In Japan we have a saying: “jewel beetle colored statement.” This refers to the buprestidae family of beetles that appear in a variety of different colors depending on what angle you view them from, and means a vague statement that can be interpreted in many different ways. Before the G7 Ise-Shima Summit held this May, a meeting of G7 foreign ministers was held in Hiroshima in April. Some officials pointed out that the Japanese translation of the “Hiroshima declaration” adopted there was incorrect. The original English text is as follows: The people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced immense devastation and human suffering as a consequence of the atomic bombings and… The Japanese translation released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is as follows: 広島及び長崎の人々は、原子爆弾投下による極めて甚大な壊滅と非人間的な苦難という結末を経験し…… The translated part in question from the original text is “human suffering.” Translated literally this is “jinteki kutsuu” (human suffering) but it was expressed as “hi-ningentekina kunan” (inhuman suffering). The original English text plays down the damage done in consideration of the position taken by the USA and other nations that possess the nuclear deterrent who believe that the atomic bombing hastened the end of the war. Some people have pointed out that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ translation emphasized the tragedy in consideration of the sensibilities of the Japanese people who, as the only nation having suffered from an atomic bombing have a deep aversion to nuclear weapons. Expressions whose nuance differs between English and Japanese have been seen before. For instance, “The United Nations.” Originally it was a term used to refer to the allied nations during World War Two. And the same name is used even now that it has become an international organization. However, in Japanese, to distinguish it from the translated term “Rengoukoku” used during the war, the name “Kokusai Rengou” was used after the war. There are also cases where the reverse is true. “Ianfu” is generally translated in Japan as “comfort women,” but some countries use the term “sex slaves” to emphasize the criminality of the practice.