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9个月前，日本政府将1日元开公司成为可能。在日本，1日元
只够买根口香糖。
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Nine
months ago the Japanese government made it possible to set up a new
company with just one yen - the price of a stick of chewing gum.
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日本的消费水平在世界上名列前茅，但长久以来，日本缺少创业精神被视为一大结构性缺陷。这是日本经济业绩乏善可陈一大原因。
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A
lack of business innovation has long been recognised as one of the
structural weaknesses behind the lacklustre economic performance of one of
the world's most expensive countries.
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在全球创业观察（Global Entrepreneurship Monitor，简称 GEM)对37个国家的创业和经济发展所做的研究报告中，日本排名垫底。
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Research
by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, a 37-country study of start-up
business activity and economic growth, put Japan at the bottom of the
league.
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在日本，参与创业或成立新公司不足3年半的企业家人数仅占总人口的2%，而在中国、韩国和泰国，这个数字分别为12%，14%和18%。
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Just
2 per cent of the population were involved in starting a new business or
owning a business less than 42 months old. In China the figure was 12 per
cent, in Korea 14 per cent and in Thailand 18 per cent.
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为鼓励创业，日本政府承诺每年将新公司数目增加1倍；到2006年，力争达到36万家。1日元办公司的优惠政策由此而来。
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Hence
the one-yen initiative, which is part of a drive to foster entrepreneurial
activity under which the Japanese government has committed itself to
doubling the number of enterprises established each year to 360,000 by
2006.
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然而，自今年2月新政策启动以来，政府只收到268份申请，实际新成立的“1日元”公司也只有178家。
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However,
since February only 268 applications have been received under the new
rules and just 178 one-yen companies have actually been set up.
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管理合法公司组建的日本法务省称，在经历了前两年的下滑后，虽然2003年新增公司数量比上年同期增长了8%，但仍大大低于日本原有水平和国际平均水平。
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While
new business formation has risen by 8 per cent year-on-year in 2003 after
two years of decline, according to the Ministry of Justice, which monitors
legal incorporations, it is still well below the levels previously seen in
Japan and still stands significantly below international averages.
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此外，日本仍泥潭深陷，不能自拔。日本不仅缺少企业家，而且融资渠道不畅，加上日本文化中对风险事业的反感，都阻碍了这些为数不多的企业家的发展。
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Instead,
the country remains trapped in the worst of all possible worlds - not only
does it not have very many entrepreneurs in the first place, but those few
it does possess are being stunted by a lack of financing channels and a
cultural aversion to risk-taking.
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日本对企业家的态度似乎与其它国家迥然不同，是造成这一现状的原因部分。
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Part
of the reason for this state of affairs is that attitudes towards
entrepreneurs in Japan seem to differ from the rest of the world.
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例如，当被问道企业家是否具有社会价值时，在接受抽样调查的美国人中，表示认同的占91%，而赞成这种说法的日本人仅占受访者的8%。
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When,
for example, a sample of US citizens was asked if entrepreneurs were
socially valuable, 91 per cent said yes. Just 8 per cent of Japanese
respondents agreed with them.
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来自日本总务省的数据也反映出这一价值取向。在过去的20年里，日本每年意欲成为企业家的人数超过100万，但在同一时期内，实际新成立公司的平均数已从66%下降至31%。
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Figures
from the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and
Telecommunications reflect this trend. Over the last 20 years the number
of would-be entrepeneurs in Japan has been over 1m annually, but the
number of actual start-ups has declined from an average of 66 per cent to
31 per cent over the same period.
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这些数字揭示出一个令人沮丧的事实。尽管日本政府推出了一系列扶持新公司的举措，但在创造良好的创业环境方面，他们正被亚洲地区的竞争对手迎头赶上。
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The
numbers tell a depressing story. Despite the government's moves to foster
young companies, the country's efforts to create an environment that
encourages new businesses are being outpaced by its Asian regional rivals.
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显而易见，日本缺少资本家的创业精神，而这与日本没有一个成熟的融资市场也有很大关系。
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Japan's
apparent lack of capitalist endeavour also has much to do with the lack of
a mature financing market.
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日本经济产业省提供的一组数据最为生动地说明了这个问题。美国大约有40万名“天使”投资人准备为新公司提供资金，而日本只有1500人。美国风险企业中心(US
Venture Enterprise Centre) 的数据显示，2001年，日本股
票形式的风险资本投资约为1.02万亿日元（合93.4亿美元），比美国少30倍。
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The
most dramatic illustration of this is the fact that there are around
400,000 "angel" investors prepared to finance start-up companies
in the US compared to just 1,500 in Japan, according to the Ministry of
the Economy, Trade and Investment. Venture capital investment in Japan in
2001 on a stock basis was around Y1,020bn (.34bn) - 30 times less than
in the US - according to the US Venture Enterprise Centre.
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经济产业省对日本创业情况所做的调查显示，62%的企业表示，筹集资金是他们在尝试创业时遇到的最大难题，80%的企业则被迫动用自己的资金。
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An
economy ministry survey of creative entrepreneurial activity revealed that
62 per cent of enterprises said raising funds was the main challenge when
trying to start up a business, and 80 per cent were forced to use their
own capital.
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在日本，创办公司的成本也比较高。一家支持中小企业的政府机构—国民生活公库(National
Life Finance Corporation)
对新公司所做的调查显示，在美国，创业资
金等于或低于2万美元的新公司占58%，而日本只有25%的新公司以低于4.5日元的资金起家。同时，据日本银行称，自1994年以来，在各大银行，区域性银行，信用社和政府金融机构中，金融机构对中小企业发放的贷款有所下降。这主要是因为中小企业存在不良贷款问题。
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Start-up
costs are also high. A survey of new companies by the National Life
Finance Corporation - a government agency which supports small and
medium-sized businesses - revealed that 58 per cent of start-ups in the US
used ,000 or less, while in Japan only 25 per cent started with less
than Y45,000. At the same time, according to the Bank of Japan, lending by
financial institutions to small and medium enterprises has been falling
since 1994 at large banks, regional banks, credit associations and
government financial institutions, mainly as a result of their
non-performing loan problems.
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对此，政府已采取行动，尝试填补金融机构产生的缺口，但贷款额度较小。
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In
response, the government has taken action to try and fill the gap created
by the financial institutions, but the numbers are small.
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成立于2000年的日本小企业金融公司(The Japan Finance
Corporation for Small Business)，目前已提供了总额高达 3亿美元的802项贷款。日本商工中金银行(Shoko
Chukin Bank) 也为310家新公司提供了总计2800万美元的无抵
押贷款。
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The
Japan Finance Corporation for Small Business - which was established in
2000 - has provided 802 loans which amount to m, and the Shoko Chukin
bank has offered zero collateral loans to 310 start-ups totalling m.
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日本政府已经意识到，缺乏创业热情是一个十分严重的问题。政府也已采取行动，尝试解决这个问题。
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The
Japanese government has recognised that the country's lack of
entrepreneurial activity is a significant problem and has taken action to
try and solve it.
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但正如伟大的英国经济学家约翰•梅纳德•凯恩斯(John
Maynard Keynes)所说的那样：“发展新观念并不太困难
，难的是如何摆脱旧观念。”
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But
as the great British economist John Maynard Keynes put it: "The
difficulty lies not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old
ones." xref Japanese exports up,
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译者/夏璇
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