Business: English Skills
ビジネスチャンスを活かす英語力UPのために
明けましておめでとうございます。1月のB項を担当致します、佐藤です。
2021年も張り切って英語学習に取り組んでいきましょう！
今回は初詣に関する記事をピックアップします。
As Japanese plan traditional New Year’s shrine visits to pray for a better year after coronavirus-ridden 2020, shrines and temples around the country are adopting measures to curb COVID-19 risks.
After the coronavirus outbreak began, many Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples removed their hishaku ladles for washing their hands and suzunoo ropes for ringing bells, as infected visitors might spread the virus to others through contact with the items.
Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto replaced its suzunoo in June with a speaker that plays the sound of bells when visitors pass their hands over a sensor.
The shrine is considering removing the speaker over the New Year’s period, as the novelty of the tool may attract visitors and raise infection risks.
Ikuta Shrine in Kobe has introduced a system of minimizing contact for omikuji fortunes. Instead of drawing numbered sticks from a box, visitors can scan a QR code with their smartphones to draw a number virtually, which they can show shrine workers to receive paper fortunes.
“I hope people draw (omikuji) with their prayers concentrated in their fingertips,” shrine worker Masaaki Sawada, 36, said.
Concerns are growing that the rush to visit shrines and temples over the holidays may result in closed, crowded and close-contact settings, which are said to increase the risk of coronavirus infection.
Kashima Jingu, a shrine in Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture, is calling on people not to be particular about visiting just on the first three days of the new year but to spread their visits over the first 33 days of 2021, through Feb. 2.
“By presenting this period for reference, we think visitors will be spread out,” said Tomonori Niikura, 42, a public relations official of the shrine. “The new year is an important time for gathering with family members, so we want them to visit while taking infection prevention measures.”
出典: Shinto shrines across Japan adopt virus countermeasures before New Year’s rush, JapanTimes 2020/12/19
語彙
pray: 祈る
-ridden: に苦しめられた
curb: 抑制する
ladle: 柄杓
novelty: 新しいもの、目先の変わった小物、ノベルティ
fingertip: 指先
sprawl: 広がる
表現１
Concerns are growing that the rush to visit shrines and temples over the holidays may result in closed, crowded and close-contact settings, which are said to increase the risk of coronavirus infection.
closed, crowded and close-contact: 密閉、密集、密接
「３つの密」という単語は広く市井に定着してきた印象ですが、実は英語でも同じ頭文字（Ｃ）を使って表現しているのです。この対訳の考案が厚生労働省なのは驚きです。（私はてっきり海外メディアが最初に考案したものだと思っておりました。）
訳：正月休み中の性急な寺社への参拝は、結果としてコロナウイルス感染のリスクを高めると言われている“密閉、密集、密接”の環境を招くであろう、という懸念が高まりつつあります。
表現２
Kashima Jingu, a shrine in Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture, is calling on people not to be particular about visiting just on the first three days of the new year but to spread their visits over the first 33 days of 2021, through Feb. 2.
call on 人 to V：人にVするよう呼びかける、依頼する
“call”を「電話！」と捉える英語学習者が一定数いらっしゃるようです。”call”の語源は「大声で叫ぶ」で、実のところその手段はほとんど問われません。
訳：茨城県鹿嶋市にある神社、鹿島神宮は参拝客に正月三が日に限らず、節分の2月2日までの33日間に分散して参拝するよう呼びかけています。