次の英文を読んで, 設問に答えなさい。
[5]
The headline grabs your attention: "The ancient tool used in Japan to boost memory." You've been
The Japanese art of racking up clicks online
more forgetful recently, and maybe this mysterious instrument
from the other side of the world, no
less!
could help out? You click the link, and hit play on the video, awaiting this information that's
bound to change your life.
The answer? A soroban (abacus). Hmm, () それは私がどこに鍵を置いたか覚えておく助けになりそうには
ないですよね?
This BBC creation is part of a series called "Japan 2020," a set of Japan-centric content looking at
various inoffensive topics, from the history of Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki pancakes to pearl divers.
The abacus entry, along with a video titled "Japan's ancient philosophy that helps us accept our flaws,"
about kintsugi (a technique that involves repairing ceramics with gold-or silver-dusted lacquer), cross
over into a popular style of exploring the country: Welcome to the Japan that can fix you.
For the bulk of the internet's existence, Western online focus toward the nation has been of the "weird
Japan" variety, which zeroes in rare happenings and micro "trends," but presents them as part of
everyday life, usually just to entertain. This sometimes veers into "get a load of this country" posturing
to get more views online.
It's not exclusive to the web traditional media indulges, too but it proliferates online. Bagel
heads, used underwear vending machines, rent-a-family services - it's a tired form of reporting that has
been heavily criticized in recent times, though that doesn't stop articles and YouTube videos from diving
into "weird Japan."
These days, wacky topics have given way to celebrations of the seemingly boring. This started with
the global popularity of Marie Kondo's KonMari Method of organizing in the early 2010s, which
inspired books and TV shows. It's online where content attempts to fill a never-ending pit - where
breakdowns of, advice and opinions about Kondo emerged the most.
Then came other Japanese ways to change your life. CNBC contributor Sarah Harvey tried kakeibo,
described in the headline as "the Japanese art of saving money." This "art" is actually just writing
things down in a notebook. Ikigai is a popular go-to, with articles and videos popping up all the time
explaining the mysterious concept of ... having a purpose in life.
This isn't a totally new development in history, as Japanese concepts such as wa and wabi sabi have
long earned attention from places like the United States, sometimes from a place of pure curiosity and
sometimes as pre-internet "life hacks" aimed making one's existence a little better. (B) The web
just made these inescapable.
There's certainly an element of exoticization in Western writers treating hum-drum activities
secrets from Asia. There are also plenty of Japanese people helping to spread these ideas, albeit mostly
in the form of books like Ken Mogi's "The Little Book of Ikigai."
It can result in dissonance. Naoko Takei Moore promotes the use of donabe, a type of cooking pot,
and was interviewed by The New York Times for a small feature this past March about the tool. Non-
Japanese Twitter users, in a sign of growing negative reactions to the "X, the Japanese art of Y"
presentations, attacked the piece... or at least the headline, as it seemed few dove the actual
content of the article (shocking!), which is a quick and pleasant profile of Takei Moore, a woman
celebrating her country's culinary culture.
Still, despite the criticism by online readers, the piece says way more about what English-language
readers want in their own lives than anything about modern Japan. That's common in all of this content,
and points to a greater desire for change, whether via a new cooking tool or a "Japanese technique to
overcome laziness." The Japan part is just flashy branding, going to a country that 84% of Americans
view positively find attention-grabbing ideas for a never-ending stream of online content.
And what do readers want? Self-help. Wherever they can get it. Telling them to slow down and look
inside isn't nearly as catchy as offering them magical solutions from ancient Japan.
