論文・翻訳コンテスト

第2回論文・翻訳コンテストの課題

英語課題文

日本に住む英国人男性の書いた文章です。

Traffic lights in Japan confuse me. First, there are the colors; no matter what I say, my Japanese friends insist the green light is blue. In England the red light means stop, whereas in Japan, it seems that for many drivers, the first few seconds of red light don't actually count. This tends to be particularly true for trucks and taxis, which often appear to be exempt from road rules altogether.

The best part of driving in Japan has to be their service stations. As well as the price of petrol being cheaper than in England, the attendants really live up to the "service" part of the name. With the efficiency of a Formula One pit crew, they quickly fill the tank, clean your windshield and take your rubbish. Then someone even helps you get back into the flow of traffic, with everyone bowing as you leave. It provides a welcome time of rest and relaxation before heading back into the congestion.

Maybe all the problems of Japanese roads are actually advantages. If the government constantly tried to make road travel cheaper and easier, then perhaps more people would use their cars. This, of course, would make the roads crowded and the environment more polluted. To improve its transportation system, Japan has invested in one of the best train networks in the world. Its railroads are fast and reliable. Perhaps as the rest of the world heads toward gridlock, Japan's traffic problems are cleverly convincing more and more people to get around this problem.

'Postcards from Japan' by Chris Willson Asahi Weekly, June 23, 2002, p.7