鳩山舊唱片網上高價出售
Japan's next leader, Yukio Hatoyama, probably never thought a song he recorded 20 years ago would one day fetch a pretty penny on online auction sites.
The vinyl single, "Take Heart - Fly, Dove of Peace", recorded in 1988 when Hatoyama was first elected to parliament, recently sold for 35,000 yen ($375) in an online auction, a Japanese tabloid reported.
The title is a pun on Hatoyama's name, the first half of which is written with an ideograph meaning "dove" and which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "heart".
Hatoyama, 62, who is the wealthy grandson of a former premier, will formally take office on September 16 following his Democratic Party's stunning victory in an election last week where it trounced the long-ruling Liberal Democrats.
Another copy of the yellow-jacketed record, showing a much younger, grinning Hatoyama, has appeared on a Yahoo! Japan auction with a starting price of 50,000 yen. The auction closes later this week, but so far has no bids.
Teruaki Asanuma, the 65-year-old dentist who wrote the song, used his own funds to make 100 copies of the album and gave them to Hatoyama supporters, according to an Internet news site based in Hatoyama's home district of Hokkaido in northern Japan.
"I never imagined that there would be a day when this tune would come into the spotlight," Kyodo news agency quoted Asanuma as saying. "Now I hope he will help to guide everyone to happiness as suggested in the lyrics of the song."
Japanese media have been digging up video of Hatoyama's formerly less-known artsy side.
TV shows on Monday showed him singing in a musical with his wife Miyuki, a one-time performer in an all-female musical theater troupe who has also been grabbing headlines for once writing that she traveled to Venus in a space ship.
Hatoyama will make his international political debut as Japan's prime minister at the United Nations later this month, although it is unclear if any musical performances are planned.
日本下任首相鳩山由紀夫可能從未想過他20年前錄製的一首歌有一天會成爲拍賣網站的大熱門，而且拍價不菲。
據日本一家小報報道，這首名爲《鼓起勇氣，飛吧，和平鴿》的單曲碟近日以3.5萬日元（合375美元）的價格在一個在線拍賣網站拍出。該唱片錄製於1988年，當時鳩山由紀夫首次入選議會。
這首歌的歌名巧妙地運用了Hatoyama名字的諧音，Hatoyama的前半部分Hato寫成表意字意爲“鴿”，其發音和日語中的“心”相近。
現年62歲的鳩山由紀夫出生富裕，是日本前首相的外孫。他所領導的日本民主黨在上週的大選中擊敗了長期執政的自民黨，取得壓倒性勝利，他將於本月16日正式就任日本首相。
這張唱片的封面以黃色爲主調，封面上的鳩山笑容滿面，看起來比現在年輕得多。這張唱片的另一副本日前出現在雅虎日本拍賣網站，起拍價爲5萬日元。雅虎網上的拍賣將於本週晚些時候結束，但到目前爲止還沒有人蔘加競拍。
據鳩山家鄉所在的日本北部北海道的一家新聞網站稱，這首歌曲的作者、65歲的牙醫淺沼明石自掏腰包，將這張唱片錄製了100份，送給鳩山的支持者們。
日本共同通訊社援引淺沼的話說：“我從來沒想過有朝一日這首歌曲會受到關注。現在我希望鳩山由紀夫能像歌中所唱的那樣，帶領大家走上幸福之路。”
這段時間日本媒體紛紛曝料鳩山早年少爲人知的具有藝術氣質的一面。
週一的電視節目就播出了他和妻子鳩山幸同唱音樂劇的鏡頭。鳩山幸曾是一個全女子音樂劇團的演員。她曾在書中寫道（自己入睡後）感覺靈魂像乘坐飛船飛往了金星，並因此成爲各媒體頭條。
鳩山將於本月晚些時候作爲日本首相出席聯合國大會，這將是他首次亮相國際政治舞臺，不過目前尚不清楚是否有音樂劇表演的安排。
Vocabulary:
a pretty penny:可觀的一筆錢
vinyl: phonograph records considered as a group 唱片；壓制唱片的材料
artsy: of or relating to artists or the fine arts 藝術的；和藝術相關的
debut:a first public appearance, as of a performer 首次露面；初次登臺
