南向き翻訳事務所 岩渕デボラ ブログ

無責任なアメリカ人として、私はあまり大統領の候補者について何もいえなかったが、今となってはっきりと宣言します。私はオバマが好きです。彼は「黒人の候補者」として広く言われていますが、実はオバマ氏は白人（アメリカ人）のお母さんと本物のアフリカ人のお父さんの一人息子として産まれました。両親は離婚して、その後お母さんはインドネシア人と再婚して、家族でハワイにしばらく住んでいました。オバマ氏の妹は白人とインドネシア人の「ミックス」です。オバマ氏本人は家族と暮らしたり、お母さんがインドネシアに住んでいる間、母方の祖父母と暮らしたりました。つまり、彼は「国際人」あるいは「他文化人」(multi-cultural)とよんだ方が正しいです。間違いなく色々な立場の人間のことが理解できる立派な大統領になると確信しています。

I am a Barack Obama fan. As an irresponsible expatriot, it seemed unseemly to pick and choose between the various aspiring candidates, but now that the votes are in, I have to admit I’ve been cheering along with the citizens of Obama City here in Japan. Besides the fact that he is good-looking and smart and has a beautiful, intelligent wife and cute kids (I admit, I can be shallow), he is a multi-cultural man–which means he is one of us! If the term “black candidate” gets him into office, I will not raise a complaint, but Obama is a man born of a white woman and an African father. His stepfather was Indonesian, and his sister is half white and half Indonesian. He spent part of his life in Hawaii with his family, and also spent years living with his mother’s parents. I trust him to be the leader of the “free world” because he has probably seen and understands more of it than any other presidential candidate we’ve ever had. Goooooo Barack!

今日の新聞の一面に広がっためずらしい笑顔と喜び！日本の高裁判決によってフィリピンのお母さんから生まれて、日本人のお父さんを持つ子供達が日本国籍を得る権利があるということです。しかし、この判決は法律を変えることができません。今まで通り、産まれる前に父が赤ちゃんを自分の子供として認めると国籍がもらえるけれど、産まれてからはもらえない。今回の判決はあくまでもこの10人の子供たちだけに適応します。まだまだ無国籍の子供がたくさんいます。一日も早く法律がかわりますように。日本の子供達全員に幸せを！

Over a picture of some decidely un-Japanese exuberance was the headline “Bar to kids’ citizenship ruled illegal.” Ten children born to Filipino mothers by Japanese fathers have been ruled eligible to receive Japanese citizenship. The law says that a child born to a non-Japanese mother out of wedlock can receive citizenship if the father recognizes the child BEFORE birth (Has anyone seen the pre-birth registration window at their local city hall? I must have missed it.) There are cases when reluctant fathers come forward after the birth of their offspring, but then it is too late. This new ruling concerns only the ten children mentioned in the legal case. The law will have to be changed to make it universal. As the mother of children born of a Japanese father and non-Japanese mother, let me just add that our children have enough to deal with without being denied a passport. Let’s pray the day when all Japanese children are declared Japanese is not too far off.