４・２８記念式典 「主権」の大切さ考える日に

[The Yomiuri Shimbun] April 2, 2013
A pertinent occasion to ponder the preciousness of 'sovereignty'
４・２８記念式典　「主権」の大切さ考える日に（4月1日付・読売社説）

　◆沖縄の苦難も分かち合いたい◆

After Japan's defeat in the Showa War--a series of wars dating back to the 1931 Manchurian Incident that was followed by the Sino-Japanese War and World War II--the nation rejoined the international community as an independent state when the San Francisco Peace Treaty came into force on April 28, 1952.
　昭和の戦争に敗れた日本が独立国として国際社会に復帰したのは、サンフランシスコ講和条約が発効した１９５２年４月２８日である。

On that day, this country was freed from the occupation by the Allied Powers that lasted about six years and eight months.
　連合国による約６年８か月の占領から解放された。

In a Cabinet meeting in March, the government decided to sponsor the first-ever ceremony on the 28th of this month to commemorate Japan's regaining of its sovereignty and return to the international community.
　政府は先の閣議で、主権回復と国際社会復帰を記念する式典を今月２８日に初めて主催することを決定した。

The ceremony, to be held at Kensei-kinenkan (Memorial Hall of Constitutional Politics) near the Diet Building, will be attended by representatives from a wide spectrum of fields, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Emperor and Empress also will be in attendance.
憲政記念館に天皇、皇后両陛下をお迎えし、安倍首相はじめ各界の代表者が出席する。

Looking back on history, we should regard this event as an opportunity to once again consider the significance of the existence of a sovereign state and living in peace.
　歴史を振り返りつつ、主権国家と平和の持つ意味を改めて考える機会としたい。

Censorship wide-reaching
　◆「言論の自由」にも制約◆

As stipulated in Article 1 of the peace treaty, the state of belligerency between Japan and the Allied Powers under international law was brought to an end that day.
　講和条約第１条に明記されているように、日本と連合国の国際法上の戦争状態は、この日に終了した。

April 28, 1952, can therefore be regarded as the "day the war ended" in a true sense.
真の意味での「終戦の日」と位置付けることが出来よう。

Regarding Japan's postwar democratization processes, there is a strong tendency to consider that such democratic principles as "people's sovereignty" and "freedom of speech" became firmly established when the existing Constitution came into force on May 3, 1947.
　戦後の民主化と言えば、４７年５月３日の新憲法施行と同時に「国民主権」や「言論の自由」が確立されたと考えられがちだ。

During the occupation by the U.S.-led General Headquarters of the Allied Powers, however, directives issued by GHQ were absolute imperatives.
　しかし、占領期の米国主体の連合国軍総司令部（ＧＨＱ）の指令は絶対的なものだった。

Voices critical of the fact that the Constitution was written under the GHQ's initiative were rigorously muzzled.
　憲法がＧＨＱ主導で制定されたことへの批判は封じられた。

Soon after the Constitution took effect, three members of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, including Finance Minister Tanzan Ishibashi, were among public servants purged for failing to comply with GHQ directives.
施行直後も第１次吉田内閣の石橋湛山蔵相ら３閣僚がＧＨＱの意に沿わず、公職追放されている。

Censorship by GHQ was wide-reaching, from criticism against occupation policies to references to international situations. When a U.S. soldier was involved in a criminal incident, Japanese media had no option but to use such euphemisms as "large man" instead of identifying the soldier by name.
　検閲の対象は、占領政策への批判から国際情勢への言及まで多岐にわたった。米兵が事件を起こしても「大男」などと婉曲(えんきょく)な表現で報道せざるを得なかった。

Photos taken just after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were shown to the public only after the Occupation ended.
　原爆が投下された直後の広島、長崎の写真が国民に開示されたのは、占領終了後だった。

The Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead sponsored by the government was first held on May 2, 1952, shortly after Japan regained independence.
　政府主催の全国戦没者追悼式は独立回復直後の５２年５月２日になって初めて実施された。

Memories of the days when this country had been stripped of its sovereignty seem to be gradually fading from the minds of the Japanese people. It is crucial under the circumstances to ask again why this country lost its sovereignty and independence, in the context of Japan's history before the war.
　主権を喪失していたあの時代の記憶は日本人の間で脳裏から次第に薄れてきている。
　日本がなぜ、主権、独立を失ったのか、戦前の歴史も含めて問い直すことが大切なのである。

Disapproval in Okinawa
　◆分離された沖縄の２０年◆

In Okinawa Prefecture, the upcoming commemoration ceremony has been met with a chorus of disapproval.
　政府主催の記念式典に、沖縄では批判の声が上がっている。

This is primarily because the prefecture, along with the Amami Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture and the Ogasawara Islands, which are administered by Tokyo, was separated from the rest of Japan on April 28 61 years ago, and placed under the administration of U.S. forces. Tracts of land were seized and U.S. bases were built one after another.
　６１年前の４月２８日、沖縄は奄美群島（鹿児島県）、小笠原諸島（東京都）と共に日本から分離され、米軍施政下に置かれたからだ。
　土地の強制収用が進められ、米軍基地が次々と建設された。

While the movement to have Okinawa returned to the homeland grew rapidly in the 1960s, Okinawa residents even started calling April 28 "the day of humiliation."
６０年代に入って祖国復帰運動が急速に盛り上がる中で、沖縄の人々は４月２８日を「屈辱の日」とさえ呼ぶようになった。

The Amami Islands were handed back to Japan in 1953 and the Ogasawara Islands in 1968. But it was 1972--20 years after Japan recovered its independence--when the Okinawa Islands were returned to Japan.
　奄美群島は５３年、小笠原諸島は６８年にそれぞれ返還された。沖縄が祖国復帰を果たすのは、日本の独立から２０年後の７２年だった。

A national assembly to commemorate the recovery of sovereignty was held by the Liberal Democratic Party and others at LDP headquarters on April 28 last year. Former Deputy Okinawa Gov. Noriaki Kakazu was invited as a guest. In his address, Kakazu referred to the turbulent history of Okinawa, which went from a bloody battlefield to an occupied territory, and called for Japan to become "a nation that shares both joy and sorrow together," and for April 28 to be "a day when the people make that resolution afresh."
　昨年４月２８日、自民党などが党本部で開いた主権回復記念日国民集会には、沖縄県元副知事の嘉数昇明氏が来賓として招かれた。
　嘉数氏は、戦場から被占領地になった沖縄の苦難の歴史を語り、「喜びも悲しみも共に分かち合う日本でありたい」「４・２８はその覚悟を新たにする日であってほしい」と訴えていた。

　◆「お祝いの日」ではなく◆

In its campaign pledges for the recent House of Representatives election, the LDP created a stir by spelling out its intention to hold a ceremony to celebrate "the day of the return of national sovereignty."
Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima has been lukewarm about the planned ceremony. "It would be difficult to attend if it was meant to be a celebration," he said.
　自民党が先の衆院選公約に政府主催で「主権回復の日」を祝う式典を開くとしたことも物議を醸した。沖縄県の仲井真弘多知事は、式典をめぐって「お祝いであるとすれば、出席しにくい」と慎重な姿勢を示している。

No such ceremony can be held without understanding the mixed feelings of Okinawa residents.
　沖縄県民の複雑な思いへの理解なしに式典は成り立たない。

Security situation severe

Abe has called for the ceremony "to renew our resolution to carve out a future for our country, including Amami, Ogasawara and Okinawa." His remarks clearly took into consideration the sentiments of residents of Okinawa.
　安倍首相が政府主催の式典について、「奄美、小笠原、沖縄を含めた我が国の未来を切り開いていく決意を新たにしていく」と意義付けたのも、こうした沖縄の声を踏まえてのことだろう。

The security situation surrounding Japan is severe. Our sovereignty has been jeopardized almost daily.
　日本を取り巻く環境は厳しい。統治権は日々脅かされている。

In waters near the Senkaku Islands of Okinawa Prefecture, China, which belatedly started claiming sovereignty over the islands, has repeatedly sent patrol vessels to the area, intruding into Japan's territorial waters.
　沖縄県の尖閣諸島周辺では、尖閣の領有権を主張するようになった中国が、監視船を送り込んで領海侵犯を繰り返している。

Meanwhile, the Takeshima islets of Shimane Prefecture remain illegally occupied by South Korea. Under the San Francisco Treaty, the islets were excluded from the areas that Japan had to relinquish. But just before the treaty came into force, South Korea unilaterally established the Syngman Rhee Line, a boundary established by the then South Korean president, and declared it possessed the islets.
　島根県・竹島は韓国の不法占拠下にある。サンフランシスコ講和条約では、日本が放棄すべき地域から除外されていたが、韓国が条約発効直前、一方的に李承晩ラインを設定し、領有を宣言した。

Russia has tightened its effective control over the northern territories off Hokkaido, even though 56 years have passed since Tokyo and Moscow restored diplomatic relations in 1956.
　北方領土は１９５６年の日ソ国交回復から５６年を経た現在、ロシアの実効支配が強まっている。

There is also the issue of sovereignty infringements by North Korea, with dozens of Japanese, including Megumi Yokota, being abducted by Pyongyang agents.
　横田めぐみさんらが北朝鮮の工作員に拉致されて主権が侵害された問題も、今なお続いている。

These pending issues remain unresolved probably because Japanese people as a whole are scarcely aware of the nation's sovereign rights.
　これらの懸案が解決されないのは、国全体で主権に対する意識が希薄だからではないだろうか。

Japan is now one of the world's wealthiest countries. As a responsible, sovereign state, it must continue its efforts to maintain peace, prosperity and freedom.
　日本は今、世界で最も豊かな国の一つだ。責任ある主権国家として、平和と繁栄、自由を維持する努力を続けねばならない。

The Japanese people should deepen their understanding of sovereignty issues and see them in a new light. We hope the ceremony to commemorate the return of this nation's sovereignty will become an opportunity to do just this.
　日本人が主権に対する認識を深め、新たにもする。主権回復の記念式典をその契機としたい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 1, 2013)
（2013年4月1日01時17分  読売新聞）