Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Diary Broken

I've been keeping a diary for 20 years. What I did every day or various notes have been written in it. I bought something, I replaced the light bulb in the kitchen, I went somewhere, these daily activities are recorded in it. When I can't recall something, this diary is helpful.  In other words this diary is a kind of memorandum.
Today, while I ignored the warning of a low battery in my PC, HP200LX, it suddenly froze and the data for about 10 months after the last backup was destroyed. I hopefully thought that it would work a little longer. I was so sorry.

(Vocabulary)
light bulb  電球
memorandum book 備忘録

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2006/01/hp200lx.html

Dormitory Uncertain

My daughter, Yuri, and I were looking for a domitory for her in Freiburg for several days though we have yet to find one. We were at a loss and decided to ask the municipal staff member who was dispatched to Freiburg from Matsuyama City. He is a public figure and has some limitations in giving assistance to individuals, I think. We are expecting good news from him.

(Vocabulary)
uncertain 〈事が〉 はっきりしない, 不確かな, 不安定な
Our plans are still uncertain.  私たちの計画はまだ確定していない．
have yet to do sth  (フォーマル) まだ＜…＞していない
at a loss   途方に暮れて, 当惑して
at a loss to do something   どう＜…＞するか途方に暮れて
Detectives are so far at a loss to explain the reason for his death.
刑事たちはこれまでのところ彼の死因の説明に窮している．
at a loss for words   言葉に窮して
public figure  公的な人物

Book Burning

A Japanese word "焚書" means throwing books into the fire. I looked for the direct English translation in my dictionary, but in vain. Nazi Germany, of course, did it and the U.S. also did it just after the Greater East Asian War. At least 7000 kinds of books that were inconvenient to the U.S. were burnt. The number of those books are reportedly to be more than tens of millions across the country. I don't think that justice is on their side.
By the way, China is now implementing this bird-brained policy in Uighur, but a book written in the Uighur language was secretly taken out of Uighur through Hong Kong, and got translated into Japanese. The original title is "Iz", which encourages the Uighur people to become independent. I read it and knew what has been happening in modern times.

(Vocabulary)
book burning  焚書
Nazi Germany  ナチスドイツ
implement 〈計画・政策・法律など〉 を実行する, 実施する, 履行する
bird-brained  ばかな, まぬけな
 

Breaking the Seal on the GHQ Burned Books (Reprint)

The GHQ, the command center of the American occupation forces in Japan, make a great deal about "freedom of speech" on the surface, but all reportage and publications were subjected to a thorough prepublication censorship. Even private letters were unsealed and read due to this censorship.
The GHQ's control of the expression of people's views did not stop there. They undertook a book burning on a scale that one can't help but compare it to the infamous book burnings of the Nazis. Under the name of "propaganda publications," a total of 7,769 works published before the war were confiscated for "burning." In this essay, Prof. Nishio Kanji shines a light on exactly what types of books were seized, and exactly how were they taken.
In short, the truth of the shock that the policy of the GHQ was the obliteration of Japanese history and thought is here proclaimed to the world.
* Summary:　http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL02_1/68_S2.pdf
  Full text:　http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL02_1/68_S4.pdf
  Author profile: http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL02_2/52_S2.pdf

(Vocabulary)
reprint 〔他の出版物｛しゅっぱんぶつ｝の記事｛きじ｝などの〕転載｛てんさい｝
make a great deal of progress  大きく進歩｛しんぽ｝する
reportage  ルポルタージュ 報道
censorship  検閲
sb can't help (doing) sth;  sb can't help but do sth)  ＜人＞が＜…＞なのは［＜…＞するのは］どうしようもない
I can't help the way I feel about you. 君への思いをどうすることもできない．
infamous  悪名高い [＋infamous for]
confiscate  (罰として) …を押収する, 没収する
shock [C] (経済状況・暮らし・慣習などを脅かす) 突然の変化, ショック
obliteration(特に書き言葉) (爆弾・あらしなどによる) 壊滅
obliterate
(爆弾・あらしなどが) …を壊滅する
(特に書き言葉) 〈記憶・感情など〉 を消し去る, 取り去る
(文) …を覆い隠す obliterate sth from view ＜…＞を覆って見えなくする
proclaim [他](フォーマル)  …を公然と述べる, 公言する

日本を占領したアメリカを中心とする連合軍（GHQ）は、建て前では言論の自由をとなえていましたが、報道・出版の徹底的な事前検閲を行いました。書信の開封による検閲まで行っていました。GHQの言論統制はこれにとどまりませんでした。ナチスが行った悪名高い「焚書」とは比較にならない大規模な焚書をも行いました。「宣伝用刊行物没収」という名のもとに、何と７７６９点の戦争前に刊行された書籍を没収し「焚書」したのです。GHQの占領政策は日本の歴史・思想を抹殺することを目指していたという衝撃の事実が今や世界に公表されるわけです。

 

 

 

Aging Population

My hospital plays a part in the emergency medical service in my city. It's open to the public for 24 hours on one of eight days. Lots of people come and see doctors on this day, and some of them are hospitalized.
Now, there is an issue on accommodation. We have to have some stable or chronic state patients leave hospital in order to newly undertake emergency cases under the limitation of the number of beds. For instance, most CVA (Cerebral Vascular Accident; infarction, bleeding etc) patients are likely to become feeble and are sometimes in a vegetative state. Though these patients should be transferred to nursing homes to keep the function of emergency hospitals normal, troublingly there aren't enough facilities. This problem is getting more and more serious day by day.

(Vocabulary)
an aging population  人口の高齢化
play a part in the international effort led by the United States
アメリカ主導のその国際的努力の一端を担う
vegetative  (人の) 植物状態の
a vegetative state  植物状態
instance [C] (出来事の) 例, 事例, 実例
instances of discrimination  人種差別の実例
for instance  例えば
troubling  心配な, 悩ましい
troublingly  困ったことに

Whales and Japan - Japan Deprived of Culture -

     Not only eating whales but utilizing them comes from Japanese traditional culture. Japan was deprived of its own culture under the name of the preservation of whales without the confirmation that whales are endangered or not. Until the discovery of crude oil, the superpowers had been struggling to capture the considerable number of whales only for whale oil. Their bodies, except for oil, were simply discarded. They went out far away from their countries for whales, whereas Japanese people just caught whales migrating up north off the coast of Japan. Besides, only a small part of their bodies are  thrown away in Japan. The rate of utilizatiion is 100%. Japan started whaling in the Antarctic Ocean for food after the end of the Great East Asian War and abandoned it a few decades ago. It actually lead to the decrease of whales, so Japan is investigating the number of whales now. While the number of whales increases, the fish catch decrease. It's reportedly because of the huge appetite of whales. Fishermen working around the Antarctic Ocean would know the facts.

     If you need analogies it means depriving western people of beef, French people of foie gras (it's  animal abuse), Koreans of dogs, Chinese of cats and dogs, the Inuit of whales and Americans of turkey.

     And, one more question, why does the Sea Shepherd attack only Japan out of several whaling countries, like Norway, South Korea and Iceland?

     Any question is welcome, if it's reasonable.

     See also; http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/opinion/24iht-edbowring.html?scp=2&sq=whales&st=cse (added on 24th)

(Vocabulary)

fish catch  漁獲量

foie gras〈フランス語〉〔ガチョウの肝臓〕 フォアグラ

analogy  [C] 類似性 

Sea Shepherd

     Have you heard of the Sea Shepherd? People with common sense will take them for a gang of ruffians, I think. It is them who are illegal, though they accuse Japan. If I had an opportunity to talk to them, I'd like to tell them that you have the right to accuse Japan of the commercial hunting of whales if you don't eat beef.

     At first, I thought that their stupid behavior must have been from racial prejudice, but I guess now, I was wrong. History shows that Japanese don't attack until the last minute, and they knew it. I feel anger toward the Japanese Government as well as the Sea Shepherd. What will become of growing anger against the Sea Shepherd and their sponsors. Propositions to stop the import of OG beef are boiling on the internet in Japan. However, there's unconfirmed information that their sponsor is the U.S. meat companies. If it is true, the boycott of OG beef would be to their sponsor's benefit. It's a bit tricky.

    Yesterday, Australian Prime Minister Rudd announced that Australia would file a lawsuit against Japan to the International Court of Justice. I couldn't believe this news. Is he sane? Does he want to fight with all whaling countries? Does he want to expose the Australian selfish EEZ (exclusive economic zone) to the world? I imagine that he would like to distract public attention from the country's serious internal affairs. Chinaphil Rudd might follow the stupid policy of the Chinese Communist Party.

     As for the internal affairs of Australia, I have an interst in Aboriginal Issues and the serious jobless rate of Australia, because Japan has the same kind of issues, though the seriousness of them is far less than Australia. In particular, how will the authorities handle the growing number of newly made Aborigines? Do Australians want to make the country socialist? The present Japanese Government looks like they want to become socialist, and I am developing a critical feeling about it. Anyway, I doubt the intelligence of the people of Australia and New Zealand.

(Vocabulary)

knot of roughs   ごろつきの集団

knot  一団

rough [C](やや古・インフォーマル) 乱暴者, ごろつき

ruffian  ごろつき

the commercial hunting of whales  商業捕鯨

feel anger toward sb   ＜人＞に腹を立てる

anger with/against

growing public anger against the government  政府に対してつのる国民の怒り

negligible 〈影響・損害などが〉 無視してもよい, 取るに足らない

unconfirmed 〈報告などが〉 未確認の, 〈話・うわさなどが〉 確証のない

an unconfirmed rumor 確証のないうわさ

boycott  (抗議などの手段として) …をボイコットする, 排斥する

boycott  ボイコット, 不買［排斥］運動 

boycott on/of 

a boycott of products tested on animals  動物実験をした製品のボイコット

tricky (状況・仕事などが)面倒な, 扱いにくい

Getting everyone to use the new computer system will be tricky.  全員に新しいコンピュータシステムを使わせるのは面倒なことだ．

International Court of Justice  国際司法裁判所

exclusive economic zone 〔【略】EEZ〕 排他的経済水域

distract 〈人〉 の注意をそらす, 気を散らす

Don't distract me while I'm driving. 運転中に気が散るようなことはするな．

distract sb from sth  ＜人＞の注意を＜…＞からそらす

Jack's music was distracting me from my book.  ジャックの音楽のせいで読書になかなか集中できなかった．

distract attention from sth ＜…＞から注意をそらす

internal affairs / matter of internal politics  内政問題

Aborigine （オーストラリアの）アボリジニ

jobless rate / unemployment rate  失業率

socialist country 社会主義国

socialist 社会主義の, 社会主義的な; (国家・政権が) 社会主義の

develop a critical feeling 危機感を抱く

doubt the credibility of the article その記事の信頼性を疑う

Isabella L. Bird

     I've been reading several books of travel in recent times, which were recorded by foreign travellers in 1800-1900. Those books describe ordinary people's lives. Their lives are really interesting. What were their food, clothes, transportation and houses like? The history which I'd learnt is written from the viewpoint of rulers. Lots of famous people and incidents are the main characters in the history which I know. However, these notes of travel are written by many travellers and tell me how the ordinary Japanese people spent their lives. Naturally the writers have their own characters, likes and dislikes. They might have changed various things, but if you read several books, you'll know the facts.

     "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan" by Isabella L. Bird was really good. She recorded both good and bad, or convenient and inconvenient things of Japan. I got lots of new information from it.

 

Forbidden Love?

     A lovely news item made headlines around my hometown, Matsuyama City. In the renovation and dig work of the Matsuyama Castle area, a Russian gold coin was found at the bottom of an old well in the yard of the castle. Most subscribers would wonder why the Russian gold coin existed in this small Japanese city. It has the following story and I'll write about it later.

     Before that, I have to write about my city. Matsuyama City has been noted for the oldest hot spring in Japan, but now it is also known as the birthplace of the Akiyama brothers and Shiki Masaoka, who had lived through the Meiji Era. Japan had been struggling to become one of the superpowers at that time. Russia and China were about to swallow Japan. The Akiyama brothers were heros in the Japanese-Russo War (1904-05), in which Japan beat Russia. The captive soldiers in the war were transferred to Matsuyama and were taken into custody for a certain term. Japan wanted to be respected as one of the developed countries and took care of the captives with fine consideration for their feelings.

     Back to the track, two people's names were carved on the coin. One is a Russian man's name and the other is a Japanese woman's name. Both were confirmed to have been actually alive in the time of the war. As you can imagine, the man was a prisoner and the woman was a nurse working at the prisoner's hospital. After the closure of the hospital, she seemed to have gone back to her hometown. The spokesman added that the love between opponent countries would have been prohibited in those days. They might have left a kind of symbol of their affection. The bottom of the well would be one of the best sites to place it, for no one could steal it.

See also; http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2009/07/bridge-of-mikas.html

(Vocabulary)

item  (新聞・雑誌などの短い) 記事, (テレビ，ラジオなどの) ニュース項目

a short news item  短いニュース項目

make headlines around the world  ニュースが世界を駆け巡る

dig  （考古学の）発掘

Japanese-Russo War  日露戦争

captive soldier  捕虜となった兵士

consideration for others' feelings（他人の気持ちへの）気配り

carve  [他] 〈像など〉 を彫る, 彫刻する, 〈木・石など〉 に彫刻する

24 -Twenty Four-

     I've become trapped in the TV drama, "24", these days. It is really amusing. All that happens in the drama is set to happen in a day, 24 hours. I wondered what a tough and busy day it is. The lines are vivid and practical in the drama, so they are helpful for learning English conversation. The words that the characters talk in the drama sound far more difficult for me than the CNN's articles. The learning of English in my generation wasn't for the purpose of communication, but just understanding foreign papers. The authorities had placed a disproportionate emphasis on reading English. Eventually, I feel more hardships in writing and speaking than in listening and reading. It is the reason for keeping writing this blog.

     I knew various expressions from this drama. "Patch me through!;" I couldn't even imagine the meaning of this phrase. There's a phrase that the main character, "Jack Bauer", often uses and that I like. "Send a chopper now!" I'd like to shout this phrase in my real life someday, but such a situation would never come up for me. (grin)

(Vocabulary)

place a disproportionate emphasis on  ～に偏る

disproportionate  (公平さを欠くほど) 不釣り合いな, 偏った, 極端な

patch sb through  (電話・無線などで) (第三者に) ＜人＞をつなぐ

ILANAAQ

     The Vancouver Olympic Games is really coming soon. Japanese representatives are flying into Vancouver one after another. At the same time, the history and streets of Vancouver are introduced by many media. A sushi restaurant near the Fairmont Hotel, Vancouver, where I had eaten dinner was also on air. Lots of Japanese people don't know how popular sushi is in Canada, so they would be surprised. I was really sorry not to visit Vancouver during this season.

     By the way, in the same program I saw the emblem of the Vancouver Olympics, ILANAAQ, which seems to mean "friend or friendship" in Inuit, and it must have been derived from INUKSHUK. I saw it at the top of Whistler Mountain in 2006, and the meaning of the statue didn't matter to me then. However, I noticed that the emblem was from INUKSHUK, and I searched for information about it on the internet. I'm enjoying their pictures now.

     My daughters, Eri, A, my friend and I are in the picture below which was taken at the top of Whistler Mountain in 2006.

(Vocabulary)

ILANAAQ  イラナーク　INUKSHUK（イヌクシュク）という、カナダ先住民のイヌイット族が、石を人の形に積み重ねて作ったオブジェ。これを５色でカラフルに彩ったものが、この大会のマスコットとなり、ILANAAQ（イラナーク）と名付けられました。これは、イヌイット語で「友愛・友だち」を意味するそうです。

 

Tonight's Meal

     The picture shows my midnight meal for tonight. I'm ready for medical emergencies now. To my surprise, this bread cost 120 yen, coming to 1.40 US$ converted at today's rate. Furthermore, my toaster cost only 20 US$. I'm worrying about having too inexpensive prices for goods. See also http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/01/toaster-oven.html

(Vocabulary)

come to __$ converted at today's rate  今日のレートで換算して＿ドルになる

 

Recalling The Kobe Earthquake in 1995

     Serious chaos seems to be still continuing in Haiti, according to the Japanese medical aid team. A group who had plotted to take a few dozen kids out of Haiti, were reportedly arrested at the border. They were alleged to be trafficers of kids. The situation is out of my imagination. Why can't the authorities give enough food to people who are starving, and accommodation to people who lost their houses?

     This catastrophe reminded me of the quake that hit Kobe City 15 years ago. Due to the poor control of the then authorities, the casualties rose up to 50,000. The toll topped 6,000. I belonged to the surgical department of the university hospital at that time and the rescue team was organized in a day in the university, and I was one of the rescue staff. I got into the devastated area on the second day, and saw people behave bravely, concealing their real feelings. They were totally staying organized while waiting for food, necessities and medical consultations. No assaults, no looting, co-operation and mutual assistance; these were the principles of the afflicted people.

     Some Japanese critics insist that this difference must come from racial characteristics, but I don't agree with their opinion. Look at Barbados. The people of this country are descendants of black people who were unreasonably captured and taken there from African countries just like the Haitians. What's the difference between Haiti and Barbados?

(Vocabulary)

traffic  密売買

trafficker  （悪徳）商人、〔麻薬などの〕密売人、人身売買業者

traffic  trafficked, trafficking

[他] 〈麻薬・兵器など〉 を密売買する

[自] 密売買する traffic in sth  ＜…＞を密売買する

He was arrested for trafficking in drugs.  彼は麻薬の密売で逮捕された．

stay organized  秩序が保たれている

bravely  気丈に

afflicted people  被災者

Barbados  バルバドス