Regional Dialects and Political Climate: How to Cultivate Good Politicians | Yasuo Takagi (Dean of the Graduate School of Health Management)
July 12, 2011
"The dialect of my hometown, how I miss it / I go to the train station / to listen for it in the crowd" is a poem by Takuboku Ishikawa, who was from Iwate. However, many people, not just Takuboku, must have been surprised by the remarks of Ryu Matsumoto, the Minister for Reconstruction, even though he has since resigned. He said, "Because I'm from Kyushu, I don't know which prefecture what city in Tohoku is in," and "I'm from Kyushu, so my tone can be a bit harsh. If I ended up hurting the feelings of the disaster victims as a result, I apologize."
As someone who lived in Sendai for four years and Hakata for four years, I can't say I don't understand Minister Matsumoto's remarks. This happened when I visited Miyazaki in Kyushu on business in early March. While it was sleeting and the weather was terrible when I took off from Sendai Airport, when I landed in Miyazaki via Osaka's Itami Airport, I was greeted by lush greenery and a brilliantly shining sun. I remember feeling inexplicably angry. Later that evening, I continued this conversation with some locals. I mentioned that in the Tohoku region during the Edo period, there was a minor famine every three years, and a major famine every few decades that resulted in many deaths from starvation. They replied, "Even looking at old documents in Miyazaki, there are no records of deaths from starvation. They must have always been able to find something to eat." It was then I realized how different things could be within the same country of Japan.
From the perspective of people in Tokyo and Tohoku, the image of Kyushu is, first and foremost, Mount Aso. Following that, perhaps due to the influence of the Taiga dramas, is the image of Kagoshima and Satsuma. It is certainly not Hakata, Minister Matsumoto's hometown. Moreover, as someone who lived in Hakata, I don't think the Kyushu dialect is really that harsh in tone. It's strange because some old words from the era of the "Manyoshu" still remain, and there are times when the mumbling Tohoku dialect can feel stronger. Minister Matsumoto's constituency is Fukuoka 1st district, which consists of Higashi-ku and Hakata-ku. Along with Fukuoka 2nd district, where the city hall is located, it is a commercial area representative of Hakata. The Kyushu University School of Medicine, where I used to be, is also located within this area, and I recall the large sign for Minister Matsumoto's office.
Regarding this resignation drama, I hear there is a huge outcry even among the citizens of Hakata, with people saying, "That's not the Kyushu dialect. That's the dialect of Fukuoka's 1st district. If he gets re-elected in the next election, the voters who want a politician like that are also part of the problem." It is true that language is learned within one's family and community, and the words a person uses are imbued with the history of the family and community that raised them. It is said that volunteers from far away were surprised to find that even within the same disaster-stricken areas of Tohoku, just crossing a single mountain could mean differences in language and community bonds.
Even when we talk about regional dialects, they are influenced by various background factors, such as family differences like parental income and education level, and regional differences like urban versus rural, fishing village versus farming village, city center versus suburbs, or industrial versus commercial versus residential areas. Ultimately, it comes down to the social consciousness of the person using the language. Now that we have a single-seat constituency system, I would like to take the opportunity of this resignation drama to propose that voters scrutinize the language and intellect of politicians as proxy variables. By doing so, we can surely achieve better politics.
(Date of publication: July 12, 2011)