健康と統合医療 先ず、健康に関してWHO(世界保健機関)の憲章前文では「完全な肉体的、精神的及び社会的福祉の状態であり、単に疾病又は病弱の存在しないことではない。」(“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”)と定義されている。つまり、バランスが取れたら状態を言い、そのバランスが失われた時、全ての側面から取り戻す努力が必要だ。 このような「包括的」な観点をもつ医療は昔から医療の原点でもある。最近これが「統合医学」又は「統合医療」(integrative medicine)と呼ばれ、世界中の注目を浴びている。しかし日本に於いて相変わらず西洋医学(保健医療)と他の医療体系(例えば東洋医学)の「混合医療」は禁止されている。西洋医学に完全頼り切っている。但し、その体系は論議の余地のないほど極めて高価で高度の技術をようする。その目標を実現に当たって要求されるリソースを考えれば国民のためになるとは思えない。WHOはこの問題を既に1983に出版された ”Traditional Medicine and Health Care Coverage” (日本語版:1995「世界伝統医学大全」) 取り上げた。世界各地の人々の保健を充実したいならば、その地域や文化に従来から利用されている手段を検証し、十分の利用価値を裏付けるものなら最先端の技術と統合しなければならない。後にこう言った概念を踏まえて”HFA2000” (Health For All by the year 2000、全世界に於いて)計画が発表された。2004年現在でも実現まで至っていないし、高価の西洋医学のみでは不可能だと判断せざるを得ない。
一人の患者に多数種の薬を処方されるのも一般的ですが、それぞれの薬品が認可されるために行われる臨床試験において大体一種の薬しか検討されない。薬物相互作用に関して2種、多くて3種までが調べられる。同時に8種や10種、場合によって異なる医療機関に重なるような薬を処方される方においてこの組み合わせはこの患者に於いて本当に安全かどうか誰も知らない!これこそ先進国が目指しているEBM (evidence based medicine) で示されている目標より遅れているかを証明している。
“Translation is not about words – translation is about what the words are about.”
Throughout modern history a lot of things have been termed “common place” and been referred to uncountable times. Common place means that something is common, natural and understood by everybody. Yet, by definition that has to be restricted to specific people, cultures and times. Given this common place background, it might be worthwhile to think a little about the translator’s job. S/he has to transfer material, usually present in written form, from one language to another. Doing so in some specialized area with heavy use of technical terms can be a rather clear-cut endeavor, precisely because of the technical terms. Mostly they define in very succinct ways what there is to be said among specialists who know what they are talking about. Admittedly, this form of straight communication may at times be endangered the very nature of the “specialists”, who are so good at what they are doing / researching that their minds sometimes jump ahead of their writings, leaving the translator (and reader) wondering how to fill in the gaps. The real problems start, when you are talking about something considered very simple, namely common place concepts. So, if I as a German in Germany for example call to my family “let’s sit down to dinner”, it would be natural, or common place, to think of people sitting on chairs around a table. Yet, that may not be true for regions outside Europe and America. Here in Japan, if I use the same words to ask my family to sit down, that would mean sitting with legs tugged under on the floor. The same person uses the same words and they still mean different things. Please observe that “common place” refers to a place, where people share “common ground“. Elsewhere in the world people may sit down to dinner, but do neither really sit on the floor or chairs nor use a table. This is the time when the “common sense” and finesse of the translator kicks in. S/he has to decide where the source material originated from, where it is headed and what it is being used for. Often the translator does not have all this information. Also, if a person/translator has a working knowledge of the target language, but does not live or has been living in the region where the particular language is spoken, s/he may not be completely aware of all the aspects of sometimes verbally not expressed common places.
森戸海岸に “Scapes” と言うホテルが建てられた後に、そのホテルに連絡した事ある。ホテルのHPから表現を借用する:「穏やかな海と深い森を湛える」のような場所が好き。本来漁村のままであればなおさらに良いでしょう。鍼灸師として私は特に「自然」や「生態」等の概念に関して頻繁に考えるのは仕事柄でしょう。その観点から貴社のホテルは葉山町の自然環境を少なくとも乱して、若しくは破壊している印象が極めて強いです。もし「calm blue sea and deep green forest」に魅力を感じるようでしたら、どちらにも真四角の形態は存在していない事にも気づいていただければありがたい。貴社のホテルは真四角で灰色/黒、前面殆ど黒のものです。それは「blue sea and deep green forest」と調和する「本質を捉えたデザイン」と本当に信じているのでしょうか。昔の日本建築巨匠の伝統と精神は何処に消え去ったでしょうか。海岸から見れば真四角の黒いコンクリートブロックは眼にも心にも痛々しく写ります。お客さんは中にいるから自分(ホテル)のが見えないで海の眺めを楽しめるため、町民はその何ともいえない姿を耐えなければなりません。「a sophisticated façade, that excites the adult sensibility」:私も一応「成人」のつもりですが、上記の通り私の「sensibility」はどちらかと言えば苦しめられています。車庫に並んでいる殆ど東京ナンバーの高級車でいらっしった方々のsensibility がexciteするでしょうか。それともこの黒いコンクリートブロックは自然界と全く調和しない事を感じないようでしたら、残念の気持ちで嘆きたい。
Trek bikes & quality Last month my four children pooled some money and bought me a new Trek FX 7.7 bicycle for my 60th birthday. That is because the “60th” birthday is based on Buddhistic concepts something very special here in Japan, but I am not going into that now. So, I got that new bike. For “safety reasons” I did not ask or check its price. If I did, I might get a heart attack! But I am sure it is quite some “luxury bike” – at least for me. The frame is made of carbon fiber, but there are naturally bolts, nuts and other metal parts all over it. After only FOUR WEEKS (4! weeks) a major portion not only of those bolt and nuts, but also the other metal parts are covered in rust! Being covered in rust after only 4 weeks, I am forced to expect those bolts and nuts to fail within the year. Rotten! The only explanation for this phenomenon I can think of is the use of cheap, inferior quality Chinese products. After all, all those shiny metal parts on a product designed for OUTDOOR USE should NOT rust in only a few weeks. I took the liberty of following the invitation “Contact us” on the Japanese Trek website to describe this very poor quality. The computer returned an automated message and a little later my wife at home got a phone call from Trek Japan, telling her (I was not at home) that the company Trek DOES NOT DEAL WITH / DOES NOT CARE ABOUT this kind of problem. I am supposed to speak to the retailer. I VERY MUCH doubt, the retailer chose those metal parts! Since Trek Japan (I live in Japan) did not care, I tried the same thing via “Contact us” on the American Trek website. Here I got ONLY the automated message. In the brochure that comes with the bike the founder of the company, Mr. Burke, invites people to write to him personally, if they are not 100% satisfied. I DID write him, but so far have not received any answer.