, I think have no taste in education at all. | […]『はだしのゲン』だけに限った話ではなく、広く図書全般について、どのような本を備え、どのように読んでもらうのか、今回問題となったクローズドな形ではなく、オープンに議論し、検討が続いていくべきではないかと考えています。 |
41 | It's such a poor idea to make children read comic books for education. | 一方、閉架に抗議する声もある。 |
42 | Journalist Atsushi Matsumoto wrote in his column [ja] on ddnavi.com, a platform of commercial e-books: | 中でも、過激な描写を子どもの目から遠ざける、という発想に疑問を抱く意見が目立つ。 |
43 | How should we approach the expressions of violence or sexual depictions in books? | 12歳の人気ブロガー、はるかぜちゃん✿春名風花@harukazechanは、子ども自身の判断に任せるべきだと言う。 |
44 | […] School libraries have limited storage, and have users of a broad range of age. We should carefully consider what kind of books should be listed in such a place. | はだしのゲンがいい本か悪い本かは、人による(ω)戦争を伝えるために読むべきだとおもう人もいれば、トラウマになるから読まない方がいいとおもう人もいる(ω)でも、それはおとなが決めていいことじゃなく、本を手に取るぼくたち自身が、決めること |
45 | […] The controversy is not limited to Barefoot Gen. We should have an open discussion on library books in general, and what kind of books should be stored and be read by children. An education in war and peace | - はるかぜちゃん✿春名風花 (@harukazechan) August 16, 2013 |
46 | Twelve-year-old popular blogger Fūka Haruna commented on Twitter that children should decide for themselves whether to read the book: | 先天性四肢欠損の作家で元小学校教諭、乙武洋匡@h_ototakeも隠蔽体質をこう皮肉る。 |
47 | Whether the comic book Barefoot Gen is good or bad depends on the individual. | 俺も松江市だと、「容姿が過激で、子どもが見るには不適切」とモザイクかけられちゃうのかな。 |
48 | Some think it's good to tell the story of war, others think it's bad because it can traumatize you. | - 乙武 洋匡 (@h_ototake) August 19, 2013 |
49 | But the decision to read the book or not should be decided by us, the individual children who take up the book. | また原爆の描写がショッキングだからこそ、平和教育のために見せるべきだという声も強い。 |
50 | Not how adults think it should be. | はてなブックマークでfulciはコメントする。 |
51 | Hirotada Ototake, a former teacher and author who was born without arms and legs due to a genetic disorder, was cynical: | ケロイドまみれの人とかヒロポン中毒者とか、発達期の子供が読むとトラウマになる描写ばっかだからいいんじゃん。 |
52 | I guess my appearance would be considered “too extreme for children” in Matsue City, and they'd limit access to viewing my picture, would they? | おかげで子供ながらに戦争・原爆とか絶対ダメだこれって思えたよ。 トラウマになる描写の押し付けは感心しないが、子どもたちには被爆の現実を伝えたい。 |
53 | Social bookmarking service Hatena user fulci commented[ja] that the comic book would support education on the importance of peace because it illustrates the shocking consequences of the atomic bomb: | 複雑な心境のコメントも多い。 ミュージシャンのライムスター・宇多丸は週刊朝日の中でこう述べている。 |
54 | I think it's good because it has plenty of traumatic illustrations such as people with burnt blistered skin, methamphetamine addictions. | […]今の子どもも、少なくとも原爆が投下される前後の部分には触れてほしい。 |
55 | For me as a child, it really made me think that war and atomic bombs are absolutely no good. | でも先生が読ませるんじゃなくて、小学校3、4年になったとき、うっかり手に取っちゃうところに置いておくのがいいんじゃないかな。 |
56 | Hip Hop musician Utamaru wrote [ja] in Asahi Weekly Magazine: | 物理学者の菊池誠 @kikumacoは言う。 |
57 | I at least want children of today to come in contact with the before and after of the dropping of the atomic bomb. | 「はだしのゲン」は読めっていわれるのも嫌だし、隠せっていわれるのも嫌だ |
58 | However, instead of being made to read [Barefoot Gen] by teachers, it might be better to leave it in a place where it could be accidentally picked up and read by kids when the reach the third or fourth grade. | - 菊池誠 (@kikumaco) August 16, 2013 |
59 | Physicist Makoto Kikuchi argued that there should be no enforcement either way: | 修学旅行先に広島を選ぶ学校は多い。 |
60 | I don't like [that people] are being told to read “Barefoot Gen” and I also don't that [they] are being told to hide it. | 広島平和記念公園にて、flickrユーザーMagalie L'Abbé撮影。( |
61 | Many students visit Hiroshima for school trip. Photo taken at Hiroshia Peace Memorial Park by Flickr user Magalie L'Abbé (CC BY-NC 2.0) | CC BY-NC 2.0) |
62 | Popularity of “Barefoot Gen” surges | 賛否両論のツイート数は16日からの3日間で25万件以上にも上った。「 |
63 | Between August 16 and 18, 2013, there were more than 250,000 tweets both supporting and opposing limiting access to the comic. | はだしのゲン」の閲覧制限は妥当? |
64 | According to an online poll on Yahoo! | と問うYahoo! |
65 | Japan[ja] in which more than 150,000 users answered the question, “Is restricting access to the “Barefoot Gen” comic book appropriate?”, 82 percent voted in favor of “no restriction should be made”. | 意識調査は15万票以上を集め、「制限すべきでない」は82%を占めた。 |
66 | An online petition urging access to the book in school libraries collected [ja] more than 15,000 signatures in five days. | 閲覧を求めるネット署名も20日までの5日間で1万5000人を超えた。 |
67 | The fans of “Barefoot Gen” recommend reading the book regardless of political orientations. | 「はだしのゲン」の愛好家たちは、政治的意見にとらわれずに読むことを勧めている。 |
68 | Critic Tomofusa Kure [ja] referred [ja] to Barefoot Gen as ” the manga with most unfortunate reader responses”: | 評論家の呉智英は「はだしのゲン」を「もっとも不幸な読まれ方をしたマンガ」と形容する。 |
69 | “Barefoot Gen” is a unfortunate masterpiece that has been misunderstood by two types of politicians. | 「はだしのゲン」は二種類の政治屋たちによって誤解されてきた不幸な傑作だ。 |
70 | Of these two types, one claims that “Barefoot Gen” is a good manga for its anti-war/anti-nuclear message. | 二種類の政治屋とは、「はだしのゲン」は反戦反核を訴えた良いマンガだと主張する政治屋と、反戦反核を訴えた悪いマンガだと主張する政治屋である。 |
71 | The other claims that it is a bad manga for doing the same thing. Blogger Kuro pointed out[ja] that the political nature of the book is an “inevitable” given the time period in which the book was written: | ブロガーの九郎はブログ「縁日草子」で、「政治性」はこのマンガで描かれた1950年代の「時代の空気」にすぎないと指摘している。 |
72 | That's as meaningless as criticizing a literary work from the Heian era for only focusing on disproved superstitions about auspicious directions and dates. | […]それはたとえば平安時代の文学作品に対して「方位や日時の吉凶を気にしてばかりいるのは誤った迷信である」などと批判することが無意味であるのと同様だ。 |
73 | Anime critic Tsunehira Furuya also pointed out [ja] in his blog that the comic book is historically valuable: | アニメ評論家の古谷経衡も、ブログ「アニオタ保守本流」で、「はだしのゲン」の歴史的価値を指摘する。 |
74 | There are merely six pictures left of Hiroshima at the time of the bombing taken by Chugoku Newspaper reporter Yoshihito Matsushige. | 被爆当時、広島市内を撮った写真は当時中国新聞の松重美人記者が残したわずか6枚の写真しかない。 |
75 | At that time, taking photos was equivalent to an act of spying and was severely restricted. | 当時はカメラ撮影がスパイ行為に当たるとして、写真は厳重な制限があった。[ |
76 | At present, with only testimonials and photos to convey the true state of affairs at that time, the historical significance of using them to tell a story like “Barefoot Gen” is immeasurable. | …]当時の実相を伝えるのが最早、証言と絵しかない現在、これを物語にして見せた「はだしのゲン」にどれだけの歴史的意義があるか、計り知れない。 |
77 | Following the controversy, the sales of the comic book rose, both at retails and e-book [ja]. | 主要各紙などの圧倒的反対意見に押され、市教委は8月26日臨時会議を開き、「手続きに問題があった」「判断は現場に任せるべき」と制限撤回を決定した。 |
78 | The publisher reprinted an additional 7,000 copies[ja] of each volume, which is three times more than annual copies. | この一連の騒動が契機となり、「はだしのゲン」のコミック本や電子書籍は各書店で次々に売れ行きを伸ばし、出版社では例年の3倍となる各巻7000部を増刷した。 |
79 | It seems more citizens felt that the comic book is a powerful way to tell the horrible story of war to younger generations as the nation commemorates the 68th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. | 世界唯一の被爆国国民として、核戦争の恐怖を次世代に継承するためにマンガの力を借りたいと思う人は、少なくなかったようだ。 |
80 | This post was translated with help of Yuko Aoyagi and Ryan Ball, and sub-edited by L.Finch. | ゲン少年も、おちおち書庫の陰で休んでもいられまい。 |