[ad_1]
Former US President Barak Obama has published a memoir and it is a hot topic around the world. Despite being a “high-priced product” costing around 4,600 yen ($ 45) in Japanese yen, sales of 890,000 copies have been achieved in just 24 hours after its release! Right after the US presidential elections, which attracted worldwide attention, the media in each country reported what Obama was saying in his book.
Also in Japan, English experts pointed out that it was a “mistranslation” when NHK and some media reported that “Mr. Obama described former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama as a ‘symbol of misguided Japanese politics.’ There is a lot of excitement on the net. Is this “Hatoyama rampage” a “bad translation”, or … When I read the media reports of each country, I found a surprising fact.
-
Was former US President Obama Yukio Hatoyama “a troublesome colleague”? (Photo taken in 2015)
Was Mr. Hatoyama “a handsome but troublesome colleague”?
Still, it is selling very well. Former US President Barak Obama’s memoir “A Promised Land” ranked number one among Amazon’s best sellers as soon as they were published. It sold 890,000 books within 24 hours of its release and set a record for the memoirs of successive US presidents.
By the way, Mr. Bill Clinton’s “My Life” memoir record in second is 400,000, and Mr. George W. Bush’s “Decision Point” record in third place is 220,000, so the 890,000. Mr. Obama’s record is by far the best.
What is being talked about in Japan is where Obama remembers his relationship with Japan at that time. In particular, some excerpts from the media and picked up the part that commented on former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, causing “turbulence.” It’s a bit long, but see the English text in the middle of the topic.
A nice yet clumsy guy, Hatoyama was Japan’s fourth prime minister in less than three years and the second since I took office, a symptom of the sclerotic and aimless politics that had plagued Japan for much of the decade.
(Mr. Hatoyama, who was a clumsy or nice person, was the second Japanese prime minister since I assumed the presidency, and in three years, the fourth Japanese prime minister. This is the rigidity that lasted almost ten years. It was a symbol of Japanese politics that lost its purpose)
If you look at it like this, it is a simple sentence, but first of all, at the beginning.「A nice but clumsy companion」The opinions of the media are divided by the interpretation of.
“He feels good, but he was a troublesome colleague” (Jiji Press)
“It feels good, but it is difficult to do” (Mainichi Shimbun)
“It feels good, but it’s hard to get along” (Kyodo News)
“A clumsy but nice man” (Asahi Shimbun)
Comparing the “Japanese translation” of the media,“Pleasant” (feels good)The interpretation of is consistent,“Clumsy” (clumsy, clumsy, bad shit)It can be clearly seen that the interpretation of is divided.
Assuming the Japanese translation of this English sentence was provided in the test, the person who can get the highest score is probably Asahi Shimbun’s “clumsy but nice man”.
The remaining three companies misinterpreted the grammar prior to the Japanese translation.「A nice but clumsy companion」The essence of“A nice guy” (a nice guy)so,「If it’s uncomfortable」It is“Maybe”It is an “auxiliary” position.
In other words, what Obama wanted to convey in general was “Mr. Hatoyama felt good”, not “Mr. Hatoyama was clumsy.”
