商业周刊:日本与节俭的悖论(3)

The tight budgets of retirees such as Makoto Miyakawa, a 71-year-old who lives near Yokohama,

生活在横滨附近的71岁的Makoto Miyakawa等退休者经济拮据，

are a big part of the reason Japan's annual economic growth has averaged an anemic 0.9 percent since 2000, about a third of what it was in the previous two decades.

是日本自2000年以来年均经济增长乏力仅为0.9%的主要原因，与过去的20年相比，仅为经济增长的三分之一。

Miyakawa says his wife controls the family purse strings¹, and after he retired² she decided³ to cut his monthly allowance in half, to the equivalent of $10 a day.

Miyakawa说，他的妻子掌握着家里的经济大权。退休后，她决定将他的每月津贴减半，相当于每天10美元。

(She's quick to remind him, he says, that the neighbors' husbands get less.)

（他说，妻子很快提醒他，邻居们的丈夫每月津贴越来越少。）

The couple are careful about spending because they don't want to outlive their money or end up facing medical bills they can't afford.

这对夫妇花钱很小心，因为他们不想落到没钱花的地步，也不想最终负担不起医疗费用。

"Everybody wants to go out fast, but you have no control over that," he says.

他说：“谁都想快点出院，但你没办法控制这个。”

If there are any winners in all of this, it's Japan's discount retailers⁴, which are thriving.

如果说这一切能有赢家的话，那就是日本的折扣零售商，他们正在蓬勃发展。

Nitori Holdings Co., a budget furniture store with the ubiquitous catchphrase "More than you paid for" (it's cooler in Japanese),

Nitori集团是一家廉价家具店，其流行口号是“物超所值”（在日语中的表达更炫酷）。

has grown into one of the country's top 10 retailers, adding more than three stores a month for years.

现在，该集团已经成长为日本十大零售商之一，多年来每月新增三家以上的商店。

And Japan's 100-yen shops, the equivalent of dollar stores, which were mostly unheard of until the late 1990s,

日本的100日元店，相当于一元店，直到20世纪90年代末才出现。

now have almost 7,000 outlets⁵ pulling in almost $7 billion in annual sales.

现在，这种店铺有近7000家，年销售额接近70亿美元。

"There's no reason," says one fan, 75-year-old Naoko Ishikawa, "to feel embarrassed about shopping at a 100-yen store anymore."

75岁的Naoko Ishikawa是100日元店的粉丝，她说：“没有理由再为在一家100日元店购物感到尴尬了。

1 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

5 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》