Learn Intermediate Japanese – Lesson 25：のびる

Learn Intermediate Japanese – Lesson 25：のびる
Textbook テーマ別 中級から学ぶ日本語 (intermediate Japanese textbook)_chuukyuukara_manabu.

LESSON 25: 「のびる」GROWING

Vocabulary:

Grammar:
II – 文法 (Grammar)
A) (～における/～においては/～においても) at a certain place or time
名＋おいては

会議は第一会議室において行われる
The meeting is held in meeting room one.

現代においては､コンピューターは不可欠なものである。
In modern times, computers are indispensable.

我が国においても､青少年の犯罪が増えている。
In our country, the number of young offenders is rising.

それは私の人生における最良の日であった。
That was the happiest day of my life.

B) (～さえ～ば）as long as….provided that
—————–+動ーば
——————+い形ーければ
名+さえ　+ な形＿なら
—————–+名＿なら
動＿ます形　＋さえ＋すれば/しなければ
い形ーく ＋さえ＋あれば/なければ
な形ーで　＋さえ＋あれば/なければ
名ーで ＋さえ＋あれば/なければ

1)住所さえ分かれば､地図で探していきます
As long as I have the address, I will find it with a map.

2)あなたのご都合さえよければ、今度の日曜日のコンサートのチケットを買っておきます
As long as you are not busy, I will buy tickets for a concert next Sunday.

3)体さえ丈夫なら、どんな苦労にも耐えられると思う
As long as I am healthy, I can put up with any hardship.

4)言葉さえ共通なら､お互いにもっとコミュニケーションがよくできたでしょう.
If only we had a common language, we could probably have communicated better.

5)インスタントラーメンはお湯を入れさえすれば､食べられる便利な食品っだ。
Instant noodles are a convenient food: just pour in boiling water and you can eat them straight away.

6)道が込みさえしなければ､駅までタクシー 10 分ぐらいだ。
As long as the roads are not congested, you can get to the station by taxi in about 10 minutes.

7)交通が便利でさえあれば､この辺も住みやすいのだが。
As long as transport is convenient, this area really is a pleasant place to live.

C) ～たび : every time
辞書形
名の

その歌うたび､幼い日のことを思い出す
Every time I hear that song, I suddenly remember my childhood.

私は旅行のたびに､絵葉書を買います。
Every time I travel, I buy postcards.

その川は大雨のたびに､水があふれて被害が起きている。
That river overflows and causes damage every time it rains.

D) ～つつある: gradually, in the process of (written style)
ます形
景気は徐徐に回復しつつある
The economy is gradually recovering.

問題は改善されつつあるが､時間がかかりそうだ。
The problem is gradually improving, but it looks like it will take time

失われつつある伝統文化を守ろうと努力している人もいる。
There are also people working hard to protect the traditional culture that is gradually being lost.

Reading comprehension:
“「あの時代がおかしかったんですよ」おやじさんが、口をはさんだ。同僚と長い続く不景気の話を始めたときのことだ。「作りさえすれば何でも売れた時代があったもんだから、調子に乗りすぎて自分の本当の姿を見失って たんだよ、国全体がね」商社を途中で退職して、包丁を握る[ にぎる ]ことにしたというおやじさんの言葉には、次第に熱が入ってきた。「おやじさんの昔の話なんか聞くの、初めてだな」いつもの所で一杯やっていた同僚と私は顔を見合わせた。それからしばらく、おやじさんも交えて[ まじえる ]経済の話になった。
“Those were strange times.”, the old man said, clicking his tongue. That was when he began telling his colleagues about the long recession. “Because there was a time when, as long as you could make something, anything would sell, and people worked too hard and did not even know who they were any more, the whole country was like that.” The words of the old man, who had left a trading company halfway through his career to become a cook, gradually grew more animated. My colleague and I looked at each other over our drinks and, as always at that point, said: “We have never heard your stories from the old days before”. After a while, the old man began talking about the economy in that period of change.

***

戦後わずか四十年ほどの間に, 資源も資本も持たない日本が、様々な困難に遭う [au]たびにそれに対応、克服(こくふく)して奇跡(きせき)的な経済成長を遂(と)げた。 そればかりか、二度にわたる石油危機も乗り切り、有数の経済大国[taikoku]として世界経済におかける重要[jūyōna]な役割yakuwari をも果たすようになった。
In the few decades after the war in the 1940s, Japan had neither resources nor money, but every time it faced difficulties it responded and overcame them, achieving miraculous economic growth. Not only that, it got through two oil crises and came to play a key role in the world as an outstanding economic power.

***

国を挙(あ)げての経済発展のかけ声の下、企業はどこも、世界市場で十分な競争力を持つ商品の発達を目指して、優勝(ゆうしょう)な人材を確保(かくほ)し、幅広(はばひろ)い技術を身に付けさせる。と同時に、日本独特の終身(しゅうしん)雇用(こよう)制度で身分を保障し、年功序列(ねんこうじょれつ)にしたがって雇用者を昇進させ、給与を上げることで、社員の帰属意識を強くしてきた。時には貿易摩擦(ぼうえきまさつ)を引き起こした国々から「日本株式[ かぶしき ]会社」と冗談交じりに呼ばれるほどに、企業は国と一体となって業績(ぎょうせき)を伸ばしてきた。
Answering the call of the nation’s economic development, every company and factory, aiming to develop goods fully competitive in the world market and to secure excellent human resources, equipped itself with plenty of technology. At the same time, by guaranteeing (workers’) social position through Japan’s unique lifetime employment system, promoting seniority-based employment and raising wages, companies strengthened workers’ sense of belonging to the company. Sometimes jokingly called “Japan Inc.” by countries it had trade disputes with, companies expanded their activities as one with the whole nation

****

「「仕事は」って聞かれると、会社の名前を答えてたものな」おやじさんの顔に懐かしそうな表情が浮かんだ。「社長が父親役で、従業員(じゅうぎょういん)全員が家族」そう語る[ かたる ]おやじさんの言葉が当時の状況をよく物語[ ものがたり ]っている。もっとも、その辺の事情は同僚と私も知らないわけではない。
“When asked your occupation, you answered with the name of your company straight away”, and a look of nostalgia showed on the old man’s face. “The president played the role of father, and all the employees were family” were words he often used when recalling those days. It is not as if my colleagues and I did not know how things were.

***

家にいる時間よりも会社にいる時間の方が長い、そんな生活の繰り返しの時代だった。
今振り返ってみれば、目先の利益ばかり追っていたと言われるかもしれないが、それでも一生懸命頑張り、業績(ぎょうせき) はどんどん伸びた。
It was an age when people spent more time at the company than at home, living that way over and over. If you tried to go back to that now, you might be accused of chasing short-term profit, but even so everyone tried their very hardest, and the results kept growing.

***

しかしながら、利益にばかりとらわれているうちに何かを見失い[ みうしな い ]、ふと気が付くと、残ったのはカネとモノだけにしか価値(かち)を見いだせない人間、そして、ひどい公害[ こうがい ]だけだった。
However, while profits were being made, something was being lost, and when you think about it, what people were left with was only material and monetary value; that was a terrible kind of pollution.

***

その後、はかないシャボン玉のような存在だったバブル景気の崩壊(ほうかい)がきっかけとなって、長い不況時代へ。今、テレビや新聞紙上[ しじょう]では、かつてない規模で続く倒産(とうさん)、リストラによる高い失業率(しつぎょうりつ)、新卒者の就職難と、毎日のように深刻な状況が報道されている。
Then the collapse of the bubble economy triggered a long era of recession. Now, in the newspapers and on TV, the serious situation is reported every day: bankruptcies on an unprecedented scale, high unemployment due to staff cuts, and a lack of jobs for new graduates.

***

もっとも一方では、残業に取られなくなった時間や週休二日制でできた余暇(よか)を利用して、ボランティア活動や障害(しょうがい)教育のクラスに参加する余裕[ よゆう ]を持った人たちも確実に増えてきている。「自分らしく」をキーワードに「カネとモノからココロに目を向ける時代」へ移りつつあるという。人間が人間らしく生きるために、長期的な視野[ しや ]に立って揺(ゆ)らぐことのない社会の基礎(きそ)を築(きず)くことの大切さが、今こそ問われているのかもしれない。
On the other hand, however, the number of people who do not work overtime and use their free time under the two-day weekend system to join classes on disabilities or volunteer activities has also steadily increased. And then comes a shift to “an age that turns its eyes from money and material things to the heart” with the keyword “being yourself”. Building the foundation of a stable society based on a long-term vision, so that people can live as human beings: this may be exactly the question we need to ask right now.

***

「二度とあんな時代は来ないよ。いや、来て欲しくないね。嫌だよ、あんな人生。ハイ、ビールね」他の客の注文(ちゅうもん)も聞きながら「包丁持って二十五年。皮肉(ひにく)な話だけど、金は無(な)くても今の方がずっと地道[じみち]に、自分の方で生きてるような気がするよ」おやじさんは言葉を続けた。
“An age like that won’t come a second time. And I don’t want it to. I didn’t like that kind of life. Yes, a beer, was it.” While taking a customer’s order, the old man went on “25 years in the knife trade, it’s quite funny, but even without money I want things to stay like this; I feel like I am living my own way”.