変わっていく人生観 — work, recession and the ageing society (テーマ３)

Translate this passage into English. かつて日本の大企業では、一つの会社に定年まで勤めるのが当たり前だと考えられていた。しかし、一九九〇年代以降、経済が長く停滞したことにより、その前提は崩れ始めた。今では、転職を経験する人も珍しくなく、働き方そのものが問い直されている。

1. 01Read to the end of each sentence first

   The three final predicates are 考えられていた, 崩れ始めた and 問い直されている. Reading them first gives you the whole arc before you translate a word: a past belief, the start of its breakdown, and a present state of questioning. Readings you need: 大企業[だいきぎょう], 定年[ていねん], 勤める[つとめる], 停滞[ていたい], 前提[ぜんてい], 崩れる[くずれる], 転職[てんしょく], 珍しい[めずらしい], 問い直す[といなおす].

2. 02Sentence 1: a nominalised clause as the subject of a belief

   一つの会社に定年まで勤めるのが当たり前だと考えられていた. のが nominalises 一つの会社に定年まで勤める — the act of working at one company until retirement — and marks it as the subject, which is the Appendix 2 nominaliser の. まで gives a limit, up to retirement, and note it is まで and not までに, because this is a duration and not a deadline. 当たり前 is taken for granted or the natural thing. 考えられていた is passive plus ている plus past: it was considered, as a standing belief over a period. かつて…では sets the frame: formerly, at large Japanese firms.

3. 03Sentence 2: ことにより is the formal by, and 崩れる is intransitive

   経済が長く停滞したことにより、その前提は崩れ始めた. ことにより is the written-register form of によって after a clause — owing to the fact that — and it is worth recognising because it is common in exactly this kind of text. 崩れる is intransitive: the premise crumbled, with nobody named as having broken it. Had the Japanese wanted an agent it would have used 崩す. ～始める attaches to the ます-stem and means began to. 一九九〇年代以降 is from the 1990s onwards; render the era, not the individual digits.

4. 04Sentence 3, first half: a double negative that means common

   転職を経験する人も珍しくなく. 珍しくない is not unusual, and 珍しくなく is its adverbial form chaining into the next clause. English can keep the litotes — it is not unusual for people to change employer — or flatten it to changing employer is now common. The mark scheme cuts the passage into chunks, so either rendering should score, but flattening loses a shade the writer chose deliberately, and the safer instinct in translation is to preserve the writer's hedge where English can carry it.

5. 05Sentence 3, second half: そのもの and a passive with no agent

   働き方そのものが問い直されている. 働き方 is the way of working, formed from the ます-stem plus かた, which Appendix 2 lists explicitly. そのもの intensifies it: the way of working itself. 問い直す is to re-examine or to question afresh; 問い直されている is its passive with ている — is being re-examined — and again no agent is stated, which English renders naturally with a passive. 今では is these days, with では marking the contrast against かつて in sentence one, so the two sentences are deliberately paired.

6. 06Read it back as English, then count the chunks

   It used to be taken for granted at large Japanese firms that one would work at a single company until retirement. Since the 1990s, however, the long stagnation of the economy has caused that assumption to break down. These days it is not unusual for people to change employer, and the way of working itself is being re-examined. Now count what carried marks: かつて…では, the のが nominalisation, まで as duration, 当たり前, the passive 考えられていた, 一九九〇年代以降, ことにより, the intransitive 崩れる, ～始める, 珍しくない, そのもの, and the agentless passive 問い直されている — twelve separate decisions.

Result: It used to be taken for granted at large Japanese firms that one would work at a single company until retirement. Since the 1990s, however, the long stagnation of the economy has caused that assumption to break down. These days it is not unusual for people to change employer, and the way of working itself is being re-examined.

From one bare fact — many young people leave rural prefectures for the Tokyo area and relatively few return — build a paragraph of essay-register Japanese in about 150 characters that states, complicates, attributes, concedes and concludes.

1. 01State the movement, with its proper name

   日本では、若者が地方から都市部へ移る動きが長く続いており、東京への一極集中が問題として指摘されている. へ marks direction; 移る is intransitive, which is right because no one is moving them; ～ており is the ます-stem of ている chaining into the next clause in written register; 一極集中 is the technical term and using it signals that you have read on the subject. 指摘されている attributes the problem framing to others rather than asserting it as your own.

2. 02Give the first explanation, marked as one explanation among others

   その理由として、若者の価値観が変わったことを挙げる意見がある. ～として…を挙げる is to cite something as, and 意見がある keeps it as a view rather than a finding. This is the attitude explanation, and stating it first lets you test it — a paragraph that only presents the explanation it favours reads as advocacy, and the AO4 grid asks for evaluation of issues, which requires at least two things to evaluate.

3. 03Complicate it with the opportunity explanation

   しかし、地方に若者向けの仕事が少ないという事情を考えれば、意識の変化だけで説明することはできない. ば on 考える gives if one considers, the Appendix 2 conditional for a hypothetical premise. 事情 is circumstances and is more precise than 理由 here, because it names a background condition rather than a stated reason. だけで…できない refuses the single-cause account without denying the cause has any force, which is the correct strength.

4. 04Concede the counter-evidence in one clause

   実際、Uターンを希望する若者が一定数いることは、価値観の変化だけが原因ではないことを示している. 実際 is in fact and introduces evidence; 一定数 is a certain number and is the right vague quantifier when you genuinely do not have a figure — it is honest rather than evasive. ことを示している, indicates that, is the standard way to make evidence do work in Japanese analytical prose. Note how this clause supports the previous sentence rather than opening a new topic.

5. 05Conclude by naming what would settle it

   したがって、移動の原因を考えるには、意識と機会の両方を見る必要があるだろう。特に、地方の雇用が増えたときに移動が減るかどうかは、重要な手がかりになる. The second sentence is what lifts the paragraph: it names a test. 手がかり is a clue or an indicator; ～かどうか is the embedded whether-question. You are not claiming to have run the test, only to know what it would be, which is exactly what critical analysis means when your evidence is limited.

6. 06Check register, endings and length

   Endings: 指摘されている, ある, できない, 示している, あるだろう, なる. Plain register throughout, no repetition, five different predicate types. The paragraph is about 150 characters, a little under a quarter of a Section C answer. If it needed cutting, the concession sentence would go, because the argument survives without it; if it needed lengthening, a named region or a named policy would be the place to add substance rather than words.

Result: 日本では、若者が地方から都市部へ移る動きが長く続いており、東京への一極集中が問題として指摘されている。その理由として、若者の価値観が変わったことを挙げる意見がある。しかし、地方に若者向けの仕事が少ないという事情を考えれば、意識の変化だけで説明することはできない。実際、Uターンを希望する若者が一定数いることは、価値観の変化だけが原因ではないことを示している。したがって、移動の原因を考えるには、意識と機会の両方を見る必要があるだろう。特に、地方の雇用が増えたときに移動が減るかどうかは、重要な手がかりになる。

Appendix 2 lists たら, なら, ば and と as separate items. Write four Japanese sentences about the economy, one with each, and justify why no other conditional would do.

1. 01と: an automatic, repeatable consequence

   物価が上がると、消費が減る. と says that whenever the first happens, the second follows — it is the conditional of laws, machines and habits, and it cannot be followed by a command, a request or a statement of the speaker's intention. That restriction is the test: if you can imagine adding ください or ましょう to the second clause, と is wrong. Here the claim is a general economic regularity, so と is exactly right, and it is also the shortest and cleanest of the four.

2. 02ば: a hypothetical premise, often with an evaluative main clause

   賃金が上がれば、生活はもっと楽になるだろう. ば sets up a condition whose fulfilment would produce the result, and it sits naturally with a main clause that evaluates — 楽になる, いい, 助かる — or that is hedged with だろう. It is also the conditional of the fixed expression ～を考えれば, if one considers, which you have already met. What ば does not do well is describe a sequence of actual events in the past; for that you need たら.

3. 03たら: a specific completed condition, and the one that allows a past main clause

   政府が対策を発表したら、市場はすぐに反応した. たら is the most flexible of the four and the only one that comfortably takes a past-tense main clause describing what actually happened — when the government announced measures, the market reacted at once. It is also the one to use for a single future occasion: 来年、景気が回復したら、正社員として採用する企業も増えるだろう. Because it is flexible, it is the safe default when you are unsure, which is worth knowing under examination pressure.

4. 04なら: taking up what the other person has just said

   景気が回復しているなら、なぜ賃金は上がらないのか. なら does something the other three cannot: it picks up a proposition that has been put on the table and reasons from it — if it is true that the economy is recovering, then why. That makes it the conditional of debate and therefore extremely useful in Paper 3 Section B, where you evaluate two sources. Note that なら attaches to the plain form with no だ for verbs and adjectives, and takes the bare noun for nouns: 学生なら.

5. 05The decision procedure, in four questions

   Is the consequence automatic and general? と. Is the main clause an evaluation or a hedged prediction? ば. Is it a single occasion, especially a past one, or are you unsure? たら. Are you reasoning from something already said or assumed? なら. Running those four questions takes seconds and will get the right form far more often than instinct, because English if flattens all four distinctions into one word and gives you no help at all.

6. 06Then check what follows the conditional clause

   The commonest error is not choosing the wrong conditional but putting the wrong thing after と. 物価が上がると、節約してください is ungrammatical because と cannot be followed by a request; 物価が上がったら、節約してください is fine. Likewise a past main clause after と is only possible for a discovery — 家に帰ると、手紙が来ていた, I got home and found a letter had arrived — which is a distinct usage worth recognising in reading but not worth risking in production.

Result: 物価が上がると、消費が減る。賃金が上がれば、生活はもっと楽になるだろう。政府が対策を発表したら、市場はすぐに反応した。景気が回復しているなら、なぜ賃金は上がらないのか。 The procedure: と for an automatic general consequence and never before a request or a command; ば for a hypothetical premise with an evaluative or hedged main clause; たら for a single occasion, for a past main clause, and as the safe default; なら to reason from a proposition already advanced, which makes it the conditional of Paper 3 Section B.

Translate into Japanese. Because of a shortage of workers, some industries have come to depend on people who have come from abroad. A new residence status was created in 2019, but critics point out that problems with the older training system have not been solved. Local governments are expected to provide language support.

1. 01Sentence 1, first half: because of is ため, and the noun is 人手不足

   人手不足のため、一部の産業では、海外から来た人々に依存するようになっている. ため after a noun requires の — 人手不足のため — where after a plain-form verb it takes none. 一部の産業では uses では because a contrast with other industries is implied. 海外から来た人々 is a relative clause modifying 人々, with から for origin. Note that 外国人 would also work but 海外から来た人々 is closer to the English people who have come from abroad and avoids committing to a legal category the English did not use.

2. 02Sentence 1, second half: have come to depend is ようになる plus ている

   依存するようになっている. ようになる is the Appendix 2 construction for coming to be in a new state, which is what have come to means; adding ている makes it a state that continues now rather than a completed transition. 依存する takes に on the thing depended upon, so 人々に依存する. Writing 依存し始めた would say began to depend, which is narrower; 依存している would lose the change. The English present perfect maps onto ようになっている with unusual neatness here.

3. 03Sentence 2, first half: a passive for an institutional act, with a date

   二〇一九年には新しい在留資格が設けられた. 設ける is to establish or institute, and its passive 設けられた is the natural register for a legal change whose agent is understood to be the state. には rather than に on the year adds a light contrastive framing, as for 2019, which suits a sentence that is about to be qualified. Use 在留資格 rather than ビザ: the legal term is what the English residence status means and it is the term Japanese sources use.

4. 04Sentence 2, second half: critics point out is a passive attribution

   しかし、以前の技能実習制度の問題は解決されていないという指摘がある. ～という指摘がある, there is a criticism that, is preferable to 批判者は…と言う, which is a calque of the English and reads oddly. 解決されていない is the negative of the passive plus ている: has not been solved and remains unsolved, which is precisely the English perfect. Keeping the criticism inside という指摘がある means you have reported it without endorsing it, which is both accurate translation and the honest register this material requires.

5. 05Sentence 3: are expected to is ことになっている or 求められている

   地方自治体には、言語面での支援を行うことが求められている. 求められている, are being asked or required, is the natural rendering of an institutional are expected to; ことになっている, listed in Appendix 2, would say it has been arranged that, which suggests a settled rule and is slightly stronger than the English. には marks the party on whom the expectation falls. 地方自治体 is the standard term for local government, and 言語面での支援 is language support with 面 for aspect — a useful noun for essay register generally.

6. 06Check the three fatal classes, then the register

   Subjects: 産業, 在留資格, 問題, 地方自治体 — four different ones, each marked, no silent change. Particles: に on 人々 with 依存する, が on 在留資格 as the passive subject, は on 問題 as the topic of the criticism, には on 地方自治体. Giving and receiving verbs: none here, so that error class does not apply. Endings: なっている, 設けられた, ある, 求められている — plain register throughout, no repetition, three of the four passive or stative, which suits an institutional passage.

Result: 人手不足のため、一部の産業では、海外から来た人々に依存するようになっている。二〇一九年には新しい在留資格が設けられたが、以前の技能実習制度の問題は解決されていないという指摘がある。地方自治体には、言語面での支援を行うことが求められている。 The scoring decisions: のため after a noun, では for an implied contrast, a relative clause with から, ようになっている for a completed change that persists, an institutional passive 設けられた, 在留資格 as the technical term, ～という指摘がある for reported criticism, the negative passive 解決されていない, and 求められている for an institutional expectation.

You have chosen 高齢化社会. You may take no notes into the examination and no dictionary. Build the research notes you will memorise: for each aspect, one anchor fact, one interpretation, one source type, and one sentence of Japanese you can write from memory.

1. 01Understand the constraint before you write a note

   Paper 1 Section C is 40 marks in a recommended 1 hour 25 minutes at 600 to 700 characters, and the specification is explicit that students are not permitted access to a dictionary during the examination or any documentation related to their research. So the research notes are not a document you will consult; they are a structure you will carry in your head. That changes what a good note looks like: it must be short enough to memorise and specific enough to be worth memorising, which in practice means one anchor fact and one ready-made Japanese sentence per aspect.

2. 02Aspect 1, 高齢者の孤立: anchor, interpretation, source, sentence

   Anchor fact: single-person households among older people have increased over recent decades, and local 見守り activity has developed in response — a direction, not a number. Interpretation to attribute: that isolation is a consequence of household change rather than of individual choice, which is a reading advanced by some researchers and contested by others. Source type: Japanese local-government websites describing 見守り schemes are authentic, readable and easy to find. Sentence to memorise: 高齢者の孤立は、家族構成の変化と無関係ではないと指摘されている。

3. 03Aspect 2, 家族からのサポート: the one with the sharpest evidence

   Anchor fact: 介護離職, leaving employment to care for a relative, is a recognised policy concern with a name, which tells you the phenomenon is common enough to have been legislated about. Interpretation: that unpaid family care is a hidden subsidy to the care system, which is a framing you should attribute rather than assert. Source type: newspaper features and interviews. Sentence: 家族による介護は、費用としては見えにくいが、実際には大きな負担となっている。 Note 見えにくい, using the ます-stem plus にくい from Appendix 2.

4. 04Aspect 3, 社会的支援: the aspect with a date

   Anchor fact: 介護保険制度 came into effect in April 2000, providing assessed services funded by contributions and taxation. That single dated fact is worth more in an examination than three vague ones, and it is the kind of thing the AO4 grid means by references from research findings. Interpretation: that the system's sustainability depends on a workforce a shrinking population must supply — again, attributed. Sentence: 二〇〇〇年に介護保険制度が始まり、介護は家族だけの問題ではなくなった。

5. 05Add the cross-aspect sentence, because that is where the marks concentrate

   A research answer that treats three aspects in three sealed paragraphs is a competent answer. The one that scores in the top band connects them, so memorise one sentence that does: 家族による介護を前提とする政策は費用を抑えられる一方で、その負担は家庭内で不均等に配分されやすい。 This single sentence uses aspect two and aspect three together, states a trade-off rather than a complaint, and contains 一方で and ～やすい, both of which feed the AO3 range grid. It is the highest-value thing on the whole note card.

6. 06Test the notes by writing without them

   The only useful test is the examination condition: put the notes away and write 600 to 700 characters on a statement you have not seen, in eighty-five minutes, with no dictionary. What you will discover is which sentences you actually own. Anything you could not reproduce goes back on the card in a shorter form or is dropped; anything you reproduced easily can be made more specific. Two or three cycles of that will produce a research subject you can write about under pressure, which is the only kind worth having.

Result: Three aspects, each with one anchor fact, one attributed interpretation, one source type and one memorised sentence — 高齢者の孤立は、家族構成の変化と無関係ではないと指摘されている。／家族による介護は、費用としては見えにくいが、実際には大きな負担となっている。／二〇〇〇年に介護保険制度が始まり、介護は家族だけの問題ではなくなった。 — plus one cross-aspect sentence stating the trade-off: 家族による介護を前提とする政策は費用を抑えられる一方で、その負担は家庭内で不均等に配分されやすい。