Tokyo's New Midtown Shopping Center: A Blend of Luxury and Conformity
- Seldom does a day go by that doesn't herald the opening of yet another retail temple devoted to the gods of shopping.
- Surrounded by all this, I suddenly fear earthquakes less than the fashion disaster of my own making.
- Midtown's seamless inclusion into the Tokyo landscape gives rise to a mind-set that defines 'community' and 'neighborhood' by the flagship stores bearing the name of a multinational corporation.
- ベストアンサー
英文で所々分からない箇所があります2
質問3. 以下の部分ですが Surrounded by all this, I suddenly fear earthquakes less than the fashion disaster of my own making. I realize that if there was an earthquake and all this concrete and glass were to come crashing down on me, my dying breath would be a prayer that no one notices how cheap my shoes are. 著者は自分のファッションセンスの低さを卑下しているようですが、何故ここにこの文章を挟む必要があるのでしょうか？前後との脈絡が全くないように見えるのですが・・・ 私の英文読解力が足りないせいなのか、彼女の文章構成力が稚拙なせいなのか、それすら判断できません。 貴方の具体的で総合的な判断と説明をお聞かせ願えませんか？ 面倒な質問をして申し訳ありませんが、宜しくお願い致します。 Seldom does a day go by that doesn't herald the opening of yet another retail temple devoted to the gods of shopping, where the faithful go to worship the almighty designer label and overpriced tea salon. It seems like only yesterday that I followed the crowds into Omotesando Hills, window-shopping along with tens of thousands of other drones, looking at everything on display and feeling my spirit crushed because I will never know what it's like to wake up and start my day in a tiara. And just when I thought I had found inner peace without the aid of retail religion, along comes yet another newly opened shopping center with all of the familiar enticements of luxury and convenience. Naturally, this one is no different from Tokyo's other shopping centers, all uniquely designed to frustrate the visitor with their maze-like layouts, where going from A to B requires the skills and stamina of a Sherpa guide. Surrounded by all this, I suddenly fear earthquakes less than the fashion disaster of my own making. I realize that if there was an earthquake and all this concrete and glass were to come crashing down on me, my dying breath would be a prayer that no one notices how cheap my shoes are. Tokyo's new Midtown shopping center, located on the former site of the Defense Agency, is yet another addition to Tokyo's retail jungle. But as far as shopping centers go, it's certainly not the worst of its kind. The curved footbridge, where cars instead of carp can be viewed below, and other distinctly Japanese touches are improvements over the usual bland, pre-fab American-style shopping centers that appeared during the bubble era. Its architects have clearly made an effort to create a sense of harmony with the existing neighborhood. And herein lies the problem. Midtown's seamless inclusion into the Tokyo landscape gives rise to a mind-set that defines "community" and "neighborhood" by the flagship stores bearing the name of a multinational corporation. All this conformity is just another step along the way to creating a society regulated by greedy developers. At some point, I was probably standing on the exact spot where George's bar used to be — a tiny watering hole on the outskirts of Roppongi famous for its Motown-themed decor, and its ageless Mama-san. It's hard to exactly pinpoint the precise location of George's since the wonders of development and "progress" have destroyed every vestige of the past, burying it under a million tons of reinforced steel and concrete. Ironically, the only life within the Midtown mausoleum can be found among the centuries-old treasures on display at the Suntory Museum. Here, visitors can enjoy a welcome break from the rigors of mindless spending. The current exhibition of Edo period treasures, ranging from exquisitely painted folding screens to lacquer incense holders, is a beautiful yet sad reminder of a bygone age before the connoisseur gave way to the consumer. In contrast to the dead relics of the present, these artifacts remind us that real beauty possesses the beholder, rather than the other way around.
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- 英語
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- みんなの回答 （1）
- 専門家の回答
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初めの二節は 毎日のように、東京のどこかで、買い物の神様の信者たちがお参りに行く全能のデザイナーを祀る商売神社や、法外な値段のティー・サロンがオープンする。 私が人混みの後について表参道坂に入り 何万と言う暇人に混じってウィンドーの陳列を眺め、朝起きてティアラで一日を始めるといった生活は知らないので、気を落としていたのはつい昨日のようだ。 （一節目の終わり） でやっと小売り宗教の世話にならずに心の平安が得られると思った矢先、さらに豪華で便利なショッピング・センターがいつもの誘惑を持って新らしく開店する。 言うまでもなく東京のこれまでのセンターと変わるところはない。ただ一度入り込んだらシェルパ案内人の技量がないとこの迷路から出られない、ユニークなデザインで、訪問者を困惑させる。 （二節目の終わり） （これでショッピンセンターは、一度入ったら出られないと言う流れになります） こう言う事情に取り巻かれていながら、ふと自分の作り上げた散々な流行遅れより、地震の方が怖くなった。 もし地震があって、これだけのコンクリートとガラスが崩れ落ちる下敷きになったら、私のこの世の最後の願いは「どうか誰も私の安物の靴に気づきませんように」と言うことだった。 （だから流れとしては自然で、この程度の軽口は、名文ではなくても、結構出回っているのではないでしょうか）
関連するQ&A
- 英文で所々分からない箇所があります
お世話になっております。 男性で木の上に住んでる人とか、元軍人のエッセーを読んで来ているせいか、彼女の英文は私にとって”大袈裟”で”飾りっ気”が多く理解しにくいです。 質問1. というのは私の浅学のせいで、このくらいの英文は大袈裟でも何でもなく"普通"なんでしょうか？このくらいの比喩表現を理解出来ないのは、まだまだ私が浅学ということでしょうか？ 質問2.下記の英文で feeling my spirit crushed because I will never know what it's like to wake up and start my day in a tiara. 彼女のspirit が打ち砕かれるとのことですが、because 以下との関連がよく分かりません。具体的に説明するとどうなりますか？ 質問3.は字数制限で出来ませんので新たな投稿でします。 よろしくお願いいたします。 Essay Another day, another new shopping mall By Jennifer Matsui 今日もショッピングモールがオープン 東京周辺では毎日のように新たなショッピングモールが誕生しているが、 3月下旬、六本木の防衛庁跡地に「東京ミッドタウン」がオープンした。 もうけ主義の開発業者が作り出したこの施設の中で、唯一の救いと言えるのが、 サントリー美術館で展示されている江戸時代の宝物の数々ではないだろうか。 Seldom does a day go by that doesn't herald the opening of yet another retail temple devoted to the gods of shopping, where the faithful go to worship the almighty designer label and overpriced tea salon. It seems like only yesterday that I followed the crowds into Omotesando Hills, window-shopping along with tens of thousands of other drones, looking at everything on display and feeling my spirit crushed because I will never know what it's like to wake up and start my day in a tiara. And just when I thought I had found inner peace without the aid of retail religion, along comes yet another newly opened shopping center with all of the familiar enticements of luxury and convenience. Naturally, this one is no different from Tokyo's other shopping centers, all uniquely designed to frustrate the visitor with their maze-like layouts, where going from A to B requires the skills and stamina of a Sherpa guide. Surrounded by all this, I suddenly fear earthquakes less than the fashion disaster of my own making. I realize that if there was an earthquake and all this concrete and glass were to come crashing down on me, my dying breath would be a prayer that no one notices how cheap my shoes are. Tokyo's new Midtown shopping center, located on the former site of the Defense Agency, is yet another addition to Tokyo's retail jungle. But as far as shopping centers go, it's certainly not the worst of its kind. The curved footbridge, where cars instead of carp can be viewed below, and other distinctly Japanese touches are improvements over the usual bland, pre-fab American-style shopping centers that appeared during the bubble era. Its architects have clearly made an effort to create a sense of harmony with the existing neighborhood. And herein lies the problem. Midtown's seamless inclusion into the Tokyo landscape gives rise to a mind-set that defines "community" and "neighborhood" by the flagship stores bearing the name of a multinational corporation. All this conformity is just another step along the way to creating a society regulated by greedy developers. At some point, I was probably standing on the exact spot where George's bar used to be — a tiny watering hole on the outskirts of Roppongi famous for its Motown-themed decor, and its ageless Mama-san. It's hard to exactly pinpoint the precise location of George's since the wonders of development and "progress" have destroyed every vestige of the past, burying it under a million tons of reinforced steel and concrete. Ironically, the only life within the Midtown mausoleum can be found among the centuries-old treasures on display at the Suntory Museum. Here, visitors can enjoy a welcome break from the rigors of mindless spending. The current exhibition of Edo period treasures, ranging from exquisitely painted folding screens to lacquer incense holders, is a beautiful yet sad reminder of a bygone age before the connoisseur gave way to the consumer. In contrast to the dead relics of the present, these artifacts remind us that real beauty possesses the beholder, rather than the other way around. Shukan ST: May 11, 2007
- 締切済み
- 英語
- 英文のわからない個所を教えてください。
＜1＞Is there then a distinction to be made between the interaction of art and history, and art history? ＜2＞That is to say that histories of art can have a single focus on style or the work in relation to the biography of the artist, where our expectations of a progressive history are inflicted on the visual. ＜3＞ What I am suggesting here is that we turn the question on its head and put art in the driving seat, so to speak. ＜4＞By using art as our starting point we can see the complex and intertwined strands that make up art history. This implies that art history is a subject or academic field of enquiry in its own right, rather than the result of the rules of one discipline being applied to another. ＜私の訳とわからない点＞ ＜1＞さらにまた芸術と歴史、芸術史の相互作用の間に作られる区別（特徴）はありますか？ between ～は「art and history」と「art history」の相互作用の間、といっているのでしょうか？ それとも「the interaction of art and history」がひとくくりなのでしょうか？ ＜2＞すなわち芸術の歴史は、様式やもしくは芸術家の伝記に関連する作品にに一つの焦点を持つことができ、そこで進歩的な歴史を私たちが期待することは視覚に負っているのです。 whereは関係副詞で、前文を受けているのでしょうか？ inflictの単語の意味合いから言うと「視覚」が期待を負うということは大変なことだという感じなのでしょうか？ ＜3＞私がここで提案していることは、言わば、私たちが疑問をその（主要な）論点に向けて、芸術を運転座席に置くことです。 its headのitsはthe questionでheadは（主要な）論点でしょうか？ put art in the driving seatの比喩的な表現の意味がよくわからないのですが、芸術に主導権を握らせる、みたいな感じでしょうか？ ＜4＞私たちの出発点としての芸術を用いることによって、私たちは芸術史を作っている複雑に絡み合っている鎖を理解することができます。これは芸術史が他に適用された一つの秩序の法則の結果というよりもむしろ、それ自身の権利における、主題、もしくは研究学術分野であることを意味します。 anotherは「他に」ですか？「もう一つの」、とすると意味がとれませんでした。 （the result of the rules of one discipline being applied to anotherの意味をとるのが難しいです） its own rightのrightは「権利」でしょうか？ （上記の文章のあと以下の文章が続きます。） I return to this point on a regular basis in this book. I aim to set out how histories of art have been constructed, to describe the ways in which we have been encouraged to think about art as a result, and also to introduce other ways of thinking about the visual in terms of its history. 長くなってしまってすみません。よろしくお願い致します。 『ART HISTORY--History as progression』:Dana Arnold
- ベストアンサー
- 英語
- 英文の意味を教えてください
And yet I say to you with all my purity, ＊there shall be that which is present and that which remains the same as my love dawns within you.＊ ＊～＊の意味がよくわからないのですが、お教えください。 このyetは、「さらに」という意味でしょうか？
- ベストアンサー
- 英語
- この英文の内容・構文を教えて下さい
1 Our friend was puzzeled. 2 He approached the man and said, "I was wonderingg what you are doing." 3 "I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. 4 You see, it's low tide right now and all of these starfish have seen washed up on the shore. 5 If I don't know them back into the sea, they'll die up here from lack of oxygen." 6 "I understand," my friend replied, "but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. 7 You can't possibly get to all of them. 8 There are simply too many. 9 And don't you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this coast. 10 Can't you see that can't possibly make a difference?" 11 The local native smiled, bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied, "Made a difference to that one!" 長文で申し訳ございません・・・。 これの内容を教えて欲しいのですが、 the man＝starfishを投げている our friend＝疑問を持って聞く それに対する答えが7行目以降だと思うのですが、 その行以降から何を言っているのか分からなくなりました。 7行目は「貴方はstarfishをget toすることが恐らく出来ない」とあるのですが、『get to＝arrive』ですよね？ "bu there must be・・・"の会話文はthe manの会話として取っています。 すると、Youはour friendということになって、益々意味が分かりません。 どういう意味になっているんでしょうか？ 9行目は、構文が取れていません。 this is probably happening ＜on hundreds of beaches＞ ＜all up and down＞ ＜this coast＞. happenは自動詞なので、それ以降の句が＜副詞節＞として見えてしまいます。 そうすると、場所を表す節が2つも出てしまい、意味がとれなくなりました。 『happen on：偶然出くわす』と熟語にとってみても、意味がとれません。 どうすれば良いのでしょうか？ 10行目、11行目の『make a difference』が分かりません。 何が重要である.と言っているのですか？ また、11行目のto that oneは、何を指しているのですか？ 乱文で、長くてすいません・・・。 考えても分かりませんでした。 もし良ければ、教えて頂きたいです。 よろしくおねがいします。
- ベストアンサー
- 英語
- わからない個所を教えてください。
I can make a start with the window. I have to start somewhere, after all. I tell myself that I will think about the exhibition, and the paintings, while I work; and this sounds so convincing to me that I almost start to believe it. (前回の終わりの部分です） Chapter Three I do get to the paintings eventually. In the afternoon, I buy what I need to mend the broken pane, and more besides; heavy bags of tools and materials for which I am bound to find a hundred uses. I buy house paint, too: emulsion for the walls, to get them back the way they were – the way they should be. I set out all I have bought on the sitting-room floor, and go to work to fix the window. All through the afternoon, in the easy rhythm of working with my hands, the past comes, floating up around me and threatening to engulf me; and I fight it back, trying to stay in the here and now, trying to gain control. Sometimes – most of the time – I manage it. I can’t understand why this is happening to me now; and why so strongly, so – insistently. Jamie and Anna. I tell myself that it must be inevitable that being back here again would stir up memories of them. It’s natural; this was their place, of course, as well as mine. It’s no surprise that they’re here in my thoughts so much. But it has been so long since I’ve thought of them, and these aren’t just memories – these are fragments of reality, snatched from the past and creeping up around me in the present. It’s something I’ve learnt to live without all my adult life, and now it’s here, it’s back, and I can’t even control it. I might have expected to think of Jamie and Anna once or twice while I was here – but not this, not this. ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。Jamie and AnnaはAlexの幼なじみです。 It’s something I’ve learnt to live without all my adult life, and now it’s here, it’s back, and I can’t even control it.という英文が最後の方に出てくるのですが、itが何を指しているのかよくわかりません。 it’s hereそれはここにあり、it’s backそれは戻り、I can’t even control it.私はそれを支配することさえできない。。。Jamie and Annaとの思い出みたいな感じでしょうか？ I might have expected to think of Jamie and Anna once or twice while I was here – but not this, not this.のbut not this, not thisというのは、どういうことを言っているのでしょうか？これではない、これでは。。？？ 質問の英文が長くなってしまいましたが、教えてください。お願いします。
- ベストアンサー
- 英語
- 下記の英文を教えて下さい
I am out of the country at the moment and it is my colleague you are speaking to. I am back on Friday and will make sure that the labels MADE IN USA will go on all of the bags and purses. Please bare with me till this Friday.
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- 英語
- わからない箇所について教えてください。
In my suitcase, I have over a hundred and fifty eleven-by-fourteen photographs which are the real reason for this trip. But I can’t tell Max that; he’d think I was mad. I have come here to try to settle myself, and to try to understand. I have the photographs, and I have some time to myself; I hope that out of these two things will come some measure of calm, or comprehension. The house, Altesa, coming back to Italy – it’s all really just an excuse to spend some time with the images which I have begun to realize trouble me so deeply. I can’t really explain it, even to myself. I just know it’s important, and that I have to resolve it one way or another. I leave the square behind me. My footsteps are muted by the rain as I walk, and I keep my eyes on the road until the valley starts to open up around me. Guy BurtのThe Dandelion Clockからの英文です。 *********************************************************** I hope that 【out of these two things will come some measure of calm, or comprehension. 】 ここは倒置ですか？ it’s all really just an excuse to spend some time with the images which I have begun to realize trouble me so deeply. この英文がよくわからないのですが、allはどういう意味にとるのでしょうか？ すべての、という形容詞ですか？ allとan ～がでてきてわかりにくいです。 文の構造はどうなっているのでしょうか？ itはto spend以下ですか？ the images which(関係代名詞）I have begun to realize というかたまりですか？ trouble は動詞になるのでしょうか？ 意味がよくとれません。 教えてください。お願いします。
- ベストアンサー
- 英語
- わからない箇所について教えてください。
When I last left, twenty-six years ago, the place felt hollow: all that had once filled it was gone. I left sure that I could discard it. Then, a fortnight ago, there’s the phone call, and everything changes. Lena has died, a few weeks short of her eighty-fourth birthday. The house is empty now, and there are decisions to be made: whether to sell, to rent it out again, to have work done on it. I know at once that I have to come myself. Max wants me to do it all by phone –get a surveyor in, have the solicitors in Salerno handle everything; but I can’t. It’s my house, and I shall check it over in person. When I see he’s genuinely worried about how much time this will take, I reassure him that there’s nothing much to do. Just look things over, sign a few papers. Two or three days; 【that’s all.】 Besides, I say, it will be good for me to have a break. The past few months have been exhausting. A chance to escape from London and all the endless preparations will do me good. In the end, he relents. 【I think about it all 】on the plane to Naples, and on the train to Salerno, and on the bus all down the forty-mile stretch to the head of the valley: about how I’ve lied to Max. There’s no point my coming here, not really. He’s quite right that it could all be handled easily enough over the phone. It’s not even that I’m keen to see Altesa again: it’s hard to imagine that the hollowness has in any way ebbed over the past twenty-six years. 【It’s none of that. 】 Guy BurtのThe Dandelion Clockからの英文です。 *********************************************************** 【that’s all.】のthatは何を表しているのでしょうか？ Just look things over, sign a few papers.ですか？ 【I think about it all 】のitは何を指しているのでしょうか？ how I’ve lied to Maxですか？ 【It’s none of that. 】の意味がわかりません。 長くなってしまってすみません。 お願いいたします。
- ベストアンサー
- 英語
- わからない個所を教えてください。
She closes the door after her and, a few moments later, there comes the first hiss of water from the shower, and somewhere far off the rumble and clang of air through the plumbing of the old building. I am left lying on my bed, staring at the wall, trying to keep the thought of her out of my head. (前回の終わりの部分です） I look again at her luggage. Bags and suitcases. There is still something about them that draws my attention, but now it doesn’t feel as if they’re a good composition for a sketch; it’s something else which I can’t readily identify. I stare at them, and can feel myself frowning. Something is – I don’t know what. Not right? What can be not right about suitcases? But something— I look back to the wall, try another rueful smile, and this one works better. In the next room Anna is naked, and that is what’s bothering me. Because I shouldn’t be thinking of her like that. Because she’s Anna. The suitcases – the suitcases are square and prosaic and dull and incredibly unerotic. That is why they keep nagging at me, tugging at the corners of my mind. In a way, it all makes perfect sense. I almost laugh at the convolutions of it all. Alone in a room, trying not to laugh, not allowing myself to think of the girl showering just behind the wall, filling my head with her casually piled suitcases instead. Mad Alex, Jamie would have said. ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。AnnaはAlexの幼なじみです。（この場面は回想シーンのように思われます） Something is – I don't know what. Not right? What can be not right about suitcases? But something—この英文はスーツケースに対してどういうことを思っているということが書かれているのでしょうか？よくわかりません。now it doesn’t feel as if they’re a good composition for a sketch; it’s something else which I can’t readily identify.のところから気持ちが続いている感じはするのですが。 I look back to the wall, try another rueful smile, and this one works better.のthis one works better.とはどういう意味ですか？壁にふり返って悲しげに笑ってみる、ということがよりよく働く？ That is why they keep nagging at me, tugging at the corners of my mind. In a way, it all makes perfect sense.のところが難しいのですが、theyはThe suitcasesのことだと思うのですが、the corners of my mindとは頭の角？という意味ですか？cornersのところがよくわかりません。In a way, it all makes perfect sense.ある意味ではそれは完全に意味をなします？の言っている意味はどういうことでしょうか？ Alone in a room, trying not to laugh, not allowing myself to think of the girl showering just behind the wall, filling my head with her casually piled suitcases instead.の中で主語はないのでしょうか？動詞はpiledですか？ casuallyは「何気なく」？ Jamie would have saidについて、Jamie have saidとどういう違いがあるのでしょうか？ 教えてください。お願いします。
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- 英語
- 英文
以下の英文の翻訳お願いできませんか？ (1)The first time I had a kidney stone I thought I was going to die. My wife and I were starting to cook dinner and I just collapsed in pain on the floor. Not knowing what the feeling was, I assumed the worst and thought I had appendicitis. The pain was a sharp throbbing pain in my left side (For those of you who don't know the appendix is on the right side). (2)I swore to my wife my appendix had burst and after several minutes of bickering, crying, and nausea, I insisted on going to the hospital. On the way to the hospital, every bump in the road sent shocks of pain through my entire body. Once in the ER the nurse was able to identify my symptoms immediately as a kidney stone. Several painful hours later, I still had not passed the stone. (3)The painkillers (shots) had kicked in. But the uncomfortable feeling and pressure was still there. The majority of the time when you go to the ER, they only help you pass the stone, and you generally never receive any futuristic ultrasound machine that could shatter the stone into passable tiny pieces. After another hour they sent me home with a straining device and a big bucket for the next 24 hours. (4)The feelings experienced were not only sharp pains but the massively uncomfortable feeling of pressure. You know you have to go, the feeling is familiar, but something is blocking the path. You will feel this pain from deep in your side (the kidney) all along the path until it exits. That time it took me another 24 hours or so to pass the stone. Painkillers can manage the pain, but the mental anxiety can be very distressing. (5)This first experience was about 14 years ago. Since then, I have had a new stone every couple of years. My doctor has prescribed allopurinol to lower the uric acid in my body. This has had a huge benefit on both my gout attacks and kidney stones. My last stone was back in 2003 and I look forward to never having one again. (6)If you are reading this because you think you might have a stone, just prepare yourself for 48 hours of hell. I always start taking painkillers as soon as I feel it coming on, and I have had a good track record of passing them pretty fast. I wish you the best of luck.
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- 英語
