Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Sadamisaki Touring

     I went out for motorcycle riding. The destination was Sadamisaki Peninsula, which pokes out from Shikoku toward Kyushu. The tip of the peninsula is the westernmost point of Shikoku. I drew the route on the map and put it on the internet. Check the map and you'll know where the peninsula is located in Japan.

     During World War Two, many people and military vessels went campaigning through the strait between Kyushu and the tip of this peninsula. If you went up north from the Pacific Ocean through this channel, you'd find Hiroshima, Kure and Matsuyama. Needless to say, Hiroshima is the nuclear victim city. Kure City is the birthplace of the Battleship Yamato which is the biggest in the world along with its sister ship, Musashi.

     One more thing, there's Mitsukue Bay on the way and you can see the picture on the route I drew. If you had seen Pearl Harbor, you'd notice that the shape and size of the bay is similar to Pearl Harbor. Mitsukue Bay is known as the training area for the attack team for Pearl Harbor.

     Lastly, you can see the caves for cannons at the tip of the peninsula. At the end stage of the war, the strong cannons were set here against the Allied vessels. At the back side of the caves there is a campsite. The shop for the campers is built in the cave. It must have been the supply route for ammunition. Pictures

(Vocabulary)

go campaigning / go on the warpath  出征する

strait　は「海峡」「瀬戸」という意味の名詞。「海峡」を意味する一般的な単語としてchannelがありますが、strait　はより狭い海峡を指す場合が多いようです。

(KW: 戦艦大和 戦艦武蔵 呉市 広島市 原爆 原子爆弾 真珠湾 三机湾)

The Sorting of Projects

     The present hottest topic in Japan is the sorting of national projects by the Domestic Party of Japan (DPJ), which had been the perpetual opposition party, and just attained power last August. The DPJ had done nothing but go against everything that the ruling party would do since it had been born. I think that the DPJ, just now in the regime, is in a state of confusion. They might want to show off their work, but I don't agree with their opinions. They are cutting the budgets of many projects that had been scheduled by the former regime, and it made me uneasy. Their thoughtless sorting is shrinking the GDP and it is leading to a stagnant economy. On the other hand, the government will throw 5 billion dollars away to Karzai, the President of Afghanistan, who is also known as the dealer of illegal drugs. Unbelievable!

     I naturally hope that the Afghans will have peace as soon as possible, but is it possible to rule this country with the western notion of democracy? The people in this country repeated and continued to fight for more than 3000 years. Alexander, the Persian Empire, the Mongols, the Mughal Empire, the British Empire and lastly Russia retreated, giving up the occupation of this land. Who can govern this country? The five billion dollars from Japan would be of no use.

(Vocabulary)
Sorting of Projects  事業仕分け
perennial / perpetual opposition party  万年野党
perennial  (問題・争いなどが) 絶え間なく生じる, 慢性的な, (人気などが) 根強い; 〈植物が〉多年生の
perpetual = constant
attain 〈目標など〉を達成する,〈地位など〉を獲得する,〈水準など〉に達する; 〈ある規模・速度など〉に到達する
state of confusion  右往左往状態
show off (けなして) 能力［業績，持ち物］をひけらかす, いいところを見せようとする, 見えを張る
thoughtless  (けなして) 思いやりのない, 不親切な; 軽率な, 思慮のない
An accident may result from their thoughtless actions. 軽率な行為が事故につながるかもしれない．
stagnant 〈水・空気などが〉 よどんだ, よどんで臭い; 〈景気・市場などが〉 停滞した, 低迷した, 伸び悩んでいる
a stagnant economy  停滞経済
the Persian Empire  ペルシア帝国
the Mughal Empire  ムガール帝国

Conscience Stall

     If you wander around the countryside of Japan, you'll find tiny huts or small tables with shelves along the roadside, where fresh vegetables, fruits and folk arts are placed with a small can. Anyone who wants them can take them after paying. You might think that it's common everywhere, but there isn't any salesperson there. Can you believe it? The shoppers voluntarily throw the money into the can and get the stuff. It's the easiest way for people to get fresh crops from farmers. I'll show you some pictures of those no-manned stalls which my friend sent to me. When I was a little child, everyone followed the rule and there was no theft of merchandise, but now some people's conscience got rotten and some took vegetables without paying. The signs in the pictures are saying, "Be honest!", "No theft!" or something similar. I got sad to see these pictures. The conscience of Japanese people is disappearing.

     For a few decades after World War Two,  moral education has been made light of by the authorities. I suspect that the above is the result of this wrong policy. I think that the government has to improve moral teaching. The number of cruel crimes in Japan is getting high these days. I think that this is also the effect of poor ethical education.

(Vocabulary)
conscience 　良心, 道義心
on your conscience   気に病んで, 気がとがめて
Could you live with that on your conscience?  そのことを気に病んだままでいられるんですか．
a guilty conscience  やましく思うこと, 良心の呵責(かしゃく)
a clear conscience  やましさがないこと, 良心のとがめのないこと
a matter of conscience  良心の問題
a social conscience  社会的道徳心
by/on/along the roadside  道路わきに, 道端に
folk art  民芸品
bill  ちらし, びら, 張り紙
ethical education / moral instruction / moral teaching  道徳教育
make light of  （物・人を）軽視する

    

The Book of Virtues

     Japan was beaten by the U.S. in World War Two. Then, the U.S. feared that Japan would get strong again, and took various measures to keep Japan feeble. One of their measures was to imprint the masochistic view of history on the Japanese mind. It was a kind of brainwashing. However, luckily, lots of Japanese are recovering from this awful way of thinking. Another way was to make a bonfire of huge amounts of books that were inconvenient to them. The Allies did the same thing as the Nazi that they intensely accused of the same thing. Moreover, they distorted the history of Japan, and deprived the Japanese people of "Kyouiku Chokugo", the Imperial message on Education. The Allies insisted that this message would foment militarism and banned the learning it. Most Japanese have been told that the Imperial message on Education was evil. Actually, I had believed it.

     The other day, I attended the lecture of Mr. Tamogami, the former chief of staff. In the lecture, he said that the Imperial message on Education was translated into many languages except Korean and Chinese, and now it is used for the education of virtue in many countries including the U.S. It was amazing. I got it today, and read only a little bit. I'll report on the book later in this blog. The picture is of the book.

(Vocabulary)
feeble  (高齢・病気などで) 体の弱った, ひ弱な
a feeble old man  体の弱った老人
imprint sth on sb's mind/memory/brain   ＜…＞を＜人＞の心［記憶，脳裏］に刻み込む
masochistic view of history  自虐史観
make a bonfire of  ～を焼き捨てる
bonfire  (祝賀の) 大かがり火, (ごみを焼く) たき火
Allies  (特に第二次世界大戦での) 連合国
the Imperial message on Education  教育勅語
勅語とは天皇のことば。みことのり。明治憲法下で、天皇が大権に基づき、国務大臣の副署を要さず、親しく臣民に対して発表した意思表示。
militarism　軍国主義
foment (けなして・フォーマル)  〈戦争・暴動など〉 をあおる, 扇動する = stir up
chief of staff  幕僚長

 

Korean Security against Fire

     Seven Japanese were killed, one seriously injured and two injured by the bursting fire at a live shooting range in Pusan, South Korea on Nov. 14th. Was this disaster reported in the world? Different from South Korea that has the conscription system, most people in Japan have not only never touched the real gun but have also never seen it. Therefore, the firing ranges are attractive to some of them. The victims were good friends and classmates of a junior high school in Kyushu. They seemed to visit Pusan for a two-day and one-night trip from Kyushu, which was three-hours' distance from Pusan by the high-speed boat. I was very sorry to see their families on TV. They were just enjoying the Korean trip.

     I wondered how the security was against fires in Korea. Are there some official rules against fires? I've been to Soeul once and I felt something uneasy at that time. One of the famous tourists' attractions, Namdaemun market also gave me a sense of unease. In the market, I'd never seen any fire hydrants in the streets. The paths in the market were too narrow for the fireengines to get into the market. I didn't notice any emergency exits in the long subterranean shopping mall that connected my hotel and the nearest subway station though my hotel was the biggest or second-biggest modern hotel in Seoul. The number of the tourists from Japan will get lower for a certain period of time.

(Vocabulary)
live firing range  実弾射撃場
Pusan (釜山) 南朝鮮の第２の都市
conscription / conscription system / military-draft system  徴兵制
conscript 〈人〉 を徴兵する = draft(米)   〈人〉を説得して参加させる= recruit
overnight domestic trip 一泊二日の国内旅行
unease  不安, 心配
a sense/feeling of unease   不安な気持ち
She felt a growing sense of unease. 彼女は不安な気持ちがつのってくるのを感じた．
Namdaemun market  南大門市場
fire hydrant (FH) / fire plug  消火栓
subterranean shopping mall / underground shopping district 地下商店街

Twentieth anniversary of ten'noh

     Nov. 12th is the Accession Day of the present Japanese priest king, Ten'noh. There were many events across the country that celebrated the 20th anniversary day. The national broadcasting company, NHK, naturally aired a few of those events. At that time, NHK also reported an anti-Ten'noh demonstration conducted by only a hundred people, most of whom I suspect were Chinese and Koreans. On the other hand, the three-days-later demonstration against local suffrage for permanent foreign residents performed by 1500 people wasn't broadcast on an NHK program. It is very weird. Which was more important? NHK is occupied by leftists and manipulated by the Chinese and Korean Governments. It is a serious issue for Japan. I'm going to accuse them and protect our own history and tradition. I hope the Ten'noh and his family will remain in good health.

(Vocabulary)

Accession Day  即位記念日

accedence / accession / accession to the throne  即位

franchise / suffrage /vote  参政権

local suffrage for permanent foreign residents  永住外国人の地方参政権

Soccer

     I watched a professional soccer game in a stadium with my wife tonight. My hometown has the soccer team, Ehime FC, that belongs to the J2 league. It had not been in good form this season and the manager was replaced by a foreigner recently. I was not interested in this team, but I got two tickets for free and went out to the stadium. I was sorry that Ehime FC lost the game, but I enjoyed the game and snacks over a cup of beer. The team managed to elude demotion to the lower league, but they would struggle to raise their position in the league.

(Vocabulary)

demote / demotion  降格

kangaroos in Australia

     I found some sweet news about Australia through CNN. Australia sounds anguished over the growing kangaroos. kangaroos look winsome, but they seem to be fierce and dangerous to humans. According to the CNN, they got to show up around people in the street, and devastated crops and often injured people. Now, what would the Australians do to solve this problem. I'm very interested.

     You know, Australia gives assistance to the Greenpeace boat, which interferes with the Japanese investigation ship which collects data on the number of whales. The number of whales is getting large over several decades after the ban against commercial whaling.

     Greenpeace don't want to take in the data and accuse Japan because they feel sorry for the whales. I think Greenpeace is sort of a gangster in the Antarctic Ocean. The country that helps them interfere with Japanese research violently, is Australia.

     Now, the Australian Government has to take some measures against the growing number of kangaroos. Australia looks like a country of mercy. Mercy surpasses justice. They wouldn't slaughter the kangaroos by any possible contingency.

(Vocabulary)
sweet revenge  胸のすく復讐劇
winsome  愛嬌(あいきょう)のある, 魅力のある
fierce / vicious  どう猛な
commercial whale hunting / commercial whaling  商業捕鯨
feel sorry for  ～がかわいそう
the Antarctic Ocean  南氷洋
Mercy surpasses justice.  慈悲の心は裁きに勝る。
not ~ by any possible contingency  よもや～まい
contingency  [C] (将来起こりうる) 緊急事態, 不測の事態
contingency plan   緊急対策
contingency fund   緊急予備金

Hang in there! Merkel!

     The picture was taken in Freiburg when I made my first visit. I went into the city on Sep. 26, the day before the general election in Germany. The man in the picture was Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the would-be Prime Minister. He used to be the right-hand man of Gerhard Schröder who I hated.

     Gerhard Schröder was the former Prime Minister of Germany. He had been flattering Russia and China all the time while in office. Despite being the Prime Minister of Germany, he didn't pursue any national intersts but just thought of his own profit. After he walked out of the government, Steinmeier looked like a good assistant of the Prime Minister, Angela Dorothea Merkel. I had been suspecting that Steinmeier had just acted to be faithful to her, and I knew I was right when she met the Dalai Lama. He suddenly started accusing her. I recalled it when I saw the panel in the picture, and felt sick to my stomach.

     By the way, the Dalai Lama visited my hometown today. I knew his schedule a few months ago, but couldn't take a day off. Even if I couldn't attend the lecture meeting, I just wanted to see him with my naked eyes from a distance. I hoped that he would preserve his health and get autonomy from cruel China.

(Vocabulary)

Hang in there!  頑張れ！

right-hand man  （仕事などの補佐役としての）右腕

national benefits / gain / interests / profit  国益

feel sick to one's stomach  胸くそが悪くなる

lecture meeting / lecture presentation  講演会

from a distance  遠くから

preserve health / retain one's health  健康を保持する

autonomous control / autonomy  (地域・国などの) 自治（権）

autonomy from 

Rebel forces are fighting for autonomy from the central government. 反乱軍は中央政府からの自治権を獲得するために戦っている．