人工衛星へ汲取舟が行く話The Tale of the Honey Bucket Going to an Artificial Satellite

About this text

A satirical essay on the practical problem of human waste disposal on future artificial satellites.

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Source

This text comes from Aozora Bunko (青空文庫), the volunteer-run library of Japanese writing that is out of copyright. See this work on Aozora Bunko

Base edition (底本): 「中谷宇吉郎随筆選集第三巻」朝日新聞社
1966（昭和41）年10月20日第1刷発行
1966（昭和41）年10月30日第2刷発行

Typed in by 砂場清隆. Proofread by 木下聡.

Yomimaru has not changed the spelling or the wording.

The furigana are Yomimaru's.

What you'll learn

The author discusses the uncertain timeline for creating habitable artificial satellites, but believes it will happen within a decade. The main problem is waste disposal: since there is no gravity, waste floats and cannot be easily discarded. Proposed solutions like exploding it or sending it back to Earth are unsatisfactory. The best idea is to bring waste back to Earth on resupply ships, effectively turning them into 'night soil boats.' The author humorously concludes that even in the space age, we will still need such services.

Key vocabulary

人工衛星じんこうえいせい	artificial satellite
排泄物はいせつぶつ	excrement, waste matter
汲取舟くみとりぶね	night soil boat, cesspool boat

Grammar points you'll meet

• ～かどうか N4Indicates 'whether or not'. Used to express uncertainty about a choice or fact.

  本当ほんとうに人間にんげんが住すめる人工じんこう衛星えいせいが、いつごろ出来できるかは、いまのところまだわからない。

• ～なければならない N3Must do something; obligation.

  大便だいべんとは、何なんとかして捨すてなければならないが、人工じんこう衛星えいせいの軌道きどうの上うえでは捨すてるところがない。

• ～ては困る N2It's a problem if...; indicates that something is undesirable.

  そんなものがいつまでも窓まどの外そとに浮ういていられては困こまる。

Cultural notes

• Moon Viewing (月見)The text mentions 中秋の明月の晩 (mid-autumn moon viewing night), a traditional Japanese custom of admiring the full moon, often with seasonal foods and sake. The author humorously suggests that seeing a shooting star (which might be waste) during moon viewing would spoil the mood.
• Night Soil Boats (汲取舟)Before modern sewage systems, human waste was collected from homes and transported by boats or carts to be used as fertilizer. The author wryly notes that even in the space age, we will still need such a service.

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