ポリティシャンとステイツマン
ポリティシャンとステイツマンは両方とも政治家を意味する言葉である。しかし、意味合いは異なる。ポリティシャンは、自己の利益や党派の利益を考えて行動するタイプの政治家を意味し、政治屋とも称され侮蔑の意味が込められる。
一方、ステイツマンは、聡明で品格があり公共を常に考えて行動する政治家をいう。
日本にステイツマンはどれだけいるのだろうか？ポリティシャンが多すぎると、ステイツマンは嫌気が指すので、政界を去ろうとするかも知れない。
幕末と明治維新の時には、確かに多くのステイツマンがいた。勝海舟、坂本竜馬、大久保利通、島津斉彬、徳川慶喜、伊藤博文．．．
彼らに匹敵する人物は、今の日本にいるだろうか？
Politician and Statesman
Politician and Statesman are both words for politicians. However, the meaning is different. Politician means a type of politician who acts in consideration of his own interests and the interests of his party, and is also called a politics-monger and has a contemptuous meaning.
Statesman, on the other hand, refers to politicians who are intelligent, dignified, and always act with the public in mind.
How many Statesmen are there in Japan? Too many politics-mongers make the Statesmen sick and so they may try to leave political world.
There were certainly many Statesmen at the end of the Edo period and the Meiji Restoration. Kaishu Katsu, Ryoma Sakamoto, Toshimichi Okubo, Nariakira Shimazu, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, Hirofumi Ito. . .
Is there a person who can match them in Japan today?
