hand-picked #3
松井大阪府知事と吉村大阪市長は28日、「副首都推進本部」の初会合を府庁で開きました。
Governor and mayor push for Osaka to become Japan’s vice capital
OSAKA – Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui and Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura took the first step Monday toward realizing their dream of making Osaka the nation’s second — or vice — capital.
The two leaders opened an office consisting of prefectural and municipal bureaucrats tasked with looking into how the city can best serve as a back-up administrative capital, such as by hosting various government bodies now located in Tokyo.
Headed by Matsui and Yoshimura, the office also has the support of Cabinet adviser Taichi Sakaiya, a powerful behind-the-scenes figure and friend of Matsui who reportedly was responsible for bringing former Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto into politics.
Turning Osaka into the country’s second capital has long been a dream of Sakaiya and a major political goal of Matsui, as well as newly elected Mayor Yoshimura, Hashimoto’s hand-picked successor. It is part of their larger effort to become more autonomous from Tokyo.
今回取り上げるのは、“hand-picked”という表現です。『ジーニアス英和辞典G4 大修館書店』では、「厳選された、粒よりの」といった意味が見つかりました。さらにLDOCEで調べてみると、“someone who is handpicked has been carefully chosen for a special purpose”と定義されており、ここから「ある特別な目的で選ばれた」というニュアンスがあると分かります。
今回の記事にもある「大阪の副首都化」構想は、橋下前市長が提唱していた「大阪都構想」のリベンジでもあることから、この表現には「吉村市長が橋下氏の考えを受け継ぐ後任」であることが表されています。(ninetails)
