Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

岡田幹彦とは何者？

8月29日（土）
今日は「上杉鷹山に学ぶ～米沢藩再生への道」という講演会に参加してきた。演者は日本政策研究センター主任研究員で日本の歴史に学ぶ会の専任講師という肩書きの岡田幹彦氏。妙に感情的な、ヒステリックなしゃべり方をする男で、気持ち悪いなあと思っていた。

話の中で、「東大教授にはろくなのがいない」ときた。う～ん、クラスメートのうち二人が東大教授になっている身としては捨てておけない言葉だ。確かに一部にはどうにもならん連中がいることは確かだ。しかし、東大教授を総称してろくでもないというこの御仁はいったいどんな立派な人物なのだろう。いったいおまえはどれほどの人間か?

どうにも腑に落ちないことがあって、講演が終わってから質問をした。返答は、なんと「私のいうことにイチャモンをつけるのか」とのこと。根拠のないことを吹聴して回るこの男は本当に歴史家か？日本政策研究センターのウェブサイトにはそのように書かれているが、とても信じられない。

このような輩を放置しておくわけにもゆかず、日本政策研究センターへメールした。内容は下記の通り。さあて、どんな返事が来るか楽しみだ。

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日本政策研究センター
メール担当者様

８月２９日土曜日、愛媛県松山市において岡田幹彦氏の講演を聴きました。その感想です。是非内容をご検討して頂きたくメールします。

講演のタイトルは

「上杉鷹山に学ぶ～米沢藩再生への道」

でありました。

講演内容について、詳しく知りたかったため質問をすると、「イチャモン」だとのこと。大勢の人の前で３回も「イチャモン」だと非難されてしまいました。激高され、私の言っていることが嘘だというならその証拠を出してみろとも。嘘だという証拠さえなければ講演という場で話してもよい、というのが岡田氏の考えのようです。私は国際会議も含め、あちこちでこのような講演で講師に質問する機会もあり、礼儀はわきまえているつもりです。

上杉鷹山とケネディのエピソードがあります。ケネディが、日本人記者から「もっとも尊敬する日本人は誰か」と問われ、「鷹山」と答えたところ、日本人記者が鷹山を知らずにケネディに「それは誰か」と問うたという逸話です。

講演の最初と最後で岡田氏は鷹山がケネディにも知られた有名人であると強調されていますが、私が調べた限りその事実は見いだせません。なので話の出典を質問しました。たとえば、ニューヨークタイムズのような新聞に記事はないのかと。彼は質問をはぐらかすだけでなく、童門冬二さんが書いているといいます。だから「彼に聞け！」と。しかし、私が聞いたのは岡田氏の口からです。彼は自身の発言に対する責任を感じないのでしょうか? また、一作家の書いたことを史実として全国に吹聴して回ることに良心の呵責を感じないのでしょうか? そもそもそんな岡田氏は歴史家と呼べる人でしょうか?

ケネディにインタビューしたという記者は、それが１９６０年代ということを考えると、戦前の道徳教育(修身）を受けていたはずで、記者が知らないというのはおかしくないかと岡田氏に問うと、鷹山は知っていてもどんな人かは知らなかったのだとのお話でしたが、鷹山という人を知っているのなら、「江戸時代のどこか藩の名君」だということくらいは知っていると考えるのが普通です。普通の記者ではありません。ケネディに直接会えるほどの記者なのです。トップエリートです。しかし、岡田氏は上記のような意見でした。

私についてお話ししますと、先日「海の武士道」を読みました。感動的なお話でした。この本で主人公である工藤中佐の品格、人柄が醸成された米沢の興譲館という学校を知りました。そしてこの学校を創設した鷹山にたどり着き、どんな学校であったのか、また上杉鷹山とはどんな人物だったのか。自分なりに調べた結果、是非ともこの人を海外に紹介したいと考えました。そうなるとケネディのエピソードはインパクトがありますから、是非ともそのニュースソース、エビデンスを知りたいと考え、お聞きしました。ところが、そのお答えはおよそ学者にはあるまじき返答でした。日本政策研究センターの主任研究員であるとのことをお聞きしたのでこのメールを書いている次第です。

エビデンスのないことを史実として吹聴して廻るという行為は中共のプロパガンダと何ら変わりないではないですか。講演を聴いた聴衆がさらに嘘を拡げていく、、、

海外に紹介するというのは下記のような記事を書くと言うことです。しばしば中共からトラックバックやメール攻撃を受けますが、きっちりと防御しています。攻撃を受けることが勲章と考えています。

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/08/the-real-end-da.html
久間防衛大臣の「原爆は仕方なかった」という発言に対して怒りを覚えて書いた記事

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/09/mirror-for-amer.html
アメリカの鏡・日本　について、アメリカ人に紹介するために書いた記事。本国では絶版です。

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2009/04/reversed-inferi.html
日本人に向けて、自信を持とうと訴えた記事

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/10/korean-textbook.html
韓国の歴史教科書の詭弁を紹介した記事。安重根は国際感覚ではテロリストに過ぎない。

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2006/12/international-s.html
韓国の国際感覚を世界に問うた記事。これは特にアメリカ人から多くの賛同を得ました。

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/08/aug-15th-war-en.html
マッカーサーに抵抗し、唯一成功した事例。痛快な話です。

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2006/06/i-hate-china-1.html
南沙諸島、西沙諸島の話です。先々週でしたか、沖ノ鳥島に関して中共が国連で活動を始めたようですね。この記事を添付するなどしてシナ人の啓発を考えています。

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2006/08/i-hate-china-2.html
チベット問題が日本人に今ほど知られる前に書いた記事です。(代理人かもしれませんが、)日産のＣＭをしていた、ある超有名な映画俳優からのメールもありました。彼は中共を批判し、日産のＣＭを降ろされました。僕は生涯、日産の車を買うことはありません。この記事を書いた次の年の年始の番組でＮＨＫがチベット鉄道を取り上げて旅行ムードを盛り上げました。当然、ＮＨＫに抗議しました。

以上は和訳をつけてあります。(英文の後で急いで概略を書いているので和文としてはおかしいのですが、放置しています。)英文の最後にリンクがあります。

こういった形で上杉鷹山を取り上げ、ケネディのエピソードを世界に紹介したいと思い、そのエビデンスを求めた質問が岡田氏によれば「イチャモン」だそうです。記事を書いて、中共に対して、「お前の国にはこれほどの人物がいるか？」と問いたいと思っただけなのですが。ケネディの椰子の実の話のような日本とのつながりを紹介できたらと思っていましたが、氏のあまりのむちゃくちゃな理論に落胆しました。

歴史観は人それぞれだと思います。しかし、自分にとって都合の良い事実だけを集めて、時には噂、伝聞の類を含めて構成し、感情的にヒステリックに、聴衆を煽る岡田氏の姿勢にはどこか左翼のアジ演説に似た印象を受けます。岡田氏の所属する日本政策研究センターという団体としてのご意見をお聞きしたく存じます。

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(KW: 日本政策研究センター 岡田幹彦 日本の歴史に学ぶ会 上杉鷹山)

Prep for Trip

     My second daughter, Yuri, came back home and started preparing for our trip to Germany.
     Her passport ran out in February this year and at first she applied for a new one. When she got it ten years ago, I did all the procedures for her, but this time I made her do it. She went to the city hall and got a copy from the family register. She had her portrait taken at a photo shop. She successfully applied for it and got it a week later. I'd just told her to get it without any detailed instructions. It might be due to blind parental love, but I felt her growing up.
     Next, I gave her all the pamphlets and guidebooks that I'd collected up until now. Some of them were sent from the tourist information center of the German city of Freiburg. It is written in German, but she can understand German. I'm expecting her to set all the schedules.
     The development of internet technology brought us an umbelievable convenience for the trip. The reservation of hotels and transportation can easily be done on the internet. You can even know the time schedule of the train between Frankfurt and Freiburg from Japan. However, I'm afraid that she would make a mistake in making the hotel reservations and decided to ask the travel agent to do it. We are going to stay the night of 26th in Frankfurt and leave for Freiburg the next morning.

(Vocabulary)
apply for a passport  パスポートを申請する。
extract of family register  戸籍抄本
blind parental love  親ばか

German and English

     I'm learning German now. Honestly I'd learned it during my college days. It was just for graduation. German and English were essential subjects for the medical course. In other words, learning those languages was not from my desire but just obligation. However, the present condition isn't like that. I really want to acquire German skills for fun. I will be putting my stuff into a suitcase in the next month. I'll leave for Kansai International Airport by ferryboat on Sep. 25th. What is Germany like? I chose Lufthansa Airlines, so at the instant I get into the plane it will be in German.
     Today I found an interesting expression. "Ich bin hundemüde." "Hund" is "dog" in English and "müde" means "tired" in English. This short sentence says, "I'm dog tired." I was interested in the fact that "dog" is used as an emphasis of fatigue in both nations. Such an expression doesn't exist in Japanese.
     After starting writing this blog four years ago, I have often felt how hard it is to express the cultural aspect of Japan. Mutual comprehension is essential for peace, though. I think you know of the Japanese Emperor, but I don't believe this expression is suitable. "Emperor" implies "King" or "Czar" along with an autocracy. Japanese Emperor or "Ten-noh" is completely opposite from those. I'd like to compare the "Japanese Emperor" to a "Priest King."

(Vocabulary)
czar, tsar   (革命前の) ロシア皇帝, ツァーリ
autocracy  独裁［専制］政治  独裁［専制］主義国家
compare   …をなぞらえる, 例える
compare sth/sb to/with sth/sb　＜…＞を＜…＞になぞらえる［例える］
Priest King　祭祀王

Iberian Pig

     Iberian Pig; I didn't know about it, but many co-workers did. It seems that it's very famous, though I didn't know it. I looked it up on the internet. Iberian Pig is a kind of pig. It is bred only in the western part of Spain. It has usually black feet and nails. They freely feed on natural cereal crops like acorns in the forest of oaks, cork oaks, or they are sent to graze grass, seeds and grass roots. Its fat contains olein acid derived from their food, acorns.
    Last night, I attended the meeting of doctors in the neighborhood. After that, we dropped in at a wine bar and found a thing just in front of us that I'd never seen before. It was a leg of the Iberian pig. I'll show you in the picture. Pictures were taken by my cell phone camera and its resolution is terrible, but look at it. I thought it was just a kind of ornament at first glance. The owner told us that it was an Iberian pig and to try it. The second picture was the plate with some slices of the pig on it. It was the first time for me to eat it and it was not bad to eat with wine.
     Japanese pigs are bred on food that is common for humans, but Iberian pigs aren't. I thought it's reasonable or useful in case of a food shortage.

(Vocabulary)
cereal crop  穀物
oak  樫
cork oak   《植物》 コルクガシ
send ~ to graze  （家畜などを）放牧する
graze  [自] 〈家畜が〉 生草を食べる
[他] 〈家畜〉 に生草を食べさせる, 〈土地〉 を牧草地として使う
[他] 〈皮膚など〉 をすりむく
oleic acid 《化》 // olein acid  オレイン酸

(KW: イベリコ豚)

Message from Malta

     I got a message from Malta. You can read it on my blog, if you like. I've kept writing my blog for about four years and was counting the number of nations from where comments came. The number has been at a standstill at 49 for the last six months. Finally, the number reached 50 a few days ago. The latest message was from Malta. She is interested in haiku which I wrote about before. She knows something about Japan, but I didn't know anything about Malta. I looked over some websites about Malta and knew the outline of Malta. I wish I'd get the chance to visit the historic island, Malta!

A Scene of Hokkaido

     It's summer in the northern half of the globe now. It should be hot or extremely hot here in Japan. I'm living in the south of Japan and usually it's hot at this time of the year. However, it's not the same as usual summers. We had a longer rainy season than usual this year and the uncomfortable humidity is still going on.
　　I changed the wall paper of my PC in order to spend the muggy days as nice and cool as possible. I'll show you and I'd like to share the picture, which I took in Tokachi in Hokkaido, twelve years ago. How do you feel about this straight rough road lined with poplar trees?

(Vocabulary)
road lined with poplar trees  ポプラ並木の道

The Replacements

     I watched a movie that gave me a pleasant cooling sensation. It was just like I drank an icy cold water in the scorching desert. The casting was wonderful. The actor who was supporting was Gene Hackman, who is one of my favorite actors. I wrote some lines down because those were pregnant with hidden meanings. I'm using these phrases in this blog to fully understand and memorize it.

(Vocabulary)
pleasant cooling sensation // sensation of coolness  清涼感
scorching  焼けつくような, ひどく暑い
the scorching desert heat 焼けつくような砂漠の暑さ
pregnant with sth (formal)
containing a lot of a quality:
Every phrase in this poem is pregnant with meanings.

 

Instant Cappuccino

     I have a bad habit that I put everything into drawers that isn't necessary right now, like pamphlets, pens, nail clippers, erasers and so on. Consequently, I always mess up the drawers.
     When I cleaned up my drawers today, I found a package of instant cappuccino, which is shown in the picture. I don't remember how it got in my drawer. French words are written on the package and it might be a souvenir from my wife's business trip. I checked the number of its bar code. It starts with 38 as you can see in the picture. I transcribed the code from a website for reference.

Country Code & Country
0 ～ 9     U.S.A. & Canada
20 ～ 29  For retailer use
30 ～ 37  France
38.0    Republic of Bulgaria
38.3    Republic of Slovenia
38.5    Republic of Croatia
38.7    Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
40 ～ 44.0  Germany
45      Japan
------ Skip ---------
49      Japan
50      Great Britain

     Where is the number 38? Was this product made in Bulgaria or the former Yugoslavia? Or, is the number wrong? Though French words are written on the package, should it have read Bulgaria? Anyway, the manufacturer is reliable and it's not from China. I decided to drink it. I never trust products from China.
At that time, I found the number "02/2009". It must show the recommended use-by date. It apparently exceeded its best-before date. What should I do? It was carried all the way from the back side of the earth. I tried it and it tasted good.

(Vocabulary)
transcribe  ～を転記する
Bulgar  ブルガリア
Republic of Slovenia  スロベニア共和国
Republic of Croatia  クロアチア共和国
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ボスニア・ヘルツェゴビナ
the former Yugoslavia  旧ユーゴ
(recommended) use-by date  賞味期限
read (vt)
〔文字などを〕読む、〔書かれている内容を〕読み取る
〔文などを～であると〕解釈する、理解する
〔記号や楽譜などを〕読む、読み取る
exceed its best-before date  賞味期限を過ぎる

Daypack

     Finally, my favorite daypack got broken. I bought it in Whistler in 1994. I took a ride on a snowmobile for the first time that year. I didn't bring my backpack from Japan at that time and I got one there. When I moved onto the snowmobile, I had to carry my stuff with me. Though this daypack was nothing special and was a very common one,  my mother especially liked it and took it to more than ten countries with her. The zipper jammed and couldn't be repaired. It's a shame, but I decided to throw it away.

(Vocabulary)
The zipper jammed. ファスナーが引っかかった

Weltenburger

     I didn't have any urgent work and I accompanied my wife to the nearest supermarket. While she was looking for stuff for dinner and some necessities, I just walked around and found an unfamiliar beer. Its label showed that it had been produced in Germany. The next instant, I found myself slipping the bottle into my wife's cart. I added some roast beef and nibbles and rushed to my house. While the bottle got cool, I checked it on the internet and found the website of the company; http://www.weltenburger.de/content/view/9/8/
     As many people know, Germany is the beer country. I'm making my first visit to Germany with my second daughter next month. I can't wait. I'm learning German now and this beer became enough motive for learning German. I'm going to record my trip in this blog. Don't miss it!

(Vocabulary)
slip something under/into/through something
＜…＞を＜…＞の下に［の中に，を通して］そっと滑り込ませる
nibble 少しずつかじる, つつく
nibble at/on something  ＜食べ物など＞をちびちび食べる
nibbles 《複数扱い》(英)(インフォーマル) おつまみ, スナック
Don't miss it!  お見逃しなく！／お楽しみに！／乞うご期待！

(KW: ドイツビール)

Haiku Competition (俳句甲子園)

     Haiku is a Japanese traditional literature. It is often called the world of 17 letters. An infinite of universes can be described in only 17 letters. My hometown, Matsuyama City, has produced lots of haiku writers, like Siki Masaoka and Kyoshi Takahama. Therefore, most haiku freaks want to come to Matsuyama and Matsuyama is likened to Mecca for Muslims.
     The pictures show the high school students' haiku competition that was held on Aug. 8th. The busiest car-free mall was used as the competition site. Five representatives of each high school were at the red and white table, and announced their reviews and rebuttals about the opponents' haiku.
     The five judges decided which team had the better knowledge and skills and raised a red or white flag and the team which won more than three flags sealed the victory. The high school that was the No.1 of each pool play could go on to the tournament. I'm sorry, my alma mater couldn't get to the tournament.

(Vocabulary)
produce a lot of famous politicians 多くの有名な政治家を輩出する
haiku poet [writer]  俳人
liken somebody/something to somebody /something
(フォーマル) ＜…＞を＜…＞に例える, なぞらえる
Mecca サウジアラビア西部の都市
mecca : a place that many people want to visit for a particular reason
car-free mall 歩行者天国
pool play  予選リーグ
alma mater  母校

(KW: 正岡子規　高浜虚子　松山市　俳句　甲子園)

Overboard

     The title, "Overboard" is quite new to me and I looked it up in my dictionary. What it means is that something goes down into water. It is the title of a movie, starring Goldie Hawn. The Japanese title of the movie is "潮風のいたずら", which means "a mischief of the sea breeze". "Overboard" and "a mischief of the sea breeze" are the titles of the same movie. I couldn't connect both concepts or bridge the gap. Anyway, I tried to watch the movie.
     The conclusion; it was great and I really enjoyed it. I like this kind of movie. It soothes me, relaxes me and makes me feel happy. Murder and horror movies aren't my cup of tea. The main character, Goldie Hawn, is one of my favorite actresses. Her smiling and helpless look has captivated me for a long time.

(Vocabulary)
overboard  船から水中へ
Man overboard!   人が落ちたぞ！
look sth up  (本・コンピュータなどで) ＜…＞を調べる
sea breeze  潮風
mischief  (子供の) いたずら, 悪さ
murderous 《通例[名]の前で》 (襲撃などが) 残虐な 残忍な, 凶悪な
have a helpless look 困ったような顔つきをしている （人）の心を捉える
captivate 《[他]通例受け身形で》〈人〉 の心を奪う, を魅惑する

(KW:潮風のいたずら　ゴールディ・ホーン)

The Shawshank Redemption

     The topic is the title of a movie. I was interested in the word "redemption". It was the second time that I had come across this word. You can see a paper bag in the picture. It was delivered at the 109th annual congress of the Japanese Surgical Society. The word "redemption" was printed on the bag. I looked it up in the dictionary and felt something weird. I didn't know whether it was used properly, though it was printed on the official bags as a catchphrase of the assembly and I thought that it must have been correct. However, after watching the movie, I'm wondering if this word isn't correct.

(Vocabulary)
redemption
罪のあがない
(現金・商品などへの) 引き換え, 兌換(だかん)
体面の回復
(株・債権などの) 償還
beyond/past redemption
回復［救い］の見込みのない

(KW: ショーシャンクの空に)

"Teppen" Rally

     Driving rally cars is one of my hobbies. I used to join the competition as a driver in my younger days, but recently I just watch it or support the staff members as one of the rescue members. Today I'd been in the forest all day, where the "Teppen" rally was held. "Teppen" in the title stands for the highest place. The main course of the rally was in the highest area in Shikoku, so the rally was named like this. Shikoku is the small island containing Ehime prefecture.
     The rally went on as scheduled and there was no accident causing injury or death. This was a relief off my mind. However, the weather was terrible. Matsuyama Local Meteorological Observatory issued a heavy rain warning on the previous night and I brought my rainsuit. This rainsuit was new. As I posted an incident a few weeks ago, my heavy-duty one was torn and replaced in a nearby sports goods shop. Looking for it in the shop, I thought that if I intended to climb up a difficult mountain again, I should buy a heavy-duty one that I could rely on in the torrential rain. However, I had no plan of climbing then, and I decided to skimp the money and not to buy the high-quality one. Consequently, I had a tough time today because the normal one that I got was no use. The picture is when the leading vehicle had just arrived at my check point.
See also; http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2009/07/a-dog-vandalize.html

(Vocabulary)　
accident causing injury or death  人身事故
That will be a relief off my mind, thanks.  「ホッとしたよ」というニュアンスがこめられた言い方
issue a heavy rain warning　大雨警報を出す
meteorological observatory　気象台
Matsuyama Local Meteorological Observatory  松山地方気象台
skimp  (金・時間などを) けちる
skimp on sth ＜金など＞をけちる, ＜…＞の手を抜く

(KW: ＤＣＲラリー　四国のてっぺんラリー)