金融时报:东京的黑暗一面

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2021年12月11日

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东京的黑暗一面

多年以来，东京都是一个令人赞不绝口的城市，屡屡在宜居城市排行榜上拔得头筹，吸引着来自全日本的年轻人前来发展。但今年六月的一本关于房产的畅销书却意外地揭露了东京不为人知的黑暗一面……

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

accolade['ækəleɪd] 赞美, 表扬

loutish['laʊtɪʃ] 粗野的, 无礼的

deceptive[dɪ'septɪv] 迷惑的, 虚伪的

borough['bʌrə] 自治市镇, 区

cartographer[kɑː'tɒɡrəfə(r)] 制图师

designate['dezɪɡneɪt] 指定,选派

impeccable[ɪm'pekəbl] 无瑕疵的

An unflinching look at Tokyo's dark side（682 words）

By Leo Lewis

After years splashing happily in accolades, liveability awards and an unstoppable flow of aspirational youngsters from around the country, Tokyo may have received the dunking it deserves.

Published in June, high on bestseller lists and infused with a forensic disgust at just about everything, Masayoshi Osaka's Places in Metropolitan Tokyo you don't want to live is principally intended as a handbook for property buyers and renters. Nothing that might affect property prices — from the presence of offbeat religious groups to trite local mascots at the gate of the nearest station — escapes its glare.

Addictively critical, it is the hard-copy digest of a website hosted by Mr Osaka that acts as the unofficial griping-ground for residents of the capital with nowhere else to gripe.

The result is a belligerently twinkle-free vision of Tokyo life, and of a permanent underclass in Japanese society that companies, politicians and large slabs of the general public have conspired to decide they cannot see and does not matter. For Yuriko Koike, the Tokyo governor who today formally begins her electoral assault on national power using Tokyo as shining exemplar, it could matter enormously.

The guide's most striking achievement is to highlight a slang word — “dokyun” or “DQN” — that has lived most of its life in internet chat rooms and refers to people who are loutish or uneducated. Like “chav” in the UK, it is a deceptively powerful word, sharply ruling a class dividing line where once there was a more comforting scribble. By marching it firmly into the mainstream — and using the density of DQNs to rate a given area — Mr Osaka's guide highlights the flaws in a society that has traditionally bristled righteously at the very idea that it is flawed.

The guide's other guilty appeal lies in the scoring system imposed on each small borough. It notes the density of eateries primarily designed for individuals (single men) to eat alone, and the average price of vending machine drinks (low = low-end). It dwells, perhaps predictably, on the ethnic make-up of each borough: some will surely cast it as racist, missing the guide's greater role as a colour-blind cartographer of slovenliness.

Poverty rates, crime rates and availability of public transport play their part, but a key criterion is the “misunderstanding” of locals — the propensity of people in a demonstrable hellhole to believe they are somewhere edgily cool. The worst rating, given to Yashio, Kawasaki and Nishikawaguchi, designates them as having a “dark smell”, but even the nicer places like Shimokitazawa are dismissed as “twee”, “pretentious” or “sugary”.

Tokyo's qualities as a city of impeccable public transport, cleanliness, low crime and great food remain unarguable, but Mr Osaka's guide pricks a tiny hole in the bubble.

If you had to guess who would provoke Tokyo's next reality check, then Joe Walsh, former lead guitarist for the Eagles, would be low on the list. But last week, in a piece of emotional blackmail worthy of a child in a toy shop on Christmas Eve, Mr Walsh hinted that Tokyo's days as one of the world's great cities for live music were numbered.

This warning was not coincidental. While Mr Walsh may previously have dwelt at the Hotel California, he is now touring with a hospitality entourage, led by the Las Vegas Sands corporation, which wants to build a multibillion-dollar, casino-based integrated resort somewhere in Japan.

Casinos were legalised in principle at the end of 2016 and every estimate suggests that Japan could become the world's second-biggest gaming market soon after the first casinos are allowed to open. The Vegas operators have been patient lobbyists for many years, but, with the goal in sight, now seem jumpy. On previous visits they talked about investment and jobs; this time Mr Walsh was there to stress Tokyo's lack of cutting-edge music venues and LVS's plan to build one.

“The logistics to make a good performance in Japan are just too much. It's just too hard,” said Mr Walsh. “As an artist that's the way we feel. We feel sad because it's too hard to come here.” Incidentally, Ed Sheeran plays the Tokyo Budokan on October 31.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Masayoshi Osaka's book is originally intended to ____.

A.Disclose social problems in Tokyo that have been neglected.

B.Describe the secret of a permanent underclass in Japan.

C.Give guidance to property buyers and renters in Tokyo.

D.Uncover Tokyo's dark side to raise awareness of the poor.

答案(1)

2.In the book, the author introduce the slang word “dokyun” in order to ____.

A.highlights the flaws in a society.

B.rule a class dividing line.

C.introduce a special social group.

D.rate a given area.