Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Bocchi Camp

　　In a Japanese TV program, a professional entertainer stays for a night at a variety of campsites. He collects fallen trees from around about, then starts a fire in a primitive way and cooks something easy. In short, he enjoys inconvenience in the wild circumstances. That's all in the program, but this program's popularity is taking off and it triggered a solo-camp boom.
　　When I was young, I sometimes enjoyed a small bonfire myself or with my friends. Just gazing at the fire, I drove off daily annoyances from my mind and I didn't mind anything. It was a really relaxing time for me. This TV program reminded me of my fun time which I had forgotten. The title of the program is "Hiroshi's Bocchi Camp". "Hiroshi" is the entertainer's name and "Bocchi" comes from a Japanese word "Hitori Bocchi", which means "completely alone". I'm going to try it some day.
　　By the way, I liked this program's theme song "Guaranteed". The singer was Eddie Vedder, the vocalist of "Pearl Jam" based in Seattle. This song was used in the movie "Into The Wild". I wasn't able to catch all the lyrics and got them on the internet. I can imagine a rough image of the song, but it 's difficult to understand them fully and accurately. I have to ask someone from the U.S.

The 1st and 2nd lyrics are as follows:

"Guaranteed"

On bended knee is no way to be free
Lifting up an empty cup, I ask silently
All my destinations will accept the one that's me
So I can breathe

Circles they grow and they swallow people whole
Half their lives they say goodnight to wives they'll never know
A mind full of questions, and a teacher in my soul
And so it goes

(continued....)

　　The part 2 which starts from "Circles" is considerably hard to catch. What on earth is "Circle"? I looked for suitable Japanese words in the English-Japanese dictionary, but in vain. Additionally I bought the kindle version of the original of the movie "Into The Wild". I'm now reading it bit by bit.

ぼっちキャンプ

ある番組で芸人が一人でキャンプ場に泊まり、付近の倒木を集めて原始的な方法で火を起こし煮炊きして不便を楽しんでいる。ただそれだけのことなのだが、この番組がソロキャンプブームを巻き起こしている。

若い頃、自分もよくやっていた。たき火を見つめて、日常の一切を忘れて一人でのんびり過ごす時間は至福の時間だった。長い間忘れていた時間をこの番組が思い出させてくれた。まったく一人っきりという意味の日本語、『ひとりぼっち』から取り出した単語をくっつけて『ぼっちキャンプ』と呼ばれる。そのうち、やってみようと思っている。

さて、この番組の主題歌が『Guaranteed』。調べてみるとシアトルで誕生したロックバンド『パールジャム』のボーカル『エディーヴェダー』が歌っている。映画『Into the Wild』の中で流れた歌だそうだ。全てを聞き取れなかったのでネットで歌詞を調べてみた。大雑把な意味は想像できるのだが、やはり正確に意味を掴むのは難しい。知り合いのネイティブに尋ねてみよう。下に歌詞を書いておく。

Circlesから始まる２番の歌詞の意味はかなり難しい。そもそもCircleはどういう意味なのか、、、辞書を探しても適当な役が見つからない。ヘルプ！そして、映画の原作、『Into The Wild』キンドル版を購入した。毎日少しずつ読んでいくつもりだ。

Jog

　　I jogged more than 20 km after such a long interval since I had stopped running at 38 km in the Shimonoseki Marathon in November in 2019. The next Ehime Marathon will not be held and I thought that the next chance will not come in the near future, but my friend asked me to join their training. They are continuing training and run faster than me. So, I started 40 minutes earlier than them along the same route and they caught me up later. The weather was clear and comfortable. The riverside of Shigenobu river was really peaceful. I lost my dear friend by leukemia in May who had grown up in the same high school and the same university. I'm deeply grateful to have such physical strength as I can run more then 20km even over 60 years old.
　　I started a new life as an industrial physician this summer. If the outbreak of Wuhan virus didn't occur, I would have become a ship's doctor on a gorgeous cruise ship now. In this world, no one knows when something will happen. I'm going to enjoy my life from now on too.

本当に久しぶりに走った。去年１１月の下関マラソンで３８ｋｍでDNFとなって以来の２０キロ越え。来年の愛媛マラソンは中止となり、しばらく走ることは無いなと思っていたのだが、誘われて走ることになった。長距離ランの間隔が空いているので、速く走る仲間より３０分以上早めに出て追いついてもらうように設定して走った。天気は快晴。穏やかな風が吹き、重信川沿いの道は快適だった。６０歳を越えてこれだけ走れる体力と健康を本当にありがたいと思う。今年は中高大学と一緒に過ごした友人を失った。

今年、転職し、新たなスタートを切った。武漢ウイルスがなければ今頃クルーズ船の船医をしていたはずなのだが、人生何があるかわからない。これからも健康には気をつけて人生を楽しもうと思う。

Shimonoseki Kaikyo Marathon

　　I ran the Shimonoseki Kaikyo Marathon for the first time in five years. I stopped running on the way last time due to my lower leg's muscle cramp. It was probably from dehydration. I failed to take water constantly during the race. This time I was able to prepare successfully for the marathon and was going to finish it, but I finally ended up stopping at the 32.8km point, the same place as the last time. Honestly I had some physical strength left then, but it was not enough to climb up the last hill within a span of the designated time. I knew that the failed-runner-collection bus from this point took a short-cut to the goal and I would be able to reach the goal and take pictures of my friends finishing, so I stopped at this point. It was regrettable, but I'm going to challenge this marathon in a few years, though I'd be older.

今日は下関海峡マラソンを走りました。２０１４年に走ってから５年ぶりの参加です。前回は多分脱水によると思われる下腿けいれんにより、途中で棄権。今回は完走を目標に体調は万全で臨むも、、、なんと同じ場所３２．８ｋｍでストップ　時間は少々残っていましたが、最後の坂を登り切る体力が無いように思われ、またここで止まると回収バスが近道をしてゴールへ行ってくれるのでマラソン仲間とゴール後の行動を共にすることが出来るため、ここで完走を諦めた、、、残念　次は数年後になるが、次こそ完走を、、、年齢が上がるけど、、、

Ryoma-Dappan marathon (10km)

　　I ran the Ryoma-Dappan marathon (10km category) which might have been canceled due to the rain from the typhoon. Luckily for us however, the typhoon had sheered away eastbound, though it ended up in devastating some areas in eastern Japan a few days later. Anyway, this marathon was held in a mountainous region of Shikoku - one of four big islands of Japan - and its route ran through deep in the forest. As you imagine, its route had a few steep slopes. As I was climbing up a slope, I found a former Defense Minister walking up the slope. I wanted to speak to him, but he was puffing and panting like me. We were mutually not in the condition to talk to each other. I just bowed slightly and passed him. One thing, I admired him for challenging this 10km roadrace for his age. My friends and I were welcomed by local people and we were thankful for their kindness. If I could have time next year, I'll join this marathon.

Ryoma-Dappan Marathon

　　I received the number card of the upcoming Ryoma-Dappan Marathon(10km) today. I applied for the Ehime Marathon in July, which will be held next February, but I lost my seat. However, I can join the Shimonoseki Kaikyo Marathon (full marathon) in November, so this Ryoma-Dappan Marathon will be good training as the route is designed deep in the forest and has several slopes. I'll show you beautiful pictures taken along the route.

Home Party

　　My wife made a funny suggestion that we had to hold a home party for a rescue team. Rescue team? I wasn't able to understand what she meant. She continued, "You are going to join a marathon in Shimonoseki, aren't you?", then "If you drop out of the race, who'll take you home?" I got her story finally at that time. "Rescue team" meant my marathon companions. She seemed to ask my friends to take care of me face to face. Anyway, as the pictures show, we had a wonderful time at my house.

Jogging

　　Japan has a rainy season called "tsuyu" in the areas other than Hokkaido and a hot summer will come after tsuyu. It's in the midst of tsuyu, but the weather was unusually clear today. I went out jogging. I'm going to run a few marathons this autumn and winter and started practice.
　　My house is located in the suburbs of Matsuyama City and there is a big park nearby, which is designed for exploiting the natural terrain of a hill, so the jogging route in this park is abundant in slopes. It's tough for me to jog here for the start of the practice of this season, but I ran. There are enough public washrooms in the park and I can get enough drinking water from the faucets there for free.
　　Then I visited the military cemetery adjacent to the park on the way home. I'll show you some pictures of the cemetery. Military horses and dogs are also honored there.

　

Sad Monument

　　This is the third visit to Hawaii for us. We had two reasons to choose this week for our visit. One is, June 11th is said to be the birthday of Kamehameha I, who consolidated the Hawaiian Dynasty, and lots of festivals and events are scheduled on every island. In other words, this week is the liveliest season in all of the Hawaii islands. The other is,,,,, I'll write about it later. Anyway, I headed for Kamehameha I's statue, where I stopped by for some time during last year's half marathon.
　　While walking, I came across a sad story. The war memorials of the Korean and Vietnam Wars. If FDR hadn't wanted to wage the war against Japan, the present Chinese Communists' Country wouldn't exist now and the conflicts between South and North also wouldn't have happened. I thought that lots of young men were dispatched to war from Hawaii. I paid tribute to them for a short time.

我々にとって３回目のハワイ。この時期に来たのは二つの理由がある。６月１１日がハワイ王朝を統一したカメハメハ大王の誕生日とされ、ハワイ全島が盛り上がる一週間だから。二つ目の理由は後に挙げる。で、一人でトロリーでカメハメハ大王の銅像へ向かった。去年の春、ホノルルハーフマラソンの途中で立ち寄った場所。
トロリーを降りて歩いていると、悲しい歴史に出会った。朝鮮戦争とベトナム戦争で亡くなった若者たちを悼む慰霊碑だ。ＦＤＲが日本との戦争を希望しなければ、恐らく今の中共は存在しないし、南北間の争いも無かったろうに。ハワイから出征した若者が多かったのだろう。しばし黙祷！

Live Professional Wrestling

　　Professional wrestling was nationwide popular in my childhood and was being broadcast in the highlight time slot those days, though its popularity had been at the bottom for a long time. However, it seems to me that its popularity came back lately. My muscle training trainer is a big fan of pro-wrestling. The wall of my training room is mostly occupied with posters of pro-wrestling as you see in the previous entry. Being confined once a week for a few hours in this room, it might be inevitable, as a logical consequence, that I got a pro-wrestling ticket!

Muscle Training

　　I'll write about my muscle training which I started in December, 2016. When I was washing my car with a pair of sandals on, I accidentally hit my left foot against the wall, and my fifth toe was broken. I had to stop jogging at that time, and I started muscle training alternatively. I intended to just make up for the jogging until the recovery, but that muscle training has continued until today. I saw lots of patients as a general surgeon who tripped on small bumps and broke their bones. These accidents are from the weakness of their muscles. That's why I continued my muscle training after the recovery from the fracture.
　　By the way, I got a whole sky camera the other day, and took some snapshots of my training room with that camera. I'll show you under the permission of my trainer.

Pictures by Whole Sky Camera:
https://theta360.com/s/g6fIXMg6Q9seMD54yQUNsKwNc
https://theta360.com/s/2TH0aBn3eaG6UDd47ihXSTIeG
https://theta360.com/s/3Fha5pxrScnPQJmZKhTgjYWqe

 

Athletic Meeting

　　Athletic meetings in schools in Japan have been one of the seasonal events in autumn, but they came to be held in spring lately as some autumnal festivals and other events often fall on each other. Additionally, pupils prepare the meeting from summer and heat strokes are also a concern.
　　Spring is the commencement season in Japan, so the first grade pupils of the elementary school were kindergarten kids only a month ago. It's fun to see such tiny kids run on the ground. I sometimes wondered if they are running or rolling?
　　I viewed the meeting in the adjacent elementary school from the roof of my office. Today is Sunday and my office is closed. I have to stay in my office for inpatients, but all the patients are in stable condition. I really love such a peaceful day.

Asagiriko Marathon

　　I took part in the Asagiriko Marathon on May 3rd. The title of the event includes "Marathon", but the category which I joined was the 10 km road race. After the DNF at the 35km point of the last Ehime Marathon held in Feb, I ran only 10km on Apr. 30th. The amount of training was extremely small and I was afraid whether I could run through. However, I had a good point.
　　I'm just 60 years old now, so I'm most advantageous on the sixties' ranking. I aimed at the upper rank than half among the sixties, but I registered for 77th place of 102 runners in their sixties. Next time I'm going to be ranked at the faster half of the sixties.

Bicycle Race

　　Bicycle races are naturally a kind of sport, but at the same time, it's recognized as a gamble. I like wandering on my bicycle, but I'm not interested in cycling competitions as a method of gambling at all. I'm such a person, but I ended up visiting the bicycle racetrack today.
　　I learned for the first time that the cycling competitions' organizer was obliged to assign doctors like a general or orthopedic surgeon at the medical office in the racetrack when the competition is held. If there is no surgeon, no competition is allowed by the regulation of the association of the bicycle competition.
　　The organizer is Matsuyama City and they struggled to find a surgeon for the past several days because the due surgeon suddenly got under the weather. My second daughter works at the city office and she was asked to ask me to work at the racetrack today. Fortunately, today was free and I attended. I've never been to a cycling racetrack and it was fun to see the back side of the competition.

Nibukawa Gourmet Marathon

　　Marathon has become more and more popular in Japan as well as in other countries. Even small villages often hold marathon events as a means of activation of their communities.
　　I joined one such event, "Nibukawa Gourmet Marathon". Its name contains "marathon", but the distance was only 18.1km. The route was designed merely to connect scenic sites in the village. As a result, the runners were shown the village's boasting scenery, but the organizers seemed not to mind slopes, which exhausted the runners.
　　Every service point on the route offered us their products like wild boar meat-processing foods, rice balls with edible wild plants, and so on. I took a relaxing rest at every service point over abundant food. The road was always up or down, and there was almost no flat road, but the local people along the road were really friendly and warm-hearted. I spent a really comfortable day.

Long Slow Distance (LSD)

　　LSD is one of the training methods of marathons and it means the slow running of long distance. The point is to continue working for a long time. The Ehime marathon is just around the corner and I'm looking to breaking my own record in the previous Ehime marathon. I jogged today for about 20km.
　　What I like most about this training is that I can see strange scenes. As I run not only on big streets but small alleys with a little faster speed than walking, I often notice something I had missed for a long time even on the streets on which I had frequently driven my car in everyday life. The speed of vehicles is too fast to see around.
　　If something catches my eye, I stop and check it. I ran today toward the coast and looked into the cool boxes of several anglers, then I saw the landslide scene which had occurred the other day and watched the preparation work for the coming local shrine festival for some time. I spent a really relaxing time today.

Shimanami International Cycling

　　The Inland Sea between Shikoku and Honshu, which are two of the four main islands of Japan, is called Setonaikai Inland Sea, and you can cross the sea over three routes. "Shimanami" which appears in this entry's title is one of those three routes. Several bridges connect several islands and its scenery is beyond description. Every bridge has cyclists' paths and lots of cycle-lovers ride this route.
　　"Shimanami International Cycling" is the biggest cycling event held on this route every two years. All the traffic except bicycles are banned on this day, and the highway is open to cyclists only. However, you aren't always allowed to join the event, as there are so many applicants for the cycling. I drew the good luck this year.
　　By the way, there was a brutal incident which deprived me of strength, though it was my fault. I had to remove the front wheel from my bicycle for packing it into the transportation box. When I attached the wheel to my bicycle before the start, my work wasn't perfect and the rim of the wheel was rubbing all the way against the brake rubber until the first mechanic's aid. I wasn't able to ride at the usual speed and my position went back, but I was able to get nice pictures without other participants as you see in the 7th picture.

(Vocabulary)
brutal チョー最悪(スラング)

Oxford Half Marathon

　　I arrived at the Best Western Linton Lodge, in which we would stay three nights. I received our luggage at the front desk - it wasn't carried to our room. When we entered the room, I found a slip of paper on the table. It said that the Oxford Half Marathon would be held on Oct. 7th and the access to the hotel would be restricted from 8 am to 2 pm. I was supposed to return my car, which would be rented on the previous day, at 10 o'clock on 7th. Would I have to check out by 8 am and kill time until 10 am?
　　I searched for the detailed information on the route on the net and found that we would be able to go out of the area of the marathon until 9:15 am. I asked about the marathon route at the front desk in detail. Then, to my surprise, the detailed route map, which I found on the net, was already delivered to the hotel. I told the hotel person, "If you had known the information, you should have told us the correct and detailed information in advance." She arrogantly and with a heavily thick accent answered that she wouldn't be responsible if I could go out of the route or not. I didn't want her to be responsible for my escape from the marathon area, and just wanted to know the accurate announcement from the organizer of the marathon. Was she an idiot?
　　I'll show you the slip of paper from the hotel and the route maps (overall and localized ones) below. Our hotel was located on Linton Road and within the loop of the route. According to the map, we should be able to go out of the loop at F point from 8 to 9:15 am and 11:15 onwards. In spite of this notice, the hotel told us that the traffic would be regulated from 8 am to 2 pm. Their poor and rough service was unacceptable.
　　We took dinner in a restaurant in the hotel. The taste was awfully terrible. You might not think so from the following picture, but the medium-roasted beef steak was hard and sounded like it was made from oily clay. What's more, a large amount of plain-tasting potato. I didn't want to make leftovers for the chefs, and ate them, but needed much water to wash them down. Digestive drugs from Japan were helpful. The dinner price was more than 20 GBP and almost criminal. The chefs should come to Japan and try Japanese beef steaks.

(Vocabulary)
thick 〈言葉のなまりが〉 強い
He spoke with a thick accent. 彼は強いなまりで話した．
clay 粘土

三晩投宿するベストウエスタン・リントン・ロッジに到着した。フロントで荷物を受け取り(部屋に運んでくれていなかった)部屋に入ると、1枚目の写真のチラシがテーブルの上に置いてあった。なんと、出発の日にオックスフォード・ハーフマラソンが開催され、8時～14時までホテルが封鎖されてしまうらしい。この日は前日に借りる予定のレンタカーを10時に返却することになっているのだが。食事を済ませて8時前にはホテルを出て10時まで時間を潰さなければならない？

すぐにネットで調べると、9時15分までは出られるとのこと。フロントでこの件を尋ねると、僕がネットで見つけたコースマップがフロントにも有り、9時15分までは出られると書いてある。わかっていたのなら正確な情報を教えてくれるべきだとフロントのスタッフに話すと、8時～9時15分の間に出られるかどうか責任が持てないという。それも訛りの強い英語で。一番年配に思えた(それでも若い)高慢なスタッフが言うのだが、僕はホテル側にそんな責任を負わせるつもりはなく、大会運営者からの正確な情報を伝えてくれさえしたら良かったのだが。マラソンに関してのクレームをホテルに言うわけないではないか？この女、もしかしてアホ？

夕食はホテル併設のレストラン。非常にまずかった。写真を見たらそうは見えないかも知れないが、硬い、合成したのか思われるような不味いステーキに大量のポテト。残すともったいないので全部食べたが、吐き戻しそうだった。念のため持参した消化剤が役に立った。日本円で２０００円以上の料理なので、この味では犯罪的だと思った。シェフは一度、日本のステーキを食べてみるべきだ。

 

North Shore

　　The sea of the North Shore was brilliantly blue. Our car was a chartered minivan, but if I drove my car, SLK200, along the coastline of of the North Shore of Oahu island, what a pleasure I would get. I told my driver such a wish. His answer was an unexpected one to me, i.e. that idea was terrible. Convertible cars seemed to be unnecessary in the all-time hot island of Hawaii. All the convertible Mustang cars which were found everywhere in Waikiki were apparently rental cars without exception. When it comes to rental cars, I asked him if there is some mark on the license plate which indicates that the car is a rental one. In Japan, the license plate of rental cars has a specific mark on it. His answer was NO, and he added that such marks could attract vehicle burglars. I understood.
　　Several beaches were along the coastline and lots of tourists were viewing big waves and surfers. Unexpectedly, the best season of the beaches on the North Shore of Oahu island was winter. The waves in winter seemed to be far higher than those in Honolulu.
　　Three days after the cold front progresses to the Sea of Okhotsk and Japan is hit by a storm in winter, the waves produced on the Sea of Okhotsk reach the North Shore and they make there a paradise for surfers.

ノース・ショアの風景

オアフ島北岸のドライブは実に気持ちが良い。ミニバンではなく、自分のＳＬＫならどれほど気持ちが良いだろうかと思う。ドライバーにそう話すと、暑いハワイでオープンカーなどとんでもないとの返事。ムスタングのオープンカーが目立つのだが、すべてレンタカーだという。ついでに聞いてみた。ナンバープレートからレンタカーだと判断できるのかと。できないとのこと。レンタカーだとわかると車上荒らしに遭いやすいので、そのようなシステムにはなっていない、、、なるほど。

ビーチがいくつもあり、サーファーの姿もちらほら。波を眺める観光客も多かったが、ここのベストシーズンは冬だという。１２月の波は今よりも遙かに高く、サーファーが集まるとか。波の大きさはワイキキの比では無いと言う。オホーツク海に前線が張り出し、日本が冬の嵐になると、その３日後くらいに良い波が来るのだそうだ。遙かオホーツクの海から。日本の冬の嵐はノース・ショアのサーファーにとっては楽園を意味するようだ。

Portable Toilet at Waikiki beach

　　Joining the Honolulu Half-Marathon was one of my purposes and it was successfully finished without any injury. After the run, various kinds of food and drinks are offered to the runners in Japan, but what I received in Honolulu was only a bottle of cold water and an extremely oily sticky pancake, which almost choked me. I wanted to wash my hands with soap, but couldn't. There were no maps about the finish area. My greasy hands might damage my camera, so I didn't take pictures around the finish area.
　　Leaving my hands oily and sticky, I moved to the portable toilets area on Waikiki beach. I washed my hands in the sea and opened the door of one of the toilets. It was just like a dust box with paper bags of fast foods like McDonald. It would be used by not only the runners but other tourists and I was surprised and discouraged to know their bad manners. Finally I made a bee line to my condo. However, I had a lot of fun. Variety is the spice of the marathon for beginners like me. I'd like to join the Honolulu Marathon in the not so distant future. The picture shows the badge of honor given to finishers.

(Vocabulary)
badge of honor 勲章

　
今回のハワイ旅行の目的の一つ目が終わった。怪我もなくのんびりと観光を楽しみながら走ることが出来たのだが。日本だとゴール後には温かい豚汁や食べるものなどが振る舞われるのだが、ここでは異常に甘くてべたべたしたケーキに、ただの冷たい水。暑いハワイだと言っても温かい飲み物があっていいし、もう少し腹持ちの良いものが出せないものか。手を洗える場所の表示やイベント会場の案内図もない。お陰でカメラを取り出せず写真がない。
　
べたべたの手のままでワイキキビーチに設置された移動式トイレまで移動したが恐ろしく汚い！トイレはゴミ箱とは違う！女性用は知らないが、男性用トイレはマックの袋などが捨ててありまるでゴミ箱、使用不可能。ランナーだけではなく、一般の人も使ったのだろうが、このトイレマナーはどうだ。呆れてしまった。結局トイレを我慢してジョグ１０分で自宅のトイレに駆け込んだ。因みに手はワイキキビーチの海水で洗いました。とまあ、いろいろあったが総じて楽しいランだった。次はフルマラソンに挑戦します！

Honolulu Half-Marathon 9 (I did it!)

　　After running down from Diamond Head and passing by the Honolulu Aquarium, I was able to see clearly the crowd gathering around the finish line. The second picture was shot near the aquarium against a backdrop of Diamond Head. The next picture was taken at a few hundred meters to the finish. I didn't think, however, that I finally had done it, and what's more, I wanted to run a little longer to enjoy sightseeing. The 4th and 5th picture show the last minute to the finish line. I saw the woman and her baby shown in the last picture on the way maybe in downtown. She must have finished the half-marathon with her baby in her arms. Miraculous!
　　By the way, let me explain about the shaka sign, the finger sign extending the thumb and the little finger from the fist. I saw a motorcycle policeman send me that, and some other policepersons and people along the route also sent that to runners. I looked it up on my Pc. It is often called "Shaka Brother", whose back of hand is shown to others, or "Hang Loose", whose palm of the hand is shown to. "Hang Loose" stands for gratitude, affection, greeting, respect, and so on. On the other hand, "Shaka Brother" means "Are you all right?", "Hang in there!", "Never say die!", and so on. Looking back at the scene in which a policeman sent me a shaka sign, he directed his back of hand to me. It must be cheering me. I should have shown my shaka in the last picture. Next time I join the marathon in Honolulu, I'm sure to show the shaka everywhere on the route.

『やったぜ』

ダイヤモンドヘッド南端から坂を下るとすぐに水族館があり、ゴールが見えてきた。２枚目の写真はホノルル水族館の前あたりで撮られたもの。ダイヤモンドヘッドをバックに撮られている。３枚目はゴール前数百メートルの場所、やっと終わったと言うよりもっとまだもう少しあちこち見て歩きたい気持ちの方が強かった。４，５枚目の写真はゴール目前で撮ったもの。最後の写真で移っている女性は途中でも見た。この子を抱いてハーフマラソン。脱帽です。腕は大丈夫だろうか、、、、

ここでシャカサインについて書く。親指と小指を立てるあのフィンガーサインのこと。白バイ隊員がしていたし、途中の警備担当の警察官からも何度も送られてきたこのハンドサインを調べてみた。『Shaka Brother　シャカ ブラー』や『Hang Loose　ハング ルース』とも呼ばれるらしく、ハワイでは本当に頻繁にこのシャカのジェスチャーを目にした。

シャカには「アロハ」という言葉と同じように、こんにちは・さようなら・ありがとう等の挨拶、感謝、愛情、尊敬などの多くの意味があるそうだ。そして、厳密に言えば相手に手のひらを向けるのがハング ルースで「ありがとう！」や「こんにちは！」、「なんとかなるさ！」といったアロハスピリッツを象徴する意味合いが強いとされています。逆に手の甲をみせるのがシャカ ブラーでこちらには「元気？」「頑張ろう！」という意味があるそうだ。そういえば白バイ隊員は僕に手の甲を見せていた。この最後の写真でピースサインではなく、シャカサインをすべきだったと後日思った。近い将来走るつもりのフルマラソンではシャカサインを沿道で送りながら走ろう。