Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Bridge of Mikasa and Russian POW

     The first picture shows the bridge of the Mikasa. I climbed up there. There was a copper plate that is in the second picture. This plate was made from a famous painting and it was exhibited inside. I'd like to have taken a picture of it, but it was prohibited. I found an illustration of the painting on the internet and am showing you it here. You can see some people in the illustration. The top four officials of the Mikasa are drawn in the center of the illustration. Their position on the deck was pointed out with four plates. The nxt three pictures are the instruction board and the plates. Picture no.4 is of Saneyuki Akiyama, who was from my hometown and was a hero on the sea. Picture no.1 is of Admiral Heihachirou Togo, who is one of the three greatest admirals in the world along with Admiral Nelson and John Paul Jones. The last picture is mine. I'm standing in the spot of Saneyuki Akiyama.
     The title of the drama that I related in the last entry is "Saka no Ue no Kumo". My office is located in the center of the city. Nearby is the modernistic Saka no Ue no Kumo Museum, designed by Ando Tadao and dedicated to the novel "Clouds Over The Hill" by Shiba Ryotaro, which tells the story of the local Akiyama brothers and their roles in defeating the Russians in the Japanese-Russo War (1904-1905). A footnote to this conflict is the Russian Cemetery near Raigoji Temple with the graves of 98 Russian soldiers, of the around 6,000 Russian prisoners, who were held with a fair amount of freedom in Matsuyama. They could enjoy walking just about freely in the city and bathing at Dogo Onsen Spa, which was noted for the oldest hot spa in Japan. Some got married and started businesses. Russia was informed about this treatment and finally Russian soldiers got to shout "Matsuyama" when they waved the white flag. Though Russia took a few hundred thousand Japanese POWs into custody and they were treated inhumanely in Siberian labor camps, the Russian soldiers' cemetery has been kept clean and tidy for a hundred years by people from the neighborhood and the junior high school students nearby. I'd like the present Russian people to know this fact. The last five pictures are of the Russian cemetery.

(Vocabulary)
copper plate  銅板
wave the white flag  降伏する
Siberian labor camp  シベリア抑留
inhumane
extremely cruel and causing unacceptable suffering:
the inhumane treatment of political prisoners
I was shocked by the inhumane conditions.
―inhumanely adv

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (KW:日露戦争　戦艦三笠　秋山兄弟　好古　真之　眞之　松山　ロシア人墓地　坂の上の雲)

Flag Z

     The title, "Flag Z", is my translation of a Japanese phrase, "Z旗". I don't know whether this translation is good, but I'll go on with the story, supposing that it's correct.
     The flag consists of four colors and stands for extreme resolutions. Battleship Mikasa, that I wrote about in the last entry, fought the Russian Baltic Fleet with this flag raised and claimed a perfect victory.
     This triumph led to the Russians' turning back and made their subject colored people awake to the fact that they're never inferior to white people. It literally changed the white-dominated world that had continued for 500 years. In this way, flag Z became the sign to show strong will in Japan.

(Vocabulary)
go on with the story  話を続ける
supposing that  （that以下）と仮定して
resolution  [C] 決意, 決心, 誓い
a resolution to do something ＜…＞しようという決意
raised 　掲げて
subject 《[名]の前でのみ》(フォーマル) (他の国・階級などの) 支配下にある, 被支配の
subject peoples  被支配民族
be awake to sth  ＜…＞に気づいている, を悟っている
white-dominated  白人支配の

(KW:日露戦争　戦艦三笠)

Battleship Mikasa

     On the second day in Tokyo, I dropped in at the Battleship Mikasa Museum. I didn't know that this ship had been preserved in this way. This museum is adjacent to the U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka (a United States Navy base), and is big enough so that you can see it on the Google map. I've lots of things to write about this battleship and I don't know where I should start. I just want to write about the highlights.
     This battleship was the first steel-made battleship in Japan and was constructed in Great Britain in 1902. At the Battle of the Japan Sea in the Japanese-Russo War, this battleship worked remarkably as the flagship of the Japanese Imperial Navy. They totally defeated the Russian Baltic Fleet on May 27th in 1905. Japan staked the fate of the nation on the Japanese-Russo War that started in 1904. Russia was invading to the south at that time, so if Japan couldn't win the war, both Koreas and at least the northern half of China wouldn't exist now. Japan would also have become one of Russia's colonies. Following Japan's defeat of the mighty Russian forces on both land and sea, the war was brought to a close with the Treaty of Portsmouth mediated by the United States.
     Getting off track, two heros in this war were born in my hometown, Matsuyama City. They were called the Akiyama brothers. The elder was a hero on land and the younger was aboard this battleship. His tactics were impeccable in the battle of the Japan Sea and brought a complete triumph to Japan. A drama featuring the Akiyama borthers will open this autumn. I hope that the battleship Mikasa will appear on the screen using CG techniques or something.
     Getting back on track, Mikasa was retired in 1926. It was placed and preserved at Yokosuka City as the symbol of Japanese pride and confidence. You can see the real and neutral history inside. I'm going to write about this topic again.

(Vocabulary)
U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka  横須賀海軍施設
Battle of Japan Sea  日本海海戦
Baltic Fleet  バルチック艦隊
stake sth on sth ＜…＞を＜…＞に賭(か)ける
defeat of sb/sth  ＜敵など＞に対する勝利, ＜案など＞の否決
Scotland's defeat of Spain スペインに対するスコットランドの勝利
get off track  話が脱線する

(KW: 戦艦三笠　日露戦争　東郷平八郎　秋山兄弟　好古　眞之　真之)

Offline Meeting

     I went to Tokyo just for fun. When I got the air ticket two months ago, I had a task, but it vanished later. I met my eldest daughter and had a party with my acquaintances, whom I knew only on the internet. I met them for the first time, but we hit it off from the start. Their careers and present jobs were far different from mine and it made my knowledge widen. Such a meeting would offer mental and spiritual sustenance to me.
     The Japanese style inn where we got together was located in one of the busiest areas of Tokyo, Shinbashi. This station is noted for the birth place of the train. The first railway track in Japan was constructed between Yokohama and Shinbashi. There's the steam locomotive square in front of Shinbashi station. An old locomotive is exhibited and it is often used as a designated spot.

(Vocabulary)
hit it off  会ってすぐに意気投合する
from the start 初めから、ぶっつけから、最初から
offer mental and spiritual sustenance  心の栄養になる
sustenance  [U] (生命維持に必要な) 食物, 栄養（物）
railway track 《鉄道》 線路

A Textbook of Japanese History

     Japanese people have the virtue of modesty. Silence is better than eloquence for Japanese people and is the principle of ordinary Japanese people. After World War Two, the U.S. took advantage of this modesty and brainwashed Japanese people into believing that Japan used to be an evil country. Besides, Chinese and Korean operatives illegally slipped into Japan and are continuing to destroy the spiritual backbone of Japan like the Japanese culture, history and mentality.
     The picture shows the history textbook. It's a non-biased one. I think it's neutral and has nothing wrong with it. To my surprise, South Korea started to make complaints against Japan on the day that this textbook was presented to the public. I wondered when they checked its content. I think they accuse Japan just for the accusing itself. Anyway, we have been educated using textbooks that were authored by leftists. Consequently we have been brainwashed, of course, including me. As for me, I was lucky to find that I was controlled by leftists and could get out of their control. This new textbook in the picture was acknowledged as one of the formal textbooks. This textbook will make Japanese people awake who are now under the spell of Douglas MacArthur.
     However important modesty is to Japanese people, there are limitations. We started to express our own opinions to the world and also started to want to have nuclear weapons. At the L'Aquila Summit, our Prime Minister, Aso, declared stoutly against the Russian President, Medvedev, that there wouldn't be any partnership between Japan and Russia if they don't return our northern islands.
     The U.S. announced that the Senkaku islands belonged to Japan, though China insisted that the islands were their land. Besides, the U.S. forced China to get hard on North Korea in order to avoid the possession of nuclear weapons. The U.S., knowing well enough the potential of Japan, wouldn't want Japan to have the button of the absolute weapon.

(Vocabulary)
Virtue of modesty  謙遜の美徳
eloquence  雄弁さ
principle  [C,U] 行動規範, 信条, 主義
He has no principles at all.  彼には信条のかけらもない．
take advantage of people's kindness  人の好意につけ込む
brainwash somebody into doing something
＜人＞を洗脳して＜…＞させる
(espionage) agent / operative  工作員
illegally slip into country  不法入国する
have limitations  限界がある
L'Aquila  【地名】ラクイラ〔イタリア〕
Medvedev メドベージェフ
stoutly  断固として, 頑強に
be under the spell of  ～の呪いをかけられる
leftist  左翼［左派］の人

(KW: 自由社　日本人の歴史教科書　新しい歴史教科書　捏造　偏向　東京裁判史観)

Pendulum Clock

     I put a wonderful wall clock in my living room, which is controlled by radio and driven by light. It means that this watch never shows a bad time and never stops due to the outage of juice. It has worked impeccably these last two years. Besides, it's not expensive. However, I found that it's not always true that the more advanced, the better.
     I saw a nostalgic pendulum clock today. It reminded me of my maternal grandparent's house, which I frequently visited in my childhood. Both of my maternal grandparents have already passed away but their shadows are still in my mind. This pendulum clock made the shadows of their former selves vivid.
     I've not seen this type of clock for a long time and I looked at it for a while and found that it said on the face "QUARTZ". What? The pendulum was a mere ornament and this clock wasn't driven by a spiral spring but controlled by quartz and AA batteries. It was just a fly in the ointment.
     All the same, something nostalgic wasn't bad.

(Vocabulary)
pendulum clock　振り子時計
be out of charge（電化製品などが）バッテリーが切れている
be out of juice（電池式の器具などが）〈俗〉 バッテリーが切れている
impeccable  申し分のない, 非の打ちどころのない, 完璧(かんぺき)な= perfect
paternal / maternal  父方／母方の
a shadow of one's former self　昔の面影
clock face / face of a watch / dial / dial plate　時計の文字盤
main spring / power spring / spiral spring　ぜんまい
a fly in the ointment  興ざめ

 

The Rookie and 3 Godfathers

     I watched two DVDs last weekend. One of them was, "The Rookie", which is based on a true story. It is the story of a man who gave up his dream once due to an injury to his shoulder, but restarted and achieved it. I like this kind of movie. It encourages me. I watched its climax scene in tears. I will enjoy this movie again later.
     The other movie was, "3 Godfathers", starring John Wayne and presented by John Ford. The casting couldn't be better, but my impression was not good. Particularly, the story of the last ten minutes was weird. I couldn't follow it. However, I was deeply impressed that this movie was made in 1948. Do you know what had happened in the Far East around 1948? The separation of North and South Korea got definite and the Jeju massacre happened in the Korean southern island of Jeju under the occupation of the U.S. The conflict between Chinese communist party and Chinese Nationalist Party was beginning to get fierce. At this time, such a movie was being produced in the U.S. What a difference of the level of the cultures between them! It must have been reckless for Japan to wage the war against the U.S., but I also admire the then leaders of Japan, who were really devoted to their mother country so as to make Japan survive in the world.

(Vocabulary)
in tears  涙を浮かべて

(KW:オールド・ルーキー　三人の名付親)

Nobel award in Literature

     I read through the Japanese translation of "Die Blechtrommel" and "Beim Haeuten Der Zwiebel", which were authored by Günter Grass, who is a Nobel laureate in literature. I know that he has been under fire due to his career. He revealed recently that he used to be a member of Schutzstaffel (Nazi's SS) in his autobiography of "Beim Haeuten Der Zwiebel". I didn't enjoy either.
     I wonder how the Nobel laureate in literature is decided. It feels like the decision is lacking in objectivity. In the  case of the Peace Prize, people can judge the achievement of the laureate and express their opinions like it's ok or not. It's rare that somebody plots to put a con on people and win the Nobel Peace Prize, committing big money to something just like former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung (金大中).
     I think that people can't know the reason why he or she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Every language has its own beautiful expressions and verses. The referees would never be able to handle many languages at the same time. Consequently, the standard of judgement would be the story or the context of the work.
     I wondered why he received the Prize. The story of "Die Blechtrommel" was weird and unbelievable. According to his profession, some people accused him and insisted that he should pass up the Nobel Prize. I believe that the Nobel Prize in Literature makes no sense.

(Vocabulary)
Die Blechtrommel  ブリキの太鼓
Beim Haeuten Der Zwiebel  玉ねぎの皮をむきながら
receive/win the Nobel in Literature  ノーベル文学賞を受賞する
Nobel laureate in literature  ノーベル文学賞受賞者
Nobel Peace Prize / Nobel Prize for Peace　ノーベル平和賞
Nobel laureate for peace prize　ノーベル平和賞の受賞者
Schutzstaffel　ナチス親衛隊
autobiography  自叙伝
objectivity  客観性
put a con on （人を）欺く
commit [他] 〈資金・兵力など〉 を投入する
commit something to something
＜…＞を＜…＞に投入する
profession  (信念・意見などの) 表明, 告白
pass sth up  ＜昇進・招待など＞を断る, 辞退する
pass up a chance/an opportunity  チャンスを見送る
pass up an offer   申し出を断る

(KW: ギュンター・グラス) 

A Dog Vandalize

     I put on my favorite rain jacket and took off for work in the sign of rain this morning. The rain jacket was one of my climbing gears and I really liked it. I hung up my jacket on the steering of my scooter after parking it to dry it up in the garage at my office. A few hours later, I was called and knew the situation of my scooter as you see in the picture. It was done by a dog that my boss kept.
     While a staff member was away from the dog, leaving the dog free in the garage, the dog did that. The dog seemed to have pulled my jacket on my scooter. It started to rain outside and he must have cut corners to walk the dog.
     I was so upset, but that was what was done by a dog. Besides, the damage of my scooter was minimal. It looked like the most fragile part was protected by my jacket. However, my rain jacket was miserable as you also see in the pictures. I guess that it can't be helped.

(Vocabulary)
vandalize 《[他]通例受け身形で》 〈公共物など〉 を故意に損壊［汚損］する
hang up a coat  コートを掛ける
can't be helped  仕方ない

Digital Gadget

     I don't know what you call a person like me who loves small gadgets such as portable GPSs, data loggers, palmtop PCs, cellular phones and so on. Gadget freak? Anyway, one of those gadgets has been always on my mind for a year. It is the Google Phone, which was unveiled in Europe and the U.S. last year. I'd been eager to see it directly and I heard a few months ago that it would be on sale in Japan in several months. I couldn't wait for the day.
     A few months have passed since then and today was the day when it went on sale. Needless to say, I rushed to the shop and bought it. I'll show you the picture, in which a case for the phone shows up. This case is made by Piel Frama and is specially designed for the Google Phone. It fits comfortably in my hand.

(Vocabulary)
on sale  販売されて
go on sale  発売される
show up  写っている(写真などに)
fit comfortably in one's hand   手になじむ

(KW: グーグルフォン)

Rainy Season

     My hometown, Matsuyama City is just in the midst of the rainy season. It hasn't rained so much, but it's terribly humid and muggy these days. I don't hate rain. Rain sometimes soothes me. When it rains and I'm off, I often spend time under the veranda with my dog over a cup of tea or reading some magazines. Leaves and trees in my garden look vivid in the rain. However, it's getting hot day by day recently and I hate humidity. Fortunately my job is in doors. I feel sorry for the people who work outside in this season.
     I chose a picture from my album as the wall paper of my PC today for a change. It was taken in Northern Honshu, Aomori Prefecture, about 5 years ago. I wanted to show you where it was taken and posted it on Google Earth. http://www.panoramio.com/photo/22650861

(Vocabulary)
in the midst of sth  ～の最中で, 真っただ中で
for a change  気分転換に、息抜きに

(KW:尻屋崎)

Roman Holiday

     While I was looking for some words in the dictionary the other day, writing the entry, "Gomorrah", I found "Roman Holiday" by chance. As most subscribers of this blog know, it is the title of the noted movie, starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, but I didn't miss another meaning written on the page. You don't believe it, but "Roman holiday" also stands for a savage show.
     In the era when Rome was the center of the world, the biggest fun of the Roman people seems to have been to see the fight between slave soldiers and lions at the stadium on holidays. This fight must have been fun for Roman people, but what do you think it was for the soldiers? They had to put their life in danger or probably were often critically injured. They must have wanted to avoid it. I imagine that the show that was conducted every holiday was a big nuisance for the soldiers. Consequently, "Roman holiday" got to have the meaning of nuisance, I suspect.
     Come to think of the movie, the title is translated word for word into Japanese. I wonder if this translation is right or not. Should it have been translated into "Scandalous Princess" or "A Nuisance in Rome" or something in Japanese. At the same time, I thought that native speakers with an academic background would know the nuance and could enjoy the movie more.

(Vocabulary)
put one's life in danger  命懸けだ
nuisance  迷惑な行為, 厄介な人［もの，こと］
translate word for word  逐語訳をする
scandalous  けしからぬ, とんでもない