Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

A Lost Dog

     A found a dirty dog tagging along with her when she was walking this evening. The dog ended up at my house and seemed to become good friends with Mocha. This kind of dog is maybe a Miniature Schnauzer. The dog has no collar. I don't know the sex of the dog because its hair is frizzy and is partially matted. I mean I can't confirm the dog's genital organ. This dog must have been living outside for some days. We got heavy rain a few days ago. How could it survive? The dog looks bad with the mud, but behaves. I thought it was well brought up.
     Anyway, A and I made a signboard to find its former owner. Besides, A posted messages on some bulletin boards on the internet. We'd like to avoid the situation that this dog is transferred to the public health center for an easy death. If we can't find its former owner, we will have to ask someone to keep it instead. To tell the truth, we want to keep it but we are out in the daytime and we can't care for this kind of dog living in the house.
     The contents of the last entry, written in Japanese, was like the above. See the pictures of the last entry. I'm sure you will get to love this dog. It's so cute.

(Vocabulary)
tag along with　（人）の後を付いてまわる
collar 首輪
frizzy  (髪が) (縮れて) ちりちりの
matted (髪・毛などが) もつれた, 絡み合った
behave (behave yourself とも) 〈子供などが〉 行儀よくする
public health center  保健所
easy death　安楽死

迷い犬 どなたか飼って頂けませんか

　このブログを読んでいる日本人は数少なく、ましてや松山市在住の人はほとんどおられないとは思っているのですが、友人たちに写真を見てもらうためにこの場所にＵＰし、日本語で書きます。

　本日、三女が我が家の犬モカと散歩中に写真のような犬がついてきたそうです。あまりに汚く、首輪もなく、長い間野良生活をしていたと容易に推測されるのですが、犬種はおそらくミニチュア・シュナウザーです。どなたか飼っておられた方が探しているかもしれないと、迷子犬を探すウェブサイトに登録したり、警察に届けたり、我が家の前に張り紙をしたり、近くの人の目に触れるようごみ集積場にも張り紙をしています。情報誌にも掲載を依頼するつもりです。三女は無類の動物好きでこの犬にもわかったのでしょう。後ろをついてきたそうです。性別は不明。毛が縮れていてよくわかりません。性格は温厚なようです。人には慣れています。どなたか飼ってもらえませんか。保健所に届けるのはあまりにも不憫です。与えた餌を最初は警戒して食べませんでしたが、結局は２５キロのモカの一食分を食べてしまいました。水も飲むし、元気です。ちょこちょことついてくるし、かわいいですよ。

（１１月１６日、飼ってくれる人が現れました。良かったぁ！！！でも、別れが少し寂しくもあります。なにせ行儀正しいし、かわいいから。）

(KW: 捨て犬 迷い犬 ミニチュア/シュナウザー)

Today's Night Meal

     I've got a lot of work these days and I have to stay in my hospital tonight. I called in a convenience store on the way to my office this morning and got some night meals. There were a lot of instant foods and I chose some that I've never had.
     The 1st picture shows an instant noodle. The reason why I chose it is that a famous governor and also a former comedian is illustrated on it. He was just a comedian only ten years ago. He seemed to get into Waseda University, one of the two most famous private universities in Japan and learn political science.
     I remember that I was so surprised to hear his first speech when he declared his candidacy in the election for Governor of Miyazaki prefecture. His speech was not that of a comedian. I was foolish enough to have looked down on him because he didn't look clever and committed a crime. However, his first speech was reasonable and understandable. My wife told me that he had learnt politics at Waseda University. I got it. He changed his way of life.
     The 2nd picture shows him with a signboard saying "Welcome to Miyazaki". This was taken by my friend at Miyazaki Airport. He must be a big salesman for Miyazaki Prefecture because most Japanese know him. He is one of the people whom I'd like to talk with.

(Vocabulary)
candidacy  立候補

(KW: 東国原英夫　宮崎県知事　そのまんま東)

A Canned Coffee

     A really lot of kinds of canned coffees are sold from vending machines in Japan. I like these canned coffees. I'm not particular about the company and materials of canned coffees and I usually choose one from its name or looks.
     When I took a short ride around here last month, I got a canned coffee that is shown in the picture. The name of it is as you see. I wondered if there is a noted production area of coffee beans in Europe. I also wondered if Georgia in the U.S. is famous as a producer of coffee beans, or Georgia means the Republic of Georgia and this country is known as a producer of coffee beans.
     I don't know the reason why this is named as "European". The manufacturer may want us to have a feeling of travelling in Europe. Anyway, I got back with a feeling that I was riding in Europe.

(Vocabulary)
Many people are very particular about the way they cook rice. 多くの人がご飯の炊き方に強いこだわりをもっています。
have (a) feeling of being there     その場にいるような気分になる

Little Kyoto in Ehime

     Kyoto City is the most famous sightseeing point in Japan. This city is surrounded by mountains and has a big river in it. People discover the rich culture and history here. People also hold an admiration for this city.
     By the way, there are some places called "little Kyoto" across the country. These places are surrounded by mountains and have a river in them just like Kyoto City. People named them from an admiration for Kyoto City. My homeland, Ehime, also has a little Kyoto and the picture shows a scene in the area. This picture was taken when I rode my scooter around the area last autumn. The upper scene is the local bus station and the lower scene is a river that looks like the Kamogawa river in Kyoto.

(Vocabulary)
hold admiration for　あこがれを抱く

Mr. Nagai Came Back To Ehime

     Mr. Kenji Nagai, a Japanese photo journalist who was killed by the crackdown of the Burmese junta returned to Japan dead. I'm sorry I didn't know what he was doing before his death. I guess many Japanese didn't know him.
     After he was shot, his reports and what he was doing for needy kids in Asia, the Mideast and eastern Europe were introduced by various medias. I was really sorry I didn't know him. He was from Imabari city which is located next to my city and I'm proud of being born in the same prefecture.
     I wonder what way of thinking the junta has. Why don't they think of others' sorrow? Burma is one of the pro-Japanese countries. It's time for us Japanese to help them.
     By the way, Japan invaded Southeast Asian countries during World War Two. Nevertheless, many Southeast Asian countries are pro-Japanese and seem to feel a strong affinitiy towards Japan. I'm very happy to hear that. The activities of Mr. Nagai might contribute to their life. On the other hand, how about China? China is behind the Burmese junta, which they call Myanmar.
     I'd like all of you to realize the specific nature of China. This country is getting more and more dangerous, not only to humans but to the planet.

http://www.projectumbrellaburma.com/default.htm

(Vocabulary)
needy  非常に貧しい, 困窮した
needy families   貧困家庭

The Family Tomb in Japan

     I had been working at a local clinic that was founded by the local government for three years until close to 10 years ago. At that time I had a favorite pub near my house and used to drop in there like once a week. I enjoyed local dishes there in every season with my drinking buddies.
     When two years had passed after I left the small village, one of them passed away. A week before his death I met him at the hospital where he was staying. He knew his death was near-at-hand and asked me not to forget him. I promised him that I was sure to visit his grave every year around the anniversary of his death.
     The picture shows his family tomb. I cleaned up around it and put skimmias on his grave.

(Vocabulary)
close to 10 years  １０年近く
boon companion / compotator / drinking buddy / drinking pal   飲み仲間
near-at-hand　すぐ手の届く所にある、手近にある、身近な所にある、間近に迫っている
put flowers on sb's grave　墓に花を供える

The Englishman who went up a hill but came down a mountain

     An easy, but interesting story. I enjoyed the scenery of Wales and the British English. It's a little hard for me to listen to British English. While I feel like a round cobble stone against American English, I think British English is like an angular piece of rock. The story was; people simply try to make the hill into a mountain by adding altitude. They carry mud and stones up to the summit and pile them up there. It was a very simple and funny story but I was moved.
     In Japan there is a mountain 2998 meters high. The name of the mountain is "Tsurugi-Dake". I climbed Tsurugi-Dake twice in the summer and winter. Everytime I got to the summit, I stretched higher to take pictures, because my finger end had to be over 3000 meters high.

(Vocabulary)
angular pieces of rock　　角張った岩

When the cat's away, the mice will play.

     I usually spend 4 hours in the afternoon at OPD when I have no operating schedule. Today my boss was on a business trip to Tokyo and absent at my hospital. The staff members are as you can see in the picture. When the stream of patients stopped, I took this picture. You could understand how relaxed we were.
     These 4 nurses and another 2 nurses are my staff members at OPD. All are nice ladies. Did you notice the surgical tape attached to their uniforms just like toilet paper. The cloth that the tape is fixed to is genuinely part of their uniforms but they are using it as you see. It looks funny, but it seems to be convenient for them.
     The badge that they put on is my hospital logo that is made from the shape of the ventricles of the brain. My hospital developed it based on brain surgery. This logo resembles the Motorola logo. When I bought a cellphone from Motorola (M1000), all of us were surprised to see the logo and my boss was saying that he should file a lawsuit against Motorola.

(Vocabulary)
When the cat's away, the mice will play.　　鬼のいぬ間に洗濯

Korean Textbook for Japanese People

I wrote about South Korean policy in the following entry:
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2006/12/international-s.html

     This entry was grammatically corrected by a native lady who agreed with my opinion. After I wrote that I had wanted to read the real Korean textbook because I thought it must be due to the education that Korean people had in their student days that they insisted on many things unreasonably. Eventually I found the book in the city library. This Korean textbook of history for junior high school students is translated into Japanese. The pictures show the front cover and some pages in it.
     More than 10 Korean people have often accessed this blog and I wanted to prepare one written in Korean for them, but I couldn't. Whatever, you Japanese would easily understand that it is not the individual Korean but the Korean government that is responsible for the deep division between both countries.
     I focused on 2 points in the textbook. One is about An Jung-geun (安重根 안중근) and the other is about Liancourt Rocks (竹島 다케시마(일본어)  독도  獨島)
     At first take a look at the second picture. You can magnify and read the textbook. What do you think about it? Some people whom we think of as terrorists from any angle are honored as kind of national heros. When such a biased education occurs during the low teens, the students would be brainwashed. I wonder why the Japanese government doesn't accuse them? On the other hand, the Korean government does the same with our textbook. I think they don't have room to criticize us. Japan shouldn't hold back against South Korea. I didn't know, but it looks like there was another terrorist act against an American. (written on the same page.)
     Next, I hope you'll access the following website if you can read Japanese or use the automatic translation system: (Korean people, I think, can easily read it, because Japanese grammar is extremely similar to Korean.
http://www.geocities.jp/tanaka_kunitaka/takeshima/
     The Korean government interprets their own historical documents in a distorted way many times, besides sometimes changing the content of their historical heritage, I mean, they are twisting things around. I'd like to describe only one thing here that I was the most afraid of.
     Take a look at the last picture. That is a page in the textbook. The content is like this: You can see Liancourt Rocks clearly from Ullungdo Island (鬱陵島 울릉도 うつりょうとう) with the naked eye if the weather is fine and that was written in an old document more than 100 years ago. (To tell the truth, these sentences indicate another island of the same name, but the government is twisting that fact.)
     By the way, is it possible? Liancourt Rocks (竹島 독도) is a rock rather than an island as you can see by the pictures of Liancourt Rocks on the above website. Its altitude is only 157 meters. Liancourt Rocks is 92 km away from Ullungdo Island(鬱陵島 울릉도). Can you clearly detect a rock 157 meters high in the ocean from a distance of 92 km with the naked eye. What do the students who live on Ullungdo Island think? They must have known that their government is officially lieing. Korean textbooks for teens acknowledges lying!
     I've found much more interesting things in this textbook, but I don't have enough time to show all of those. Anyway, I can declare with confidence that the Korean government has a serious responsibility about the Korean way of thinking against Japan.

To Korean people !

Please see the same page in the textbook written in Korean. You would understand my opinion. I mean no offense to you. I feel an affinity with you and your country, so I'm learning the Korean language.

(Vocabulary)
hold back 〔事実・本心などを〕隠す［秘密にする・しまっておく］、本当のことを言わない、
take in a distorted way / twist things around　曲解する
no offense  悪気はない

日本語版韓国歴史教科書

韓国の政策について下記の記事でも書いております。http://ridiculouskcruelc.seesaa.net/article/141154384.html　韓国人がここに書いたような非理論的な主張をするのは学生時代に受けた教育によるものに違いないと思ったのでこの記事を書いた後で本物の韓国教科書を読んでみました。たまたま市立図書館で教科書を見つけたのですが、中学生向けの韓国の歴史教科書で日本語に翻訳されています。写真は教科書の表紙と一部のページを示しています。　１０人以上の韓国の方がこのブログにしばしばアクセスされており、彼等のために韓国語でも記事を書きたいと思いましたが、うまく書けませんでした。いずれにせよ、日本と韓国の間の深い溝を作った責任は韓国人個人にあるのではなく、韓国政府にあるのだということがわかると思います。　争点を２つに絞ってみました。ひとつは安重根というテロリストについて、もう一つは竹島についての書き方です。　まず第一に２枚目の写真を見て下さい。拡大すると文字を読むことが出来ます。これをみてどう思われますか？どう見てもテロリストなのに国家的英雄とされています。このようなバイアスの掛かった教育を１０代の前半で受けてしまうと学生は洗脳されてしまうでしょう。これらの事実を非難しない日本政府はいったいどうなっているのでしょう。一方で韓国政府は教科書問題で日本政府を批判します。彼等には我々を批判する資格はないと思いますがどうですか？日本は韓国に対して我慢するべきではないと思います。　次に韓国の方へ、もし日本語が読めるか、自動翻訳システムを使うことが出来るなら次のサイトにアクセスしてみてください。http://www.geocities.jp/tanaka_kunitaka/takeshima/　韓国政府は自分たちの都合の良いように歴史を解釈し、歴史書を改ざん、つまり歪曲しています。僕が今一番心配していることをこれから書きたいと思います。　最後の写真を見てください。教科書の一ページです。内容はこんな感じです：竹島は天気が良ければ鬱陵島から肉眼で見え、このことは１００年以上前に書かれた資料の中にも書かれている。(実を言えば、この文献は同じ名前の別の島を表しているのですが、韓国政府はそれをわかっていて曲解しているのです。）上に紹介したサイトの写真で見る限り、竹島は島と言うよりは岩礁です。高さはたったの１５７メートルです。これが９２キロも離れた鬱陵島から肉眼ではっきりと見えるのでしょうか。双眼鏡でも使えば別ですが。鬱陵島に住む中学生には歴史教科書がウソをついているということがはっきりとわかっているはずです。　この本の中にはまだまだ多くのおかしな点がありますが、全てを紹介するには時間が足りません。とにかく、韓国政府は韓国人の対日感情について重大な責任があると自信を持って断言できます。 韓国の皆さんへ！韓国語版の同じページを読んでみてください。僕の意見を理解して頂けるでしょう。僕はあなた方を攻撃するつもりはありません。むしろ韓国人と韓国に対して親近感を覚えています。だから韓国語も読めるようになりました。

 

 

 

 

 

(KW: 韓国　歴史教科書　反日)