世紀を築く

• 世紀 [せいき] /century/era/
• 築く [きずく] /to build/to pile up/to amass/
• 初頭 [しょとう] /beginning/
• 西暦 [せいれき] /Christian Era/anno domini (A.D.)/
• 紀元 [きげん] /era/A.D./
• 僧 [そう] /monk/priest/
• 降誕 [こうたん] /birth (vs)(regal)/nativity/
• 間違える [まちがえる] /to err/to make a mistake/
• 起算 [きさん] /starting to count/
• Summary: It is the year 2000. The Christian calendar is a counting system created by the priests fleeing Rome in the 6th century who made a small mistake in the actual date of Christ's birth.
• 偶々 [たまたま] /casually/unexpectedly/accidentally/by chance/
• 切りが良い [きりがいい] /to be a good place to leave off/
• 暦 [れき] /calendar/
• 半端 [はんぱ] /remnant (an)/fragment/incomplete set/fraction/odd sum/incompleteness/
• 異に [ことに] /difference (vs)/
• 数種 [] /types of numbers???/
• 紀年法 [きねんぽう] /Systems for counting years?/
• Summary: By chance, just because this happens to be a nice round number, it does not mean that it is a big deal. For example, by the Jewish calendar, it is 5960, and nothing more than the odd year 1377 by the Islamic calendar. Throughout the world, if you look at different cultures whose roots differ, there are as many as 50 different ways of counting the years (calendars.)
• 他面 [ためん] /the other side/another direction/(on) the other hand/
• 多種多様 [たしゅたよう] /a great variety of/diversity/
• 共存 [きょうぞん] /coexistence/
• 地球 [ちきゅう] /the earth (a-no)/
• 通用 [つうよう] /popular use (vs)/circulation/
• 人類 [じんるい] /mankind/humanity/
• 共通 [きょうつう] /commonness (a-no)/community (vs)/
• 記号 [きごう] /symbol/code/
• 新た [あらた] /new/fresh/novel (an)/
• 到来 [とうらい] /arrival/
• 模様 [もよう] /pattern/figure/design/
• 画像 [がぞう] /image/picture/portrait/
• 瞬時 [しゅんじ] /moment/instant/
• Summary: On the other hand, there are many, many different types of cultures coexisting on this Earth, and currently it is a reality that everybody knows the Christian calendar, and no matter where you go it is common for humanity to use it. (The Christian calendar has become a symbol.) Then, the various countries that plan to celebrate the coming of the new year can inform other countries instantaneously with television pictures.

アフリカが支える経済

• 隔てる [へだてる] /to be shut out/
• 国家 [こっか] /state/country/nation/
• 壁 [かべ] /wall/
• 格段 [かくだん] /special/exceptional/remarkable/
• 画面 [がめん] /terminal screen/scene/picture/the field (in TV)/photo/
• 眺める [ながめる] /to view/to gaze at/
• 過去 [かこ] /the past/bygone days/the previous/
• 振り返る [ふりかえる] /to turn head/to look over one's shoulder/to turn around/to look back/
• 未来 [みらい] /future (life, tense)/
• 思いをはせる [おもいをはせる] /to think about/
• 自体 [じたい] /itself/
• 前進 [ぜんしん] /advance/drive/progress/
• Summary: If we look at the overall flow of history, we see that the walls between cultures and isolated countries have become especially low. The people of the world are all looking at the same screen (tv/internet), and it is the age where at the same time that we reflect on the past we are able to think about the future. That in itself is something that should be called great progress.
• 眼前 [がんまえ] /In front of our eyes?/
• 空前 [くうぜん] /unprecedented (a-no)/record-breaking/
• 景気 [けいき] /condition/state/business (condition)/
• 亨受 [きょうじゅ] /enjoy/
• 先進 [せんしん] /seniority/advance/leadership/
• 諸国 [しょこく] /various countries/
• 貧しい [まずしい] /poor/
• 格差 [かくさ] /qualitative difference/disparity/
• Summary: Even though we say that, on the other hand the truth of the world before our eyes is that the world is severely unbalanced. Many different advanced countries are starting to enjoy an unprecedented good condition (state/quality of life) while the economic gap between the poor countries that make up the heart of Africa is starting to spread.
• 白書 [はくしょ] /white paper/
• 米誌 [べいし] /western magazine/
• 推計 [すいけい] /estimate (vs)/estimation/
• 資産 [しさん] /property/fortune/means/assets/
• 合計 [ごうけい] /sum total (vs)/total amount/
• 一兆 [いっちょう] /a trillion/
• 超える [こえる] /to cross over/to pass over (out of)/
• 年間 [ねんかん] /year/
• 所得 [しょとく] /income/earnings/
• 合計額 [ごうけいがく] /(perhaps total earning/amount)/
• 匹敵 [ひってき] /comparing with (vs)/match/rival/equal/
• Summary: According to Lester Brown's "World White Paper 1999-2000" the Western magazine "Forbes" estimated the assets of the world's richest 250 people and it surpassed one trillion dollars, which is about equal to the yearly earnings of half of the world's population of poor.
• 富裕 [ふゆう] /wealth/riches/opulence (an)/
• 国民総生産 [こくみんそうせいさん] /gross national product/GNP/gross domestic product/GDP/
• 金額 [きんがく] /amount of money/
• 栄養 [えいよう] /nutrition/nourishment/
• Summary: Moreover, if you include the assets of just the three richest people, the sum is greater than the gross national products of the 48 poorest nations. There are also the numbers that eight million, forty-one thousand people do not have sufficient nutrition, and 20 million people do not have access to safe drinking water.
• 豊か [ゆたか] /abundant (an)/wealthy/plentiful/rich/
• 活動 [かつどう] /action/activity/
• 資源 [しげん] /resources/
• 食糧 [しょくりょう] /provisions/rations/
• 調達 [ちょうたつ] /supply/provision/raising/
• 製品 [せいひん] /manufactured goods/finished goods/
• 輸出 [ゆしゅつ] /export (vs)/
• 成り立つ [なりたつ] /to conclude/to consist of/to be practical (logical, feasible, viable)/to hold true/
• 各種 [かくしゅ] /every kind/all sorts/
• 合金 [ごうきん] /alloy/
• Summary: The type of economic activity that has made the advanced nations so rich has been the acquisition of resources and provisions from these sorts of poor counties, refining them into finished goods and then exporting the goods. Even if we only take the supplies that are used in stainless chrome or all sorts of alloyed cobalt as an example, (we see that) "Japan's economy is supported by Africa."
• 絆 [きずな] /bonds/fetters/encumbrance/
• 元々 [もともと] /Originally/
• 繋ぐ [つなぐ] /to tie (uk)/to fasten/to connect/to transfer (phone call)/
• 留める [とどめる] /to stop/to cease/to put an end to/
• 綱 [つな] /rope/
• 転じる [てんじる] /to turn/to shift/to alter/to distract/
• 断つ [たつ] /to sever/to cut off/to abstain/
• 開く [ひらく] /to open (e.g. a festival)/
• 形 [かたち] /form/shape/figure/type/
• Summary: There is the word "ties". Originally, it was used to mean the rope that was fastened to horses and the like to hold them in place, but it has changed to mean "un-severable relationships between people". The recently introduced form of this is the "Network."
• 結ぶ [むすぶ] /to tie/to bind/to link/
• 綱の目 [つなのめ] /net/network/
• 巡る [めぐる] /to go around/
• 恩恵 [おんけい] /grace/favor/blessing/benefit/
• 被る [こうむる] /to suffer/(receive benefit)/
• 専ら [もっぱら] /wholly/solely/entirely/
• 不均衡 [ふきんこう] /imbalance (an)/disparity/out of balance/inequality/
• 送る [おくる] /to send/
• Summary: Economic globalization ties people and people, counties and countries together, and the bonds go all around the world, like a network (or fishnet). Currently however, the only ones who enjoy the benefit are the advanced countries. To correct this imbalance, until we can say that these people in poor countries are able to live a stable life, we cannot really calls these ties "relationships".

強くなった社会の支え

• ひろがえって /on the other hand/
• 市民 [しみん] /citizen/townspeople/
• 相互 [そうご] /mutual/reciprocal/
• 各地 [かくち] /every place/various places/
• 盛ん [さかん] /popularity (an)/prosperous/
• 通じる [つうじる] /to run to/to lead to/to communicate/to understand/to be well informed/
• Summary: On the other hand, let's think about the ties in Japanese society. If you talk about the mutual ties between townspeople, Non Profit Organization activity, and volunteerism has become popular in a lot of places, and the ties of communication through things like the internet has also spread.
• 参加 [さんか] /participation (vs)/
• 語り合う [かたりあう] /to talk together/
• 仲間 [なかま] /group/circle of friends/partner/associate/
• 少数 [しょうすう] /minority/few/
• 派 [は] /clique/faction/school/
• 都会 [とかい] /city/
• 精々 [せいぜい] /at the most/at best/to the utmost/as much (far) as possible/
• 配偶者 [はいぐうしゃ] /spouse/wife/husband/
• 親子 [おやこ] /parent and child/
• 閉ざす [とざす] /to shut/to close/to lock/to fasten/to plunge (in grief)/
• 孤独 [こどく] /isolation (an)/loneliness/solitude/
• Summary: However, the groups of people that talk together in this manner are still a small clique. Specifically in cities, the number of isolated people who have closed off ties to only people like their parents and children is not small.
• 核家族 [かくかぞく] /nuclear family/
• 変動 [へんどう] /change (vs)/fluctuation/
• 急激 [きゅうげき] /sudden/precipitous/radical/
• 進む [すすむ] /to make progress (vi)/to advance/to improve/
• 結果 [けっか] /result/consequence/
• 親族 [しんぞく] /relatives/
• 共同体 [きょうどうたい] /cooperative body/cooperative system/
• 支援 [しえん] /support (vs)/backing/aid/
• 仕組み [しくみ] /devising (vs)/plan/plot/contrivance/construction/arrangement/
• 崩れる [くずれる] /to collapse/to crumble/
• 労働運動 [ろうどううんどう] /labour movement/
• 低迷 [ていめい] /hanging low (over)/hovering around (price level)/low hanging (e.g. clouds)/sluggish (e.g. economy) (vs)/
• 組織 [そしき] /organization (vs)/system/construction/
• 側面 [そくめん] /side/flank/sidelight/lateral/
• 弱まる [よわまる] /to abate/to weaken (vi)/to be emaciated/to be dejected/to be perplexed/
• Summary: The society from the results of things like the sudden urbanization and the nuclearization of families, in a country like this where the system of support from people close to you and the local cooperative body (society/group) has almost completely crumbled away now. The labour movement is also not popular, the systems that used to support individuals from the side (lateral support from groups etc, not the family), like corporation groups, and support groups within the society, has also become weak.
• もつれ /entanglement/
• 児 [じ] /child/
• 殺す [ころす] /to kill/
• 事件 [じけん] /event/affair/incident/case/plot/trouble/scandal/
• 相次ぐ [あいつぐ] /to follow in succession/
• 児童 [じどう] /children/juvenile/
• 虐待 [ぎゃくたい] /ill-treatment (vs)/oppression/
• 裏 [うら] /reverse side/wrong side/back/undersurface/inside/palm/sole/opposite/rear/lining/ last half (of an inning)/
• 診断 [しんだん] /diagnosis (vs)/
• 奇妙 [きみょう] /strange (an)/queer/curious/
• 完教
• 吸い寄せられる [すいよせられる] /attracted/
• 風景 [ふうけい] /scenery/
• 寒寒 [さむざむ] /desolate/wintry/
• 状況 [じょうきょう] /circumstances/situation/
• 映す [うつす] /to film/to transcribe/to duplicate/to reproduce/to trace/to describe/to picture/to photograph/to imitate/to project/to reflect/
• Summary: From small entanglements in human relationships, a mother kills her two year old son, there are repeated instances of child abuse in various areas and so on. Furthermore, as the Aum Cult incident and the sellings of back of the foot medical exams (a while ago, some strange group that made you pay a lot of money to avert bad things that they say in a reading of your foot) reflect, in the current climate many people are attracted to strange religious groups, which shows the desolate situation of the mutual support from our hearts. (IE, not much support.)
• 継ぐ [つぐ] /to succeed/
• 世代 [せだい] /generation/the world/the age/
• 暮らし [くらし] /living/livelihood/subsistence/circumstances/
• 満ちる [みちる] /to be full/to rise (tide)/to mature/to expire/
• Summary: If we move our eyes from the bonds on our sides to the bonds above, the life of the generation that follows us will also be extremely full of uncertainty. (here there is the metaphor of the bonds to the previous, current, and next generations, where the societal bonds are viewed as lateral within a generation.)
• ざっと /roughly/in round numbers/
• Summary: The world's population that was 16 million people at the start of the 20th century is now about 60 million people. In the middle of the twenty first century this could surpass 100 million people.
• 畜産 [ちくさん] /animal husbandry/
• 食生活 [しょくせいかつ] /eating habits/
• 穀物 [こくもつ] /grain/cereal/corn/
• 生産 [せいさん] /production (vs)/manufacture/
• 計算 [けいさん] /calculation (vs)/reckoning/
• 石油 [せきゆ] /oil/petroleum/kerosene/
• 使用量 [しようりょう] /amount used/
• 達する [たっする] /to reach/to get to/
• 消費量 [しょうひりょう] /amount of consumption/
• 生産 [せいさん] /production (vs)/manufacture/
• 森林 [しんりん] /forest/woods/
• 減少 [げんしょう] /decrease/reduction/decline/
• 破壊 [はかい] /destruction (vs)/
• 温暖化現象 [おんだんかげんしょう] /greenhouse effect/
• 気象 [きしょう] /weather/climate/
• 環境 [かんきょう] /environment/circumstance/
• 物質 [ぶっしつ] /material/substance/
• 内分泌 [ないぶんぴ] /internal secretion/
• かく乱 [かくらん] /disturb/
• 遺伝子組み換え [いでんしくみかえ] /genetically engineered/
• 食品 [しょくひん] /commodity/foodstuff/
• 生存 [せいぞん] /existence/being/
• 脅かす [おびやかす] /to threaten/to coerce/
• 原子力 [げんしりょく] /atomic energy/
• Summary: If those 100 million people eat a diet centered on meat like the west does now, at the current level of production of grain we it is estimated that will need four Earths. If the level of consumption of oil products surpasses the level of consumption in the west, then the daily consumption rate will be six times greater than the daily production rate. It isn't just food and resources. How do things like the decrease of forests, the destruction of the ozone layer, and global warming, effect the destruction of the climate and environment? Don't things like dioxin, chemical substances, disturbed internal secretions chemical substances (environmental hormones), and genetically engineered foodstuffs have a chance to threaten our existence? Are atomic power and fusion ok?

豊かさが生むリスク社会

• 富 [とみ] /wealth/fortune/
• 分配 [ぶんぱい] /division/sharing/
• 分担 [ぶんたん] /apportionment (vs)/sharing/
• 成果 [せいか] /results/fruits/
• 負 [ふ] /negative/minus/
• 財 [ざい] /fortune/riches/
• 跳ね返る [はねかえる] /to rebound/
• 対応 [たいおう] /interaction (vs)/correspondence/coping with/dealing with/
• 創造 [そうぞう] /creation (vs)/
• Summary: These things point to the new question of how do we allocate the risk of not sharing the wealth? The German sociologist Ururihi Beck calls the risk culture of modern fruits which become "negative wealth" and bounce back, and calls for a new politics that can respond to it.
• 産業 [さんぎょう] /industry/
• 収入 [しゅうにゅう] /income/receipts/revenue/
• 治安 [ちあん] /public order/
• 配分 [はいぶん] /distribution (vs)/allotment/
• 対立 [たいりつ] /confrontation/opposition/antagonism/
• 要因 [よういん] /primary factor/main cause/
• 調整 [ちょうせい] /regulation (vs)/adjustment/
• Summary: According to him, in traditional industrial societies how to distribute revenue, work, public security are basic main causes of antagonism and different sorts of political systems exist for the purpose of regulating them.
• 巡る [めぐる] /to go around/
• 加わる [くわわる] /to join in/to accede to/to increase/to gain in (influence)/
• 受け止める [うけとめる] /to catch/to stop the blow/to react to/to take/
• 仕組み [しくみ] /devising (vs)/plan/plot/contrivance/construction/arrangement/
• 分析 [ぶんせき] /analysis (vs)/
• Summary: The risk society includes the controversial problem of distributing "negative wealth". But in order for us to properly take that, he has analyzed that we do not yet have a political system that will not give birth to this problem of negative wealth.
• つまるところ /in other words/つまり/
• 身の回り [みのまわり] /one's personal appearance/personal belongings/
• 捕われる [とらわれる] /to be captured/to be apprehended/to be seized with/
• 政策 [せいさく] /political measures/policy/
• 維持 [いじ] /maintenance (vs)/preservation/
• 追求 [ついきゅう] /investigation (vs)/close enquiry/pursuing (goal)/
• 強固に [きょうこに] /firmly/
• Summary: Why? In other words, there is no mistake that we are only obsessed with our personal property and the present. Many countries policies and systems are only really driven by the goal of maintaining or pursuing luxury and the easy life.
• 祖先 [そせん] /ancestor/
• 繁栄 [はんえい] /prosperity/
• 成し遂げる [なしとげる] /to accomplish/
• 進化 [しんか] /evolution/progress/
• 過程 [かてい] /process/
• 獲得 [かくとく] /acquisition (vs)/possession/
• 持続 [じぞく] /continuation/
• 互恵 [ごけい] /reciprocity/mutual benefit/
• 信頼 [しんらい] /reliance (vs)/trust/confidence/
• 共感 [きょうかん] /sympathy/response/
• 感情 [かんじょう] /emotion(s)/feeling(s)/sentiment/
• Summary: Sixty hundred thousand years ago when we split from our chimpanzee ancestors the reason that we prospered was due to process of evolution we acquired language and developed an integrated culture that allowed us to pass on information. What allowed that language and culture to blossom like a flower was the feelings that people had of continuing mutual benefit a trust in each other, and sympathy for each other. This exactly are the things that are "bonds".
• 歩み [あゆみ] /walking/
• 長期 [ちょうき] /long time period/
• 岐路 [きろ] /forked road/crossroads/
• Right now the path of humans and the earth has gone on for a long time, and is standing at a crossroads where we must decide if it can continue or not. What should we do?
• 発想 [はっそう] /expression (music)/conceptualization/
• 隣人 [りんじん] /neighbour/neighbourhood/
• 転換 [てんかん] /convert/divert/
• Summary: From the center of oneself one must become free. From the neighborhood to the Earth, to the Planet, to the future generations, the consciousness of our interdependencies spreads and becomes stronger. If we turn towards that, especially the advanced countries that have almost all of the policies, should slowly work hard for change. Perhaps, that is the only way that a road to a bright future in the year 2000 can open.