元厚生次官襲撃

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Nov. 20, 2008)
Attacks on govt officials go beyond ordinary crime

元厚生次官襲撃　テロは断じて許されない（11月19日付・読売社説）

Two recent bloody attacks have seen a former administrative vice minister of health and welfare and his wife knifed to death before the wife of another former administrative vice health and welfare minister was stabbed and seriously injured.

　旧厚生省の事務次官経験者とその妻が相次いで殺傷された。

Police now believe these attacks against former top health ministry officials may be acts of terrorism. Such attacks cannot be tolerated.

　警察当局では、同省の次官経験者を狙った連続テロの可能性があるとみている。断じて許されない犯罪だ。

The perpetrator or perpetrators must be arrested as soon as possible and the background to the crimes thoroughly investigated.

　警察当局は、犯人を速やかに逮捕し、事件の背景を徹底的に解明しなければならない。

At the same time, all possible steps must be taken to protect former and incumbent administrative vice ministers of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, and former and current directors general of the Social Insurance Agency.

　同時に、厚生労働省の事務次官をはじめ社会保険庁長官の経験者らの身辺警護に万全を期すことが必要である。

The murdered couple were discovered Tuesday morning. Takehiko Yamaguchi, 66, a former administrative vice minister of the Health and Welfare Ministry--now the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry--and his wife Michiko, 61, were found stabbed to death at the entrance to their Saitama home.

　最初の事件は、１８日朝に分かった。さいたま市に住む元厚生事務次官の山口剛彦さん（６６）と妻が自宅玄関で刺殺されていた。

On Tuesday evening, Yasuko Yoshihara, 72, wife of Kenji, 76, a former administrative vice minister for health and welfare and former SIA secretary general, was stabbed and seriously injured at her home in Tokyo. While being transported to a hospital by ambulance, Yasuko was quoted as saying: "My husband may be targeted. He's in danger."

　さらに、１８日夜には、東京都内でやはり厚生事務次官を務めた吉原健二さん（７６）宅が襲われ、妻が刺されて重傷を負った。病院への搬送中に妻は、「主人が狙われているかもしれない。危ない」と話したとされる。

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Common factors

Police said the cases share some common factors, such as the use of a knife as a weapon and the infliction of multiple stab wounds.

　犯行には、いずれも刃物が使われ、複数の刺し傷があるなど、手口が似ているという。

While at the health and welfare ministry, Yamaguchi had worked mainly on pension affairs. He was head of the ministry's pension division when the government reformed the pension system and introduced the basic pension.

He was later promoted to head of the pension bureau and established the basic structure of the current pension system.

　山口さんは厚生官僚時代、主に年金畑を歩いた。基礎年金導入など年金制度の改革が行われた際には、年金課長だった。さらに、年金局長として、現在の年金制度の骨格を固めた。

Yoshihara also was an expert in pension affairs, serving as head of the pension bureau and director general of the SIA. When he was head of the pension bureau, Yamaguchi worked under him for a while as head of the pension division.

　吉原さんも、年金局長や社保庁長官を歴任し、年金行政のエキスパートだった。年金局長時代の一時期、山口さんが年金課長として仕えていた。

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Pension flaws the motive?

Various scandals related to the ministry and the SIA have been revealed recently. It is true that bungled management of pension records and flaws in the pension system created big problems. However, such a systematic use of terror cannot be tolerated for any reason.

　厚労省と社保庁をめぐっては、様々な不祥事が発覚している。特に年金のずさんな記録管理や、制度上の不備が大きな問題となっていることは確かである。

　だが、理由が何であれ、テロは決して容認できない。

In the past, several top and senior officials of ministries and agencies also have come under attack.

　行政を対象にした暴力は、近年増加している。

　２００１年には、栃木県鹿沼市の環境対策部参事だった男性が、元廃棄物処理会社役員らに殺害される事件があった。

昨年は、長崎市長が市長選のさなか、暴力団幹部だった男に射殺された。

　この事件の１審・長崎地裁は、求刑通り死刑判決を言い渡した。その中で、裁判長は「行政対象暴力として極めて悪質で、民主主義を根幹から揺るがす犯行だ」と断罪した。 （この日本語版のフレーズは、英語版に翻訳されていないので注意 by srachai）

In 1971, a parcel bomb delivered to the house of Kuniyasu Tsuchida, then head of the police affairs department of the Metropolitan Police Department, exploded and killed his wife.

（１９７１年、警視庁の土田くにやす氏の自宅に小包爆弾が配達され、土田氏の奥さんが亡くなった translated by srachai）

In 1995, Takaji Kunimatsu, the then National Police Agency commissioner general, was shot and severely wounded. In 2003, a bomblike device was found at the home of Deputy Foreign Minister Hitoshi Tanaka.

(１９９５年には、警視庁長官のくにまつたかじ氏は銃撃され重症を受けた、さらに２００３年には外務省副長官のたなかひとし氏の自宅で時限爆弾が発見された translated by srachai)

The perpetrators of those crimes are believed to have deliberately targeted the victims to attack the ministries and agencies they were related to.

（これらの犯行の容疑者は犯人が関係したと見られる省庁や局を狙ったものだと思われる。 translated by srachai）

In the latest cases, former bureaucrats who had retired many years ago, and their families have been targeted. The motive and other details behind the cases are still under investigation.

(最近の事件では、ずっと前に退職した省庁の退職者とその家族が狙われてるが、犯行の動機については、現在警察で捜査を進めている。 translated by srachai)

However, if the culprit or culprits committed attacks due to a grudge against them for what they did at the health and welfare ministry, the cases will have more serious implications than would an ordinary crime.

　今回の事件の動機や背景はまだ不明だ。もしも、在職中の職務を逆恨みしたものだとすれば、一層重大である。

Our society can never be called healthy and normal if fears of terrorism prevent government officials from carrying out their duties.

　行政関係者がテロを恐れて職務を執行できないようでは、健全な社会とは到底言えまい。

(From the latest edition of The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 19, 2008)

（2008年11月19日01時52分  読売新聞）