《中英對照讀新聞》Japan has so many vacant homes it’s giving them away 日本的空屋多到要送人

日本因人口減少且集中於大都市，不少鄉間充斥遭棄置的空屋。圖為神奈川縣橫須賀市戶谷區一棟遭綠色植物包圍的空屋。（取自網路）

◎張沛元

Four years ago, Naoko and Takayuki Ida were given a house in the small town of Okutama, in Tokyo prefecture. For free.

4年前，井田直子與孝之得到一棟位於東京都小鎮奧多摩的房子。不用錢。

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A free house may sound like a scam. But Japan faces an unusual property problem： it has more homes than people to live in them.

免費的房子聽起來像是騙局。但日本正面臨一項不尋常的房地產問題：房屋數量多於入住人數。

In 2013, there were 61 million houses and 52 million households, according to the Japan Policy Forum. And the situation is poised to get worse.

「日本政策論壇」指出，2013年時有6100萬間房子與5200萬戶家庭。而且，這種情況還會日益惡化。

Japan’s population is expected to decline from 127 million to about 88 million by 2065, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security, meaning even fewer people will need houses. As young people leave rural areas for city jobs, Japan’s countryside has become haunted by deserted "ghost houses."

根據（日本）「國立社會保障、人口問題研究所」，預料日本人口到了2065年，會從1億2700萬減至約8800萬，意味需要房屋的人會更少。隨著年輕人為了在都市工作離開鄉間，日本鄉間已充斥遭棄置的「鬼屋」。

It’s predicted that by 2040, nearly 900 towns and villages across Japan will no longer exist － and Okutama is one of them. In that context, giving away property is a bid for survival.

預料到了2040年，全日本將近900座小鎮與村莊將不復存在—奧多摩便是其中之一。在此情況下，贈送房地產便成為一種求生之道。

新聞辭典

give away：慣用語，贈送，免費派發。例句：Nobody wants this type of smart phone any more - I can’t even give it away.（沒人要這款智慧型手機了，我連送都送不出去。）

haunt：動詞，使苦惱，使困擾。例句：You should stop being haunted by bad memories of your ex-husband.（你不要再被與你前夫有關的惡劣回憶所困擾。）

be poised to：慣用語，準備（做某事）。

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