Japan’s Maker of Mascots Feeds a Nation’s Craving for Cuteness
吉祥物製造商滿足日人萌癮
By Jonathan Soble

For some of Japan’s most adored celebrities, the journey to fame starts in a converted Internet cafe above a bowling alley in this sunny southwestern city.
對日本一些最受仰慕的名流來說，成名之路始於西南部這個陽光城市位於保齡球館樓上的一間改裝過的網咖。

This is where Hiromi Kano runs her unlikely star factory, an enterprise whose most successful creations are recognized by millions. Some have huge followings on Twitter and earn billions of yen in revenue. At least one has met the emperor.
加納博美（音譯）在這兒經營她令人想像不到的明星工廠，這個事業最成功的創作獲得數以百萬計的人賞識。其中一些在推特上有龐大的粉絲群，賺進數以十億日圓計的營收。至少一個曾見過日皇。

The idols churned out by Kano, 55, are mascots – the smiling, dancing animals, mutated foodstuffs and saucer-eyed humanoids that promote every conceivable thing in Japan, from out-of-the-way tourist spots to careers in the military.
55歲的加納大量生產的是吉祥物－帶著微笑、手舞足蹈的動物、變種的食物、張著大圓眼的人形物，促銷日本所有想得到的事物，從偏遠的觀光景點到軍旅生涯。

Kano is a costume maker, though no one in her industry would describe the job so bluntly.
加納是戲服製造商，不過這個產業的人都不會這麼直白描述這個工作。

“We have a motto, which is that there’s no human inside,” said Kano, a mother of two with a warm smile who oversees the workshop and its roughly 40 employees, almost all women.
加納說：「我們有句箴言，就是裡面沒有人。」帶著親切微笑的加納是兩個孩子的母親，主管這間工作坊和幾乎全是女性的大約40名員工。

Whimsical mascots have become almost as closely associated with Japan as Mount Fuji and sushi. Popular for decades, they have become a virtual obsession in recent years, and seemingly every town, business and arm of government now has one.
千奇百怪的吉祥物與日本的關聯，幾乎和富士山與壽司一樣密切。吉祥物已流行幾十年，近年更真正成了一種癮，現在似乎每個城鎮、商業、政府部門都有一個。

So ubiquitous are mascots that last year, Japan’s Finance Ministry suggested that public agencies think twice before creating more, fearing that taxpayer money was being wasted. Osaka prefecture alone was found to be supporting 92 of them, including two dogs for separate tax departments and a caped, flying hot-water bottle representing pharmaceutical regulation. The governor ordered a cull.
吉祥物無所不在，以致去年日本財務省建議公家機關在創造吉祥物前要三思，以免浪費納稅人的錢。單是大阪府就有92個為公家機關代言的吉祥物，包括兩隻狗為不同的稅務機關代言，還有一個戴棒球帽、會飛的熱水瓶，代表藥物法規。大阪府知事下令汰除吉祥物。

Kano said business was still booming, though.
加納說，儘管如此，她的生意仍很興旺。

“Japanese people have this desire to take the sharp edges off things, to take hard things and make them soft,” she said. “If you want to explain, say, industrial waste, adding a character softens the message and helps it get through to people.”
她說：「日本人想要拿掉事物尖銳的稜角，把硬的東西變軟，你們若要解釋，比方說，工業廢棄物，添加一個吉祥物能把訊息變柔軟，更容易傳達給人們。」

There are dozens of mascot-outfit makers in Japan, but the Kano family’s company, Kigurumi.biz, stands out in the crowd. Its suits, which cost $4,000 to $6,500, are the Cadillacs of the mascot world, with features like motorized fans to keep their occupants cool during Japan’s humid summers. Most are based on existing images, but Kano employs artists who can create characters from scratch or who can refine customer’s; designs.
日本有幾十家吉祥物造型製造商，但加納家族的公司Kigurumi.biz特別突出。它的人偶裝要價4000到6500美元，是吉祥物世界的凱迪拉克，特色包括內裝電風扇，在日本溼熱的夏天，讓穿上吉祥物服裝的人保持涼快。大部分吉祥物根據現有的形象，但加納雇用的藝術家能憑空創造出角色，或把顧客的設計變得更精緻。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/09/world/asia/japan-mascots-hiromi-kano.html

2016-02-07/聯合報/D2版/紐約時報賞析 田思怡譯

說文解字 看新聞 田思怡

日本人常把「卡哇伊」（好可愛，讀音為kawaii）掛在嘴上，並表現在各種商品、服飾、藝術和本文提到的大量吉祥物（mascot）上，發展出獨特的日本可愛文化（kawaii culture）。

柯林斯英語詞典2014年把kawaii加進詞典，成為一個英文新字，定義為：Japanese artistic and cultural style that emphasises the quality of cuteness, using bright colours and characters with a childlike appearance.（強調可愛性質的日本藝術和文化風格，使用明亮的顏色和有孩童般樣貌的角色。）

日本幾乎每個城鎮都有自己的吉祥物，政府從中央到地方，各部門也都有代言的吉祥物，甚至在推動新政策時也創造新的吉祥物，到了無所不在（ubiquitous）的地步，逼得大阪府知事松井一郎祭出汰除令（order a cull），汰弱留強。

創造吉祥物的最高境界，就是讓人們忘了吉祥物裡面有人，因此本文中的吉祥物創作者說，這一行的座右銘（motto）就是「裡面沒有人（非人）」（There is no human inside.）。

Going Electric, Even if Gas Is Cheap
油價雖低 繼續往電動車前進
By Bill Vlasic

While U.S. consumers were taking advantage of low gas prices to buy trucks and sport utility vehicles in large numbers, some automakers delayed investing in slower-selling electrified vehicles.
美國消費者趁油價低大買卡車和運動休旅車之際，部分汽車製造商延緩了對銷售較慢的電動車的投資。

But with increases in federal fuel-economy standards looming in 2017, car companies are hustling to bring out hybrid and electric models to help them meet the new rules – even though electrified vehicles make up only 2 percent of overall sales.
然而，由於聯邦燃油效率標準即將在2017年提高，汽車公司正在加緊推出油電複合車及電動車款來幫助他們符合新規範，雖然電動車僅占整體銷售額的2%。

The federal government has mandated corporate average fuel economy of 54.5 mpg by 2025. But companies need to meet an interim standard of about 37 mpg by next year.
聯邦政府已規定汽車公司須在2025年前達到每加侖行駛54.5英里的平均油耗，而這些公司必須在明年前符合每加侖約行駛37英里的臨時標準。

Now, despite declining gas prices, automakers showed off a raft of electric and hybrid models at the annual North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
現在，儘管油價直直落，汽車製造商仍在底特律年度北美國際車展上展示一系列電動及油電車款。

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles introduced a plug-in hybrid-electric version of its new minivan model, the Pacifica, making it the first hybrid vehicle in the Italian-American automaker’s lineup.
飛雅特克萊斯勒汽車公司推出新廂型車款Pacifica的插電式油電複合版，使其成為這家義大利裔美籍汽車製造商旗下首款油電車。

The Pacifica joined several other new electrified models introduced by other automakers at the auto show, including models from Ford Motor Co. and General Motors.
除了Pacifica外，其他汽車製造商也在車展上推出數款新電動車，包括福特跟通用。

Fiat Chrysler has been an industry laggard in the push for electrified cars, relying heavily in recent years on sales of Ram pickups and Jeep sport utility vehicles to drive its growth in the U.S. market.
飛雅特克萊斯勒發展電動車一直處於業界的末段班，近年來高度仰賴皮卡車Ram及運動休旅車Jeep來帶動在美國市場的成長。

The results, at least financially, have been stellar. Profits have surged and market share has expanded at the expense of Fiat Chrysler’s rivals.
而其成效，至少在財政上來說，一直很亮眼。飛雅特克萊斯勒獲利激增而且搶下了對手的市占率。

But Fiat Chrysler’s chief executive, Sergio Marchionne, acknowledged that his company needed more high-mileage models, and the hybrid minivan was a good starting point.
但飛雅特克萊斯勒的執行長馬奇翁承認，他的公司需要更多更省燃料的車款，而這輛油電複合廂型車是個很好的開始。

“The 2025 numbers are very high numbers,” Marchionne said at a news conference. “You look around the show at all the hybrids and the electrification as being a solution to the rules in 2025.”
馬奇翁在記者會上說：「2025年的數字是個很高的數字。你看看展場內各種油電複合車，電氣化是因應2025年規範的辦法。」

Marchionne said the company would improve its average by continuing to improve the mileage of its conventional gasoline-powered vehicles, as well as by adding hybrids.
馬奇翁還說，該公司將藉由持續改善傳統汽油車的油耗及增加油電複合車型，以提高自家車輛的平均燃油效率。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/business/going-electric-even-if-gas-is-cheap.html

Slideshow：The North American International Auto Show
Automakers use auto shows to introduce their new production and concept models. Sometimes those concepts become reality, like the Lexus LC 500, which arrived as an idea at the 2012 show and was unveiled as a production model at this year’s show.
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2016/01/12/business/the-north-american-international-auto-show/s/011216auto-ss-slide-YP01.html

2016-02-07/聯合報/D2版/紐約時報賞析 陳韋廷譯