September 21, 2014(Mainichi Japan)
Kaleidoscope of the Heart: Learning how to praise our 'enemies'
香山リカのココロの万華鏡:「敵」の健闘たたえる余裕　／東京

I recently went to Tokyo Dome to watch a professional baseball game.
東京ドームにプロ野球を見に行く機会があった。

The Yomiuri Giants were not playing that evening, as this was one of the several games hosted there yearly by the Nippon Ham Fighters.
とはいっても、ジャイアンツ戦ではない。年に何回かある日本ハムファイターズ主催試合だ。

They were playing against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, who are presently at the top of the Pacific League.
対するは現在パ・リーグ首位のソフトバンク。

The Fighters were on top of the game from start to finish. The climax occurred when Atsunori Inaba, who recently announced his retirement, went up to bat as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning -- likely the last time he would appear during a game hosted by his team at the Tokyo Dome.
試合は終始ファイターズ優位で進んだが、クライマックスは何といっても引退を表明している同チームの稲葉篤紀選手が代打で登場した八回だった。東京ドームでの主催試合では最後の登場になるはずだ。

When Inaba was called to the plate, a murmur could be heard rippling through the crowd.
「代打・稲葉」とコールされると、球場全体がどよめき、

Shortly afterward, the entire stadium audience rose to their feet.
すぐにほぼ全員が立ち上がった。

Fighters' fans leaped into the air and broke out with a rendition of the famous "Inaba jump" -- but it soon became clear that they were not alone. On the left side of the stands, as well as behind third base, SoftBank supporters were jumping right along with them.
稲葉選手の打席ではファンはピョンピョン跳びはねる「稲葉ジャンプ」を行って応援するのだが、なんとレフトスタンドや三塁側に陣取ったソフトバンクファンまでもがいっしょにジャンプ。

Inaba unfortunately did not manage to score a hit, but as he left the plate, he was accompanied by loud applause from all around the stands.
残念ながらヒットは打てなかったが、打席を去るベテランに球場全体から大きな拍手が送られた。

He waved to both sides of the crowd, wiping away tears several times. Fighters Manager Hideki Kuriyama later told him, "I was moved as well."
そして試合後、栗山監督から「オレも感動した」と声をかけられたという稲葉選手は、両チームのファンに手を振りながら何度も涙をぬぐっていた。

There is an expression in the Japanese language that may be loosely translated as "praising someone even though they may be an enemy."
日本語に定着しているフレーズに「敵ながらあっぱれ」がある。

The phrase is said to have originated in the act of military commanders lauding their opponents' brave fights -- a description that seems to describe the feelings on the part of the SoftBank fans at that moment.
武将が敵の健闘をたたえて発した言葉ともいわれるが、相手チームの選手を応援するソフトバンクファンもそんな心境だったのだろうか。

This incident also called to mind the proverb that refers to "sending salt to one's enemy."
また「敵に塩を送る」ということわざも思い出す。

It goes without saying, but this refers to the conscious decision of offering support to one's enemies while not engaged in battle with them.
言うまでもないが、「戦い以外の場ではあえて敵を支援する」という意味だ。

The origin of the phrase is an incident that occurred during the Sengoku ("Warring States") period, when Uesugi Kenshin refused to comply with the Imagawa clan's demand that he halt salt exports to his enemy Takeda Shingen -- instead providing him with the shipments of salt.
戦国時代、今川家から武田信玄への「塩止め（塩の輸出禁止）」を要請された上杉謙信が、それを断り敵対関係にある信玄に逆に塩を送ったというエピソードが元になっているとされる。

While the topic at hand is of course sports, which is a world unto itself, I must say that this incident I witnessed -- whereby an entire group of people naturally began congratulating someone else, without having been told to do so, and irrespective of whether that person was an associate or an opponent -- left a very strong impression upon me indeed.
もちろんこれはスポーツという特別な世界のできごとだが、誰に指示されたわけでもないのに誰もがごく自然に、敵味方に関係なく健闘をたたえ合う行動に出た姿は私にとってとても印象的だった。

We are constantly subjected to intense competition in our daily lives, and we often consume all of our energy trying to seek out our rivals' vulnerabilities while in turn concealing our own.
日常生活では、私たちはいつもシビアな競争にさらされ、ライバルの欠点を探したり自分の弱点を見せないようにしたりすることで精いっぱいだ。

After we have cut down someone else whom we have identified as an "enemy," and gone on to declare our own victory, however, I wonder: Can we really feel good about ourselves?
しかし、そうやって“敵”と見なした相手を完全にたたきのめして自分が勝ち残りさえすれば、その後も心豊かにすごすことができるのだろうか。

I had many thoughts after I watched baseball fans passionately bidding farewell to Inaba that evening, including this one: Somewhere along the line, have many of us not forgotten the lesson from the Sengoku period to treat enemies and vanquished persons with respect, and to wish them well?
私たちはいつのまにか、戦国時代から大切にしてきたはずの敵や敗者の健闘をたたえる心の余裕を忘れてしまったのではないか。
今シーズンで球界を去る稲葉選手へのファンたちの熱い応援から、さまざまなことを考えさせられた一夜であった。

（精神科医）
(By Rika Kayama, psychiatrist)
毎日新聞　2014年09月17日　地方版