泣いても大丈夫!? Okay to cry in public!?

 

[わたし]は異文化間[いぶんかかん]コミュニケーション(= cross-cultural communication)に興味[きょうみ]があります。この分野[ぶんや] (= field)の研究[けんきゅう] (study)結果[けっか] (= result)を読[]むと「日本人[にほんじん]は感情[かんじょう] (= emotion)をあまり表[あらわ]さない(= not express)」「はっきり言[]わない」という記述[きじゅつ] (= description)を見[]ます。でも、このニュースは…。

I am interested in cross-cultural communication. I often read about Japanese tendency that Japanese people rarely show their emotion in public or they would not say much directly. But this news made me re-think on reports from those previous studies…

このYouTubeは兵庫[ひょうご]県議[けんぎ] (= councillor for Hyogo local government)、野々村[ののむら]竜太郎[りゅうたろう]さんの記者[きしゃ]会見[かいけん] (= press conference)です。野々村[ののむら]県議[けんぎ]は、去年[きょねん]の出張[しゅっちょう][] (= expenditure for business trip)について記者[きしゃ]会見[かいけん]をしました。記録[きろく] (= record)によると、野々村[ののむら]県議[けんぎ]は去年[きょねん]195回[かい]出張[しゅっちょう]をしています(その中[なか]には多[おお]くの日帰[ひがえ]り出張[しゅっちょう] (= a day trip)もあります)。そのために300万[まん][えん] (NZドルで約[やく] (= about) 35,000ドル)使[つか]いました。出張[しゅっちょう]で何[なに]をしたのか記録[きろく]がないし、領収書[りょうしゅうしょ] (= receipt)もありません。

びっくりしたのは、この会見[かいけん]で野々村[ののむら]県議[けんぎ]が号泣[ごうきゅう]している(= to give gut-wrenching sobs)ことです。上[うえ]のYouTubeを見[]ればわかります。

これはとても珍[めずら]しい(= rare)ことなので、他国[たこく]のメディアも報[ほう]じています(= have reported)。例[たと]えば、イギリスのガーディアンでもこのニュースが読[]めます。

日本人[にほんじん]の性格[せいかく]が変[]わってきたんでしょうか!?

 

The above YouTube shows a press conference provided by Ryutato Nonomura, a councillor of Hyogo local government. Mr Nonomura held the conference to answer questions about his expenditure on business trip. According to the official document, Mr Nonomura made 195 trips last year (including many many one-day trips) and spend around 3 million yen (equivalent to about 35,000 NZ dollars) from his official account. The document did not provide the nature of those trips or include any receipts.

Anyway, the incredible thing is that Mr Nonomura started crying and shouting (please watch the above YouTube; you would not have to have any Japanese language knowledge to see how unique this press conference is) when he received questions about his spending. Apparently Mr Nonomura did not provide any detail on his business trips but just kept claiming he was working so hard for Hyogo people.

Some of international media seems intrigued by Mr Nonomura’s reaction – for example, you can read the news here, in the Guardian.

Have Japanese people been somehow transformed in terms of public behaviour now!?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *