Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Motorcycle Ride in a Heavy Rain

 　　I wrote about a driving school before, at which I got my motorbike license after great hardship. The first picture shows several motorcycles on the training course in the school. One of those was my scooter. It was shot in the morning of the long ride event hosted by the school. The school leavers got together and were going to enjoy a mass riding to Omogokei, including some of the instructors. Omogokei is one of the tourist attractions in Ehime. It's about 2 hours from my hometown and is known as the place for beautiful autumnal scenery.
　　The weather forecast told that it would be cloudy all day and the amount of rain would be little, if it happened to rain. We believed this forecast and started. Soon later, however, it started to rain. What's more it was getting hard. After a short rest, we gave up on Omogokei, and involuntarily changed the destination. We got back on another route to the school. The second picture is taken at the parking lot of Tobe Fault Park. Don't you feel some pathos.
　　If I have another opportunity to visit Omogokei this autumn, I'll be sure to post pictures of brilliantly colored leaves.

(Vocabulary)
former student / school leaver　卒業生
happen to do sth  偶然＜…＞する
I happened to see James just yesterday. つい昨日，偶然ジェームズに会いました．
fault 断層
pathos 哀感, 悲哀, 悲劇的要素

 
 

View 城西ツーリング in a larger map

 

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2009/01/driving-school.html
(Driving School)

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/10/short-touring.html

(Tobe Fault Park)

Potter, Putter

　　I heard a new Japanese-made English word, "pottering", or "puttering". It indicates riding bicycles without purpose. They never pedal hard like in a race and don't have a destination like on a cycling tour. They just spend time wandering around.
　　I often take a walk with my dog, and find something new even around my house. If I had a bicycle and could extend my wandering area, it would be great fun. I looked for several magazines dealing with bicycles on the internet, and ordered some of them. The picture shows them. I'll devote myself to reading them for the coming several days. By the way, how do you call this purpose-less slow cycling in English?

(Vocabulary)
potter(英) putter（米） のんびりする
deal with sth〈本・映画などが〉 ＜…＞を扱う

Trends in Coffee Shops

　　The picture shows a coffee shop in Saijo City which we came across. It looked like an ordinary private house, but there was a coffee shop inside. In general, coffee shops in Japan were originally built following the western style, but nowadays such a Japanese style of shop is getting common. Opening the entrance sliding door, we were led to the dining room, which had a genuinely Japanese traditional style. It had tatami mats, an alcove and a fanlight or transom, which are the items necessary for Japanese people to feel at home. Besides, we could enjoy the beautiful Japanese garden. It was really refreshing. Just when we entered the shop, it started raining, but the rain made the garden look more beautiful.

(Vocabulary)
alcove  a place in the wall of a room that is built further back than the rest of the wall  アルコーブ (壁の一部を入り込ませた空間)
fanlight/ transom  欄間

Archaeological Park

　　The big house you can see in the picture of the previous entry was a museum in the municipal archaeological park established by Saijo City. This city is located at the base of Mt. Ishizuchi, which is the highest mountain in western Japan. It enjoys the blessings of an enormous amount of water from Mt. Ishizuchi, and is known as the city of water. One of the biggest beer companies of Japan, Asahi Brewery, chose this city as the place for their factory. It faces the Seto Inland Sea and has a very mild climate. I'll show you the pictures of the city and inside the museum.

(Vocabulary)
archaeological park  考古学公園
archaeology  考古学
enjoy the blessings of a healthy and productive environment  ～の恵みを享受する

 

Oct. 25th

　　Oct. 25th is the day which Japanese people should remember. It's the day that kamikaze suicide attacks started in 1944. The leader of the first attack team was Lieutenant Colonel Seki, who was from Saijo City in my prefecture. His team was ordered to attack the U.S. fleet near the Philippines and successfully destroyed the aircraft carrier, St. Lo, and other vessels.
　　On this account, a memorial service has been held on Oct. 25th in remembrance of all the kamikaze pilots. I couldn't take a day off on the day, so I visited the shrine on the 24th, the previous day. People in the shrine looked busy in preparation of the ceremony. The following picture was taken by my acquaintance last year.
　　I never answer yes against war or military conflict, but if your country's security is threatened, you have to stand up for justice. I was moved by the spirit of self-sacrifice. I offered my prayer of reverence and gratitude to the kamikaze pilots.
　　Japanese people were brainwashed by MacArthur and were deprived of their backbone after the Greater East Asian War, but now lots of people began learning the real and unfabricated history. The spell that was cast on us by him is breaking bit by bit.
　　I have something that I want to inform you about. Kamikaze pilots didn't attack the transport crafts, though they could have killed lots of soldiers and destroyed military materials before they reached their destination. It's against the spirit of Bushido to attack the enemy when they have no weapons. Can you believe it? The passenger ships that were transporting people from Okinawa or Taiwan to mainland Japan for evacuation, were often torpedoed by U.S. submarines. Hidden heroic stories are being dug out one after another recently. The Greater East Asian War must be researched more deeply. I think that Japan will wake up in the not so distant future.
　　Saijo City is about 2 hours away from my home. My wife and I decided to drive around the city for pleasure. Can you find a big house in the upper part of the picture? I dropped in at the house and I'll write about it in the next entry.

(Vocabulary)
Lieutenant Colonel  中佐
memorial service  慰霊祭
remembrance [C](フォーマル) 思い出, 記憶; [U](フォーマル) 回想, 追憶
a day/service/garden of remembrance  追悼記念日［追悼式典，記念公園］
in remembrance of sb  ＜人＞を追悼して, の記念に
in preparation for sth  ＜行事など＞に備えて
a remembrance ceremony  追悼式典
self-sacrifice  自己犠牲
offer one's prayers of reverence and gratitude to the war dead
戦没者に敬意と感謝の念をささげる
offer [他] (offer up とも)(祈り・いけにえなど）をささげる
prayer  祈りの言葉
reverence [U](フォーマル) 尊敬, 敬意
spell [C] 魔法, 呪文(じゅもん)
cast/put a spell on sb  ＜人＞に魔法をかける
break the spell  魔法を解く
be under a spell  魔法にかかっている
fabricate  (話・うそなど)をでっち上げる, 捏造(ねつぞう)する
The police were accused of fabricating evidence.  警察は証拠を捏造したとして告発された．

 

Today's Breakfast

　　The picture shows today's breakfast for inpatients and me. I stayed at my hospital last night and it's also my duty to have the same breakfast as the inpatients' and leave some comments for the nutritionists and staff members of the food service. To tell the truth, it wasn't so good. It might be good for the health, but its taste was bland. The salt and fat are restricted for preventing hypertension and obesity.
　　I have been eating hospital meals for more than a quarter of a century. I think the supper and breakfast before and after night duty, and the everyday lunch must have contributed to my health. My laboratory results are totally within a normal range. I can't believe that this fact hasn't anything to do with hospital meals.

(Vocabulary)
dietician / dietitian / expert in nutrition / nutritionist 栄養士
bland  味けない, 平凡な; (料理・食品などが)味に特徴がない, 淡白な; (表情・口調などが)感情を抑えた(表に出さない), （意見などが）控えめな, 当たり障りのない

Bansuisou 晩翠荘

　　There's a historic building named "Bansuiso" in my hometown. It was lavishly built in 1922 and had been owned by the descendant of the local lord, and it was donated to the city later. Now, we can see the early 20th century style of European architecture inside Bansuiso. I voluntarily cleaned up around there as I wrote in the previous entry. The group who worked here, raking fallen leaves, and my group who pulled weeds out in another place, got together in the picture and were listening to a word of thanks from the manager of the building. Then, we were exempt from paying the entrance fee and entered the building for sightseeing.

(Vocabulary)
lavishly  豪華に, 贅沢(ぜいたく)に; 気前よく, 惜しみなく
descendant  末裔(まつえい), 子孫
a direct descendant of somebody  ＜人＞の直系の子孫
local lord  藩主
fallen leaves 落ち葉
a word of thanks  お礼の言葉
exempt (人)を免除する
exempt sb from (doing) sth

Lions' Day

　　I don't know whether "Lions' Day" is used in English speaking countries, but it means the day of activities at least in Japan. Today was "Lions' Day". I got up as usual despite it being Sunday, and went to the designated point by car driven by my wife. The activity was cleaning up the street, which is one of the main tourist attractions in Matsuyama. This street is kept clean all the time by people who live and work around the street. I wondered if the cleaning was really necessary, but joined in.

 

Bicycle

　　I'm getting interested in bicycles day by day. When I visited Germany last year, I was surprised to see the bicycle paths which were designed widely along the road. The trains could accommodate bicycles. People could move easily with their own bicycles. I thought that it was a smart system. Lots of people ride bicycles in Japan too, but the infrastructure for cyclists isn't enough now.
　　However, bicycles are absolutely good for the health and never emit greenhouse gas into the air. Besides some of my friends who used to be crazy about motorcycles, began riding bicycles recently. Events for cyclists became common. The picture was taken when they were about to start for a short ride. Their bicycles are designed for a long ride, and they were going to visit a park 20 km away at that time. It must be nice for keeping fit. I'm planning to buy one before too long. The second picture was shot last year near Boden Lake which is located on the border of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. It indicates a sign post for cyclists.
　　As for Germany, today's CNN says that a high-speed train will connect Frankfurt and London in about five hours. I've been to Frankfurt, but not London. When I visit England some day, this train will be one of the options to reach London.

(Vocabulary)
before too long  近いうちに

 

First Meeting

　　I attended the regular meeting of the Lions Club at noon for the first time. At first I thought about this meeting at which the members would get together with their own lunch, and talk about something frankly in a relaxed atmosphere. Actually it might be so for old members, but I was a stranger there, and felt uneasy for some time. The meeting will be held every two weeks on Tuesdays from now. That's a lot of pressure on me.

(Vocabulary)
a relaxed atmosphere 　和やかな雰囲気

Big Present

　　My father gave a brand new car to his granddaughter as a celebration of her enrollment into medical school. I thought that a brand new car was too luxurious for an 18-year old student and an old used car was enough, but my father insisted that he wanted to buy a brand new one for her. It appears that she's irresistible for him. This car will widen her range though my anxiety will increase at once.

(Vocabulary)
irresistible;
not resistible; incapable of being resisted or withstood: an irresistible impulse.
lovable, esp. calling forth feelings of protective love: an irresistible puppy.
enticing; tempting to possess: an irresistible necklace.
find sb/sth irresistible  ＜…＞にたまらない魅力を感じる