Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Japanese Traditional Cuisine; Udon

    Udon is kind of noodle. Kagawa prefecture, where Yakuri-ji Temple is located, is famous for its delicious Udon. Three of us were from Kagawa and knew many Udon restaurants of repute. We decided to go Udon restaurant-hopping. Enjoy the pictures!
     The Udon restaurant that we went to first was just beside the parking lot. The restaurant was small and stood in obscurity beneath the steep slope of the hill. The price of Udon was cheap but delicious. As expected, we were in the midst of the Udon prefecture. The 2nd picture is the menu.
     There are many Udon restaurants in Ehime prefecture where I live and I often go to some of them. I thought I knew Udon well, but it was the first time I had seen such a scene shown in the 3rd picture. The thing that was delivered to our table first was two raw pieces of radish and two radish graters. We grated the radish waiting for our Udon. The 5th picture is the soy sauce Udon that I ordered. It was a very simple Udon that was doused in soy sauce. The next picture shows the outside of the room I used. The last three pictures are the 3rd Udon restaurant we went to.

(Vocabulary)
of ill repute  評判の悪い、悪名高い
do a pub-crawl  はしごをする
go bar-hopping  はしごする
go from shop to shop    店から店へとはしごする
in obscurity    ひっそりと 世に埋もれて
grater おろし金［器］
grate [他] (おろし金などで) 〈チーズ・野菜など〉 をおろす
douse (火) に水をかけて消す=extinguish ; (書き言葉) 〈明かり〉 を消す
douse sth in/with sth  ＜…＞に＜液体＞をかける

(KW: 讃岐うどん)

Touring to Yakuri-ji Temple

     Two months had passed since I got a new scooter, but the total mileage was only 650km on Nov. 18th. The manual of the scooter tells me not to rev over more than 5000 until the mileage reaches up to 1000km. It's for kind of warming-up the engine. I kept to this rule faithfully, but I wanted to rev more than 5000 so I went out for a one-day trip to add mileage and for a change. The destination was Yakuri-ji Temple, which was the 85th of the Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage and was 170km away from my home.
     I enticed my friends to go with me and two of them got together. Another three riders joined us at Toyohama on the way to Yakuri-ji Temple. The pictures below were taken at Toyohama where we took a rest and had a late breakfast.
     At any rate I could see many kinds of motorcycles here and had fun. I'd like to have a BMW next.

To be continued.....

     This picture shows our six scooters. Our ages were between 40 and 70. The scooter is very easy to ride on and suitable for older people.

    Just after we parked our scooters, a clutch of young men came in the parking lot. They seemed to be in their twenties. Their motorcycles were heavy and powerful. I used to have this type of motorcycle in my student days.

     Ten minutes later, a group of more than 1000cc motorcycles came and parked between the young men and us. Some of them were Harleys.

   When I started, I found another group who had European motorcycles at the entrance of the parking lot.

(Vocabulary)
rev  (エンジンなど)の回転数を上げる; (エンジンなどが)回転数を上げる
for a change / for a switch / for recreation  気分転換に
The Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage  四国霊場８８か所巡礼
entice sb to do sth ＜人＞をそそのかして＜…＞させる
a clutch of sth  ＜…＞の小集団, 何人か［いくつか］の＜…＞

(KW: 四国遍路 八十八カ所 弘法大師 八栗寺)

A Korean Rider

     I had an e-mail from a Korean postgraduate student whom I met on the internet. He is planning to enjoy riding a motorcycle across Japan for three months in 2008. I have always thought of riding in South Korea for these past two years, so he is just the opposite case to me.
     However he doesn't have enough information on Japan. When is the best season for riding in Japan? This was his first question. Japan is a small country as you know, but Japan has various climates in each area. I'm going to give him as much information as he needs....in Korean. This makes me better at using the Korean language and will help me travel by myself in South Korea at the same time.
     He showed me a map of his plan. I'm happy to know that my hometown, Matsuyama City, is located just on his route. I suggested he could stay one night in my house. If he doesn't mind, I'd like to ride my scooter with him for a few hours.
     I really think that the internet is wonderful. He seems to have some friends in Japan using the social network service. I think that he has read my blog that contained my severe remarks against South Korea, but he puts forward an idea: Let's put aside the relationship between both countries and let's go together face to face as a single individual.
     It's OK and great! I'm looking forward to seeing him.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

안녕하세요.
마츠야마에 와 주면 환영합니다.
마츠야마시의 자료는 있습니까?
마츠야마시와 평택시는 자매 도시이니까, 평택시에 가면 손에 들어갈지도 모릅니다만, 보내도 주어요.　공항등에서 무료로 입수할 수 있을테니다.

세토나이카이는　한려해상국립공원를 닮아 있는 것 같습니다.
세토대교는 부디 달려 보세요.에히메현 남부의 해안선도 예쁩니다.

일본은 작은 나라입니다만, 변화가 풍부하고 있습니다.
큐슈와 홋카이도의 투어링이라면 여러가지 어드바이스 할 수 있습니다.

Gonbei Has Gone

Continued report on Gonbei:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
     There is an NPO in my city that helps us find a new owner of a dog that is in difficult circumstances such as unwanted baby dogs, abandoned dogs, retired guide dogs for visually challenged people and so on. Guide dogs are tightly bonded with their owner and I'm sure all the owners would want to take care of their dogs until the last minute but they can't do it because of their physical problem. These dogs will come to be under the care of volunteers. They'll spend the terminal period of their life with these volunteers.
     During three weeks since A found Gonbei, A and I have taken care of him. We took him to the vet and a shampoo shop and he seemed to be getting in shape and looked better. We found him very clever and almost decided to keep him in my house.....
    I didn't know that, but a meddlesome old woman had asked the NPO to find Gonbei's new owner without our permission.
     The other day an NPO member called us and told us that they found a suitable person for Gonbei who already has a Standard Schnauzer and wants to have a Miniature Schnauzer.
     Gonbei seems to have become attached to A and obeys A's simple orders such as "Stay", "Sit" and "House". However, all of my family members are out in the daytime and Gonbei might feel lonely. We thought like this and decided to leave him to the care of the new owner.

(Vocabulary)
abandoned dog / dog left behind by its owner   捨て犬
guide dog / seeing-eye dog    盲導犬
get in shape　体を鍛える、体調を整える、じょうぶになる
meddlesome old woman    おせっかいなおばあさん
attached 《[名]の前不可》 愛着［愛情］を感じた, 情がわいた

 

Field Work

     I'm going to show you a school activity today. The other day a dozen junior high school students visited my hospital to see how it is inside the hospital. Some of them were eager to become a medical doctor, some wanted to be a nurse or a pharmacist. Boys and girls think of their future vaguely when they become a junior high school student and have to choose which way to go next. In order to help them find out the chance is given to them to see or experience a lot of occupations and work places. My hospital was approached as the medical service company.
     When I was exchanging the gastrostomy tube of a patient who had been in a vegetative state for more than 5 years, the head nurse came to me and asked me to explain the condition of the patient and what I was going to do to the students. He had got the consent of the patient's family in advance. The picture shows the scene.
     All the students didn't know what the vegetative state was. It looked like they were shook up to see the patient. They were also showed the operation room, a few X-ray related rooms, the pharmaceutical facilities, rehabilitation department, , , . I thought this day would be strongly imprinted on their minds.

A Map

     My brother, a journalist, was travelling in France for his vacation. The picture shows the map and pamphlets that are written in Korean. I asked him to bring them back when he was just about to fly to Paris. I'd like to get anything official that is written in Korean. Anything was OK, for example maps, pamphlets, time schedule sheets for flights, trains or buses, information on hotels, theaters, museums, , , and so on. These are for free and my brother wouldn't feel any pain to collect them. If he couldn't find them, it was OK. Anyway, I sometimes look at this map of Paris over a glass of brandy. I've never been to France, but my imagination takes me to Paris. Besides it is good for learning Korean.
     Why Paris? It's because one of my daughters is learning French and I hope that my family can go skiing in Chamonix plus I'd like to get on the TGV and enjoy travelling under the Channel. Her French would help us enjoy travelling and skiing in Chamonix.
     I'm planning to visit Vancouver for skiing next March. I've been to Whistler 5 or 6 times, but I've never been to Europe. I'm really keen to visit some countries in Europe someday.   

Toyota Automobile Museum

     I called in at the Toyota Museum on the way to Nagoya Station. Toyota is that Toyota that is one of the biggest companies in the world. You can understand the history of automobiles and the wisdom of human beings there. I saw a Ford Model T that is known as the world's first genuinely mass-produced car.
     The first domestically built automobile was exhibited at the entrance. This car must be an achievement of Toyota and also the starting point of Toyota. I let my mind drift back over the early 20th century. All the Japanese were struggling not to be left behind by the developed countries in those days. Consequently present-day Japan exists now.
     I sometimes feel that present-day Japan might be inferior to that of 100 years ago in many ways. Present-day Japanese, of course, including me, have been living in secure and comfortable circumstances for a long time and became blind to the incidents of the world. Japan has no religious confrontation with any other country and keeps good relationships with all countries except China and both Koreas. I think that Japan must work for world peace from now on because Japan has enough power and modesty to do so.
     While I was thinking that way I found the first car that came to my house about 40 years ago. I remember my father, who was younger than me at the equivalent time, was delighted to be able to polish the car. I'm thinking that I'll take my parents there.

The signboard on the roadside

The truck that is powered by charcoal

The daily necessities in Showa era (30-50 years ago).

It's a portable gas station that supplies gasoline to automobiles, but it has already disappeared.

This picture shows a kind of car for single use. This car was demonstrated at the latest motor show in Tokyo.

(Vocabulary)
call in  ～を呼ぶ; 〔助け・援助などを〕求める; 〔場所に〕立ち寄る、訪問する、寄港する
domestically built automobiles 国産車
achievement [C] 業績, 成果, 偉業
let one's mind drift back over   ぼんやりと～のことに思いをはせる
present-day  現代の, 今日(こんにち)の
religious matter   宗教的な問題
religious confrontation  宗教的な対立
respect religious freedoms   宗教の自由を尊重する
equivalent  同等の, 同価値の

(KW: トヨタ自動車博物館)

Nagoya Castle

    I stopped by Nagoya Castle that I had wanted to see for a long time. This castle is famous as a symbol of Nagoya City. There's a beautiful and magnificent castle in my hometown and I wanted to compare them. You can see the picture of Matsuyama Castle which is in my hometown.
     Japanese castles are constructed for Samurai's daily life and protection against opponents once the fight has started. There are many devices to fight off the invaders. On the other hand, castles have kitchens, wells, vault toilets, archives, storerooms for food and many other necessities. We can see how the medieval life was when we walk around in the castle. I was expecting that kind of thing, but I was disappointed to visit Nagoya Castle. I didn't feel any nostalgia that many people were actually living here until 150 years ago. I couldn't smell the medieval air of Japan.
     The castle was made of concrete and, to my surprise, it had elevators in it. It was just a modern building that has a medieval castle's appearance. The inside was a museum of medieval life; streets and shops were recreated and exhibited there. It was nonsense to me. I just wanted to see the castle.

(Vocabulary)
vault toilet くみ取り便所
archives  記録文書, 古文書, 保存資料; 記録［公文書］保管所, 文書館
recreate  …を再現する

(KW: 名古屋城)

University Festival

     I arrived at Nagoya station at about six o'clock on Nov. 3rd. I got on the subway to my daughter's apartment. I had two hours to go until the opening of the festival and could take a nap in her room.
     Have you ever seen the magnetic levitated train? We call it the "Linear Motor Car". Test runs of linear motor trains are currently under way. Linear motor trains will connect Osaka and Tokyo in about one hour, with a maximum speed of 500 kilometers per hour in the not so distant future. The first commercial linear motor line is in Nagoya City and my daughter uses it every day for commuting.
     The first two pictures show the train. The next two show my daughter making octopus dumplings at her class stall. The last is the octopus dumplings called "Takoyaki" which are very popular in Japan. They were delicious.
     I could walk around the campus and see a few facilities and bulletin boards. The best thing I could do was that I had the chance to talk with her friends. I could understand the atmosphere of the university and it made me feel happy.
     This time last year, I hoped that she would get into the local national university and I thought it was enough, but she didn't think so. She wanted to try a higher level of university and succeeded. I was afraid that she would have many dificulties away from home, but such a concern proved unfounded.

(Vocabulary)
levitate [自] 宙に浮かぶ; [他](まれ) …を宙に浮かべる
That concern proved unfounded.  その不安は杞憂に終わった。

Cheapest Way to Nagoya City

     My second daughter is living in Nagoya city. I was wondering which was the best way between an airplane, train or bus to visit her apartment, because the University Festival, which she belongs to, will be held on Nov. 2nd-4th and I wanted to see it.
     The airplane would cost me about 400 US$ for the round trip. Likewise, the train 300 US$ and the bus 180 US$. In comparing these fees the bus service seems to be the best.
     On the other hand, from the point of view of required time, the airplane is best and the bus seems to be worst. It takes only an hour and a half to fly between Matsuyama and Nagoya, but the bus needs 10 hours. However the number of flights is small and if I use the airplane I would arrive at her campus at 10 o'clock and leave there at 4 o'clock in the evening, that is to say, the time that I can stay on the campus would be only 6 hours.
     The bus starts here at 7 in the evening and arrives at Nagoya station at 6 in the morning. For the return it starts at 11 at night from Nagoya station and arrives in Matsuyama City at 9 in the morning. It takes a longer time than the plane, but I can stay longer in Nagoya.
     After all I decided to use the bus. It was the first time in about 15 years to get on a long-distance night bus. When I used it last time, a neighbor passenger was drunk and snored loudly and besides he leaned against me. It was extremely uncomfortable and this made me keep away from the night bus for a long time. I found by chance a brochure of the long-distance bus service. The seat was for single use and could be reclined a long way. Furthermore the bus had a lavatory in it. I thought it was wonderful and had completely changed from the bus that I had been on before. This brochure made me decide to use the bus this time.

(Vocabulary)
after all　（いろいろ言ってみたが）やはり、（何だかんだ言っても）結局のところ
brochure  (広告・販売促進用などの) パンフレット, 小冊子
a travel brochure  旅行パンフレット

Korean Cuisine

    The other day I tried Korean broiled meat at a mama-and-papa restaurant that is near my office. This restaurant doesn't look good and I didn't want to go there, but I heard that they serve very good dishes and I decided to go there.
     As for Korean cuisine, I guess the king of it would be broiled meat. There are many broiled meat restaurants in Japan too and I thought there's not so much difference between Japanese and Korean roasted meat.
     The picture shows the Korean style grilling. The meat has been immersed in basting for a couple of days before serving. I ate grilled meat in leaves just like a wrapping. The green leaves in the picture are for wrapping hot meat. It was really delicious. Soy sauce is often used in Japanese and Korean dishes. It may be the reason why I like Korean dishes.

(Vocabulary)
broil  (グリルで)(食べ物)を焼く, あぶる, 網焼きにする
ma-and-pa  mama-and-papa  mom-and-pop 夫婦だけで経営する【形】
roast (オーブン・じか火で)(肉・野菜)を焼く, あぶる
grill  (米)(肉・魚など)を焼き網で焼く, (下から) 直火で焼く
immerse  …を熱中［没頭］させる; (フォーマル) (液体に) …をすっかり浸す, つける
immerse somebody in something
＜人＞を＜…＞に熱中［没頭］させる
immerse yourself in something
＜…＞に熱中［没頭］する
baste (肉)を焼き汁をかけながら焼く
basting  《料理》たれ（をつけること）

(KW: 韓国料理 あん 松山市)

Leathers

     Today was my day! I got the leathers for motorcycle riding from my boss.
     When I went downstairs to OPD this morning, my boss came close to me and said that he had a suit of leathers for riding and he wasn't going to put it on. He wanted me to put it on because it was almost new and too expensive to throw away. I was so surprised! I didn't know that he had ridden a motorcycle long ago. The picture shows it hanging on the wall of my room.

Korean Letters 4

Continued from here.

    I learned Korean history by myself. I focused on before the 19th century this time because I know roughly about after the 19th century.
     The pictures show the books that I read for these past 3 weeks. Both books in the first picture are written by a Korea-hating person and a Japan-hating person. I compared them with each other.
     The book on the right was written by a Japanese historian. His opinions, based on reliable evidence, seemed to be perfect. On the other hand the book on the left was funny and ridiculous. For example, the author describes the issue of Liancourt Rocks (Takeshima in Japanese) this way: Japan can easily file a lawsuit to the International Court of Justice because Japan has nothing to lose when it loses the case, but Korea is tightly controlling the Rocks effectively now and if it loses the case it has to give it up...so, Korea won't go to the Court. See also here.
     What do you think about this excuse? It's literally nonsense. It's because the Korean administration officials know that they have no chance against Japan that Korea won't sit at the table of the International Court. The author continues ....  The Korean language is superior to Japanese because homonyms are fewer in Korean than in Japanese. I couldn't believe my eyes to read this. I think he is unqualified to write books. In Japan and China the written language is an ideogram. Korean is a phonogram. His opinion is completely wrong. Originally it's of no use to struggle for mastery between different languages.
     I really think that Korean is systematic and beautiful. I'm learning it like maths and listening to it like music. I like it though I'm sorry to hear that Korean is denying the usage of Chinese characters.
     Anyway, the book on the left was written emotionally and the evidence is vague. Reading this book was just like wasting time.
     See the second picture. These books are written by a history researcher after intensive research. I examined some evidence that the author took up in his book and I got to believe these books. I'd like to pay a tribute to Korean readers to give me a chance to learn about Korean history. I got shocked to know it. If I were the Korean president, I would be sure to hide the historical facts and never show it to Korean children. Korean history is such a history.
     When the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea was signed in 1965, Seoul didn't say anything about the issue of comfort women. Why did the issue show up now? It has been my biggest question. I know the book that triggered this issue, but the author of this book revealed later that he wrote it on speculation and no evidence. However the Koreans are continuing to blame Japan for this issue. Why? In fact there's a general idea on prostitution (sex for money) in Japan but no notion about obliged comfort women (kind of sex slavery).
     "Comfort women" was from the Korean culture. If you are Korean, please study your own history and culture. Examine every kind of record and figures sincerely. There remain many documents in China, your country and also Japan. Many travel writers left the documents for you. I don't want to offend you and write about this issue any more but I hope you'll stop shifting a lot of the responsibility on Japan. (和訳)

(Vocabulary)
homonym     同音異義語
phonogram  表音文字
ideogram     表意文字
pay a tribute to　（人）に賛辞を呈する、（人）に敬意を表する、（死を）哀悼する
the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea　日韓基本条約   한일기본조약
hift responsibility to　（人）に責任を転嫁する［なすりつける］

韓国からの手紙４

ここからの続き　http://ridiculouskcruelc.seesaa.net/article/141154175.html　朝鮮史の勉強をした。１９世紀以後は大体わかっているので今回はそれ以前に焦点を当てた。写真はこの３週間の間に読んだ本を示している。最初の写真の２冊の本は韓国嫌いの人と日本嫌いの人とによって書かれたものである。これらを比べてみた。　右側の本は日本人歴史家によって書かれている。彼の意見は信頼できる根拠があり、完全なように見える。一方、左側の本はおかしくてばかげている。例えば、竹島についてはこう書かれている。日本は何も失うものがないから簡単に国際司法裁判所に訴えることができるが、韓国は現在竹島を実効支配しており、もし裁判で負ければそれを諦めねばならないから、、、だから韓国は訴訟に応じないのだと言う。参考: http://ridiculouskcruelc.seesaa.net/article/141154384.html　この言い訳はどうだ？全くナンセンスと言わざるを得ない。韓国が司法の場につかないのは、日本に対して勝ち目がないことを政府が知っているからだ。著者は続ける、、、朝鮮語は日本語よりも優れている。なぜなら同音異義語が日本語に比べて少ないからだと。これには驚いた。この著者は本を書く資格はないと思った。日本や中共の書き言葉は表意文字である。それに対して朝鮮語は表音文字だ。彼の言葉は完全に間違っている。もともと、言語の優位性を論じるなど、何の意味もないことだ。朝鮮語はシステマティックで美しいと思う。数学のように学び、音楽を聴くように聞いている。ただ、朝鮮人が漢字を使わないようにしてしまったことを聞いてとても残念に思うが、朝鮮語は好きだ。とにかく、左の本は感情的に書かれており、根拠が希薄だ。この本を読むことは時間の浪費に過ぎない。 　２番目の写真を見て欲しい。これらの本は歴史家により十分な研究の後に書かれている。著者が取り上げている根拠のうちいくつかを自分でも調べてみて、これらの本が信頼できるものとわかった。朝鮮史を勉強する機会を与えてくれた韓国の読者に感謝したい。朝鮮史を知って驚いた。もし、僕が韓国大統領であったら間違いなく事実を隠し、子供達には教えないだろう。朝鮮史はそのような歴史である。 　日韓基本条約が１９６５年に結ばれたとき、韓国は慰安婦問題について何も語らなかった。なぜ今になってこの問題が出てきたのか？引き金となった本を知ったが、後にこの著者は単なる想像で書いたもの、何の根拠もないことを明かしている。しかし、朝鮮人はこの問題で日本を責め続ける。いったいなぜ？日本には当時から売春婦という概念はあったが、強制的な慰安婦（性の奴隷）という概念はなかったのだ。 　慰安婦という概念は朝鮮文化から来ている。もしあなたが朝鮮人なら自国の歴史や文化を勉強してみることだ。支那や貴国、日本にも多くの文書が残っている。多くの旅行作家の記録もある。あなた方を攻撃するつもりはなく、この問題でこれ以上書くつもりもないが、日本に多くの責任を転嫁するようなことはやめて欲しい。

(KW: 黄　文雄　嫌韓流　혐일류）

An Unexpected Visitor

     Japanese medical practitioners' law requires that hospitals must preserve the records of treatment of all the patients for at least 5 years. The bigger the hospital is, the more enormous the store space needed. Some big hospitals adopt the microfilm system for the preservation of documents and films so that they can save space. However, my hospital doesn't. Besides, we preserve all the documents for more than 20 years. Some X-ray films stick to each other and some documents are moldy and smeary. It might be of no use to preserve them for such a long time, but anyway my boss didn't throw away the records for more than 20 years.
     A few nurses and an X-ray technician went into one of the store rooms to clean up the room and allow fresh air into the room. The room air smelled stale. At that time they found a bat hunched over on the floor. He or she didn't move a bit. They took the bat back to the nursing station and looked after it. They were afraid that the bat was suffering from dehydration or hypoglycemia and fed the bat with a 10% glucose fluid from a dropper.
     A day later the bat seemed to have recovered and began to fly in the room and was released outside at midnight. The nurses were great!

(Vocabulary)
get moldy  カビが生える
smeary  汚れた, しみの付いた; しみのような
stale  (食べ物などが) 古くなった, (パン，ケーキなどが) 固くなった; (空気などが) よどんだ, (煙・息などが) いやなにおいのする
stale bread  固くなったパン
hunch over  うずくまる
dropper  スポイト (目薬・芳香油などの) 滴びん, 点滴器

Hair-Shaved Gonbei

     What's a Gonbei? It's the name for people who don't have their own name or want to keep them secret. I think it's just like John Doe or Jane Doe in English. Anyway, Gonbei is the name of our new dog. You can see his original pictures here: http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/10/post-bc1a.html
     We have a 3-year-old Dalmatian, Mocha, now and hope that someone keeps Gonbei. Some people called me after seeing our signboard to inform the former owner where he is now, but the dog that they were searching for wasn't Gonbei. We had no choice and decided to keep it for some time until someone shows up who wants to have it.
     There is an NPO in this city that helps people find foster parents for cats and dogs. A checked their website and found that they required a medical checkup for cats and dogs before joining their website. Besides, Gonbei looks very dirty. We took him to the pet's shampoo shop at first. The trimmer said Gonbei was a Schnauzer, not a Miniature Schnauzer and his hair was extremely dirty and got caked with mud, so she couldn't shampoo it. At last Gonbei was shaved over his whole body. You can see his present status in the pictures below.
     We are going to visit the vet who usually checks Mocha this weekend and have Gonbei checked. I'm so sorry that my pocket money has disappeared.

(Vocabulary)
John Doe　ジョン・ドウ、名前のない人、何某、身元不明の男性、名なしの権兵衛◆本名を明かしたくないときに使う男性名。女性の場合はJane Doe
caked with mud　泥が厚くこびりついて
shampoo (髪・カーペットなど) をシャンプー［洗剤］で洗う

Korean Letters 3

Continued from http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/11/korean-letter-1.html

     To my surpirse, all of them are supporting my opinion written in the entry: http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/10/korean-textbook.html

     Most e-mails acknowledge that my opinion is correct, but .... they change the topic and accuse Japan of doing various things. Some rebuttals were ridiculous and seemed to be kind of nursery rhymes, however a few criticisms raised some valid points that I couldn't answer promptly.
     Given this situation, I decided to study their history again. I studied world history in my high school days, but it was at the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895) that Korea showed up on the stage of  world history. The relationship between Japan and Korea was taught in my Japanese history class, but it was just relations between both countries, not a part of the world and very regional issues. My knowledge about Korean history before the 19th century was very fractional and poor. I didn't know about their way of life. It took about 3 weeks to roughly learn about it and you might imagine how hard it was learning after my daily work. However, never! I didn't feel any pain, even one iota. It's fun to acquire knowledge.
     I replied to all the e-mails in English. I coudn't help writing strong opinions sometimes, but I am happy to exchange opinions with people from other countries. I really realized that mass medias are not always correct and we are easily brainwashed.

(Vocabulary)
nursery rhyme  童謡、わらべ歌
valid  (疑問・議論などが) もっともな, 妥当な
a valid point  もっともな点
given
【接続】 ～と仮定すると、～を考えると、～を前提として、～を所与として、～をかんがみて
【前】 〈文〉～と仮定すると、～を考える［考慮する］と、～を前提として、～を所与として
given this situation  このようなことから
not ~ one iota　少しも～ない、みじんも～ない

韓国からのメール３

ここからの続き　http://ridiculouskcruelc.seesaa.net/article/141154176.html 驚いたことに全てのメールがここで書いた僕の意見を支持してくれています。　http://ridiculouskcruelc.seesaa.net/article/141154189.html多くのメールが僕の意見は正しいと認めた上で、話題を変え、いろいろなことをしたと日本を非難しています。愚かな、寝言のような反論のある中で、すぐには答えられない的を射た批判もありました。このようなことから、朝鮮史を再び勉強してみることにしました。高校時代に世界史の勉強をしましたが、朝鮮が世界史の表舞台に登場するのは１８９５年の下関条約においてでした。日韓関係は高校時代、日本史の授業で教えられ、それは世界史の一部ではなく、限局された一地方の問題でした。僕の１９世紀以前の朝鮮史についての知識は貧弱でした。約３週間をかけてざっと勉強しましたが、何ら苦痛ではなく、知識を得ることは喜びでした。 全てのメールに英語で答え、時々は強い意見を書かざるを得ませんでしたが、外国の人々と意見を交換できるのはとても素晴らしいことです。日本のマスコミが常に正しいとは限らないこと、我々は簡単に洗脳されてしまうと言うことを実感できました。

Korean Letters 2

Continued from http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/11/korean-letters-.html

     I hit upon an intersting idea reading these e-mails. I wonder why they don't want to add comments openly. If they do so, everyone could read their opinions. I found their deep psyche in some e-mails. It looked like they didn't want to agree with me in every situation. Their pride doesn't seem to let them acknowledge Japanese opinions. Pride goes before, and shame follows after.
     However, I admire their attitude in another sense. Their nationalism and patriotism are awesome. Japanese self-appointed liberal intellectuals blame Japan for doing something bad despite not having any secure evidence and many people support them. I can't understand their way of thinking.
     Korean people who express their affinity for Japan tend to be condemned. Such kind of patriotism is not good, but it's also a serious problem that many Japanese don't even have such patriotism.
     Nationalism and patriotism are totally described by one word, "aikokushin," in Japanese. Left wing groups insist that the word "aikokushin" shouldn't be taught to children. They raise their voices that "aikokushin" leads Japan to war.
     I think this is wrong. Actually, "nationalism" might be harmful for most Japanese, but "patriotism" is essential and necessary to all peoples. The Japanese educational system, planned by Douglas McArthur, teaches young people that "aikokushin" is a bad thing. We Japanese are brainwashed here too. (和訳)

(Vocabulary)
deep psyche  深層心理
pride does not let  プライドが許さない
Pride goes before, and shame follows after. プライドが先を行き、恥が後に従う。／虚栄心が強すぎると失敗して恥をかく。
in another sense 別の意味では
awesome  重大な; 息をのむような, 圧倒されるような; (インフォーマル・話) すごくいい, 最高の
an awesome responsibility  重大な責任
self-appointed  独り決めの, 自ら任じた, 自薦の
liberal intellectual  進歩的文化人

韓国からのメール２

(続き) これらのメールを読んで奇妙な事実に気がついた。なぜ彼らはコメントを書かないのだろうと思っていたが、コメントとすると誰もが読むことができる。彼らは深層心理において僕に同意したくないようだ。日本人の意見を認めることは彼らのプライドが許さないようだ。虚栄心が強すぎて恥をかくのだが。しかしながら、別の意味で、彼らの態度を素晴らしいとも思う。彼らの愛国心は素晴らしい。日本の自称進歩的文化人は何の根拠もなく、日本が悪いことをしたと言っては日本を非難する。また多くが彼らを擁護する。彼らの考えが全く理解できない。日本に親しみを感じると表明する韓国人は非難されやすい。そんな愛国心はよくないが、一方でそんな愛国心さえも持たない多くの日本人がいることは、これもまた大きな問題である。"nationalism"と"patriotism"は合わせて愛国心と訳される。左翼は愛国心を子供達に教えるべきではないと説く。愛国心は戦争に繋がると声を上げる。しかし、これは間違っていると思う。実際問題、"nationalism"は多くの日本人にとって良くないかもしれないが、"patriotism"はすべての国民にとって必要不可欠なものである。ダグラス・マッカーサーによって計画された日本の教育システムは日本の子供達に「愛国心」は悪いものと教える。我々日本人はここでも洗脳されているのである。

Korean Letters 1

     I got more than 50 e-mails from Korea. It's because of this entry: http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/10/korean-textbook.html

     This blog is linked to a Korean blog that is maybe written by a Korean priest. I guess it is the reason why I got so many e-mails from South Korea.
     All the e-mails but two were written in Korean. They might have a misunderstanding that I'm very good at Korean. I'm just learning Korean because I want to enjoy travelling in Korea. I'd like to try many Korean dishes and to see beautiful scenery. My German was obtained as a subject in my student days and was required again at my postgraduate examination after ten years as a surgeon. The ability of reading and writing German, along with enough vocabulary, was mainly required. On the other hand, talking about Korean, it's a kind of amusement to learn Korean. The ability of talking and listening in Korean in daily life is what I'd like to acquire. That is to say, my vocabulary of Korean words is poorer than that of German and English. My comprehension level in Korean is lower than that in German.
     Anyway, it took a lot of time to understand all of the e-mails. Please write in English next time! I'm going to write about the contents of e-mails in the next entry.

P.S.   This storm of e-mails made me better in Korean. I'll try to write something in Korean here in the near future.