日本兴起"沉默咖啡馆"
Silent cafes attract solo Japanese in search of peace
A young woman sits alone in a café sipping tea and reading a book. She pauses briefly to scribble in a nearby notepad before showing her words to a passing café worker: "Where are the toilets please?"
一位年轻的女士独坐在咖啡馆里,正一边小口喝着茶一边看书.她停了一小下,在旁边的便签本上草草写上几个字,拿给路过的服务员看,上面写着："请问洗手间在哪儿？"
This is a familiar scenario in Tokyo's so-called "silent cafés", spaces which appear at first glance to be conventional cafes but where customers are not allowed to speak, communicating instead by writing in notepads.
在东京所谓的"沉默咖啡馆"里,这是司空见惯的情景.这些咖啡馆粗看与普通咖啡馆无异,但进店的顾客不可讲话,只能通过在便签本上写字来交流.
A growing number of "silent cafés" - with self-imposed chat bans - are opening across the capital, attracting a steady stream of solo Tokyoites keen to swap the pressure-cooker pace of urban life for solitary silence.
顾客自愿闭口不言的"沉默咖啡馆"越来越多,在东京各处开张,吸引了一批稳定的东京独居人群,他们急需这样的地方逃离城市生活的高压节奏,换取片刻独处的宁静.
The concept taps into a rising desire among young Japanese to be alone, a situation fuelled by economic uncertainty, a shift in traditional family support structures and growing social isolation.
"沉默咖啡馆"的概念利用了年轻日本人日益强烈的独处欲望,经济不稳定、传统家庭支持模式的转型以及日益严重的社会隔离更是加剧了这种情况.
The phenomenon is not confined to coffee shops but covers everything from silent discos, where participants dance alone wearing wireless headphones connected to the DJ, to products such as small desk tents designed for conversation-free privacy in the office.
这种现象不只限于咖啡馆,而是覆盖了多个领域,在沉默迪斯科里,参与者头戴无线耳机连接DJ,独自跳舞,还有类似小型办公桌帐篷的商品,用来在办公室里避免和他人交谈.
At the more unusual end of the spectrum, one Kyoto company offers single women the opportunity to have a "one woman wedding" - a full bridal affair, complete with white dress and ceremony, the only thing missing being the groom.
在这些寻常的商品服务之外,京都一家公司还为单身女性提供举办"女性单人婚礼"的机会——顾客可享受全套婚礼服务,身着白婚纱完成婚礼仪式,唯独没有新郎参与.
The trend has its own media buzzword "botchi-zoku", referring to individuals who consciously choose to do things completely on their own.
这种趋势还有专属的媒体流行词：botchi-zoku,指那些有意识地选择自己单独行事的人.
One recent weekday afternoon, Chihiro Higashikokubaru, a 23-year-old nurse, travelled 90 minutes from her home in Odawara, Kanagawa prefecture, to Tokyo on her day off in order to indulge in some solo time.
