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| 武士は拾わない Samurai do not pick up things that are on the floor. |
| ◆ 数年前の某歴史雑誌に、「小栗忠順はワシントン海軍造船所見学の際、工場の床に落ちていた一本のネジを拾って持ち帰った」と、拾う姿のイラスト入り記事が載ったことがあった。それほど多くの人が見る雑誌ではないからと放っておいたら、最近この文章をもとにしたらしい別の歴史家の文章でやはり「ネジを１本拾ってきた」と書いていた。 ◆A few years ago, a history magazine published an article with an illustration of a person picking up something, with the explanation that "When Tadamasa Oguri was touring the Washington Naval Shipyard, he picked up a screw that had fallen on the factory floor and brought it home." I ignored it, thinking that it was not a magazine that many people read. However, recently, another historian, who had apparently based his article on this article, also wrote that "he picked up a single screw." この文章には２つの誤りがある。 １、基本的に武士は落ちているものを拾ってそのまま黙って持ち帰るようなことはしない。 欲しければきちんと断って持ち主の了解を得てから持ち帰る。それ以前に、落ちているものに手を出すことはしないようしつけられている―「みっともないことをするな」という言葉で―。やたら落ちているものを拾って喜ぶような「さもしい心がけで生きてはいけない」という意味である。この武士の心がけは戦争がなかった江戸時代２６０年間に一般庶民にも広まって、日本人全体の心がけになってきたはずだが、近年は歴史研究家でも気にしなくなったらしい。 ２，持ち帰ったネジは「一本ではない」 箱でもらってきて「日本もこういうネジをどんどん作れる国にしたい」とお土産に配った。そのうちの一本が東善寺に保管されている。それを平成１４（２００２）年１１月２０日NHK「その時歴史が動いた」という番組で松平定知アナが「一本のネジを握りしめて持ち帰った」というナレーションで紹介したので世間に知られ、一本だけ持ち帰ったように誤解されている。 There are two errors in these sentences. 1. Generally, samurai would not just pick up something they found lying around and take it home without saying anything. If they want it, they politely ask and get the owner's permission before taking it home. First of all, they were told not to do anything shameful and were trained not to pick up anything they found lying around. This means that they should not live with a shameful attitude, such as picking up things they find lying around and getting excited about them. This samurai attitude spread to the general public during the 260 years of the Edo period, when there was no war, and must have become the attitude of all Japanese people. However, it seems that even history researchers have stopped caring about it in recent years. 2. Oguri brought back " more than one screw." Oguri received a box of screws in the U.S. and brought them back to Japan, distributing them as souvenirs, saying, "I want Japan to become a country that can make a lot of screws like these." One of the screws is kept at Tozenji Temple. On November 20, 2002, NHK's announcer Sadatomo Matsudaira narrated the program "Sonotoki rekishi ga Ugoita" (When History Changed) as "he brought it home clutching a single screw," which led to the misunderstanding that Oguri brought back only one screw. |
 ▲小栗忠順がアメリカから持ち帰ったネジ A screw brought back from the U.S. by Tadamasa Oguri |
| ◆ 以前にカナダ・ヴァンクーバーの海沿いの公園を訪れた時、入口ふきんに子供を連れた母親がやってきてツカツカと公衆電話ボックスが並ぶ方へ向かっていった。何気なく見ていると、電話ボックスの釣り銭返却口に指を差し込んで、次々にチェックしてゆく。何をしている？一瞬戸惑ったが、ほかの人が取り忘れた釣り銭を手に入れようと探しているとわかって、違和感を覚えた。日本で通りすがりに電話ボックスの釣り銭口を次々にチェックする人はあまり見ない。日本人はそういう行動を「恥」として、ほとんどの人が自制する。まして子供連れで平気でそれをするのでは、教育上良くない、と考える。私の戸惑いは、日本ではあまり見かけない風景からだった。 ◆ 近年、コロナ禍が収まって来日する外国人観光客が増えていると伝える番組で、「日本では落とした財布が戻ってきた！」「しかも中身がそのままで・・・驚いた！」と喜ぶ外国人の様子が伝えられる。「私の国では、あり得ない」と感激、「戻ってきても、パスポートなどだけ、お金は抜かれているのがふつう…」という人もいる。日本人を褒ほめてもらうのは嬉しい。でも基本的に日本では戻ってくるのが当たり前、のように考えている。 ◆ その違いはなんだろう。 電話ボックスに取り忘れたお金はせいぜい数十ドル。それをわざわざ探って手に入れた外国人は、道路に落ちていた数十ドル数百ドルもやはりポケットに入れるのだろう。 日本人の場合は子供といっしょに交番を探して、届ける人が多い。それが子どもの教育に良い結果をもたらす、と考えている。では数千円、数万円入りのバッグや財布ならどうする。やはり日本人は「落とした人はさぞ困っているだろう」と考えて届ける。 ◆When I once visited a seaside park in Vancouver, Canada, a mother with her child came to the entrance and walked briskly towards the row of public telephone booths. As I watched, she inserted her fingers into the change slot of the telephone booth and checked each one. What was she doing? I was confused for a moment, but then I realized that she was looking for the change that someone else had left behind, and I felt something was off. In Japan, you don't often see people checking the change slots of telephone booths one after another as they pass by. Most Japanese people consider such behavior "shameful" and refrain from doing it. Especially when they are accompanied by children, they think it is not good for their education. My confusion was due to the fact that this is a scene that is not often seen in Japan. ◆ In recent years, a TV program reporting that the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic subsided showed foreigners expressing their joy, saying, "In Japan, I got my wallet back!" and "What's more, the contents were still there... I was surprised!" Some were thrilled, saying, "In my country, this would never happen," and "Even if it does come back, it's normal for only the passport and other documents to remain, with the money gone..." It's nice to hear Japanese people praised. But in Japan, it's generally considered normal for wallets to come back. ◆ What is the difference? The money left in the phone booth is only a few dollars at most. Foreigners who go to the trouble of searching for it will likely also put tens or hundreds of dollars they find on the street into their pockets. Many
Japanese people search for police boxes with their children and
return lost property, believing that this will have a positive effect
on their children's education. But what about bags or wallets
containing several thousand or tens of thousands of yen? As expected,
Japanese people think, "The person who lost it must be in a lot
of trouble," and return it. |
 ▲コマクサ ほかの草が生えない酸性土壌地に 根を深く下ろして孤高の花を咲かせる p c▲ Dicentra: It has deep roots in acidic soil where no other grass can grow, and blooms as a solitary flower. |
| ◆ いつごろからこういう日本人が出来ていったのか。私は江戸時代２６０年間、戦争をしなかった時代に育はぐくまれたのだろうと考えている。いくさ続きの世が収まって平和な時代が長く続くと、交通事情が良くなり、宿屋が発達し、いろいろな人々が安心して旅ができる時代になった。旅をすると水一杯を飲ませてもらっても行く先々で受けた親切が身にしみてありがたく感じられる。「困った時はお互い様」と昔の大人はよく言って助け合った。そうした考え方の基本に武士の心がけがあった。武士の子供は人として恥じない心構えと行いを強く教え込まれた。そういう武士の心がけは長い平和な時間の中で自然に町人・農民にも染み込み、現在の日本人の原型となっているように思う。 （村上泰賢） ◆ When did this type of Japanese begin to develop? I think it was nurtured during the 260 years of the Edo period, a time when there was no war. As the constant wars of the world subsided and a long period of peace continued, transportation improved, inns developed, and people of all kinds were able to travel with peace of mind. When traveling, you feel deeply grateful for the kindness you receive at each place you visit, even if it is just for a glass of water. "We're all in this together when we're in trouble," adults in the past would often say, and help each other out. The samurai mindset was at the foundation of this way of thinking. Children of samurai were firmly instilled with the mindset and conduct to be worthy of respect as human beings. I believe that this samurai mindset naturally seeped into townspeople and farmers over the long period of peace, and became the prototype of modern-day Japanese people. (Taiken Murakami) |
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