第９回毎日パソコン入力コンクール　６月大会
第４部　英文Ｂ（文字数５，６００字程度）
平成２０年１２月２４日、１２月２２日付　毎日新聞社説・余録より引用し英訳
Birth of "Satoumi" - The Chance to Be Close to the Sea

Editorial: Birth of "Satoumi" - The Chance to Be Close to the Sea
 There has been much focus in recent years on the Japanese word "Satoumi." The concept calls for supplanting "Satoyama", a remote location where people could gather firewood or enjoy gathering mushrooms, with the sea. It is helpful to visualize a beach where parents take their children to enjoy digging up clams. Japan's Environment Ministry has started to support the creation of seaside locations in its 3-year plan from this year, and has approved a budget of 25 million yen for the first year and 21 million yen the next year. This opportunity allows for pro-active public participation in realizing a beautiful ocean.
 The Ako shoreline in Hyogo Prefecture and Omura Bay in Nagasaki Prefecture are among the 4 coastal regions targeted for support this year. Increased planting of eel grass by civic groups, nature tours and other activities will be supported, while the creation of useful manuals for other regions will be promoted.
 Creating a "Satoumi" is not based on nostalgia for seashore vistas of days gone by. Closed-off coastal areas such as Seto Inland Sea, Tokyo Bay and Ise Bay are easily affected by water pollution leading to a serious drop in marine industries. Biodiversity may be wiped out if nothing is done. So improving the environment of these coastal areas is expected to be an effective means of reverting back to a healthy ocean.
 Tetsuo Yanagi, a professor of coastal oceanography at Kyushu University, was the first to define this word in 1998 as "coastal regions with strong productivity and biodiversity made possible through human intervention." The painstaking notion is long-term research on the environment of the Seto Inland Sea where mechanisms leading to red tides occur.
 What is needed specifically? The answer is to maintain an uninterrupted flow of substances from the mountain to the river and from the river to the sea. Nutrients transferred from the forests and remote mountain villages flow into the sea through rivers, providing nourishment to plankton which fish and shellfish eat. Interrupting this food chain is the cause of red tides. Oxygen in the oceans virtually disappears leading to dysoxic bodies of water where life ceases to exist. This is an oceanic metabolic syndrome.
 Covering natural coastlines with concrete seawalls and disrupting rivers with dams cannot preserve smooth circulation. Destroying tidal wetlands by landfilling which creates underwater forests for larval fish to grow and a home for shellfish that work to purify water is forbidden. Landfilling by public entities should be strictly controlled, and seawalls close to natural shorelines should be created when repairing harbors so that life can be easily sustained.
 Beautiful forests must be protected. Oyster farmers in Miyagi Prefecture first started planting trees in mountains 20 years ago under the banner "The forest is the soul mate of the sea." The campaign of the Japan Fisheries Cooperative in taking over on this has spread nationwide. Participation by the general public held by the Japan Fisheries Cooperative in reforestation, coastal cleanups, and the creation of sea grass beds is encouraging.
 Meanwhile, much of the garbage in the Seto Inland Sea flows in from cities through the rivers. Environmental improvements are uncertain while urban dwellers are uninterested in ocean pollution. I hope creating a "Satoumi" provides a chance for the public to think about being closer to the sea.
Source: The Mainichi Newspapers, December 24, 2008

Front Page Editorial: Preference of the World's Premiere Athletes
 The shot-put preferred by the world's foremost athletes was created by a Japanese craftsman. His name became widely known when he refused to have his shot-put used at the Beijing Olympics. Masahisa Tsujitani (75) operates a small factory in Fujimi City, Saitama Prefecture. Athletes with this shot-put had won at three consecutive Olympics up until Athens in 2004. The reason why Mr. Tsujitani did not send his shot-put to Beijing is that he became tired of the anti-Japanese furor caused by Chinese spectators at the AFC Asian Cup in the year of the Athens Olympics. "A Craftsman's Pride". Tomohiro Koseki, a former lathe worker writer, has weaved together the true value of craftsman in his book entitled "100 Words Created at the Workplace" (Hayakawa Publishing, Inc.). "The small workshops have been factories in waiting mode. If one could endure a relatively bad economy, things would get better. But it is not like that anymore. My work at the factory is in an era I will create." Conveying the determination of factory owners who overcame the Heisei Recession. Small workshops are still feeling the ill effects of the economy. Around 6,500 of these factories in Higashi Osaka City had a chilly end of the year. However, this is where Maido No. 1 (SOHLA-1), a small satellite at 50 centimetres cubed was created. A coalition of industry and academia spent 6 years until its completion. "We wanted to attract young people to these factory locations." As one of the founders, Toyohiko Aoki (63) manufactures aircraft parts. His is the smallest authorized Boeing facility worldwide. Craftsmen have survived through their knowledge, skills and grit. "You (the employee) are the backbone of our company." Mr. Koseki writes about Mr. Aoki's spirit. "Maido No. 1" will launch from the Tanegashima Space Center on the 21st of next month with the pride and purpose of the craftsmen.
Source: The Mainichi Newspapers, December 22, 2008