fixer-upper
千葉市が「ヤフオク！」に出品したとある豪邸が、話題となっています。なんでも、平成２６年に殺人事件が発生した、いわゆる「事故物件」だそうです。
Large mansion listed on Yahoo! Auction for cheap due to its macabre history
TOKYO —If the price was a steal, would you be willing to move into a house where the previous owner was murdered?
Two years ago in Chiba Prefecture, the owner of this mansion met a violent death after being stabbed in his home with a tool-like object that police were unable to recover from the scene of the crime.
In Japan, properties that were the sites of suicides or other tragedies are commonly referred to as “accident properties”, and can often be had for much below market value by prospective renters and buyers brave enough to turn these crime scenes into their homes.
This particular mansion is currently up for grabs on Yahoo! Japan Auctions for the extremely low asking bid of 7,560,000 yen for registered auction participants until May 17. For a house in Japan, it’s unbelievably large, with a dining room and kitchen, toilet and bath, and 10 bedrooms. Just for reference, a somewhat smaller house in this area, without any bad mojo associated with it, would easily run about five or six times the current opening bid price.
That said, due to being left uninhabited after the incident, it would be quite the fixer-upper, since the interior of the property isn’t exactly in pristine condition.
But for fans of the occult or houses that could possibly be haunted, the 289.1-square-meter property would provide a cushy place to crash after a little bit of DIY or renovation work. Located near Toke Station on the JR Sotobo Line, it’s only about an hour from Tokyo, and a 50-minute ride to Tokyo Disney Resort, where we’re sure Mickey and friends would provide enough distraction to keep your mind off the mansion’s horrific history.
今回取り上げる表現は、“fixer-upper”です。『ウィズダム英和辞典』(第３版、三省堂)を引いたところ、主にアメリカで用いられ「(修理の必要な)ぼろ家」という意味が載っていました。
Macmillan Dictionary.comでは、“something that costs less because it is in poor condition and will need to be fixed, for example a house”と定義されていました。『ウィズダム英和辞典』では家に限定されていましたが、その他にもぼろい物を指すときに用いることがあるようです。
調べているうちに、「アナと雪の女王」の中で“Fixer Upper”(邦題は「愛さえあれば」)という歌があることを知りました。歌詞の中には人に対して“fixer-upper”が用いられており、日本語吹き替えでは「完璧じゃない」という訳があてられていました。邦題の「愛さえあれば」は、完璧ではないけれど、愛さえあれば大した問題じゃないんだよという歌詞全体の内容からきているのだと思われます。興味があれば一度聴いてみてください。(Blue Sky)
