「日本文化」が事故を起こした?

先ず『読売』の記事;


原発事故は人災」国会事故調が最終報告書


東京電力福島第一原子力発電所事故を検証する国会の「事故調査委員会」(黒川清委員長)は5日午前、国会内で会合を開き、最終報告書を決定した。

 今回の事故について、首相官邸の対応などを問題視し、「自然災害ではなくあきらかに『人災』」と位置付けた。また、事故の直接的原因について、「地震による損傷はないと確定的には言えない」と明記し、地震も事故原因の一つである可能性を示唆した。

 報告書は同日午後、衆参両院議長に提出された。黒川氏が記者会見して内容などを説明する予定だ。

 報告書は、計641ページに及んだ。事故原因の分析のほか、「政府の危機管理体制の見直し」など七つの提言から構成されている。

 事故の根源的な原因として、規制当局と東電との関係の「逆転関係」があり、「監視・監督機能の崩壊が起きた」とも指摘した。この結果、事前に災害への対策を行うチャンスを生かすことができなかったとした。

 官邸や規制当局が機能しなかったことで、被害の拡大を招いたとし、首相官邸の対応の問題点に言及。東電本店も現場への支援で不十分な点があったなどと指摘している。黒川氏は会合で、「(報告書の)提言を実行し、改革の努力を尽くすことが国会などの使命だ。報告書が被災者に役立つことを祈念する」と述べた。
(2012年7月5日13時53分 読売新聞)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/news/20120705-OYT1T00537.htm

ところで国際的には、黒川清*1の序文に注目が集まっているようだ。例えば、

In his combative preface to the report, Kiyoshi Kurokawa, a medical doctor and professor emeritus at Tokyo University, said the crisis was the result of "a multitude of errors and willful negligence", by the government, safety officials and the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power [Tepco].

But behind the safety missteps and lack of readiness for a tsunami in a region known for powerful earthquakes, are cultural traits that ensured the disaster was "made in Japan", Kurokawa said.

"Its fundamental causes," he wrote, "are to be found in the ingrained conventions of Japanese culture: our reflexive obedience; our reluctance to question authority; our devotion to 'sticking with the programme'; our groupism; and our insularity.

"What must be admitted – very painfully – is that this was a disaster 'Made in Japan'.

"Had other Japanese been in the shoes of those who bear responsibility for this accident, the result may well have been the same."
(Justin McCurry “Japanese cultural traits 'at heart of Fukushima disaster'” http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/05/japanese-cultural-traits-fukushima-disaster )

それに対して、


Naoko Shimazu*2 “The Fukushima report hides behind the cultural curtain” http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/06/fukushima-report-disaster-japan


は、黒川氏の序文を新渡戸稲造以来の「日本人論」*3の系譜の中に位置づけ、「日本文化」の強調は日本及び日本人に対するステレオタイプを強化するだけで、事故の解明には役立たないと批判する。曰く、


At first glance, the opening message from the commission's chairman, Kiyoshi Kurokawa, reads like an apology to the global community for Japan's mishandling of the Fukushima nuclear disaster: a mea culpa for it going so terribly pear-shaped for the Japanese – and the world as a whole. It is striking that it is explained to the global community as a peculiarly "Japanese" problem. As there has been much culturally couched coverage of the earthquake and tsunami victims as being "stoic", "resilient" and so on, the official explanation reaffirms cultural stereotypes of Japan and the Japanese.

Bringing out the "made in Japan" argument is not helpful. It panders to the uniqueness idea and does not explain, but rather reinforces, existing stereotypes. Moreover, the supposedly Japanese qualities that the report outlines, such as obedience, reluctance to question authority, "sticking with the programme" and insularity, are not at all unique to Japan, but are universal qualities in all societies*4.
また

Tellingly, there is no mention of the "made in Japan" explanation in the Japanese original of Thursday's report. Instead, it explains the disaster in terms of "regulatory capture" – that is, that the relationship between the regulators and the regulated was much too close, enabling the regulated to subject the regulators to undue pressure and influence. By referring to regulatory capture, the Japanese report points the finger of blame at the complex entanglement of political, bureaucratic, and financial interests dating back to the heyday of high economic growth, a thinly veiled criticism of the one-party Liberal Democratic party rule that has dominated Japan's politico-industrial world for much of the post-1945 era. In the English edition, regulatory capture appears in the main report but not in the chairman's message.
とも指摘している。オリジナル報告書と縮約された英語版の関係の問題?