（天声人語）カント生誕３００年

VOX POPULI: The 300th birthday of Kant

2024年4月23日 5時00分

　哲学者のカントは規則正しい人だった。夏も冬も毎朝４時５５分に起きる。講義などを終えると、きっちり午後３時半には散歩へ出かける。同じ道のりを歩くので、街の人はカントを見て時計の針を正した、という逸話があるほどだ▼

The Philosopher Kant was a law-abiding person. Whether it be summer or winter, he'd wake up at 04:55 every morning. When his lecture or whatever task he was doing finished, he'd go out to take a stroll at 03:30 in the afternoon sharp. Since he walked the same path every time, when people in the streets saw him, they'd correct the time in their watches. He was such a character that anecdotes were made out of him▼

It was his 300th year birthday yesterday. Among his books that are difficult to understand, only "Perpetual Peace (Translated by NAKAJIMA, Hajime)" was the book that I was able to read through to the end. There he wrote about the tragedy of the human image. "War is like wood grafted on to the nature of humanity." If it's left as is, there'll be war. So he preaches about the means to prevent this▼

In a nutshell, it appears that Kant's answer is to form an alliance among sovereign nations. If the concerned people are going to make a decision about whether or not to go to war, which entails sending their soldiers, while also shouldering the huge expenses, it's "extremely obvious that people would be prudent in embarking on such a worthless gamble."▼

However, even after having formed an alliance, wars among nations like Russia and Israel still persist. It's somewhat troublesome that something so "worthless" might be in our parliament. Any journey towards peace requires a high tide, after all▼

Is there hope? "We move forward into the future, while also backing away." I remember, a poet had said these words. The boat moves forward facing backward. In a storm, what is seen by the rowers is only the raging waves. Afterwards, however, in the future, the little spaces between the clouds begin to appear▼

Even if the reality of perpetual peace is always far ahead, Kant sought to "always move towards this objective." The oar is continuously rowed.

100年後、栄えるのは東京と福岡だけ　経済学者の衝撃的予測の意図

After 100 years, only Tokyo and Fukuoka will flourish! What is the motive behind this shocking economic prediction?

聞き手 シニアエディター・尾沢智史

Reporter: OZAWA, Tomofumi (Senior Editor)

2024年4月16日 7時30分

2120年の日本は、人口が江戸時代レベルまで減り、都市は激減し、栄えるのは東京と福岡だけになる――。経済学者の森知也・京都大教授らのシミュレーションが注目されている。統計予測モデルから導かれる100年後の日本社会の姿はどんなものか。いま未来に向けて何をすべきなのか。

Q: By 2120, Japan's population count will have gone down to numbers described during the Edo Period. Cities would be dramatically reduced, and only Tokyo and Fukuoka will flourish. Economist MORI, Tomoya, along with professors from Kyoto University, has gotten attention for their simulation of the future. Guided by an aggregated model for making predictions, what does it say about Japanese society after 100 years? And what must be done now as we approach that future?

　――100年後の日本では、人口10万人以上の都市の数が半減する。多くの地方都市が消え、大都市で人口シェアを増加させるのは東京と福岡だけ、というのは衝撃的な予測ですね。

Q: 100 years from now, the number of cities with over 100,000 residents in Japan will have been reduced by half. Many of the cities region-wide will have disappeared, and only large cities, particularly, Tokyo and Fukuoka will have an increased share of the population. This is their shocking prediction.

　「都市が消滅する理由は単純で、日本全体の人口が減るからです。人口減少はすごい勢いで進むが、日本ではどこかひとごとのようなところがある。一つの理由は、規模感がわからないということがあると思います」

A: "The reason why cities will disappear is simple. It's because the Japanese population as a whole is decreasing. Yet while this reduction in the population is still moving along rather strongly, there are places in Japan that have quite a bustling concentration of human activity. I think that one reason for this is that people don't have a sense of scale.

　――総人口は、5千万人から3千万人ぐらいまでに減るという想定ですね。

Q: The total population is estimated to be reduced to about 30 to 50 million.

　「人口戦略会議では8千万人で食い止めようと様々な提案をしていますが、今の人口減少ペースでは難しそうです。江戸時代と同じ3千万人台に減るというのが現実的な想定なのですが、行政も国民も危機感が足りません」

A: "At a meeting on strategic population planning, there were all sorts of proposals to stop it at 80 million. This looks hard from the current rate of decrease in the population. While it's realistic to think that the population will be reduced to 30 million, just as during the Edo Period, there's not enough sense of crisis on the part of both the administration and the local people."

Q: What about Nagoya?

A: "Due to its varied historical context, Nagoya is special for having an extremely strong manufacturing industry nearby. Even at this current stage, while the barrier in distance to reach Nagoya from Tokyo is lower than Osaka, it will not go into a decline like Osaka. Instead, through highly progressive city planning which includes 100-meter roads, it's likely going to continue on to being a city that can easily adapt to future technologies in fields like the automobile industry."

A: "While people in many areas will decrease, even a few people can make use of technology to create infrastructures to earn in primary industries like agriculture, forestry and fisheries, because they're blessed with an abundance of natural resources. The tourism industry will likely be third in rank for businesses. And places like the San'in region and Kochi prefecture will grow despite being separated from railway tracks and the main highways."

"However, because of that, it will be necessary to have a base point for distribution in various places to support primary industries. Because it's not possible to maintain all the existing cities, it'll likely be necessary to also have a "selection and concentration" plan to identify which infrastructures to invest in and which cities will become the base points."

データ改ざんしたポケモンを販売した疑い、高知県警が京都の男を逮捕

Suspected of selling Pokémon with falsified data, man from Kyoto arrested by Kochi Prefecture Police

原篤司

ATSUSHI, Hara

2024年4月10日 19時44分

家庭用ゲーム機「ニンテンドースイッチ」のソフト「ポケットモンスター　バイオレット」に登場するポケモンの能力や性格を不正に書き換えて販売したとして、高知県警は10日までに、京都府宇治市の内装業の男（36）を不正競争防止法違反の疑いで逮捕し、発表した。「生活費を稼ぐためにやった」と容疑を認めているという。

The Kochi Prefecture Police has announced on this 10th of April the arrest of a man (36) from the Interior Decor Industry in Uji City, Kyoto for being suspected of violating the unfair competition act by illegally overwriting the abilities and personalities of Pokémon characters that appear in "Pocket Monsters Violet", a Nintendo Switch home console software. The suspect has confirmed this with "I did it to earn a living."

　県警サイバー犯罪対策課によると、男は2022年12月から23年3月にかけて、ゲームの改ざん防止機能を解除し、不正なツールで作ったポケモン15体を計約1万3千円で第三者に売った疑い。ゲームのアイテムやキャラクターを売買するサイトに「今だけ！6匹オーダー4千円」といった広告を出していたという。

According to the prefecture police's anti-cybercrime unit, the man erased from December 2022 until March 2023 the functionality of the game to prevent falsifications, using illegal tools to create 15 pocket monsters, which he is suspected of selling to a third party for a total of about 13,000 yen. He was said to have advertised in a buy-and-sell site for games items and characters: "Limited Offer! Right now, 6 Pokémon character orders for 4K yen!"

　県警は、他のゲームのキャラクターと合わせて数百万円を売り上げていたとみて、余罪を調べている。（原篤司）

The prefecture police is further investigating if the suspect has also committed other crimes, seeing that he had sold and earned millions of yen from this, including other game characters. (ATSUSHI, Hara)

（天声人語）韓国人はがんばる

VOX POPULI: South Korean people persevere

2024年4月10日 5時00分

　韓国の人たちは「ファイティン」という言葉を、よく口にする。元々は英語のファイティングであり、「がんばれ」や「がんばろう」との意味である。腕をくっと曲げ、拳を握り、力を込めて言う。学校でも、職場でも、家庭でも、頻繁に使う▼

South Korean people often use the phrase "Fightin'!". It was originally the English phrase, "Fighting!", and means something like "Persevere!", "Do your best!" and "Let's do our best!" Say it with energy, bending your arm while clenching the fist! It's frequently used in schools, workplaces, and even at homes▼

Why is this so? When we tried to ask news reporter, LEE, Sang-hoon, the Tokyo branch Chief of the Dong-A Daily Newspaper, he answered, "For sure, it's an often used phrase." While he appeared a little surprised by the sudden question, he added, "But I haven't really thought about why this is so."▼

According to a colleague who is an expert on South Korea, its use became widely prevalent in the late 2000's. While the phrase was at first said in Japan as "Fight!" to mean a kind of encouragement during sports tournaments, its usage seems to have gradually grown and spread throughout the region. For example, when a senior employee scolds a subordinate for lacking motivation, he says, "You don't have Fightin'!"

Behind this is perhaps the fierce competition among companies. Even in places like Japan, the trend is said to be on schooling history. Go to a good school, then to a good company. Amidst overwhelming pressure, everyone does his best, nay, everyone needs to do their best▼

It also shows a deep disparity in society. Young people appear to have become tired of the old government which sits on vested interests. It's almost unbelievable for them to say that they'd want to bear children. The rate of childbirth is at 0.72, reaching the "super low childbirth rate." This is not, however, a matter that is completely different with Japan.▼

It's the national elections in South Korea today. The sound of "Fightin'" echoes throughout all parties. How will our neighbor's voters judge? We focus on their choice.

VOX POPULI: ‘Faitin’ spirit belies the social stress on young South Koreans

「紅麴」サプリ問題：経緯と影響範囲をビジュアル解説

The "Red Monascus" Food Supplement Problem: Its Background and Scope of Impact

2024/04/02 公開

Published 2024-04-02

朝日新聞デジタル

Asahi Shimbun Digital

Health problems are continuously being reported due to the "Red Monascus Cholesterol Help" food supplement from Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals. But what is a "Red Monascus"? What is a "Puberulic Acid"? What is its difference with the "Beni Red Monascus"?

Many people who've taken the supplement from Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals have had kidney problems, and several of them have died.

Puberulic Acid, a highly toxic substance, has been detected in the supplement.

Therefore, people have been advised to never ingest the supplement if they have it in their possession.

Puberulic Acid is a naturalized compound made with "blue mold penicillium".

Having antibiotic characteristics, its toxicity level is extremely high.

It's now being investigated for directly causing the kidney problems.

Red Monascus is fermented by mixing the Red Monascus bacteria with steamed rice.

Since before this incident occurred, Red Monascus has been widely used for things like food coloring and Japanese rice wine.

In recent years, Red Monascus has garnered attention as an ingredient in healthy foods.

Red Monascus bacteria is used along with extracts from a cultured solution to produce the "Beni Red Monascus" food coloring, which is an additive used with cup noodles, chocolates, etc. This is therefore not the Red Monascus that is causing the health problem.

What is problematic is only the Red Monascus made by Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals.

However, there are many other companies that use the Red Monascus from Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals in their products.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan is seeking a report on these products.

The problematic supplement from Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals is being ordered to be withdrawn from the market according to food safety and sanitation law.

Other companies are now also withdrawing their own products.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan has visited and investigated two factories of the Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals.

The main products that were withdrawn include candies, miso and Japanese rice wine, because of the Red Monascus from Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals.