彼がカタロニア国際賞を受賞した際に行った「非現実的な夢想家として」のというタイトルのエッセイについては、このブログでも前に取り上げた。
その村上氏は９月末、領土問題についての発言を行い、それが朝日、WSJで取り上げられた。
作家村上春樹は今年もノーベル賞を逃がしてしまった。ノーベル文学賞は、どちらかといえば、国際的に名前の知られていない作家が好んで選ばれる傾向があるという。
薔薇っ子はハルキストではない。しかし、多くの知識人がだんまりを決め込んでいる中、村上は多くの人々が尽力してきた日中韓の魂が行き来する道筋を、安酒の酔の勢いでふさいでしまってはならないと、勇気ある発言をしている点で大いに評価されるべきであると思う。
EUに対してノーベル平和賞の受賞が決まったが、日本も小さな島の領有権をめぐって、このタイミングで近隣諸国と争うことの代償の大きさをもっと冷静になって、深く考えてみるべきである。
領有権、領有権と今頃になって騒ぎ立てているが、本当にそれを主張する気があったならば、日本が経済的に大きな力をふるっている間に、なぜ自衛官を交代で島に常駐させてでも、実効支配を行い、国の領土であることをあらゆる機会をとらえては執拗に、周到に、隣国や世界に向けてしっかりと主張すべきだったのである。
自公民の政治家や外交手腕のない外交官が平和ボケで、領土を守るために何の努力もしてこなかったこと。領土の境界を曖昧なものにした上、不必要な税金をODAだのなんだのと、気前よく湯水のように海外にばらまいてはニタニタ愛想笑いをするだけで済ませてきた責任は非常に重い。
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/09/28/novelist-murakami-weighs-in-on-japan-territorial-rows/
Novelist Murakami Weighs In on Japan Territorial Rows
By Yoree Koh
- The Wall Street Journal
- A photo of the front page of the Asahi Shimbun’s Sept. 28 morning edition with author Haruki Murakami’s essay on Japan’s territorial disputes published at the top.
Even as Japan’s prickly territorial disputes gained heat in recent months few well-known figures outside of political circles have taken a stand on the touchy issue that has sparked trouble across business, sports and cultural spheres. But on Friday morning, Japan’s best-known living author joined the war of words.
Novelist Haruki Murakami penned an essay expressing his concerns about the cultural fallout that is likely to result from the country’s various escalating territorial spats and described the feverish reaction to the disputes like getting drunk on cheap sake. His commentary was prominently published for all to see on the front page of the Asahi Shimbun, Japan’s second largest daily, on Friday.
“I fear that as both an Asian and Japanese writer the steady achievements we’ve made (in deepening cultural exchanges and understanding with our Asia neighbors) will be hugely damaged because of the problems regarding Senkaku and Takeshima this time,” wrote Mr. Murakami.
- The Wall Street Journal
- A photo of page three of Asahi Shimbun’s Sept. 28 morning edition showing author Haruki Murakami’s essay on Japan’s territorial disputes.
The Senkaku and Takeshima islands are at the heart of Japan’s simmering bilateral tensions with China and South Korea, respectively. The Tokyo-controlled islands in the East China Sea are known as the Senkaku in Japan, but claimed by China and Taiwan, which call them the Diaoyu. Japan’s ties with Seoul have been tested in recent months over a group of islands known as Takeshima at home, the Dokdo in South Korea, and the Liancourt Rocks to countries not party to the dispute.
The removal of Japanese works in bookstores across China “shocked” the 63-year-old author. It represented how far reaching the territorial tiffs have become, threatening to tear down the regional cultural bonds that took decades to build. Mr. Murakami said it’s not his position to criticize China for suspending the sale of books written by Japanese authors “because it’s China’s domestic problem.” “But here is what I’d say loud and clear: Please don’t retaliate against China for taking such steps. If we do, it becomes our problem, and it will come back and hit you.”
Mr. Murakami, famous for his cult classics like “Kafka on the Shore” and the mammoth trilogy “1Q84”, went on to say that when it comes to national borders territorial problems are an unfortunate and unavoidable consequence. But that hot headed emotions have replaced the possibility for practical solutions.
- European Pressphoto Agency
- Haruki Murakami in Barcelona in June 2011.
“It’s like getting drunk on cheap sake. Drinking just a small cup of this cheap sake sends blood rushing to the head. People’s voices get louder and those actions become violent,” he wrote. “But after making a noisy fuss about it, when the dawn breaks all that will be left is a bad headache.” He advises that as politicians and pot stirrers lead the uproar it is necessary for the public to be careful.
While the anti-nuclear movement, another controversial political topic, has been bolstered by prominent voices such as Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe the territorial rows have been left largely untouched. Inherently linked to national pride, no one has broached the thorny issues. Mr. Murakami’s essay and its publication in a national daily — conspicuously commanding most of the front page and another inside the newspaper — is a significant step in moving the debate from the lecterns of right wing nationalists to a broader audience.
In his essay, Mr. Murakami mentioned his novel “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.” The surreal plot focuses on a bloody battle between Japanese soldiers and Mongolian and Russian forces over a barren stretch of the Outer Mongolian desert. Mr. Murakami wrote that he went to visit the site of the former warzone after he finished the novel.
“As I stood in the middle of that barren wasteland, with cartridges and other wartime artifacts still scattered about, I helplessly felt ‘why was so much life senselessly lost over this piece of empty land?’”
Mr. Murakami, who is often named as a likely future winner of the Nobel Literature Prize, has been critical of contentious issues in the past. He didn’t parse his words about Japan’s reliance on nuclear power last year. He intimated that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident was a self-inflicted blow, calling it “a mistake committed by our very own hands” during an acceptance speech in Barcelona last June. His novels also don’t shy away from Japan’s sensitive wartime activity in the first half of the century. “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” includes unsettling scenes of Japan’s occupation of Manchuria during World War II, another historical flashpoint between China and Japan.
His comments on the island disputes come just weeks before the winner of the Nobel Literature Prize is announced — an honor for which Mr. Murakami is often named as a future likely winner. This year is no different. The Japanese novelist has once again emerged as the favorite to take the prize. He has been given 5/1 odds to win by Ladbrokes, a U.K.-based bookmaker.
Follow Yoree Koh on Twitter @yoreekoh
