Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

My Daughter Came Home

　　You might think the topic is a little orotund, but ask me, "Where did she come from?" She returned from Germany 'after a year's interval'. She lived in Freiburg alone and learned the German language and how German life was. Her major is German culture.
　　A Japanese old saying tells us that if you love your kids, you should leave them alone in travel. I looked for the same proverb in the dictionary and found this. "Spare the rod and spoil the child." Her life in Germany wasn't always happy, but she didn't give up and survived. I found something different in her from what she used to be a year ago. I realized that the old saying was correct. It was not bad to allow her to live in Germany as the saying goes.

(Vocabulary)
orotund (けなして) (演説・文章などが) 仰々しい [同意] pompous
saying  ことわざ, 格言
as the saying goes  ことわざにあるように, よく言うように
Spare the rod and spoil the child.《諺》 かわいい子には旅をさせよ。／むちを惜しめば子どもを駄目にする。

Soccer Asian Cup

　　Japan finally climbed up to the summit of the Asian countries in the Asian Cup of Soccer. Japan won over Australia by 1-0, winning an unprecedented fourth victory. The Japanese team became stronger bit by bit with every match it played. I'm very proud of them. Soccer analysts point out various reasons for their achievement, but the most significant point, I think, was their never-say-die spirit. They played 6 matches and in half of them they lost the opening goal. However, they nevr gave up and fought back.
　　The final match was broadcast at midnight in Japan. It is said that the viewing rate was nearly 40% and it was unbelievably high. I can't wait for the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

(Vocabulary)
with every match it played  一試合ごとに
never-say-die spirit  不屈の精神
opening goal 先取点、先制ゴール
winning goal 決勝点
viewing rate 視聴率

Internet Television

　　I had the internet television installed in my house. The biggest Japanese telecommunication company, NTT, had launched a campaign of optic fiber communication for private use until the end of January. The initial cost was almost free during the campaign and I achieved the benefit. The optic fiber allows us to send and receive a huge amount of data.
　　To my surprise, nearly 100 channels and more than 25,000 movies are available via internet in this system. I can watch movies whenever I want. I don't need to visit the DVD rental shop and also don't worry about the return-day any more from now.
　　I think it is very convenient, but it looks like I have to take care about lack of sleep.

(Vocabulary)
achieve [他] …をかちとる, 獲得する, に到達する/ [他] …を成し遂げる, 達成する

Suicide Bombing in Moscow

　　A TV news story says that a suicide bombing happened in Moscow International Airport. I was really scared to hear about the incident. The bomber might have his/her own opinion, but it is never acceptable to kill innocent people self-righteously. Most of all, my daughter is planning to return to Japan from Germany now after a 10 month interval. Even though it was an incident in Russia, I was concerned about the security in European international airports.
　　Besides, I had been thinking of visiting Sochi, which is a famous summer resort along the Black Sea, and the 2014 Winter Olympic Games are supposed to be held there. I've never been to Russia and I'd like to visit it at least once. When I flew from Frankfurt to Osaka and saw the night view of Irkutsk and Lake Baikal under the dim moonlight, I decided it. Though I can't understand Russian, if I go during the Olympic Games, signboards, pamphlets, maps and menus in restaurants would be with English subtitles and it would be helpful for me.
　　However, the suicide bomber put me off Sochi. I just want to enjoy the atmosphere of the Winter Olympic Games and Russian domestic dishes, beverages, chatting with people, and sometimes ski there. I just hope that the security will become better by the Olympic Games.

(Vocabulary)
behave [act, conduct oneself] in a self-righteous manner 　独善的な態度で行動する

Silver Spoon (銀の匙 中勘助）

　　Last year, I happened to see my former teacher who had taught me Japanese in my junior high school days. He had won the respect of pupils with his intelligence. To my sadness, however, he had slight impaired cognition. It was natural that he didn't remember me, one of many pupils. I told him various recollections expecting that something excavated even a part of his memory from the depth of his brain.
　　I was born and brought up in a rural place of Ehime prefecture. In such places, the compulsory education was so-so, and it was not enough for me. I felt some emptiness. At that time I thought I'd like to become someone who leads the nation and moved to the prefectural capital city alone to get a higher level of education. Then, I met the above teacher. He used a novel, "Silver Spoon" as a textbook of Japanese. I remember that I had been overwhelmed by the toughness of the novel. I couldn't believe that the novel was the textbook. So, I told him about "Silver Spoon", and it seemed to trigger the blowing of 40 years' period. He started to talk and talk.
　　The other day I found the book in the list of the municipal library. I borrowed the book and read it. It was nice, and I enjoyed it though I didn't think so 40 years ago. I thought it was due to being short of age that I couldn't understand the novel 40 years ago.

(Vocabulary)
win/earn/gain the respect of sb 　＜人＞から尊敬される, に感心される

Telecommunication System

　　When I had my house built eight years ago, I had up-to-date optic fiber cable for internet access installed. The optic fiber cable has enabled me to use internet comfortably with its transfer speed. I have been able to enjoy what you call, "internet surfin", since then. The fast-pace of technological innovation is spectacular, however, and it has remarkably changed the present IT world.( <-- great sentence!)  Now, you can watch TV via internet from the progress of the quality and speed of the transmit. You don't have to visit the DVD movie rental shop any more. You can order a movie from your house via internet whenever you want to watch the movie.
　　I decided to upgrade the optic fiber cable to the most updated one the other day to utilize the internet TV and applied to NTT, the Japanese biggest telecommunication company, for installation.
　　A few days later, SECOM, the security company, and gas company called me, telling that they had to modify their own system. I have used an analogue line for my phone, but I was going to change it to a digital line this time. I could imagine that SECOM used the phone line to know how my house was, but I didn't know the gas company was using the remote monitoring of my house. They seemed to have monitored the gas consumption and kept not to be short. If an abnormal condition was found, the monitoring system is designed to inform the company. If the gas leaked, the gas consumption monitoring system will catch the unusual gas usage and SECOM will detect the leaked gas. That is to say, my house is proven protected from gas leakage accidents in two ways. It's wonderful.
　　I'll report later about the internet TV.

(Vocabulary)
reflection [C] (鏡・水面などに) 映った姿［像，影］/ [U] よく考えること, 熟考
After some reflection, I decided not to accept the job. よく考えた末，その仕事は断ることにした．

New Year Meeting

　　I have several good friends on the net and they have had a party at the beginning of the year for these last 10 years. January 22nd was the day of the party. The place for the party was the same as usual, Yokaro. This restaurant looked shabby, but the dishes were great. The chef's speciality was fugu, the fish which looked like a balloon, and had some poison in its organs. Cooks who deal with fugu are required to have a license because the fugu is poisonous, but fugu is delicious.
　　I almost forgot to write about the combination of fugu and Japanese sake. They match well. You can see hirezake everywhere in Japan in winter, which is a cup of Japanese hot sake with floating dried and roasted caudal fin of fugu. It warms us very much. If you have a chance to visit Japan in winter, be sure to enjoy fugu. I'm so sorry to show you pictures of fugu.

Memorable Patient

　　It's terribly cold. Such coldness in January reminds me of a patient who had been under my care for five years. He passed away at the end of the last winter. He was a victim of the atomic bombs. I wrote "bombs" in the plural not in the singular. To tell the truth, he visited both victim cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, just after the bombings, to help take care of live victims and recover bodies from wreckage and the river, where a number of people dived into for water. Ordinary people didn't know the danger of the residual radiation at that time. He wasn't supposed to be exposed to the radiation. His condition suddenly got worse on such a freezing day last January and he didn't come back again.
　　I'd like to write about victims of the atomic bombs. Most people in the world might think that the bombings are something that is done or passed long ago, but it's not true. The cruel influence of the atomic bombs is still continuing. Six months after his death, his wife visited the victim city, Hiroshima, commemorating the 65th anniversary of the first-ever atomic bombing. Her comment and picture were put on the local newspaper and I'm showing it later.
　　I'm angry about the attitude of the U.S. that has never apologized about the bombing. They made the convenient story up to protect themselves, but if you ask me, there is no rational excuse about the bombing. They attacked people who were not resisting, not only in this case, but also in lots of cities in Japan. Kamikaze never attacked the transport ships that didn't have the measures of attacks, following the international laws, but the U.S. did indiscriminately. It should have been the U.S., not Japan, to be judged in the Tokyo tribunal. My heart bleeds recalling his words.
　　At last, I'll post the article of the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the bombing in Hiroshima. The woman in the picture is his wife. I don't want to be bombed again. I insist that Japan should have the nuclear weapons unless all the countries throw the nuclear weapons away altogether. Japan is a single victim country of the nuclear weapons, so only Japan has the right to have the nuclear weapons to protect ourselves.

(Vocabulary)
memorable / unforgettable sight 忘れられない光景
in sb's care  ＜人＞の世話になっている
under sb's care  ＜人＞の世話［治療］を受けている
in the plural  複数形で
the danger of sth/of doing sth  ＜…＞の［＜…＞する］危険性
an indiscriminate attack / random attack 無差別攻撃
commemoration 記念, 記念式典, 記念物［碑］

 
 
 
 
 

Jan. 17th

　　16 years ago today, the Great Hanshin earthquake broke out in the Kobe-centered area in Japan. It was early morning. More than 6000 people were trapped dead in their houses. I remember the day just like yesterday. I happened to wake up earlier and saw people commemorating the 16th anniversary of the earthquake in the dark on TV.
　　Time flies. I was working in the university hospital at that time, and was sent to Kobe city as a member of the rescue team from the university. The transport measures were destroyed hopelessly around the city. Lots of people who had something to do with Kobe city carried necessities to their acquaintances on foot from adjacent areas, like Osaka.
　　It was the first time for the university to deploy medical personnel to such affected areas. We were not accustomed so that the preparation needed two days. A few fishery boats were chartered for the transport to Kobe. The Kobe port was also destroyed and our boats arrived at the shore which looked to be easy to get off the boats.
　　The scene of the commemoration reminded me of the rescue activities, during which I couldn't even take a shower. As for the shower, several days after our arrival, the Japan Self-defence Force set up the public bath near our camp. To my surpirse, they sounded like they could build the bridge, the paved road and even the port. It's wonderful.

(Vocabulary)
~ years ago today  ～年前の今日
Great Hanshin earthquake　阪神淡路大震災
deploy 〈人・装備・資源など〉 を動員する, 活用する

Hollow Operation?, Gastrojejunostomy

　　I do various operations as a general surgeon. Gastrojejunostomy is one of the operations which I specialize in. It's a kind of bypass operation of the alimentary tract. The stomach and upper intestine are connected by this method. When there's something in the stomach outlet or duodenum which narrows the alimentary canal or blocks the flow of food, the patient undergoes gastrojejunostomy if he/she wants to be able to eat something. If not, the patient would be fed by the intravenous hyperalimentation without any oral intake until his/her death. It means that the patient under this alimentation would never be able to leave the hospital.
　　The patient was a 55 year-old sincere man who had kept working for his family for a long time. His life looked like a thorny path. After his daughters got married, just when he was relieved, stomach cancer was found in him along with multiple hepatic metastasis. He consulted me complaining of frequent vomiting and that he couldn't eat meals. He was promptly diagnosed in the terminal stage of stomach cancer with a gastroscopy test and CT scan. He calmly accepted the reality. His daughters, however, were frantic. After going wild crying, they asked me to make him live longer to build good memories with him. They had never enjoyed family trips, and they hoped for a two-night family trip to a hot spring. This trip must be the first and last family trip for them. I took on their last desire. Their trip was scheduled on Feb. 11th, which is National Foundation Day.
　　I performed a gastrojejunostomy today. The inside of his abdomen was terrible and worse than I had expected. The operation was successful, but I was afraid the invasion of the cancer would advance to the anastomosis site in a few months. I just hope that he would be able to eat as early as possible and spend ordinary days at home for as long as possible.
　　In such cases, gastrojejunostomy isn't a curable method, but I think it is significant way of thinking for producing precious time toward the end of the life, though some surgeons don't think so.

(Vocabulary)
hollow〈行動・結果などが〉 むなしい, 無意味な, 価値のない
a hollow victory  むなしい勝利
stomach exit / stomach outlet  胃の出口
thorny path  いばらの道
frantically 半狂乱で
go wild doing  半狂乱で～する
take on（仕事・責任などを / 医者が患者を）引き受ける
anastomosis site 吻合部

Repayment from 'Tiger Mask' ?

　　Childcare institutions and consultation centers across Japan have been receiving anonymous gifts such as school bags, stationery, and cash from someone who claims to be the 'Tiger Mask', the hero of a popular wrestling comic book and TV series in 1960s. In the story, he was brought up in a tiny orphanage and became the superstar in the field of professional wrestling. He wore the mask of a tiger in the ring and no one knew his face. His real life was concealed. He was truly a gentle, kind and merciful man, though he was powerful and brave when he had the mask on.
　　The first person who gave gifts to children must have spent his/her childhood in 60s. How witty he/she was to use the name of 'Tiger Mask'. Following him/her, lots of people did the same thing. It's really heartwarming. It looks like this anonymous donation became a social movement. I hope it'll continue.
　　By the way, a question came up while I was writing this entry. The years between 1960 to 1969 are called 60s. 70s, 80s and 90s are acceptable, but what shall I call the years from 2000 to 2009? Do you know? Is it ok to call 10s as the years 2010-2019?

(Vocabulary)
repayment 恩返し
In the story, , , という設定です。
orphanage 孤児院

Golf Training Center

　　The picture shows a golf training facility near my house. Golfers shoot the ball toward the pond and the nets are for the protection of the people around. The material of golf balls is light enough to float on water. They conveniently come together following the flow of the water after it's rained or are collected by a small boat with a net. The underutilized pond is nicely used. Is there such a facility in other countries or is the idea only for a small country?

(Vocabulary)
underutilized  〈施設・能力などが〉十分に活用されていない

Bulk Trash

　　There are five PCs and several parts of PCs which are lying idle since long ago in my house. They are outdated. You might wonder why I hadn't done away with them. Honestly, I've wanted to throw them away, but I couldn't. The rules about garbage collection are strict and we are required to make a classification of garbage on the basis of materials. Especially, several items were rejected to be collected by the municipal collection service. PCs are one of those items. Just for your information, I wrote about such bulk trash before.
　　The system of recycling materials in Japan is thorough. I saw the plastic bottle return system in Germany last year and I thought it was good, but it was for recovering the deposit money added on the bottles. I also wrote about it before. Come to think of it, it's great for Japanese people to support the system voluntarily. Anyway, I decided finally to ask a junk dealer to collect them with a fee, though electronics emporiums receive them with the cost of disposal. Oh, I almost fogot, I have to erase their data on the HDD before passing them to the dealer.
　　By the way, modern life never avoids consuming materials and producing garbage. I think before my outdated PCs that I have to spend life with as less waste as possible for the next generation.

(Vocabulary)
bulk [bulky, big, huge] trash〔家具、冷蔵庫、テレビなど〕粗大ごみ
idle 《通例[名]の前不可》 使用されていない, 稼動していない, 遊んでいる
The factory has been idle since May. 工場は5月から稼動していない．
sit/stand/lie idle  放置されている, 遊んだままになっている
do away with  (不要なものを)捨てる
for your information　ご参考までに（申し添えておきますが）、ちなみに、後学のため◆【略】FYI　場合によってかなりキツイ言い方になる。
voluntarily  自発的に／無償で
junk dealer / rag collector / recycle service 廃品回収業者
fee（サービスに対する）手数料
an electronics emporium 大型家電店

Dream, Yume

　　"Yume" is the Japanese translation of "dream". I found something interesting today about "yume". I like reading Japanese poetry in Man'yoshu, the oldest existing literature, compiled in the 8th century. "Yume" is often used in poetry. In those poems, it means a series of thoughts, images, and feelings that you experience when you are asleep.
　　"I Have A Dream". As you know, it's a famous phrase from Martin Luther King Jr. and this "dream" is put into "yume" in Japanese. If this "dream" is simply a series of thoughts and images you can see only when you are asleep, don't you feel sad? Thinking of those, I consulted my dictionary. According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, "dream" is a wish to do, be, or have something and used especially when this seems unlikely. However, "yume" had never meant a wish to do, be, or have something originally, at least before the Edo era. That is to say, the meaning of "dream" and "yume" doesn't coincide completely. This fact caught my interest and I examined the reason a little further.
　　In the Meiji era, the western culture flew into Japan like a flood. At that time, "yume" is designated as the translation of "dream". After that, "yume" got influenced by "dream" and obtained a new meaning from "dream" which it didn't have since then. Now, "yume" has mainly two meanings; one is vaporous, temporary, vain, useless stuff, and so on when you see only during sleep. The other is positive meaning like wish, strong will, intention, blueprint for future and so on. I really recognised that the words are alive.

(Vocabulary)
poetry  [U] (文学の一形式としての) 詩
catch sb's attention/interest/imagination  ＜人＞の関心をひく, 注目を集める
LDOCE  Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English ロングマン現代英英辞典
consult [他] 〈本・リスト・地図など〉 を調べる

Lottery Incorporated Into Post Card

　　An African subscriber sent me an e-mail asking me about the number on the footer of the postcard which I wrote about the other day. She says, "Is it a kind of serial number like on bills?" I thought that her inquiry might be universal, and decided to write this entry not the private reply.
　　To tell the truth, this officially-issued New Year Greeting Post Card contains the lottery called "Otosidama". In the middle of January, several designated people are supposed to draw lots. The best award is several 2-3 days' domestic or overseas trips for two persons as your choice or home electric appliances like the TV, PC, and so on. The lowest award is stamps worth 130 yen (1.50 US dollar). The lowest prize is decided from the last two numbers. For instance, it is announced like 11, 33, 57. These indicate the last two numbers of the serial number, and the possibility of the lowest prize is 3/100. I get 200-300 greeting cards every year, but I've never won a better prize than the lowest before. What will become of this year?

(Vocabulary)
incorporate  [他] (全体の一部として) …を取り入れる
incorporate sth into/in sth  ＜…＞を＜…＞に取り入れる
She incorporates a lot of history in her books. 彼女の著作には史実が多く盛り込まれている．
home electric appliances  家電製品

Archaeological Museum

　　When I wrote the entry about the Sican civilization, I remembered a museum near my house. Its name is Matsuyama City Archaeological Museum. The picture was a signboard and was shot to make a note of the word "archaeology". When I see something during a walk, I often wonder how to describe it in English. I could imagine the meaning of "archaeology" from the Japanese subtitle, but took a picture instead of writing it down in my memo pad. Needless to say, I looked the word up later in my dictionary. This museum is about 10 minutes' walk from my house and I frequently pass it walking my dog. I've never visited it, however. I'll go and see the inside before very long.

(Vocabulary)
make a note of sth　 ＜…＞を書き留める, メモする
keep a note of sth　 ＜…＞をメモしておく
before very long  そのうちに

January 4th

　　It is the day when all the public offices start routine work across the country in Japan. My office is likewise. Just before the opening of the opd, the principal staff members were required to get together in the conference room and receive a motivational talk from the head director.
Anyway, the year 2011 just actually started today. I wish lots of happy things may happen to me.

(Vocabulary)
public office 官公庁
motivational 人をやる気にさせる
head director 理事長

Exhibition of Sican Culture

　　I visited the Museum of Art, in Ehime with my family to see the exhibition of Sican Culture. I didn't know even the name Sican until the exhibition started in the prefectural museum. Sican is one of the civilizations in ancient Peru. It had been unrecognized until a Japanese researcher started excavating a few decades ago. The researcher found lots of evidence that indicated the existence of an unknown civilization in the northern part of Peru. He devoted himself to research of the Sican civilization, which was named by him.
　　I was moved to know that a nameless young man went all the way to the U.S., was a member of Southern Illinois University and continued his effort, and finally discovered the 1000-year old long-sealed historical facts.

Best Wishes For A Happy New Year

　　This is my sixth year for keeping my blog. I began writing the entries on Nov. 25th in 2005. I never expected to be able to keep my incentive so vivid for such a long time. I don't know why, but it is clear that it's fun to express my opinion to people all over the world. At the beginning of the year, I think, I'm going to use or try new expressions this year which I've never used. Especially, I want to use shorter words such as "have", "take", "give" rather than longer words. It's my new year's resolution.

(Vocabulary)
This is my third year in Tokyo. 東京へ来てから足掛け 3 年になる.