2011年3月12日。
ＮＨＫ7時のニュースで初めて放映された釜石の津波映像に、著者は言葉を失う。
高台に避難した住民や子供たちの涙、そして福島第一原発を巡る政府会見の在り方に対する強い違和感。
この文章は、東日本大震災直後の日本社会における映像の衝撃と、政治権力の振る舞いへの批判を記した当日の記録である。
March 12, 2011.
Watching the tsunami footage from Kamaishi aired for the first time on NHK’s 7 p.m. news, the author is overwhelmed with grief.
The tears of evacuees on high ground, including small children, and the confusing government press conferences over Fukushima Daiichi leave him with deep unease
This text is a same-day record of the emotional shock of the disaster’s images and a sharp criticism of political conduct in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
今のＮＨＫ7時のニュース、釜石での津波の映像は胸が潰れる。
2011-03-12
高台に避難していた人が撮影した、この映像は、今、初めて放映された訳だが。
私は見ていて胸が潰れた…。
高台に避難していた住民たちも…。
小さな子供さへも泣いていたが、当然だろう。

今日の記者会見を見ていて思った事…。
2011-03-12
既述の様な事情もあり私は昨日からずーっと2台のテレビをフル回転させて見続けているのですが、本日、18時前に、かなり気になった事があった…。
福島第一原発の件だったのですが。

20時30分からの、同じ官房長官の記者会見は、全く正反対のものだった。

一つの結論を言えば…。
良かった。
流石は日本製鋼…。
日本企業の技術の優秀さの証明。
ご存知の方は多いと思うが、原子力の格納容器は日本製鋼が世界の80%強のシェアを占めているだけではなく、実質的には日本製鋼でなければ作れない…。
シンガポールの日本株投資ファンドマネジャーは、日本企業の中でもオンリー・ワン的な存在の企業を重点的に入れたポート・フォリオを組んでると、かつてインタビューに答えていた事があった。

「格納容器は全く損傷していない」。
やっぱり日本製鋼は本物だったんだなぁ、と。

もう一つは、彼らの説明の仕方の問題。
20時30分からの管首相の記者会見＝国民へのメッセージなるものの後に、18時と同じく官房長官が説明した内容は、18時の記者会見の時に発表できたはずのものだった。

そうはせずに、18時の記者会見時に彼が話した事は、チェーン・メールの類に対する苦言と、マスコミに対して…。
今回、各テレビ局は良くやっていると私は昨日からずーっと見続けていて思っている…。
そのマスコミに対して、不要・無用に思える（今回は特に）…。
規制区域での映像は（撮らないでくれが入っていたのだろうが）立ち入らないでくれとのコメントを入れてくれ…。
そんな事を聞く会見の場ではなかったのだが。

日本テレビだけが、水素爆発によって建屋が吹き飛んだ映像を流したことに対してなのか…。
ならば、代表選の最終局面の決定的な局面で小沢一郎のスキャンダルを週刊誌に流したのは日本テレビだった事と、全く矛盾した話ではあるのだが。

私が単純に思った事は、自分の政治資金献金問題を朝日の一面でスクープされ、もはや絶体絶命だった御仁が、今回の人類史上最大の地震、津波という惨事すら、己の権力維持のために利用する魂胆が見え見えだな、と。

「自分は、朝6時にヘリコプターで視察に行って来ました」、と言う事がメインだった様な記者会見の後に、それでは、後は、小姓に任せるから聞いてくれとばかりに引き下がった。

自分は、完璧にやってますよ、とのアピールの場を作るために、国民に、不要・無用の2時間半の、嫌な心労を与えた、と私は思う。

事が事なだけに、18時に言える事は言うべきだったのは、当の官房長官が、「それはすみませんした」、と謝罪していた事でも明らかなのだから。

③ 原文に忠実に英訳して、私のスタイルで出す

The tsunami footage from Kamaishi on NHK’s 7 p.m. news crushes the heart.
March 12, 2011
This footage, filmed by people who had evacuated to higher ground, was broadcast for the first time just now.
Watching it, I felt my heart crushed….
The residents who had evacuated to higher ground as well….
Even small children were crying, and of course they would.

What I thought while watching today’s press conferences….
March 12, 2011
For reasons already mentioned, I have been watching two televisions at full stretch continuously since yesterday, and just before 6 p.m. today, there was something that troubled me greatly….
It concerned Fukushima Daiichi.

Then, at 8:30 p.m., the press conference by the same Chief Cabinet Secretary was the complete opposite.

If I were to state one conclusion….
It was a relief.
As expected of Japan Steel Works….
Proof of the excellence of Japanese corporate technology.
As many of you probably know, not only does Japan Steel Works hold more than 80 percent of the global share for nuclear reactor pressure vessels, but in practical terms they cannot be made without Japan Steel Works….
A Singapore-based fund manager investing in Japanese equities once said in an interview that he built a portfolio focused on Japanese companies that were truly one-of-a-kind.

“The containment vessel has not been damaged at all.”
So Japan Steel Works really was the real thing, I thought.

The other issue was the way they explained things.
After Prime Minister Kan’s 8:30 p.m. press conference, that so-called message to the people, the Chief Cabinet Secretary then explained, just as he had at 6 p.m., matters that should have been announced at the 6 p.m. press conference in the first place.

Instead of doing that, what he spoke about at the 6 p.m. press conference were complaints about chain mails and remarks directed at the media….
Since yesterday I have been watching continuously and I think each television network has done a very good job this time….
And yet to that media he said things that seemed unnecessary and pointless, especially at a time like this….
He asked them not to enter restricted zones for filming, presumably because they had been told not to shoot there….
But that was not the kind of thing the press conference should have been for.

Was it because only Nippon TV had broadcast the footage of the building being blown apart by the hydrogen explosion….
If so, it is a completely contradictory story, given that it was Nippon TV that leaked Ichiro Ozawa’s scandal to a weekly magazine at the decisive final stage of the party leadership race.

What I simply thought was that the man who had already been cornered beyond hope after his political funding scandal was exposed on the front page of the Asahi Shimbun was now transparently trying to use even this catastrophe, the greatest earthquake and tsunami in human history, for the purpose of maintaining his own power.

After a press conference whose main point seemed to be, “I went by helicopter at 6 a.m. to inspect the site,” he then withdrew as if to say that the rest should be left to his pageboys to explain.

I think he gave the public an unnecessary and unpleasant two and a half hours of mental strain in order to create a stage on which to appeal, “I am handling everything perfectly.”

And given the gravity of the matter, it is obvious that what could have been said at 6 p.m. should indeed have been said then, because the Chief Cabinet Secretary himself apologized, saying, “I am sorry about that.”