Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Cell Phone

　　The picture below is of my cell phone. It looks ordinary. If I say that this can be used as a credit card or cash, do you believe what I say? Besides, it is also a map, a TV set, a GPS receiver, an audio player, a text editor and a camera as well as a phone.
　　When one of my daughter started living in Freiburg, she chose one of the simplest and cheapest ones. I was with her at that time, and looked at other cell phones on the counter. I couldn't fully understand their functions, but felt that it was not enough. It might be because I was so accustomed to Japanese cell phones. They say that Japanese cell phones don't sell well out of Japan because of their superiority and having lots of functions. Naturally, their price would be higher. Japanese cell phones are frequently compared to the creatures on the Galapagos Islands that have developed uniquely, isolated from the outer world.
　　However, as long as I live in Japan, this is very convenient. You can enjoy most things at night  downtown. You can google a bar with your phone that would hit the spot. The phone leads you to the bar. You can get in a taxi, enter an arcade and use public transportation with your cell phone. It's really wonderful.

• (Vocabulary)
• Galapagos Islands ガラパゴス諸島
• (amusement) arcade ゲームセンター

Walking

　　I make it my policy to walk my dog, Mocha, for a while just after coming back home every day. Naturally, when I have to stay at my hospital for a whole night or stay until late, I can't. However, if I can, I enjoy walking around my house with Mocha. It's been hot recently, but I continued it for keeping fit. A shower after walking is really refreshing.
　　My daughter, however, has sympathy for him. His body is nearer the surface of the blacktop than mine. She insists that Mocha would think my walking as only a nuisance to feel a higher temperature than me. It might be possible.
　　Anyway, Matsuyama city has a population of 600,000 and is the capital of the prefecture. You might imagine that it would be as dry as dust, but it's not true. The pictures were taken in a 2 km diameter from my residence during my walking. The first one is of the main road to the airport. It's ten minutes' drive to the airport. You can see some people enjoying fishing and walking in the second picture. This peaceful place is also near my house.
　　There's not a day that I don't hear some bad news from all over the world. I really feel grateful for my situation.

• (Vocabulary)
• keep fit 健康を維持する
• the blacktop〈米〉 アスファルト舗装
• blacktop [U] アスファルト [同意] Tarmac(英)(商標)
• nuisance《[C]通例単数形で》 迷惑な行為, 厄介な人［もの，こと］
• make a nuisance of yourself 人に迷惑をかける
• as dry as an old bone / as dry as dust 無味乾燥な
• conditions 《複数扱い》 (暮らし・仕事などの) 環境
• Conditions in the prison were appalling. 刑務所内の環境はおぞましかった．

Atomic Bomb

　　I don't want to be burned to death by an atomic bomb.
　　Today is the memorial day of the declaration by which Japan put an end to the Great East Asian War. The U.S. continued indiscriminate bombings on the major cities and lastly used the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. These bombing were naturally an unacceptable violation of international rules. Besides, they ignored or concealed their own crimes and retaliated against us by holding what you call the Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals. The measures that they took at that time were inconsiderate and it lead to the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
　　Only Japan has the right to have nuclear weapons because we were the victims of the cruel weapons, and we also have the right to defend the nation against nuclear weapons. I have thought as above for a long time, but I found that the victim of nuclear weapons was not only Japan. Uighur was also the victim. Their land was occupied by China and became a nuclear test site. Some researchers say that more than 500,000 people were killed instantly by the test. I'll write about this later.

• (Vocabulary)
• indiscriminate〈攻撃・殺人・暴行などが〉無差別の, 手当たり次第の
• unacceptable violation of international rules 許されない国際法違反
• breach of international law 国際法違反
• Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals 東京裁判
• inconsiderate 配慮に欠けた, 思いやりのない, 身がってな
• retaliate against sb ＜人＞に報復する
• proliferation of nuclear weapons 核拡散

Homestay

　　My family decided to accommodate two German artists from Freiburg for a night. They are members of a jazz chorus group, Jazzchor Freiburg, and want to stay at a Japanese house during their Japan tour. I'll show you their URL, so check their plan. Anyway, we have never invited any overseas guests before and feel a little anxiety whether we can welcome them. However, I've visited Freiburg twice and my second daughter is living there now. Freiburg isn't a distant city for my family. That's why we decided to entertain them. Having said that, we don't know how to treat them. What food do they want to eat? Do they prefer an ancient hot spring to an ordinary bath? Is a tatami room, the Japanese traditional room, comfortable for them?
　　If I can get their permission for posting their pictures in this blog, I'm sure to do it. They will come to my house on Sep. 1st. They will put on a concert on the 2nd.

• (Vocabulary)
• at the same time（先に述べたことに対して）
• but then（～だから仕方がない）
• having said that そうは言っても

Millennium

　　The topic of this entry isn't what you call millennium, but the name of a novel that was written by Stieg Larsson. He seemed to have passed away before knowing of his success with his novel becoming the best seller in the world. This is a trilogy, but the last volume alluded to a follow-up story. I'm very sorry not to be able to read the next one. This novel was the most interesting one in my life. I spread out the map of Sweden where the novel was staged and read it through. I devoted myself to this novel for a few days, and could do only the minimum stuff.

• (Vocabulary)
• allude to sb/sth (フォーマル) ＜…＞をほのめかす, にそれとなく言及する
• He alluded to the war in his speech. 彼は演説の中で戦争にそれとなく言及した．
• allude to ~ as a preliminary ～に伏線を張る

Teppen Rally

　　My annual event took place last weekend. It was a rally that my team held in the highest area of Shikoku, one of the four big islands of Japan. Teppen means the highest spot in Japanese. I'm a member of DCR, one of the JAF(Japan Automobile Federation) authorized rally teams, and attended the event as a marshal. I'm also a doctor, so I was placed in the most dangerous section. The picture taken in the forest shows the scene as we were preparing our checkpoint.
　　If you know a little about the rally, you'd understand that I was not always busy there. The rally cars passed our checkpoint three times, but I was free other than when the cars passed. I really enjoyed the sunshine through the leaves and trees deep in the forest.
　　By the way, the rally cars are categorised into three classes according to the displacement of the engines by Japanese domestic regulations. Most rally cars are designed not to waste power and to transmit all the engine power to the drivetrain. For that purpose, most cars, especially small cars, weren't equipped with an air-conditioner. Moreover, by the regulations, the crews had to wear helmets and close the windows in the special stages even under the blistering sunbeams. I was afraid that I'd have to treat lots of heat stroke cases, but fortunately the only patient was a woman who was a navigator.

• (Vocabulary)
• take place 〈催し物などが〉行われる, 開かれる,〈事件などが〉起こる
• The next meeting will take place on Thursday. 次回の会議は木曜日に開きます．
• displacement （自動車のエンジンの）排気量
• regulation 《[C]通例複数形で》規則, 法規, 規定
• drivetrain（車などの）駆動系
• sunbeam [C] 太陽光線

 
向こうに見えるテントがＳＳの受けで我々は次のＳＳのスタートを受け持つ
The tent that you can see in the distance was the goal of a special stage, and our check point was the starting point of the next special stage.

 
車検待ちの車が並んでいる。
They are waiting for the inspection of the cars.

Debate

　　I'm going to join the debate which will be held in a small group of working people who are learning colloquial English. The title is, "Should Bull Fighting be prohibited?" that is adopted from the actual issue provoked in Spain recently. I'm preparing various opinions of pros and cons. "It's cruel" would be one of the opinions on the affirmative side, so I figured out the rebuttal of the opinion. Moreover, I made up the rebuttal of the rebuttal. It's interesting to build up excuses as follows:
-------------------------------------
Pro: It's cruel to kill creatures for amusement.

Con: Don't you eat beef? Isn't it cruel to kill numerous cattle for food for human beings. The number of bulls for bull fighting is increasingly small in comparison with the cattle killed for our food. It's nonsense to insist on the abolition of bull fighting only because of its cruelty.

Pro: This issue isn't a question of numbers. I don't know a bull's feelings, but bulls would feel pain when the matador stabs them with his sword. On the other hand, cattle are killed in a blink of an eye. They have no time to feel pain. This is the difference between bulls and cattle.

Con: Bulls and cattle are both killed by human beings for their amusement or food. Cattle are confined in a small stall and their world is very small. However, how wonderful and brilliant a bulls' life is. They are permitted to run freely in the bull ring, and to kill the matador. Cattle have never such an opportunity to resist human beings. Cattle go helplessly to the abattoir, or meat treatment center. Bulls are happier than cattle. Bulls might have fun fighting the matador.

Pro: ...
-------------------------------------
It's funny to make excuses in such a way.

• (Vocabulary)
• full member of society / full-fledged member of society / member of society / working people 社会人
• provoke debate/discussion 議論を巻き起こす, 物議を醸す
• increasingly ますます, いっそう
• Increasingly, people are eating processed foods. ますます加工食品が食されるようになっている．
• feelings 《複数扱い》 (個人の) 感情, 気持ち, 心
• He finds it difficult to express his feelings. 彼は自分の感情をなかなか表に出すことができない．
• stall (家畜小屋などの) 間仕切り部屋
• The horses were in their stalls. 馬はそれぞれの間仕切りの中にいた．
• bull ring 闘牛場
• abattoir 畜殺場 [同意] slaughterhouse

Portable Heating and Cooling Box

　　It has been deadly hot in Japan, probably just as in many other countries in the northern half of the globe. I'm fed up with the heat. Fortunately, my work place is air-conditioned. I really feel that I'm happy to work inside. Needless to add, my private room is also equipped with an air conditioner.
　　By the way, I didn't write about it, but I switched my office to another hospital this spring. A fridge wasn't provided in my new room, so I got one via the internet. I'll show you later and it is a portable one. It works by the power from not only an ordinary outlet but also the cigarette lighter holder in cars. I thought I could take it outdoors. Besides, in the winter, it works as a heating box. It would be useful for keeping something hot, hot!
　　As I expected however, the capability wasn't so powerful, but it was acceptable.

• (Vocabulary)
• outlet〈米〉〈英〉（壁に取り付けられたプラグの）コンセント
• receptacle (フォーマル) 容器, 入れ物 [同意] container