日本官員學喜劇 練溝通技巧

Japan's bureaucrats may have little to laugh about these days, given opposition charges of misspent tax Money, but that has not stopped one ministry offering its officials a unique form of training -- as stand-up comics.

More than 100 transport ministry officials in their 20s got tips this week from professional comedians as part of training in communication skills.

"By experiencing comedy routines, we hope they can learn more about how to speak to clients and how to manage their staff as they begin to have more management responsibility," said Atsuya Kawada, deputy director of the ministry's personnel division.

The training coincides with attacks by the main opposition Democratic Party, eyeing victory in a looming election, on what the party calls wasteful public spending due to decades of policy collusion between bureaucrats and ruling party lawmakers.

Kawada said the approach was better than just listening to lectures for young officials, who are often tired from long working hours.

"We also hope this training will soften the stiff image of bureaucrats," he added.

由於正遭反對黨指責不當使用稅款，日本官員近日也許笑不出來，但這並未妨礙有關政府部門爲公職人員提供一項特殊培訓---講單口相聲。

作爲溝通技巧訓練的一部分，本週一百多名二十來歲的國土交通省官員接受了專業喜劇演員的培訓。

該政府部門人事處副主任Atsuya Kawada說：“由於官員們的管理責任越來越重，我們希望可以通過體驗喜劇形式，使他們學會更多與客戶交談以及管理下屬的技巧。”

這項培訓進行之時，正趕上反對黨日本民主黨炮轟政府，該反對黨希望能在即將舉行的下屆選舉中勝出，並聲稱在過去幾十年間，官員與執政黨立法者制定政策時相互勾結，浪費了大量公共開支。

Kawada稱對年輕官員來說，這種培訓方式比聽課有效，年輕官員在長時間工作之後經常感到疲勞。

他補充說：“我們還希望這項培訓可以改善官員呆板的形象。”

Vocabulary:

stand-up comic：Stand-up comedy is a style of comedy where the performer speaks directly to the audience, with the absence of the theatrical "fourth wall". A person who performs stand-up comedy is known as a stand-up comic, performed by a single comedian, with the aid of a hand-held microphone.（站在沒有任何佈景和道具的舞臺上講笑話，通常由單人表演，類似於中國的“單口相聲”，在日本被稱爲“落語”。）

looming：即將到來的