縁の意義を見失ったジェダイ騎士団The Jedi: An Order that Fell Out of Touch
晩期の旧共和国でのジェダイ騎士団はフォースに対してかなり独断的な解釈を取り、そのあげくフォースの全体を見えなくなってしまったと言っても過言ではない。そして、その独断的な解釈が足枷になり、フォースの流れを自由かつ柔軟に対応できなくなってしまうことになった。敢えていうなら、この独断的な解釈に対する「確信」がいつの間にか「執着」へと変異し、ジェダイ騎士団の礎に大きな亀裂を拓いてしまった。
The Jedi Order in the waning days of the Old Republic held a very dogmatic view of the Force. Indeed, it would be no exaggeration to say that this dogma prevented them from fully seeing the Force, acting as a sort of shackles that denied them the ability to freely and flexibly respond to the flow of the Force. In the end, the case can be made that this sense of conviction placed in their own dogmatic interpretation transformed into a sense of attachment that cracked the foundations of the Jedi Order.
「執着」という単語はスターウォーズファンの耳に馴染みのある単語であろう。「執着＝暗黒面の道」というイメージを植え付けさせたのはエピソード３「シスの復讐」にアナキンへの諭しとしてマスターヨーダが言った言葉。「執着は嫉妬を生む。それは貪欲の影じゃ。」「執着」は「執」と「着」で構成されている二字熟語であり、どちらも意味深い字でもあるが、ここで検証してみたいのは「執」の字である。「スターウォーズ：漢字の奥義」はこう解説する：「執」の「幸」は「手かせ」のこと。手かせをはめられ、ひきまずいている人のさまをかたどっている。つまり、「とらえる」の意。そこから「じっと保持する」という意味が生まれた。執着、執心などの熟語はいずれも、何かにしつこくこだわることを意味する。」
The word “attachment” is likely a familiar one to many a Star Wars fan. It is often considered to be synonymous with the road to the Dark Side, an image that was firmly planted by the admonishment that Master Yoda gave to Anakin in Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith: “Attachment leads to jealousy, the shadow of greed, that is.” The Japanese word used to convey the meaning of “attachment” in this context is shuuchaku (執着). The two kanji characters that make up this word hold deep meaning in their own right, but here I would like to focus specifically on the first one, 執 (shuu). The book Mastering Kanji through Star Wars provides this insight into the character: “The 幸 part of the character 執 implies “shackles.” The shape of the character is meant to evoke the image of a person on their knees with their hands bound; in essence someone who has been captured. This gave rise to the meaning of “fiercely preserve/hold on to”. The Japanese words shuuchaku (執着) and shuushin (執心) both carry the meaning of holding on to something (idea, belief) possessively and steadfastly. 
Source: Disney/Lucasfilm
本書はその後にこう付き加える：「何かをしっかりと守り続けることは、必ずしも悪いことばかりとはいえない。だが、ひとつのものに執着し、こだわり続ければ、自分をそこに縛り付けることになってしまう。逆に自分が縛られて、自由を失うことになりかねないだろう。ジェダイの師達が執着を禁じたのは、そのせいに違いない。」しかし、皮肉にもその執着に対する独断的な解釈がジェダイ騎士団を縛りつけることになり、フォースを読み取る自由を失わせることに繋がった。その結果、本来守るべきものを守れなくなってしまった。それは「銀河の平和」、そしてその平和の中に暮らしたい希望を持つのは「民」である。ジェダイ騎士団が民へ目を配れなくなったのはフォースに対するその独断的な解釈を守ることにあまりにも必死であったため、気付かないうちに銀河社会を疎んじることになってしまったからだ。
The book follows up the explanation of the character 執with this passage: “The desire to steadfastly protect something is not necessarily bad in of itself. However, if you remain overly fixated on that one thing, you eventually become attached to it. In a different light, you become bound by that attachment, which can eventually deprive you of your own liberty to act. This is clearly the motivation behind the Jedi masters decision to prohibit attachments.” Ironically, however, this dogmatic interpretation of “attachment” ended up shackling the Jedi Order itself, depriving it of the liberty to read the Force. As a result, they ultimately became unable to protect the very thing they were supposed to protect: peace in the galaxy, and the citizens who desired to live their lives in peace. The Jedi lost sight of these citizens because they had failed to realize they had grown indifferent to the galactic society at large, the consequence of their fervent commitment to upholding their dogmatic views of the Force.
本来の意義を見失ったジェダイの在り様を如実に物語るシーンはクローン・ウォーズの最後のシーズンの第七話にある。ジェダイ―騎士団を去ったアナキン・スカイウォーカーの元パダワンであったアソーカ・タノがコルサントのアンダーワールドにマルテス姉妹と出会い、その二人と組んで手を貸すことになる。ある仕事のために惑星ケッセルに行った三人だが、パイクの犯罪組織に捕まれてしまう。牢の中に計画がしくじった理由をもめる中、ジェダイめいた発言をしたアソカ（実は元ジェダイだが）に対して姉のラファが怒り出して、姉妹が何故ジェダイを気に食わない理由を明かす。アソーカと出会うの数年前にマルテス家族がズィロー・ザ・ハットの脱獄事件に巻き込まれ、両親がその事件の犠牲者にもなってしまった。両親と住居が失われてしまった二人の姉妹を訪れたジェダイ―が手助けすることもなく、「フォースが共にあります」だけと言い、その場を去った。
Episode seven in the final series of The Clone Wars provides a lucid example of how the Jedi had lost sight of their purpose. Ahsoka Tano, former Padawan of Anakin Skywalker, has made her way to the underworld of Coruscant after leaving the Jedi Order. There she meets the Martez sisters, and ends up helping them with some jobs. One of these jobs takes them to Kessel, but the three of them end up getting captured by the Pike criminal organization. In the prison cell, an argument ensues over why their plan went awry, with the older sister Rafa angered by the Jedi-like comment that Ahsoka makes, prompting her to reveal why the two sisters do not like the Jedi. She then proceeds to describe how a few years back her parents got caught up in the escape of gangster Jiro the Hutt, with both of them losing their lives as a result. After losing their parents and home, Rafa describes how they were visited by a Jedi. However, rather than offering a helping hand, the Jedi merely says “May the Force be with you” and then goes on her way.
Source: Disney/Lucasfilm
二人の人生を悲劇にしてしまった事件にジェダイが絡んだことを知ったアソーカがかなりショックを受けた。そして、多くの銀河系の民の目にジェダイはどのように映っているのかを遂に悟った。フォースに対する独断的な解釈に執着してしまったジェダイが、その同じフォースを通して人々と縁で結ばれていること、そしてその縁が正しく機能するため何よりも必要なのは思いやりであることを忘れてしまった。それなのに、戦争と政治のことばかりを優先した結果、コルサントのアンダーワールドを始め銀河系の数多くの惑星の民の日常に目を配る余裕が失われてしまった。そこでジェダイに見捨てられてしまったとの思いが民の中に芽生えてしまうのは当然のことであったろう。
The revelation that the Jedi were involved in the incident which brought tragedy into their two lives was a shock to Ahsoka. It was then that she came to realize how the Jedi were perceived by many of the people in the galaxy. The Jedi’s fixation on their dogmatic view of the Force made them forget that they were connected to all those people through that same Force. They had also forgotten that the most important thing to make those connections work was empathy. Instead, the Jedi had come to give priority to war and politics, leaving them with little room to take stock of the daily lives of the Coruscant’s underworld inhabitants and other peoples across the galaxy. It is only natural that the belief that the Jedi had abandoned them would take root among them.
このマルテス姉妹の過去の話を聞いたとき思い浮かんだのは「センゴク」という歴史漫画シリーズからあるシーンであった。このブログで何回も取り上げたこの歴史漫画だが、その醍醐味は一次資料に基づいた歴史の研究が辿り着いた新説を付け加えたストーリーだけではなく、人間の性に満ちた物語の展開だ。そのシーンは「センゴク権兵衛」の第12巻からである。四国入りの戦いで大敗を喫してしまった仙石権兵衛は主君である豊臣秀吉に改易を命じられ、大名の座から降ろされた。その後、己が如何に進むべきかを知るために、日本の真言宗の聖地である高野山でしばらく居候することにした。歩むべき道を模索しながら古渓（こけい）という高僧と出会うことになる。ある日、古渓が住職を務める大徳寺で和尚と拝謁することになった権兵衛が、元主君である豊臣秀吉が暴君に変わりつつであるとの懸念を打ち明かす。二人の会話の一部を下記の通り抜粋する：
The story of the Martez sisters’ past brought to mind a scene from Sengoku, a series of historical manga set in the Warring States Period that I’ve referenced numerous times on this blog. The manga crafts a tale that interweaves new historical research based on primary source documents. On top of that, the narrative is steeped in human drama. The scene that came to mind is from Volume 12 of Sengoku Gonbei. Protagonist Gonbei has been stripped of his standing as a daimyo (warlord) by his master Toyotomi Hideyoshi for the crushing defeat he suffered during the invasion of the island of Shikoku. He sets out for Koyasan, home to the Shingon (True Word) sect of Japanese Buddhism, in a quest to figure out how to move forward. In his search for his calling, he meets an esteemed Zen priest by the name of Kokei. One day Gonbei has the privilege of visiting with Kokei at Daitokuji, the temple over which he presides, and it is there that he reveals his concern that his former master is on his way to becoming a tyrant. Here is an excerpt from their conversation.
古渓：世の万物は縁によって繋がっておるもの。
Kokei: All things in creation are interlinked through “en”.
権兵衛：ああ、高野山で教わりました。
Gonbei: Ah yes, that is something I learned at Koyasan.
古渓：いかにも。世間は殿下（豊臣秀吉）に支配され、殿下は世間にせっつかれる。そういう繋がりに。
Kokei: But of course. Our society, the world as we know it, is governed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Society in turn is a force acting on him, and in a way pressing him to take action.
古渓：然らばもし、世間が天下人を疎んじ、天下人が世間を疎んずれば、天下は悪しき縁の流れに向かっていきましょう。
Kokei: Herein lies the conundrum. If society begins to look coldly on the ruler, and if he begins to neglect society, then the “en” binding all things will sour and head in the wrong direction.
Source: Kodansha
ここでもう一度「執着」という言葉に戻りたい。スターウォーズに置いてこのコンセプトを元の英語で「attachment」で表現している。しかし、「attachment」には「執着」以外の意味がその英語の語彙にある。「attachment」の類義語の一つは「connection」であり、これをまた日本語にすると「結び」や「絆」や先ほど紹介した古渓と権兵衛の話に出てきた「縁」という意味合いが訳出される。「結」と「絆」と「縁」との三文字の共通点は「糸」の部首で、これが「繋がっている」、つまり「connected」の意味合いを強調している。そして、「縁」には英語の「connection」より深い意味合いがあり、敢えて言うなら「フォースを通して繋がっている」と読み取れるではないかと拙僧が思う。
Here I’d like to take a step back and look at the word “shuuchaku (執着)” again. The original English word for this concept in Star Wars is “attachment.” However, the meaning of this word is more than just what the Japanese word “shuuchaku (執着)” implies. One synonym of the word “attachment” is “connection”, and taking this word and translating it back into Japanese leads us to words such as “musubi (結び; “ties”)”, “kizuna (絆; “bond”)”, and “en (縁; “connection”)”, the latter of which we just saw in the conversation between Kokei and Gonbei. The kanji characters in all three of these Japanese words share 糸(ito), which on its own means “thread”, and here it reinforces the idea of “connected.” The word “en (縁)” conveys a deeper sense of connection than the English equivalent, and I feel it carries a similar connation to being connected through the Force.
さて、この日英の言語の意味合いの検証を通してある結論に辿り着く。ジェダイが「執着」をあまりにも必死で否定しようとした結果、縁を持つことも拒否することになってしまった。縁を通して人と親しくなって絆を築いていくこともある。でも、ヨーダがアナキンに話した執着の定義によると、絆は執着の一つであり、その絆を失う恐れが暗黒面への糸口にもなり得る。だからこそ、暗黒面への糸口を最小限にするためにジェダイ騎士団は外の世間と積極的に結びを築こうしなかったし、フォース使いの子供を早い段階で見つけ出し家族から切り離してジェダイ寺院に連れて行った。換言すれば、それが「縁」を切る方針に等しいでもあった。だからジェダイが世間を疎んじるようになったという思いが銀河系の民の多くに芽生えたではないかと拙僧が思う。
This study of the nuances in these Japanese and English words leads to this conclusion: the Jedi’s fervent drive to reject attachments led them to reject connections. The connections people form with others can lead to deeper bonds (the aforementioned “kizuna (絆)”, but according to the definition of “attachment” that Yoda gave to Anakin, these bonds are a form of attachment, and the fear of their loss could potentially open the path towards the Dark Side. As such, the Jedi made it a point not to actively build deeper ties with the world outside the Order, and to identify children capable of using the Force early on, take them away from their families, and bring them to the Jedi Temple. Put differently, this amounted to a policy of severing ties with the larger world. That is why I feel the idea that the Jedi had grown indifferent to society at large took root among many in the galaxy.
では、ジェダイはこの独断的な解釈から解放され縁を正しくとらえるために何をすれば良かったのだろうか？そのヒントは古渓と権兵衛の話の続きにある。牧伯（ぼくはく：大名諸侯のこと）へどうやって戻ればいいかを知りたい権兵衛に古渓がこう答えた：
The question then is what should the Jedi have done to free themselves of their dogma and adopt the correct view of what it means to be connected (i.e., have attachments)? The next part of the conversation between Kokei and Gonbei provides us with some hints. Gonbei seeks to know how he can return to the ranks of daimyo. This is the answer that Kokei gives him:
“然らば、どうやって戻るか？自我や煩悩に誘引されぬ事。己が必ず正しいと思わぬ事。己が必ず間違いと思わぬ事。「己」も所詮は「縁」の狭間にあるように見える存在。つまり、「無」。是を知らば、自ずと良縁は見つかる。縁に導かれるがまま、貴殿はいずれ牧伯たらん事疑いなし。”
“If returning to the ranks of daimyo is what you seek, the question then is how you go about doing that. Do not succumb to your ego or passions. Do not believe you are completely in the right, but do not believe that you are completely in the wrong. Remember that you are the visage of a presence within this web of “en (縁; connections)”, one without form. If you recognize these truths, good “en” will come your way. If you let “en” be your guide, you will find your way back to the daimyo ranks. Of that I am certain.”
Source: Kodansha
この言葉を初めて目に通したとき、真っ先に思い浮かんだのは「最後のジェダイ」で描写されるルークであった。ルークスカイワーカという伝説により生み出された自我に誘引され、自分が新なジェダイ騎士団を自ら築けると思っていた。そして、その自分のやり方とヨーダやオビ・ワンから受け継いだジェダイの教えが正しいと思い込んでいた。でも、甥のベン・ソロに宿る闇を見ていくうちに、自分の父親であったアナキン・スカイワーカと同じ道を歩むことになるとの恐れに屈して、その闇を消すため一瞬で自分の甥を殺そうと思った。それはまさに自我と煩悩に誘引された結果。
The first time I read these words, my mind went to the way in which Luke is portrayed in The Last Jedi. We see how Luke had succumbed to the ego born of the legend of “Luke Skywalker”, convinced that he could build a new Jedi Order. This Luke believed that his approach and the teachings bequeathed to him by Yoda and Obi Wan were in the right. However, when he saw the darkness growing within his own nephew Ben Solo, he became afraid that he would venture down the same path that his father Anakin Skywalker walked down. Luke let this fear overwhelm him, and for a fleeting second entertain the thought of killing his own nephew in a bid to expunge the darkness.
Source: Disney/Lucasfilm
あのことをやろうとした自分に失望にしたルークがフォースを始めすべての縁を切って、惑星アクトに引き篭もることにした。でも、レイとの出会いのお蔭で新な「縁」が形成され、そしてその縁が仲間とフォースとの絆を思い出させた。「己」も所詮は「縁＝フォース」の狭間にあるように見える存在であり、フォースを通して「無」となり得ることを改めて思い知る。この「無」を英語にすると「nothing」と訳出されることが多いだけど、仏教においてこの「無」は「無限」に近い意味合いもある。レイが作った良縁に導かれたルークは、フォースを通してかつて自分が持った絆と再び結んで、自分を無にして新ら希望を銀河系に与えた。良縁のお蔭で、ジェダイの歩むべき道を遂に見つけた。そして、それが銀河系にとって良き縁の流れを作り出した。
Disappointed with himself for what he attempted to do, Luke cut himself off from the Force and all the connections (attachments) he had and shut himself away on Ahch-to. However, his encounter with Rey gave rise to a new “en (connection)”, causing him to remember the ties with his friends and bond he had with the Force. He rediscovered that he was no more than a visage of a presence in this web of “en”, which in this case was the Force, and through that he could transcend form. In Japanese, the word that Kokei used to describe this idea of transcendence to Gonbei was “mu (無)”. This word is often translated to “nothing” in English, but in a Buddhist context it has a meaning more along the lines of “infinite potential (due to lack of form)”. Guided by the good connection formed by Rey, Luke reached out through the Force to rekindle the bonds he once held, and deliver a new hope to the galaxy through his own transcendence. He discovered the path Jedi are supposed to take, and it started with getting back in touch. In the end, this pushed the “en” in the galaxy in the right direction.
Source: Disney/Lucasfilm
「風立ちぬ」戦争と日本人 The Wind Rises: The Japanese War Experience (Part 2)
宮崎駿と半藤一利の座談会 (2013年08月)からの抜粋
Excerpts from Dialogue between Hayao Miyazaki and Kazutoshi Hando (August 2013):
Source: Studio Ghibli
日本は国家戦略で追いつけなかった
Japan could never catch up
半藤一利：零戦にしても、あとの戦艦大和にしても、その技術、完成度は、当時、世界最高のものだったと思いますが、それを生かす、もっと大きな技術体系、産業体制、さらに言えば国家戦略で追いつけなかったんですね。
Kazutoshi Hando: The Mitsubishi Zero Fighter and the grand battleship Yamato were two of the greatest pieces of military engineering of their time, both in terms of technical expertise and level of perfection. That said, Japan failed to develop a national strategy, underpinned by the necessary technological and industrial infrastructure, to take full advantage of these weapons.
Source: Nikkei Shimbun
私は堀越さんにはお会いしたことはないですが、映画で堀越さんの親友として登場する一式陸攻[H1] の設計者、本庄季郎さんにお会いしました。とても明るい穏やかな紳士で、学校の先生のような雰囲気の方でした。それに対して、堀越さんには、どこかに世界を驚かせてやろうという山っ気が感じられます。
I never had the pleasure of meeting Horikoshi, but I did have the opportunity to meet his good friend Kiro Honjo, the engineer behind the Mitsubishi Navy Type 1 Attack Bomber who is also portrayed in the film. He had the air of a school teacher about him, a gentlemen with a bright yet calm disposition. Horikoshi seems to have been a bit more daring, as if he was looking to do something that would take the world by surprise.
宮崎駿：堀越は戦闘機、本庄は攻撃機を設計していますが、二人の作った飛行機は対照的なんですね。本庄さんのデザインは直線と円で構成されていて、実に合理的かつ大量生産に向いている。一方、零戦はあまりにも精微で作りにくいんです。
Hayao Miyazaki: Horikoshi designed a fighter plane while Honjo was the mastermind behind a bomber. The planes they crafted stood in stark contrast to each other, even when considering they were fundamentally different types of aircraft. Honjo created a plane well suited for mass production, with a design blending straight lines and rounded features. Meanwhile, the Zero was much more detailed in its design, making it difficult to manufacture.
Source: Hasegawa Model
半藤：その結果、零戦は四年間で一万機しか作れませんでした。一方、アメリカはグランマンF6Fだけで二年間で一万二千機以上作っている。もちろん国力自体に大きな差があったのですが、「兵器ではなく工芸品」とまで評されるほど、零戦の製造は手間がかかったといいます。
Hando: That’s why Japan only made 10,000 Zero Fighters over a four-year period. Meanwhile, the US cranked out some 12,000 Grumman F6F Hellcats in a two-year span. Granted, there was the major gap in the manufacturing capabilities of the two countries. Even so, much of this owes to the fact that the Zero simply took a long time to make, to the point that some joked it was more of a work of art than a weapon of war.
宮崎：むしろ、よくこんな作りにくい飛行機を一万機も作ったと言いたくなりますね。実は、今回、零戦を描くのが嫌で嫌で仕方なかったんです。物凄く難しい上に、ちょっと形が崩れるとすぐに「違う！」とわかってしまう。胴体の放物線一つをとっても、途中で微妙に変化が付いていて…..。誰もやってくれないから、結局、自分で描きましたが、試写で観ても我ながら下手だなあ、と嫌になりました。
Miyazaki: Saying all that, I think it’s quite impressive that Japan was able to roll out 10,000 of these difficult-to-make Zero Fighters. I know I dreaded lifting up my pencils and trying to draw the Zero. It’s not that it’s merely tough to depict, but when you fudge it up just a bit, you instantly know you got it completely wrong. Then you have the parabola-like features of the main body, characterized by the subtle changes they make along the way. I ended up doing all this work myself, as no one was going to do it for me, but I got upset when I watched the movie at the premiere, frustrated with the poor job that I did.
半藤：いや、零戦が登場する場面はたいへんな見ものですよ。
Hando: Don’t be so hard on yourself. The scenes with the Zero Fighter are some of the best in the movie.
私も零戦では痛い目に遭ったことがあります。実を言うと、私は軍艦は大好きなのですが、飛行機はあまり詳しくないんです。ところが、文藝春愁でお前、戦争物は得意だろうと「日本航空戦記」という雑誌を作らされた。乱暴な会社なんです（笑）。そこで、真珠湾上空に零戦が飛んでいるイラストを表紙にしたところ、航空マニアから抗議殺到。「この零戦は零戦でも五二型で、真珠湾には行っていない」と。事実、そうなんですが、ちょっと絵を見ただけわかるもんなんですね。今日はその雑誌をお待ちしたのですが（手渡す）。
I actually received a lot of flak about the Zero Fight one time. My passion was more for battleships and naval craft, so I didn’t know all that much about airplanes. Back when I was working at Bungei Shunshu, I was put in charge of doing this special feature on the Japanese Air Force in WW2. My superiors thought I’d be up to the task because I liked military history. That publication really knows how to work its staff hard (laughs). Anyway, we used this illustration of a Zero Fighter over Pearl Harbor for the cover, and oh man, did we get a flood of complaints came from all these airplane aficionados, who told me that I had gotten it completely wrong. While there were Zero Fighters at Pearl Harbor, they were not the 52-type that we had depicted in the cover illustration. Well, they were right, but I always wondered if that was something you could pick up from a mere illustration. I actually brought issue with me today (hands it over to Miyazaki).
Source: Hasegawa Model
宮崎：あ、これは違いますね。五二型でもないです。
Miyazaki: Yep, that’s definitely not a 52-type Zero Fighter.
半藤：なんと、それは新事実です（笑）。
Hando: Wow, you learn something new every day (laughs).
宮崎：五二型は、戦後三菱が復元したものが遊就館にありますね。この前、所沢にアメリカ人の持っている零戦が展示されていて、コックピットに乗せてあげるから見に来ないかと誘われたのですが、断りました。戦利品ですからね。インディアンがトマホークを集めた展示会に行くと思いますか？それに僕は博物館など展示されている飛行機は好きじゃないんです。何か魂が抜かれたように感じる。
Miyazaki: There’s a 52-type that Mitsubishi restored after the war that is now on display at the Yushukan (Military Museum at Yasukuni Shrine). A while back there was Zero Fighter owned by an American collector on display in Tokorozawa (city in Saitama, just to the north of Tokyo), and the people in charge of that exhibit gave me a call and said they’d let me climb into the cockpit if I wanted. However, I declined the invite. I mean, we’re talking about the spoils of war here. Do you think a Native American would want to go check out a collection of tomahawks amassed by a white guy? The Zero Fighters on display in museums also don’t sit right with me. They feel devoid of any soul.
半藤：零戦はある意味、悲劇の名機ですね。太平洋戦争の後半は、熟練したパイロットがいなくなったこともあり、すっかり時代遅れの戦闘機となって、しまいには特攻兵器。ボロボロの戦いを強いられました。
Hando: The Zero Fighter is a tragic masterpiece in its own right. The latter half of the Pacific War saw Japan facing a dearth of experienced pilots, effectively muting the advantages of the aircraft and rendering it a relic of the past. In the end, it was literally run into the ground as it was relegated to running suicide attacks.
宮崎：本当は、零戦の次にジェット機を作っていなければならなかったんです。堀越は、零戦に小手先の改造を重ねるのではなく、機体そのものを変更すべきだと何度も何度も上層部に言っていますが、受け入れられなかった。
Miyazaki: The Japanese Air Force should have been looking to make a jet aircraft to replace the Zero. That’s what Horikoshi repeatedly stressed to his superiors, telling them that they needed to develop a jet fighter instead of making tweaks to the Zero. But they never listened to him.
半藤：結局、”持たざる国” 日本にそれだけの国力も先見性もなかったんですね。映画の中で、零戦を牛車で運ぶ場面がありましたね。名古屋の工場から各務原の飛行場まで丸一日かかったというなは有名なエピソードですが、トラックの輸送も、そのための舗装道路も、最後まで実現できなかった。非常に象徴的なシーンです。
Hando: Utlimately, Japan is a “have-not” nation, and in the war it lacked the national strength and foresight to make up for this. There was a scene in the film in which you show the Zero Fighter being drawn by an ox cart. It’s well-known that at the time it took roughly a day to transport the fighters from the factory in Nagoya to the airfield at Kakamigahara. They were never able to pave the road between the two and make it possible to actually move those fighters by truck. That scene really hits hard.
Source: Studio Ghibli
宮崎：でも、堀越さんは著書で、牛車で運ぶのも、当時の道路事情から考えると合理性があった、と書いていますね。それほどたくさん製造していないから、ゆっくり運んでも良いのだと弁護している。きっと牛が好きだったのでしょう（笑）。
Miyazaki: Yeah, but when you look at what Horikoshi wrote, it made more sense to haul the fighters by ox cart given the state of the roads back then. At the same time, there were not that many Zero Fighters made, so he said it was best to take it slow when moving the planes to the air field. I’m sure he had a soft spot for cows (laughs).
中島飛行機でも、群馬の小泉製作所から所沢飛行場までやはり牛で引っ張っていました。一部、あまりにも凹凸があるので、コンクリートで舗装したところがあって、これは今も残っています。実は、「となりのトトロ」でサツキがトトロと傘をさして立っているバス停がそこなんですよ。広いのに人気がなくて、横にお稲荷さんがあるという不思議な道だったのですが、今は周りの木が切られてしまって、まるで違った景色になってしまいました。
The Nakajima Aircraft Company also used ox carts to transport the aircraft it made at its Koizumi plant in Gunma Prefecture to the Tokorozawa airfield in Saitama. The road between the two had a lot of rough spots, and there are still sections today that are filled in with concrete. The road with the bus stop where Satsuki stands holding an umbrella in the rain with Totoro in that animated film of mine is the same road. It’s an interesting road, fairly wide and has a shrine for the Inari deity off to the side of it, but is not that well known. Sadly that area looks completely different today now that most of the trees have been cut down.
半藤：映画の中で、ドイツから爆撃機のライセンス生産権を買い取るお金で、どれだけの国民が飢えをいやせるか、というセリフがありましたが、これも持たざる国、日本にとっては深刻な問題でした。兵器というものがいかに高価なものかを端的に示す例として、私はよく挙げるのですが、大正十一年、ワシントン会議で、主力艦建造に枷がはめられました。そのとき、造船所の工員さんと鉄が余ったんですね。そこで隅田川に次々と橋が架けられた。デザイン的に見事な「橋の展覧会場」のようにいろいろな橋が架けられています。さらには、この時期、鉄道などのインフラ整備も進みます。逆に言えば、それだけ軍事費が膨れ上がっていたことの表れでもあった。
Hando: Getting back to Japan’s deep-rooted problem of being a “have-not” nation, there was a line in The Wind Rises which I felt really drove that point home. When Japan bought the license from Germany to manufacture bombers, one of the characters says something like “I wonder how many people here in Japan are going to end up starving as result of us dumping all this money on a manufacturing license for a tool of war.” Weapons cost a lot of money to make, money that could be put to better use elsewhere. A good example of this is when the restrictions were placed on the construction of mainstay naval craft by the Washington Naval Treaty signed in 1922. This left Japan with a surplus of engineers and steel, which it devoted to building a number of bridges over the Sumida River (which runs along the eastern part of Tokyo). Indeed, they built so many they turned the river into this kind of bridge exhibit, with a lot of different designs on display for the public. This same period also saw Japan make significant headway in fleshing out its railroad infrastructure. These developments really show how much money Japan’s military ate up and took away from the public’s benefit.
Source: Tokyo University
宮崎：荒川放水路を作った費用が、巡洋艦一隻分だったといいますから、軍艦ってものすごく高価だったんですね。
Miyazaki: Naval aircraft definitely cost a lot of money. The flood control system for the Arakawa River supposedly cost about the same amount as a battle cruiser.
Propaganda poster from 1938 telling citizens to put their industrial trash to work
Source: Propaganda Posters: A Window into Wartime Japan (プロパガンダポスターに見る日本の戦争)
「風立ちぬ」戦争と日本人 The Wind Rises: The Japanese War Experience (Part 1)
宮崎駿と半藤一利の座談会 (2013年08月)からの抜粋
Excerpts from Dialogue between Hayao Miyazaki and Kazutoshi Hando (August 2013):
Source: Eiga.com
半藤一利：映画（風立ちぬ）は、昭和の初め、日本が戦争の泥沼にはまっていく時期を舞台に、そこに生きた人たち、暮らしぶりや風景が丁寧に描かれています。私は昭和5年の生まれですが、父や母の生きたのはこんな風景だったのだろうか、という感慨がありました。そこで、零戦や九六式艦上戦闘機などの名機を設計した堀越二郎という実在の人物を主人公にした。これも初めての試みですね。そこに、堀辰雄のラブロマンス「風立ちぬ」や「菜穂子」の世界が入ってくる。私は、これはまさに「宮崎版昭和史」だと思いました。だから、いささか気が早い話だけども、次回作はますます大変ではないかと、勝手な感想を持ったわけです。
Kazutoshi Hando: The Wind Rises painstakingly depicts the early part of the Showa Period (Dec 1926-Jan 1989), providing us a window into people’s lives and what Japan looked like as it became mired in the mud of war. I was born in Showa 5 (1930), and as I watched the film, I couldn’t help but think that this is the world my parents knew. But you went and tried something new: creating a picture about this period whose main protagonist was Jiro Horikoshi, a historical figure responsible for the design of the Mitsubishi Zero Fighter and Navy Type 96 Carrier-based Fighter (A5M). You then mixed in elements from Tatsuo Hori’s romantic novels The Wind Has Risen and Naoko. I really felt like I was watching the definitive Miyazaki account of the early Showa Period. I may be getting ahead of myself, but I couldn’t help but think you’ve really made it tough for yourself going into the next picture you make.
宮崎駿：おそれいります。でも、この先はもうないから大丈夫ですよ。
Hayao Miyazaki: Well thank you very much for your sentiments. But don’t go worrying about me. I’m pretty much done making pictures.
半藤：そのことありませんよ。私なんて今年で八十三になりましたが、いまだに現役です（笑）。
Hando: I’m not buying that. Look at me. I just turned 83 this year (2013), and I’m still working away (chuckles).
宮崎：そう言われると一言もありませんが（笑）。これまでと同じようなやり方でアニメーションを作るのは、もうやめた方がいいと思っているんです。プロデューサー（鈴木敏夫氏）なんかは「これは宮さんの遺言ですね」と言っていますよ。今回の「風立ちぬ」は構想からだと5年、作画に入ってから数えても2年かかりました。
Miyazaki: When you put it like that, there’s really nothing I can say (chuckles). Actually, I’m thinking about bidding farewell to the way I’ve made movies over the years. Our producer at Ghibli (Toshio Suzuki) said he thinks The Wind Rises is kind of my last will and testament. The film took five years to make when counting back to the concept stage, and two years to complete when going from the point when we began hammering out the drawings.
半藤一利（左）と宮崎駿（右）
Kazutoshi Hando (left) and Hayao Miyazaki (right)
Source: J-cast News
半藤：五年もですか？
Hando: Five years in total…
宮崎：すると、あと五年後に自分がどうなっているか、何を作るべきなのか、と考えると、なかなか難しいですね。もともと、この「風立ちぬ」は前作「崖の上のポニョ」の後に、ある模型雑誌に連載したカラー漫画だったんです。僕は、アニメーションは子供のために作る、という考えなので、この漫画はいわば趣味として描いていたものでした。堀越二郎はじめ登場人物たちみんな豚にしてしまったり。
Miyazaki: It’s tough for me to imagine what I’ll be like five years down the road, or what kind of film I should make. Originally, The Wind Rises was just this serial color manga insert (note: manga are generally black and white) for a model magazine that I was working on after the release of the Ponyo. Children are always at the forefront for me when I do animation, and this manga was just something I was doing for fun. That was reflected in the way I depicted the characters, drawing Jiro Horikoshi and others as pigs.
宮崎：今はファンタジーを作ることがますます難しくなっています。東日本大震災、原発事故などに直面し、映画の中だけ幸せ、なんてありえない。そう考えてしまうんです。そこに鈴木プロデューサーが “「風立ちぬ」をやりましょう”と提案してきた。しかし、零戦の設計者が主人公で、戦前の日本が舞台では、どうやっても子供が土俵の外に置かれてしまう。そうしたら、“子供たちもいつか大人になって分かる日がくる”と言った人間がいて、そうかも知れない、と。
Miyazaki: It’s gotten much tougher to do fantasy now. The Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent nuclear disaster have weighed heavy on the mind, making me feel that it’s impossible for films to be this joyful place of refuge. But producer Suzuki approached me and said we should do The Wind Rises. I was a little reluctant at first given that the subject matter isn’t exactly tailored made for kids, especially since it takes place in pre-war Japan and the main protagonist is the man who engineered the Zero Fighter. Then someone said that there will come a day when these kids grow up, and then they’ll be able to understand the film. I thought to myself, yeah, that might be the case.
堀越は宮崎さん本人ではありせんか
Horikoshi as a reflection of Miyazaki himself
半藤: なるほど。それにしても、堀越二郎を堀辰雄の世界に送り込むという着想には、意表をつかれました。堀越二郎と堀辰雄は一歳違いなんですね。されに言えば、堀越が零戦の開発に取り組み始めたのが昭和十二年 (1937)。そして堀が「風立ちぬ」を書き上げたのも同じ昭和十二年なんのです。一見まるで毛色の違う、しかしまさしく同時代を生きた二人を結びつけたのは非凡なアイデアですよ。そもそも、なぜ堀越二郎を主人公に、と考えたのですか？
Hando: I see. But I feel that you surprised a lot of people by deciding to put Jiro Horikoshi into the world of Tatsuo Hori. The two men were only a year apart in real life. On top of that, the year Horikoshi began developing the Zero Fighter was 1937, the same year in which Hori finished writing his novel The Wind Has Risen. On the surface these look like two completely different individuals, but they both lived through the same period of history. I thought it was a stroke of genius to create that connection between the two. Indeed, what led you to settle on Jiro Horikoshi as the main character for your film?
実際の堀越二郎
Jiro Horikoshi
Source: BS Asahi
宮崎: 彼を描かないと、この国のおかしさが描けないと思ったんです。僕は、ある時まで「戦前」という時代を想像できませんでした。目の前は焼け野原だらけで、あれだけの人が死んだ。南方や中国では悲惨なことをいっぱい起こしたことを知ると、あまりにもこの国が屈辱的に感じられ、戦前の日本は、”灰色の世界”としか思えなかった。そんな中で、人はどうやって生きたのか。自分の親父はいい時代だったと言っていました。どうも、うまくかみ合わなかった。それと、ヒコーキ好きや、架空戦記もののマニアから零戦を取り戻したかったんです。
Miyazaki: I felt that portraying him was crucial to showing how strange this country is. For a long time I couldn’t imagine what pre-war Japan was like. As a small child, all I knew was the burned out landscapes (from the bombing raids) and the fact that a lot of people had died. Later on when I learned about all the atrocious things that Japan had done in southern Asia and in China, I felt a sense of humiliation about this country. Pre-war Japan was simply this “gray world” to me, and I always wondered how people went about their lives in that period. My father said it was a great time. Reflecting on all this, things just don’t line up right. Another motivating factor was a desire to wrest the Zero Fighter back from all those airplane aficionados and people obsessed with fictional war accounts.
「風立ちぬ」での零戦
Zero Fighter in The Wind Rises
Source: Studio Ghibli
宮崎: 堀越二郎という人は、著書を読んでみても、奥歯に物が挟まっている 感じで、本音が分からないところがありますね。ただ、零戦のテスト飛行を見つめて、一言「美しい」と洩らしている。僕は、これが堀越の本音だったと思ったんです。彼が作りたかったのは戦闘機ではなく、美しい飛行機だった。
Miyazki: Books about Jiro Horikoshi leave you with the impression that he was not really one to open up, making it tough to know what he thought. There’s an account of him observing one of the Zero Fighter test flights, and the only thing he said was “that’s beautiful”. But I really latched on to that, because I felt it provides us with a window into his mind. He didn’t want to create a fighter plane. I believe that all he really wanted to do was produce a beautiful piece of aircraft.
半藤: 零戦の設計を巡っては、海軍内で大論争が起きました。飛行隊長の源田実は格闘能力、つまり運動性能を優先させろと言い、海軍航空廠（かいぐんこうくうしょう）の柴田武雄は速度と航続距離を要求する。私は、二人とも会って話を聞いたことがありますが、戦後になっても仇敵のように相手を罵り合っていましたね。結局、設計者の堀越には、両方とも満たせという無理難題が押し付けられたのですが、堀越はそれを見事にクリアしました。そこのあたりを、宮崎さんは映画の中で、とても戯画的に処理していて、痛快でした。
Hando: There was an intense debate within the Imperial Japanese Navy about what kind of plane the Zero Fighter should be. Captain Minoru Genda, who headed his own fighter squadrons, was adamant that the craft possess excellent maneuverability that would give it an edge in dogfights. On the opposite side of the table was Captain Takeo Shibata from the Naval Aeronautical Technology Institution. The most important criteria for him were speed and the ability to fly long distances. I had the opportunity to meet with both of these men years after the war, and even then they still despised each other, cursing the other guy whenever talking about him. Anyway, they thrust this impossible engineering task on Horikoshi, demanding that he meet both of their demands. And yet, Horikoshi was able to deliver on both, and he did so magnificently. I really got a kick out of your caricaturized depictions of these two officers in the film.
源田実少佐（左）と柴田武雄少佐（右）
Captain Minoru Genda (left) and Captain Takeo Shibata (right)
Source: Wikipedia Commons
宮崎：戦後、源田は、東京大空襲を指揮したカーティス・ルメイにわざわざ勲章を与えた人物ですね。そんな連中のことを真面目に描きたくなかったんです。
Miyazaki: Speaking of Genda, after the war he received a special honor from Curtis LeMay, the mastermind behind the Great Tokyo Air Raid. I didn’t want to give a proper depiction of guys like Genda.
半藤: 彼らが帰った後、上司に「お前聞いていないだろう？」と聞かれて、堀越が「はい」と答える（笑）。我々は軍部の無理な要求を押し付けられた堀越の苦悩を考えがちですが、宮崎さんは、堀越はそんなことは関係なく、自分の好きな、美しい飛行機を作ったのだ、と考える。これは新しい解釈だと思いました。
Hando: Horikoshi’s superiors asked him, “you didn’t hear all that, did you” after the Navy guys left, to which he replied, “No I didn’t” (chuckles). We tend to think that Horikoshi really struggled with the impossible demands of the military, but it seems you felt he didn’t really worry about that. He just went about making the beautiful plane that he wanted to created. I found that to be a new take on the individual.
宮崎: そうですね、もしかすると自分の理想の飛行機に、軍の要求を合わせたではないか、と。。。
Miyazaki: I think so. Perhaps all he was doing was meshing the spec demands of the military with the type of beautiful plane that he wanted to make.
半藤: その堀越は、宮崎さん本人ではありませんか？周りの要求はどうあろうと、俺は俺の好きなものを作るという信念を貫く。（脇を見て）。プロデューサーさん、そうでしょう（笑）。
Hando: Could it be that the Horikoshi we see in the film is really a reflection of yourself, Miyazaki-san? You just go about making the film that you want to make, paying little heed to the demands of those around you. (Looks off to the side to the producer), isn’t that right? (everyone laughs)
宮崎: 僕はそれしか出来ないからやっているだけです（笑）。
Miyazaki: That’s all I can do. Can’t really help it because that’s who I am (laughs).
半藤: さらに言えば、 堀越さんたちが九六式艦戦や零戦を設計していた当時、飛行機が次の戦争の主役になると、予測できた人は、山本五十六などごく少数の人たちだけだったのです。だから、堀越さんたちの仕事は、非常に孤独な戦いでもあった。
Hando: When Horikoshi and his colleagues were designing the Zero Fighter and Navy Type 96 Carrier-based Fighter (A5M), Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was probably one of the few people among the Japanese military brass that recognized that aircraft would take center stage in the next major war. Horikoshi and his colleagues’ work was ultimately a very lonely task indeed.
山本五十六
Isoroku Yamamoto
Source: Nishinippon Shimbun
半藤: また、これも「遅れてきた国」の悲しさなのですが、昭和八、九年ごろには、先進諸国では、エネルギーの主役が石炭から石油に移るという大転換を迎えていたのです。ところが、日本の軍部のほとんどは、依然として石炭中心のエネルギー観のままだった。第二次大戦の主役となったのは、飛行機と戦車でしたが、どちらも石油がないと動けない。石油への転換についていけなかったということは、その意味で致命的でした。
Hando: Sadly, the fact that many in the Japanese military were slow to recognize the importance of airplanes in combat reflected how Japan always lagged behind the more advanced nations of the world. In 1933-34, these nations were already making the switch from coal to petroleum as their main source of energy. However, the majority of Japan’s military brass was still stuck on coal. Aircraft and tanks were two of the main weapons in WW2, and both of these needed gasoline to run. In that respect, Japan’s inability to keep pace with other countries and make the switch to oil as its main energy source proved fatal.
宮崎: その意味では、今も似たような状況にありますね。石油文明が終わりにさしかかり、原子力が生き詰まっているのに、まだ日本は大転換に舵を切れないでいます。堀越や本庄（堀越の同僚）は十年の遅れを必死になって追いかけたのですが、残念なことに追いつけなかった。
Miyazaki: Listening to you say that, I feel that Japan is standing at a similar crossroads right now. This oil-driven civilization of ours is coming to an end, and things don’t look all that bright for nuclear power. And yet, even though the writing’s on the wall, Japan can’t seem to take that first step forward and pursue the change that is needed. Horikoshi and Honjo (Horikoshi’s colleague) gave it their all trying to close that 10 year technological gap, but unfortunately in the end they failed.
月夜が成す闇と光の一体感 Moonlit Nights and the Duality of Light and Dark
日本の戦国時代史上最も有名の合戦を描く、超絶歴史エンターテインメントと称された宮下秀樹が書いた「桶狭間戦記 」という漫画をこの間、また再読することにした。何回も再読したこの漫画だけど、いつも新たな発見があり、それがまた新た「問い掛け」を投ずる。今回の再読で特に印象に残ったシーンは三国同盟（今川、北条、武田）が結ばれた会見を開く前に今川義元と彼の軍師且つ師匠でもあった臨済宗の禅僧の太原雪斎が交わす会話のシーンである。義元は弟子たる一方で、このシーンで師と弟子の立場が逆になり、問いを出すのは義元の方である。交わした禅問答は下記の通り。
''Okehazama Senki (Annals of Okehazama)'' is an incredible piece of historical fiction that looks at the most famous battle in Japan's Warring States Period. Recently I decided to this series for the umpteenth time, and each time brings a new discovery that also raises new questions. One scene that really stuck with me this time around was the conversation that Yoshimoto Imagawa had with Taigen Sessai, the Rinzai sect Zen priest who served as his military adviser and teacher, ahead of the meeting that led to the alliance between the Imagawa, Hojo, and Takeda clans. In this particular scene their roles are reversed, with Yoshimoto in the teacher's chair and Sessai the student. The conversation plays out in a typical Zen question-answer dialogue.
Kodansha
義元：作麼生（そもさん）
雪斎：説破（せっぱ）
義元：何故、月は輝く？
雪斎：闇。闇深きほど月は輝かん。
義元：ワッハッハー。然らば闇が去った後は、如何にかに輝く？
Yoshimoto: Riddle me this.
Sessai: And what riddle may that be?
Yoshimoto: How is it that the moon shines?
Sessai: Darkness. The darker it is, the brighter the moon shines.
Yoshimoto: Hahaha. Very true. But tell me, how does the moon shine once the darkness has gone?
Kodansha
さて、これをどう解釈するのか。拙僧から見ると、太陽の光があまりにも眩しく、凝視することも出来ず、他の光も呑み込まれてしまう。しかし、月の光がそれほど膨大ではなく、夜の闇と共演するからこそその明かりをじっと見ることが出来るし、その麗しさを堪能できる。つまり、月の輝きは独奏ではく、協奏に候。まさにスターウォーズにおけるフォースの存在の如し。#桶狭間戦記 #禅問答 #今川義元 #太原雪斎 #闇と光 #フォース #スターウォーズ
So what exactly does this mean? My interpretation is this. The sun is so incredibly bright, we are unable to stare into its light. Indeed, the light of the sun drowns out all other light. That is not the case with the moon, for it is far smaller in scale. It shares the stage the darkness of night, which allows us to stare into its light and appreciate its beauty. The moon is not solo performer, but part of a grander ensemble. In many respects, that's the nature of the Force we see in Star Wars.
漢字を通して見るベーダーという闇 Understanding the Darkness that Is Vader through Kanji
中国文化史の研究家である阿辻哲次(京都大学)の助言を頂いてスターウォーズ新作の映画の小説の翻訳に携わった稲村広香が編集した「スターウォーズ：漢字の奥義」は興味深い一冊だ。「漢字を知れば、宇宙が、人間が、己が解る」というテーマに基づいて、「本書は漢字をキーワードとしてスターウォーズの場面を読み解こうとするものです..... いくつの漢字をじっと見ていると、そこにジェダイの光が、シスの闇が見えてくる..... ヨーダの言葉に含まれる洞察や、アナキンの苦しみが現れている気がするのです。スターウォーズ世界の根底に、東洋思想にも通じる理念を感じる方は多いではないでしょうか？（本書の''はじめに''より）。#スターウォーズ #東洋思想 #漢字 #フォースと共にあらんことを #ジェダイ #シス #光と闇
"Star Wars: Kanji Story" is fascinating work put together by the Japanese translator of the novel adaptations of the Star Wars sequels Hiroka Inamura, who enlisted the help of Chinese literary scholar Tetsuji Atsuji (Kyoto University). The book's premise explores how knowledge of kanji (Chinese characters) helps to unlock understanding of the cosmos, humanity, and ourselves. "This book uses kanji as key concepts for breaking down different scenes in Star Wars... Staring at these characters, we come to see the light of the Jedi and the darkness of the Sith... It's as if they provide us a look into perception found within Yoda's teachings, and the anguish within Anakin. Indeed, many probably feel that there is a connection with Eastern philosophy and intellectual thought that lies at the heart of the Star Wars universe." (excerpt from prologue of "Mastering Kanji through Star Wars").
取り上げられた43文字の中に特に興味深いのは「闇」という字である。フォースのダークサイドの話になると、邦訳でこの字と「暗」が必ず用いられている。例えば、エピソード3のオビ・ワンとアナキンの惑星ムスタファ―の決闘のの終わりにオビ・ワンがアナキンに向けて言い放つこのセリフ：「選ばれし者だった。暗黒卿（シス）を倒すはずのお前が、暗黒卿につくとは。フォースにバランスをもたらすはずが、闇にとらわれてしまった。」
The book takes a look at 43 different kanji characters. One that was especially intriguing is 闇 (yami; "darkness"). When talking about the Dark Side in Japanese, this character/word is always used along with 暗 (kurai/an; "dark"). One great example is in this passage from the end of Obi Wan and Anakin's battle on Mustafar: "You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness (闇)!"
この漢字の成り立ちについて稲村氏がこう解説する：「"闇"は"門"と、読みをあらわす音符"音 (イム→アム)"の文字で構成され、"門"を閉ざすことを意味する。夜に行われた祭祀で、"門"の向こうから"音"が聞こえるのを聞いて、神の訪れを認識したという説もある。同様に、"暗"は太陽の形を示す"日"と、読みをあらわす"音"から成り、日が隠れて"くらい"という意を示す。"闇"と"暗"は意だけはなく、読みも成り立ちもよく似ているわけだ。」
Inamura explains the evolution of the character 闇 (yami) as follows: "The kanji 闇 (yami) consists of two parts. The first is 門(mon). The second is '音', which serves as the reading of the character ('imu', then later 'amu'). It has the meaning of 'sound'. When combined together, the completed kanji conveys the meaning of 'shut behind the gate'. One explanation for the conception of this character was the special rituals performed at night, with the 'sound' of the spirits heard coming from beyond the gate. A similar process lays behind the development of the character 暗 (kurai/an). The first part of the character is 日 (nichi, hi, jitsu) for 'sun', with the second being the same 音 from which the completed character derives its meaning. Taken together, the kanji 暗 implies the meaning of "sun hiding". The underlying conception and inherent meaning of 闇 and 暗 are quite similar."
この解説を読んだとき、拙僧が特に注目したのは「門を閉ざす」との一言だった。たった一つのイメージでベーダーという存在のすべてが凝縮されているからだ。ベーダ―はこの闇という字に込められている意味を具現している。敢えて言うなら、アナキンが闇に墜ちたというのは、アナキンの光が門の中に閉ざされたとも解釈できる。映画でこれが鮮明に表しているのは「シスの復讐」の最後だ。手術台の上に横たわるアナキンの上からマスクが降りていくシーンだ。マスクがアナキンの顔の真上にくるとアナキンの目に恐怖その者が映って、そしてカメラの目線がアナキンの目線となる。真上を見上げながらマスクが降りてきて、そして着用。その瞬間にアナキンという存在が闇たるベーダ―の中に完全に閉ざされ、その閉塞感から生まれる苦しみがベーダ―の原動力となる。
The one element of this explanation that really caught my attention was the reference to being "shut behind the gate". That single image conveys everything about the essence of Vader's identity. Indeed, Vader is the personification of the meaning imbued within the character 闇 (yami). Interpreted differently, Anakin's fall into darkness can be viewed as the light of Anakin being locked away, imprisoned. This take is vividly portrayed at the end of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin is laid out on the surgical table, with the mask coming down from straight above his head. Right when the mask comes above Anakin's face, we see fear reflected in his eyes. The camera then switches to Anakin's perspective, and we see the mask coming straight down, then locking into place. At that instant, the persona of Anakin is completely locked away. The ensuing sense of imprisonment that wells up gives rise to the pain that becomes engine which drives Vader.
でも、どの門は永遠に閉ざされることはない。いつか、誰かにその門を開ける、あるいは破壊する。アナキンを閉ざした闇の門も永久に閉まったままとならなかった。オビ・ワンやヨーダがかつてのジェダイの価値観に捕らわれて、一度闇に墜ちたものは光に戻ることができんと確信していた。しかし、「闇」という字に基づいた視点から見れば、その理解が間違っていたことになる。その門さえ開ければ・壊されば、閉ざされた光がまた外へ逃れる。その点で、ルークが「闇」の在り様を理解できた。父への必死の訴えがその門を叩いて、アナキンの光を解放した。闇というのは、底無しのことではない。開閉できる門に候。
However, no gate remains closed forever. There comes a time when someone opens the door or knocks it down. In much the same fashion, the "dark gate" that shut away the person that was Anakin did not remain closed permanently. Obi Wan and Yoda were captive to the old values of the Jedi, believing that once someone falls into darkness, there is no way for them to come back to the light. Yet, when we adopt a different view and look at Vader in terms of the "闇(yami)" character, we see that this view of the darkness was flawed. There is light inside, and all that needs to be done to let it out is to open/smash down the door. In that sense, Luke understood this facet of "闇(yami)", and it was his fervent supplication that shattered the gate and released the light that was Anakin. The meaning of the kanji character "闇(yami)" implies that darkness is not a bottomless pit. Rather, it's a gate that can be opened and closed.
''我らの道'': マンダロリアン、ジェダイと武士道 “This is the Way”: Mandalorians, Jedi, and Bushido
初めてのスターウォーズの実写版テレビドラマである「ザ・マンダロリアン」は北米より約一ヶ月半を遅れて2019年末に日本で配信し始め、日本のスターウォーズファンに置いて大好評ともなっている。第一シーズンはいくつのお決まりセリフを生み出して、その中で大変な反響を得たのは「This is the way」である。第三話に出るこのセリフだけど、日本語字幕と吹替ではどのような邦訳になるかとずっと気になっていた。非常に簡単なセリフである一方、その文言（もんごん）に織り込められている意味は深遠である。拙僧の推測では、間違いなく「道」がその訳に入ると想定し、それは見事に的中した：「我らの道」。元の英語の意味合いを訳出しつつ、それと同時により深い意味合いも加えている。その訳を英語に戻すと「This is our way」と成り、「これこそマンダロリアンが歩むすべし道」との意味合いが織り込められているとの解釈にも繋がる。翻訳として傑作に候。
"The Mandalorian" is the first ever live-action Star Wars drama for TV. It began streaming in Japan at the end of 2019, roughly a month and a half after the North American release, and quickly become a big hit among Japanese Star Wars fans. The first season has brought us a number of memorable lines, and many have really taken off. One of these catchphrases is "This is the way", and prior to the Japanese release of the show I had been wondering how it would be translated to Japanese. It's a simple expression, but also one imbued with deep meaning. My hunch was that it would include the Japanese word "michi (道, "way", "path", "road"), and that hunch proved correct: "Warera (我ら) no michi (の道)". This translation captures the original meaning of the English, but also adds another layer of meaning. When this is translated back into English, we get "this is our way”, with the added meaning in the Japanese subtitles/dub implying "this is our way as Mandalorians". It’s a truly sublime translation into the Japanese language.
Source: Disney Japan
「道」という字は数えきれないほど多くの日本語の単語と表現に用いられ、その概念は日本史に置いて奈良時代より遡る。その原点となるのは朝鮮半島を通して日本に伝来した中華思想の一つである「道教（ダオイズム）」と日本文化研究家の松岡正剛氏がいう。「ダオイズムがわからなければ、日本はわからないという面も少なくない。日本には歌道と華道とか、茶道とか、あるいは武士道とか道徳といった言い方がたくさんありますが、そこで使われる “道” という言葉には、どこでダオイズムの “道” が関わっている。すなわち、“究極の方法” が道なのです。英語で言えば “Way” というものだったのです。」
The kanji for the word “michi (道)” is used in countless Japanese words and expressions. The underlying concept for “michi” stretches back to before the Nara Period (eight century A.D.). According to Japanese culture scholar Seigo Matsuoka, the root of this “michi” concept is Taoism, one of the currents of Chinese intellectual thought that made its way to Japan via the Korean peninsula. [The Japanese word for Taoism is 道教 (dokyo), which breaks down to the “way (道) of learning (教)”. “Do (long “o”) '' is how the character is read when paired with other kanji.] Matsuoka writes: “There are many aspects of Japan that only become clear once you understand Taoism. We have a number of different expressions which use the character “道”, such as the two kado (歌道, “way of poetry” and 華道, “way of flower arranging), sado (茶道, “way of tea”), bushido (武士道, “way of the warrior”, and dotoku (道徳, “way of virtue”). The character “道” in each of these expressions connects to the Taoist idea of “the way”, as it is described in English. It refers to a means for pursuing some ultimate form or truth.”
松岡氏が紹介したいくつの「道」の中で特に注目したいのは「武士道」である。海外にもこの単語も知られ、それは日本史の象徴の一つでもある「サムライ（武士）」の掟・生き方であったとの理解がもっとも一般的ではないかと思う。スターウォーズでは代表的な「武士」の集団は二つが存在する：「ジェダイ」と「マンダロイリアン」。そして、この二つの集団がスターウォーズにおいてどのように描写されているかを比較すると、かつて日本で存在した二種類の武士道の対照が窺えて来る。
The one particular “michi” in Matsuoka’s quote that I want to look at here in this post is “bushido (武士道)”, a Japanese word that is fairly well-known in other countries. When people hear the word "bushido", the general concept that comes to mind is the code or way of living of the samurai, the iconic warrior class in the annals of Japanese history. In terms of the Star Wars universe, there are two groups of warriors that stand above the rest: the Jedi and the Mandalorians. A comparison of how these two groups are depicted within the saga brings to light the contrasting nature of the two different modes of "bushido" that existed within Japanese history.
この二つの武士道の中で、一般的に思い浮かばれるのは江戸時代の初期に山本常朝の著作「葉隠」で唱えた武士としての心得である。この「葉隠」は1999年のジム・ジャムシュ監督作品の「ゴスト・ドッグ：ウェイ・オブ・ザ・サムライ」でも取り上げられ、主人公を演じるフォレストウィテカーが映画の中この著作からのいくつの名言を読み上げる。その一つは「武士道とは死ぬことを見つけたり(The Way of the Samurai is found in death)」であった。「葉隠」に次いでもう一つの武士道に関する名著は1899年に英語で書かれて出版された新渡戸稲造の「Bushido: The Soul of Japan」である。当時の日本は凄まじいペースで本格的な近代国家になろうとしていて、そこで日本の伝統的な哲学と思想を海外に向けて分かりやすく解説するため新渡戸氏がこの本を著した。
The variant of bushido that most people think of is the warrior mindset laid out in Jocho Yamamoto's "Hagakure", which was written in the first decades of the Edo Period (1603-1868). "Hagakure" made its way into the 1999 Jim Jarmusch film ”Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai", with the main character (played by Forrest Whitaker) reading aloud select passages over the course of the movie. One of these was "the way of the samurai is found in death". Another famous book on bushido written and published (in English) by Inazo Nitobe in 1899 was called "Bushido: The Soul of Japan". The nation was working feverishly at that time to transform itself into a full-fledged modern state, and Nitobe took it upon himself to write a work that explained Japan's traditional philosophy and intellectual thought in a straightforward-manner for foreign audiences.
山本常朝 (左) と新渡戸稲造 (右)
Jocho Yamamoto (left) and Inazo Nitobe (right)
約250年で離れて書かれたこの二冊の書にはいくつの共通点がある。まずは二人の著作者の人生を見てみよう。山本が生きた時代は「泰平」の時代とも称される江戸時代であり、本人は戦国時代の終幕であった島原の乱の残酷な鎮圧から22年後の1659年に生まれた。新渡戸氏は江戸幕末の1862年に武士の家で生まれたけど、成人になった頃は江戸幕府、つまり「武士の政権」という時代はもうはや過去のものとなっていた。新渡戸氏が想像した「武士道」はあくまで親と先輩たちから聞いた江戸時代の残影に過ぎなかった。つまり、二人ともは平和の時代しか知らず、戦場の体験は一切なかったとの共通点がある。では、平和の時代においてこの武士道はどのような意義があったのか？日本史上で最も有名な戦である1560年の桶狭間の戦いとその背景を考察する「桶狭間戦記」という漫画の作家宮下秀樹はこう書いた：「それ（武士道）は国内の安定を図るための平和時の道徳規範であり、封建主義の表れの一つであった。」
Some similarities in these treatises on bushido can be drawn, even though they were written about 250 years apart. The first can be found in the lives of the respective authors. Jocho Yamamoto lived in the Edo Period, which is often referred to as "the era of the great peace (泰平 taihei)" in Japanese. He was born in 1659, 22 years after the last vestiges of the Warring States Period (戦国時代 sengoku jidai) were extinguished with the suppression of the Shimabara Rebellion (Tokugawa shogunate's brutal campaign to drive Japanese Christians into the ground). Inazo Nitobe was born into a samurai family in 1862 during a period known as "bakumatsu (幕末)" in Japanese (period when Japan wrestled with whether to remain in quasi-isolation or open up to the West). By the time he was an adult, Japan's age of warrior rule had become a thing of the past. The idea of bushido that he formulated within his mind was based solely on the memories of the Edo period that he heard from his parents and seniors. In short, both of these men only knew eras of peace, and never set foot on the battlefield. The question remains then as to what purpose bushido served in these times of peace. In his historical drama manga "Okehazama Senki (Annals of Okehazama)", which looks at the events leading up to one of the most famous battles in Japanese history, author Hideki Miyashita writes the following: "Bushido represented a set of mores meant to engender domestic stability in times of peace. It was a form of feudalism."
Manga ''Annals of Okehazama'' by Hideki Miyashita
「葉隠」に置いて特にクローズアップされる言葉は先ほど記述した「武士道とは死ぬことを見つけたり」であるけど、そこが大事ではないと松岡氏がいう。松岡氏が注目するのは次の言葉である: 「奉りおきたるこの身」。この言葉が反映するのは江戸時代に定着した朱子学に基づいた思想である。後々の19世紀末に新渡戸が書いた「Bushido」では江戸幕府の国内安定の基盤となったこの朱子学に染めた武士道を引き継がれキリスト教と融合させ、欧米にも通用する「奉りおきたるこの身」という概念を日本の伝統の道徳規範として定義させようとした。
One quote from the "Hagakure" that often gets a lot of attention is the aforementioned "the way of the samurai is found in death" passage. However, the message here is not that important in terms of what this bushido signified, according to Seigo Matsuoka. The quote that really sticks out to him is the following: "pledging oneself to serve (service)". These words are a reflection of the Neo-Confucianism ideals that took root during the Edo period (and were vividly reflected in bushido), providing the base for the domestic stability of the Tokugawa shogunate. Inazo Nitobe later tried to pass these ideals on and fuse them with Christianity in his work "Bushido" to establish a set of "traditional" Japanese mores Western nations could recognize and understand.
スターウォーズに置いて描かれるジェダイオーダー（騎士団）にはこの「奉り」の精神が鮮明に表れている。フォースを、特にライトサイドを信奉するジェダイが、その意志を遵守しながら銀河中の暗黒面を抑制しようとした。平和と正義の守護者として旧銀河共和国に仕えた。ジェダイ・オーダーは厳格な平和維持組織として機能する一方、銀河元老院が銀河を統治し、その1,000年間の平和の時代に法律と秩序を守った。つまり、ジェダイの奉りこそが銀河の平和の礎となっており、旧共和国にとってオーダーは不可欠な存在でもあった。しかし、この奉りはあくまで「平和」に基づいていて、そしてそれはオーダーの破滅を招く原因にも繋がった。分離主義危機により引き起こされたクローン戦争では、旧共和国に対する徹底した奉りを果たすため、ジェダイオーダーは平和の道を降りざるを得なかった。それはやがってオーダーを致命的に弱体させ、戦争の黒幕はフォースの暗黒面を信奉するシスに仕込まれた陰謀であったとやっと気づいたときはもう手遅れだった。
This commitment to service is vividly reflected in the way the Jedi Order is depicted within the Star Wars universe. The Jedi believed in the Force, particularly the Light Side, and strove to follow its will and hold the power of the Dark Side in check throughout the galaxy. They were the guardians of peace and justice of the old Galactic Republic. Their function as a strict peacekeeping organization combined with the auspices of the Galactic Senate’s rule were the formula for the law and order that preserved over a 1,000 years of peace. In short, the Jedi’s dedication to service was the very foundation of the galaxy’s peace, and their existence vital to that of the old Republic. At the same time, this notion of service was rooted in the ideals of peace, and it proved to be a factor that ultimately led to their own downfall. The Clone Wars, which were sparked by the Separatist movement crisis, forced them to venture off the path of pace. This development fatally weakened the Order, and by the time the Jedi realized that the entire conflict was engineered behind the scenes by the Sith, it was already too late.
Source: Disney Japan
さて、もう一つの武士道はどのように生まれたかを検証したいと思う。その武士道は“もう一つ”の武士道というより、「本来」の武士道であったともいえよう。この武士道は日本の戦国時代(1480-1600年ごろ)に生まれた教訓であった。「桶狭間戦記」の漫画で宮下氏が紹介する新歴史学説によるとこの戦国時代は「小氷河期」がもたらした動乱の時代であった。気候学の研究によると1450-1600頃の間は太陽の活動が低下していた。その結果、地球の北半球には長期に渡る寒冷期が訪れ、これが相次いだ大飢饉とも招いた。この飢饉に立ち向かう術（すべ）となったのは「戦争」である。つまり、生き延びるための食料を奪い取るという方法論である。飢饉と上手く対応出来なくなったしまった当時の足利幕府の権力が衰退し、地元の民を救済するために戦国大名という新な勢力が現れた。
Now we’ll take a look at how the other mode of bushido came into being. In fact, it is probably more appropriate to describe it as the “original” form of bushido. This mode of thought manifested itself during Japan’s Warring States period, which lasted from around 1480 to the early 1600s. According to the new historical theory Miyashita outlines in the manga “Annals of Okehazama”, this period in Japanese history was caused by a “little ice age”. Climatology research shows that the sun burned less intensely between 1450 and 1600. This plunged the northern hemisphere into an extended cool period, bringing about an age of successive famines. Against this backdrop, people turned to war as the prescription for avoiding starvation. In short, they elected to fight and take from others the food they needed to survive. The ruling Ashikaga shogunate at that time was unable to mount an adequate response to these famines, which in turn caused its authority to decline. The new forces that stepped into this void to save the people around them were the daimyo, or warlords.
Manga ''Annals of Okehazama'' by Hideki Miyashita
「桶狭間戦記」では宮下氏が戦国時代を生きた二人の武士の残した文言を紹介する：
「七度主君を変えねば武士とは言えぬ」（藤堂高虎家訓）
「犬ともいえ、畜生ともいえ、（武士は）勝つことが本にて候」(朝倉宗滴話第十条)
この二つの文言について、宮下氏はこう書いている：「（この武士の言葉に表れる）それは忠義新や誠心（奉り）などを重んじず、どんな誹謗中傷を受けようとも、生き残るのが真の武士だ…という徹底的な現実主義である。」
In his “Annals of Okehazama”, Miyashita highlights two quotes from samurai that lived during the Warring States period.
“A man who does not change the lord he serves at least seven times cannot be called a bushi (samurai).” (Takatora Todo)
“It does not matter if the means you choose cause people to label you a dog or absolute scum. All that matters (for a samurai) is to win.” (Soteki Asakura).
Miyashita follows up these two quotes with this summary: “These two quotes reveal the hardcore realism ascribed to by samurai in the Warring States period. The ideas of loyalty or sincerity (in otherwords spirit of service) were not their driving motivation. It did not matter to them how much scorn they earned. In their minds, a real samurai was one who survived.”
ここで注目したいのは「生き残る（生き延びる）」との言葉。「マンダロリアン」の第三話「罪」では、主人公が賞金としてもらったベスカー（マンダロリアン族の独特精練の鋼）をアーマーラー（鍛冶屋）の所へ持ってくるシーンで展開する会話にはこの「どの手を尽くしても生き延びる」という精神が良く表れて居る。
The phrase that deserves to be highlighted here is “one who survived”. In episode three “The Sin” of “The Mandalorian”, there is a scene in which the protagonist takes the bounty of Beskar steel (special steel forged by the Mandalorians) he received to a person known as the Armorer. The conversation that transpires here provides a nice window into this “survival by any means” disposition.
Source: Disney Japan
重装兵：「これ(ベスカ―鋼の板)は帝国軍の精錬所で作られたものだ。これは大粛清のときに奪われたんだ。あれ(大粛清)以来、俺達は隠れて住むことになった。
Heavy Infantry: “These (slabs of Beskar) were cast in an Imperial smelter. These are the spoils of the Great Purge. The reason that we live hidden like sand rats.”
アーマーラ―（鍛冶屋）：「隠れることは生き延びること。生き延びることは強さよ。
Armorer: “Our secrecy is our survival. Our survival is our strength.”
重装兵：「強さは数だ。今は日陰を忍ぶ身だ。一人ずつしか表に出られん。俺たちの世界は帝国に奪われた。この卑怯者は帝国から仕事をもらっている。」
Heavy Infantry: “Once our strength was in our numbers. Now we live in the shadows and only come above ground one at a time. Our world was shattered by the Empire, with whom this coward shares tables.”
アーマーラ―（鍛冶屋）：帝国はもう存在しない。それにベスカが戻ってきた。マンドロアの道を進むことにした者は、ハンターであり獲物でもある。卑怯者はそんな生き方を選ばないはずよ… 我らの道」
Armorer: “The Empire is no longer. And the Beskar has returned. When one chooses to walk the Way of the Mandalore, you are both hunter and prey. How can one be a coward if one chooses this way of life?.. This is the way.”
ハンターは生き延びるために獲物を狩る。そして、獲物は生き延びるためにハンターから逃げ切れる。このシーンを日本語の吹き替えで初めて見たとき、「生き延びることが強さよ」との邦訳が宮下氏の書いた戦国時代の武士道に関する言葉に連想した。ハンターにも獲物にもこの「生き延びる」に徹する性が同じ。つまり、生き延びることが勝利を掴むこと。このセリフが描写する「マンダロアの道」はまさしく戦国時代を生き抜いた武士と同じ理屈に基づいた掟だった。
The hunter hunts their prey in order to survive. The hunted/prey does everything they can to run away from the hunter to survive. The first time I watched this scene in the Japanese dub, the line “ikinobiru koto ga tsuyosa yo (our survival is our strength)” brought to mind what Miyashita wrote about the bushido of the Warring States period. Both the hunter and the hunted possess that same drive to survive. In short, survival is victory. The “Way of the Mandalore” as depicted in this scene signifies a code rooted in the same reasoning espoused by the samurai who lived through the Warring States period.
この「生き延びることが強さよ」というマンダロアの道の神髄が良く表れるもう一つのシーンがある。それは「スター・ウォーズ：クローン・ウォーズ」のシーズン5の第16話の「歪みゆく惑星」というエピソードだ。モールの仕業で内戦に落ちたマンダロア惑星から逃亡するオビ＝ワン・ケノビと彼を助け、モールと敵対するマンだロリアン派を率いるボ＝カタンが戦中に会話を交わすシーンだ。
There's another scene that I also feel vividly portrays the underlying meaning of the ''our survival is our strength'' pretense. That scene is in episode 16 ''The Lawless'' in season 5 of ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars.'' (Darth) Maul's scheming has plunged Mandalore into civil war. As Obi Wan makes his escape, he is helped by Bo Katan, the leader of the faction standing up to Maul. Here is their conversation as the battle rages around them:
ボ＝カタン：「共和国に戻ってここの現状を話して。」
Bo Katan: “Go back to your Republic and tell them what has happened.”
オビ＝ワン：「それだと共和国軍がマンダロアに進駐することになる。」
Obi Wan: “But that would likely lead to a Republic invasion of Mandalore.”
ボ＝カタン：「ええ、そしてモールが死ぬ。でも、マンダロアが生き残る。これまでもうそうだったようにね。」
Bo Katan: “Yes, but Maul will die, and Mandalore will survive. We always survive.”
その後はボ＝カタンが目線を激しい戦場に戻して、両手に持つブラスターを打ち込み続ける。でも、頭の中でオビ＝ワンに言った言葉はきっとこう続いたと思う：「我らの道」。だから共和国軍の進駐も覚悟していた。マンダロアが生き残るならどの手を尽くしてもそれを成し遂げるのが「我らの道」だから。
Bo Katan then turns her gaze back to the raging battle, twin blasters firing away into the fray. My head canon believes that in her mind, she finished what she said to Obi Wan with these words: “This is the way.” That is why she was prepared to accept a Republic invasion of her world, because she was willing to do whatever it took to ensure Mandalore’s survival. That is the meaning of “this is the way.”
Source: IGN
哀れと天晴: スターウォーズにおけるクローン兵士の二重性 Pathos and Triumph: The Duality of the Clone Troopers in Star Wars
言語は生きているものであり、絶えることなく移ろいでいる。歴史の変遷や社会の変革により単語の意味が「変身」して、それに応じて表現とそれに絡む「価値観」も変わることがよくある。日本語も例外でない。仏教や漢字を始め朝鮮半島を通して日本に伝来した中華文化が日本語に絶大な影響を与え、数えきれないほどの表現も生み出した。そして、古代中国の王朝を模倣して作り上げた日本の公家（貴族）社会にも和歌を始め独特な言葉の文化が芽生えた。
Language is truly a living entity in a perpetual state of transition. The shifting currents of history and social upheaval cause the meaning of words to “transform”, and this transformation is often accompanied by a corresponding change in worldviews which enveloped those expressions. The Japanese language is no exception. The introduction of Buddhism, kanji characters, and other forms of Chinese culture by way of the Korean peninsula left an indelible mark on Japanese, giving rise to countless new expressions. With the emergence of Japan’s own nobility, which modeled itself after the courts of ancient China, it created its own language culture such as waka (poetry).
興味深い変遷を成し遂げた単語の一つは「あはれ・あわれ（哀れ）」です。案外にも「哀れ」は意味に富んだ言葉でもあるけど、デジタル大辞泉によると近世以後は主として悲哀・哀憐（あいれん）の感情を表すのに限定されている。しかし、平安時代ではより深遠な意味合いがこの単語に込めていた。日本文化の優れた研究家である松岡正剛によると「哀れ」は平安時代の王朝が生み出したキーコンセプトであり、季節や人やものごとの有為転変を詠嘆するときに用いられていた (参照：Roots of Japan[s])。
One word that has undergone a fascinating transformation of its own is aware (哀れ). This word is rich in meaning, but according to the Digital Daijisen dictionary its usage in modern times has been limited almost exclusively to the ideas of sadness/grief and pathos/compassion/pity (for another’s plight). However, this word held a more profound meaning in the Heian Period (794-1185). Seigo Matsuoka, a leading scholar of Japanese culture, identifies aware as a key concept of the culture created by the court of this age. The noble culture used aware to express admiration for the vicissitudes of the seasons, people, and all the ephemeral things in life (Ref: Roots of Japan[s]).
侍の台頭で時代が平安から鎌倉に移り変わり、その社会の変革により「あわれ」から新たなコンセプトが派生した。ここで松岡氏の言葉を引用したい。「武士たちは、こうした王朝の雅びに惹かれつつ、潔く死にゆく者たちの｛あはれ｝を、破裂音を伴って｛あっぱれ」と名付けました。世の移り変わりを儚む｛あわれ｝の感覚をあえて、積極的に受け入れていく｛あっぱれ｝に転じていったのです(参照：Roots of Japan[s])。」このように、「あわれ」から「あっぱれ」が派生したけど、それ以降の時代でその両方の言葉は表裏一体の関係を持ち続けていた。ただし、明治維新により武士政権の時代に幕が降り、西欧列強のような近代国家の道を歩むと決意した日本ではこの武士の特質な価値観を表す「あっぱれ」という言葉が次第に使われなくなっていく一方、「あわれ」は現在の意味合いが確立されてきた。
The rise of the samurai signaled the transition from Heian into the Kamakura period, and with this dramatic change in Japanese society a new variation of the “aware” concept was born. Once again Matsuoka provides us with great insight here. “While the samurai were attracted to the elegance of court culture, they chose to substitute the “w” in aware with the explosive “pp” sound—more befitting their nature—resulting in the term appare. This new term was used to express admiration and respect for fellow warriors dying in good grace, thus transforming a sympathetic emotional response into an active affirmation of the transient nature of the world (Ref: Roots of Japan[s]).” While existing as a distinct word on its own, appare was essentially the other side of the aware coin, and this duality continued over the course of the next few centuries. The Meiji Restoration in the 19th century signaled the end of the warrior-led regime in Japan, with the new government embarking on the path to become a modern nation-state like the Great Western Powers of that age. The word appare faded from the lexicon, and with it the unique samurai worldview that it expressed, while aware settled into the meanings it possesses today.
Scene from ''Tale of Heike'' (Source: Meisei University Library)
遥か彼方の銀河系へ目を向けるとこの「哀れ」と「天晴」の二重性を具現するキャラクターに目が留まる：クローントルーパー。敢えて言うなら、クローントルーパーより悲哀的な運命を課されたキャラクターはいないだろう。その点で「哀れ」の悲哀の面を象徴しているではないかと拙僧が思う。要するに優れたクローニング技術を持った惑星カミーノの種族により製造されたクローントルーパーだけど、ある目的を果たすための「消耗品」に過ぎなかったのだ。命令に従順な性格と創造的な思考を持ち合わせるように設計された一方、より早く「使える」ため通常の人間の2倍の早さで歳を取るように成長加速処理が施された。遺伝子的な意味で「人間」の定義に当てはまるけど、製造という人工的のプロセスから生み出されたからジェダイ騎士団の一部と一般市民の間にも「人間として」あまり見なされなかった。
Turning our eyes to that galaxy far, far, away, there is a group of characters that embody the duality of the aware and appare concepts: the Clone Troopers (Clones). Indeed, you would be hard pressed to find another set of characters in the entire Star Wars saga that suffer a more tragic fate than the Clones. In that sense, I believe they symbolize the pathos inherent in the aware concept. They were essentially no more than expendables manufactured by the Kaminoans with their advanced cloning technology to fulfill a distinct purpose. The Clones were engineered to obey orders while being able to think on their feet. At the same time, they were also programmed to age at twice the pace of normal human beings so that could be “put into use” sooner. While they qualify as “human beings” in terms of their genetics, some elements within the Jedi Order as well as society at large did not really view them “as human” because they were created via a synthetic process.
クローン生産ラインを視察するオビ・ワン (出典: starwars.com)
Obi Wan checking out the Clone production line (Source: starwars.com)
分離主義運動によって内戦の危機に瀕していた銀河共和国を防衛するためにクローン軍団が製造されたと多くの人々が思い込んでいた。クローントルーパーの大多数もその「表向き」の役割に誇りと意義を見出し、献身的に共和国のために奮闘した。彼らがその「消耗品」である存在を否定し、生産された戦用機械と違って「人間の兵士」としての役割を積極的に受け入れて、戦場で潔く活動していた。「共和国のため」と叫びながら突撃するクローン兵士の姿がその「天晴」の面を見事に具現していた。潔くに戦い、潔く散っていくというイメージが鎌倉時代日本の武士が生み出した価値観と見事に重なり合う。共和国保護委員会（COMPOR）はこのイメージを巧みに活かし、自由や民主主義、共和国を守るために命を投げうつ勇敢な兵士という印象を人々に染み渡らせた。COMPORがクローンに付けたニックネーム「白い青年」クローンが身に着けた白いアーマーから由来し、その「天晴」の格好をプロパガンダ素材として利用された。
Many people believed that the Clone Army was created to protect the Galactic Republic from the threat of civil war it faced from the Separatist Movement. The vast majority of the Clones took a sense of pride and purpose in this “public” role, giving their all in the service of the Republic. They rejected the notion that there were mere expendables and actively embraced their identity as human warriors on the battlefield, not war machines. This image of Clone troopers fighting and falling gallantly serves as a fitting parallel of the appare worldview formulated by the samurai in the Kamakura Period in Japan. The Commission for the Protection of the Republic (COMPOR) deftly employed this imagery to create a convincing sell for the public, portraying the Clones as gallant heroes staking their livings for freedom, democracy, and the Republic. Drawing upon this appare imagery, COMPOR coined the nickname “boys in white” for the Clones and used them to advance the Republic’s propaganda.
共和国のプロパガンダ (出典: Wookiepedia)
Grand Republic propaganda (Source: Wookiepedia)
戦争が長引くに連れて、個々のクローンはそれぞれの独自の個性を発達させた。そして、しばしば一緒に行動するジェダイの上官と間に築いた信頼と友情によりその個性がさらに育まれて、クローンの人間性が芽生えていく。アンバラ星系の戦いで第501隊のキャプテン・レックスが部下のドグマに向けて言い伝えた言葉がその自覚を鮮明に描写している：「俺は信じていた。命令を守るのはいい兵士だ。それは使命と思っていた。だが、俺達はプログラムされたドロイドじゃない。自分自身で決めることを学べなくてならない。」
As the war wore on, the Clones each began to develop their own unique personalities and characters. This individuality was further enriched by the trust and friendship they built with their Jedi commanders with whom they fought, and with that influence their own sense of humanity blossomed. This realization was vividly reflected in the message Captain Rex of the 501st gave to Dogma, one of the troopers under his command, during the assault on the planet Umbara. “I used to believe that being a good soldier meant doing everything they told you. That’s how they engineered us. But we’re not droids. We’re not programmed. You have to learn to make your own decisions.”
キャプテンレックスと第501隊 (出典: starwars.com)
Captain Rex and the 501st (Source: starwars.com)
レックス本人は気づいていなかったけど、その言葉はクローンの哀れな運命を仄めかしていた。クローンは「人間」である一方、人工的に「製造」されたから皮肉にもドロイドと同様にプログラムされていた。つまり、あるコマンド（=命令）さえを入力すればドロイドの如し疑問を持つこと無く命令を遂行するとの初期設定があった。その初期設定を制御するのはクローン脳内に埋め込まれた行動制御チップだった。ジェダイの上官と間に築いた信頼と友情により培われた個性がその設定を少しずつ変更してより豊かな人間性が出てきたけど、初期化させるコマンドがあった。それはダースシーディウス（パルパティーン）が謀ったジェダイの抹殺を指示する緊急指令「オーダー66」であった。行動制御チップを脳内から摘出しな限りではこのコードをオーバーライド（覆す）することが出来なかった。レックスを含めこのチップの存在を発覚して取り出したクローンは少数がいた。しかし、その多くはオーダー66が発令されたとき異議を唱えずプログラムされた通り遂行した。
Rex himself did not realize it at the time, but his own words hinted at the tragic aware aspect of the Clones own destiny. Yes, the Clones were human, but they were also synthetically “manufactured”, and thus ironically subjected to the same “programming” that was carried out in the fabrication of droids. Their default settings left them programmed to carry out orders without questioning, just like droids, so long as one certain command (order) was entered. These default settings were governed by a control chip embedded within the Clones’ cerebrums. These settings were slowly changed as a result of the individuality fostered by the friendship and sense of trust Clones developed with their Jedi commanders. Indeed, these changes helped make them even more human. That said, there was a command that could restore those default settings: “Order 66”, the special order to kill the Jedi hatched by Darth Sidious. The only way to override this command was by physically removing this chip, which Rex and a few Clones did. Unfortunately, the vast majority carried out the order without any objections when it was issued, just as they were “programmed” to do.
オーダー66を遂行するクローン (出典: starwars.com)
Clones executing Order 66 (Source: starwars.com)
オーダー66の遂行は電光石火の如し、謀った通り首尾よく運びました。ジェダイ・オーダーの壊滅によりパルパティーン＝ダースシーディウスが完全な政治的・軍事的支配権を握ることになり、共和国を銀河帝国に再編成され、自らその初代皇帝となった。帝国の建国にクローントルーパーの貢献が欠かさず、彼らの活躍は「真に天晴であった」とパルパティーン皇帝に高く称賛されました。しかし、大いに広報されたクローンに対する称賛は空虚なプロパガンダにすぎず、そもそもパルパティーン皇帝が彼らを使い捨て道具としか見ていなかった。すぐ戦力になれるために施された成長加速処理が今度逆に彼らの老化を加速し、次第に軍務に適さなくなっていった。また、戦争のために「製造」されたクローントルーパーは分離主義者との戦争の終結によりその役割を果たす道がほとんど封鎖された。皮肉にもその天晴たる活躍が自らの哀れの運命にも繋がったとも言える。
The execution of Order 66 was swift and efficient, delivering the intended effect. With the Jedi Order annihilated, Palpatine (Darth Sidious) proclaimed himself Emperor and reorganized the Republic into the Galactic Empire, seizing complete political and military control. The contributions of the Clone Troopers were indispensable to the formation of this Empire, and Palpatine lavished praise on them for their gallant (appare) service. While their glorious deeds were widely publicized across the galaxy, these plaudits were ultimately no more than empty propaganda. In the eyes of Palpatine, the Clone Troopers were no more than tools that could be disposed of once they had served their purpose. The accelerated aging programming that sped up the growing process to quickly make the Clones battle-ready began to work against them, leaving them less fit for duty as they grew older. The Clones were “manufactured” for war, but with the end to the conflict with the Separatists that avenue of service all but evaporated. Ironically, there is a compelling case to be made that it was their gallant deeds (appare) which led to their own pathos (aware).
退役されたクローントルーパーが自分の存在意義をどのように捉えたでしょう。自分の活躍が帝国の建国に大いに貢献したことに誇りを持ったクローンが相当いたと思う。その一方で、相互信頼と友情で結ばれていたジェダイの上官を殺した後悔と罪悪感に苛まれたクローンも相当いたでしょう。そして、自分が使い捨てられた哀れな存在であると絶望し生き続ける意義があるのかとの疑問を抱えたクローンもいたでしょう。結局、自分の存在意義をどのように捉えるかは自分で決めることであり、それぞれの捉え方がそのクローンの個性を色濃く表れた。それはまたクローンの人間性の表れでもあった。
The Clones all had to deal with the question of the underlying purpose of their existence after being mustered out of service. There were probably more than a few who took pride in knowing that their service played a major role in the formation of the Empire. On the other hand, they were likely those who were tormented by the regret and guilt they felt for killing the Jedi commanders with whom they had developed a mutual trust and friendship. In addition, they were also those who despaired over their “wretched lot” of being cast aside, grappling with doubts about if it was even worth continuing on with their lives. Ultimately, this was a choice that each Clone had to make on his own, and that decision vividly reflected his own individuality. At the same time, this choice served as a reflection of his humanity.
自分は哀れな存在であるとの捉え方を否定し、より積極的な捉え方をとったクローンがいた。その中で脳内の行動制御チップを摘出したレックス、ウォルフ、とグレガーの3人がいた。衰えていく運命を受け入れつつも、自分の経験と能力を活かす道を見つけ出した。それは帝国に対する反乱運動に参加することにした。つまり、クローンとしての存在を達観しつつ、人間として積極的に生きていくことにした。まさに見習いすべき天晴な生き方である。
There were some Clones who rejected the pathos of their existence and took a more affirmative outlook on their lives. Three such Clones were Rex, Wolff, and Gregor, all of whom removed the behavior control chips from their head. They accepted the fact they were slowly wasting away, but still found a way to apply their own experience and knowledge, which was joining the Rebellion in its fight against the Empire. In short, they accepted what it meant to be a Clone, but also made an affirmative choice to live out their lives as human beings. That is a gallant approach to life worth emulating.
レックス、グレガー、ウォルフ (出典: wookiegunner.com)
Rex, Greggor, and Wolffe (Source: wookiegunner.com)
