Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Sprit of Japan

I'm writing about the spirit of Japan in reply to Mr/Ms YL's comment in my entry of "Resilience".
Japan was attacked by propaganda from China and Korea after the Greater East Asian War. Some people held out against them, but the Japanese Government did not take protective measures against them. They were desperately useless. Consequently lots of Japanese were brainwashed and came to think that Japan used to be an evil nation. I believe that all the Japanese will stand up against those critics when it is required.
Modesty or to be humble is a virtue for the Japanese. The DNA of the Japanese always tries to avoid conflict with others. The result of this virtue is the Russian unlawful occupation of the Kuril Islands and the southern half of Karafuto (Sakhalin in Russian). South Korea's unlawful occupation of Takeshima is the same. China is taking advantage of the Japanese virtue.
If you want to know Japan and the Japanese, read "Bushido: The Soul of Japan" written by Inazo Nitobe. It is written in English. I wrote some entries about Inazo Nitobe before. Additionally, I want you to access the website of the Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact. Lastly I'll show you the links to the society and my entries concerning Inazo Nitobe.

http://www.sdh-fact.com/

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/07/a-new-acquainta.html
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/03/nitobe-memorial.html
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/01/ski-schedule.html
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/08/taking-a-walk-i.html

(Vocabulary)
hold out against 対抗する
take advantage of people's misfortunes 人の不幸につけ込む

(From comments)
proletariat ［無産］階級, プロレタリアート [同意] working-class
See the 3rd comment of this entry! Very useful and highly suggestive!
manifest (感情・態度など)を表明する
be manifested in/through sth ＜…＞に［を通じて］はっきりと表れる
manifest itself（問題・症状などが) 現れる, 目に見えてくる
on a silver tray　　See the 3rd comment of this entry!
stature 評価
of stature  評価されている
the masses 《複数扱い》 一般大衆, 庶民
denominator 分母
lowest common denominator
(けなして) (万人にとっての) 共通項 (専門) 最小公分母
[同意] least common denominator(米)
lightweight (けなして) 取るに足らぬ人, 小者,軽薄な人,根性なし
class 一流の
demagogue 扇動政治家
demagogy (demagoguery とも) [名] [U]（民衆）扇動
demagogic  [形]扇動的な
statecraft 政治的活動, 政治的手腕
a school of thought  (ある集団の共有する) 考え方, 見解
There are two main schools of thought on the subject. その問題については2つの主流となる見解がある．
discredit
[他] …の信用［威信］を傷つける
《[他]通例受け身形で》 〈理論・報告など〉 の信憑(しんぴょう)性を失わせる
a discredited theory 信憑性を失った理論
venture an opinion 思い切って［あえて］意見を言う
in medical/scientific/advertising parlance 医学［科学，広告業界］用語で
in common/popular/ordinary parlance 平易な言葉で言えば
Joe Six-pack, the Great Unwashed    See the 3rd comment.

 

Mocha To School Again

　　A Dalmatian is in my house. I have written a dozen entries about this male dog, Mocha. He is really nice and smart. He looks like he can tell the exhaust sound of my scooter from others', so my family members know that I'm coming home several tens of seconds before my arrival, because he stands up with one forefoot on the bar to see me. His style is very unique and it became one of the reasons why he is famous and popular in my neighborhood.
　　By the way, Dalmatians are supposed to be calm and gentle dogs due to the Disney Film, "One Hundred and One Dalmatians", but it's not true. This kind of dog usually barks frequently. Mocha used to be like such a dog. My house is located in a calm housing district and the noisy sound of dog-barkings bothers the neighbors. Consequently, he was confined into a dog-training facility for two months. I wrote about it here(LINK 1). He went totally straight after the training. Two years later, however, he started barking again and was taken to the same facility again. He came back home at that time too, as though he was born again.(LINK 2)
　　He began barking meaninglessly again. It seems that he became delinquent again in the spring and he was sent to the same facility. It might be like a jail for him, but this rehab as we speak is really great. He will be a good boy.

(Vocabulary)
go straight (インフォーマル)(前科者などが)足を洗ってまっとうに暮らす
delinquent  非行の, 非行を働く

 

Erasing Data from HDD

　　I use my PCs in both my office and my home. The data is stored on both PCs' HDD and on the internet so that I can do some deskwork also in my home. It is a very comfortable working circumstance, but one of my those PCs got outdated and I decided to throw it away. The data on its HDD was erased totally by myself, I believed, but the PC experts apparently can revive the data. That was why I took the PC to the Medical Association that I belong to. The association has a data-erasing machine and this machine can make the HDD eternally unusable by strong magnetic energy. I'll show you the picture of the machine. It took about ten minutes to clear the HDD and the private data on the patients was completely erased.

German Media and Administration

　　Germany has been one of my favorite countries since I began learning German in my medical school and now I often enjoy netsurfing on Germany. The other day, I was really surprised to read some reports on Japan's atomic plant's accident published by various German news media. This unhappy accident was made a political issue by the German opposition party. I have written about the SPD before.
　　The atomic power station's collapse is broadcast hysterically in Germany, where those facilities have been reportedly decreased by the government in the not so distant future. Germany seems to have increased the import of natural gas from Russia. The natural gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea is under construction and is not being interfered with by other countries on the way to Germany. In other words, they are shifting the source of power from atomic power to natural gas. They say, "The replacement is for safety." Don't they think of improving the safety of atomic power plants? Japan will do it, I believe.
　　Russia will sell the natural gas to Germany because it's more profitable than they use it domestically. On the other hand, Russia gets power from atomic power plants. It means that the German efforts to abolish the atomic power plants are nonsense from the global viewpoint.
　　What's more, the French atomic plants are lined up near the border with Germany. If an accident occurred in these plants, Germany would be surely affected because of the west wind.
　　The German reaction might be due to the fear of an accident in Chernobyl though the structure of the reactor, the running system and the measures taken against the accident are totally different from those of Japan. In Japan, the price of one's life is unbelievably high in comparison with that of Russia. The Environment Agency set the ambient criteria strictly and with enough margin of safety. If several data exceed the allowable limit set by the Agency a little, you don't have to panic. I'd like the German media to keep their head and check the real data carefully.
　　Eventually, they are just making political capital out of the unhappy accident in Japan. The Prime Minister, Merkel, might be sorry for the current of thought as she is originally a physical scientist from East Germany and knows more about atomic plants.
　　A friend in need is a friend indeed. Germany wasn't a real friend of Japan. The German rescue team went back home at once without heading for the devastated areas while 18 teams from all over the world are working there. Lots of the Japanese are grateful for those countries from the bottom of their heart. The present administration must be so, though their policy originally was anti-U.S. How about Germany? This year is the 150th anniversary of entering diplomatic relations between Germany and Japan. I was so disappointed.

(Vocabulary)
Chernobyl  チェルノブイリ
exceed the allowable limits set by the Environment Agency 環境基準を超える
ambient criteria / standard  環境基準
margin of safety〔【略】MOS〕 / safety margin  安全域
keep your head   (困難な状況などで) 冷静さを保つ
make capital out of sth ＜…＞を利用する, に乗じる
a current of thought 支配的な思想［考え方］, 思潮
enter diplomatic relations  国交を結ぶ

ドイツでの日本の報道について

ドイツは大好きな国の一つで、時折ドイツ国内のネットサーフィンを楽しむ。日本の地震の報道については本当に驚いた。日本の自然災害が政争の具にされているのだ。

ドイツの原発事情；

日本の事故がヒステリックに報道されている。
ドイツでは原発を減らすという。そしてロシアからのガスを買う。他国に影響されぬようバルト海ルートが造られているという。ロシアは自国で消費するよりも高く売れるのでガスを売り、自国では原子力発電を行う。地球レベルで見ればなんの環境対策にもなっていない。
フランスの原発はドイツとの国境近くに建設されている。何かあれば、ドイツに影響があるだろう。
チェルノブイリの後遺症か？　日本と比べたらその構造も、管理体制も、対応も全く異なるのに。日本の厳しすぎる環境基準、ロシアと比べて命の価値の違う日本。
結局は、ドイツで原発を減らすというのはＳＰＤ（ドイツの民主党）の政争の具である。物理学者のメルケルさん、さぞや頭の痛いことだろう。

結局ドイツは友人ではなかった；

ドイツからの救援隊は何もすることなく帰国した。１８地域からの救援隊は今なお活動しているにもかかわらず。アメリカには借りができたなと国民の誰もが感じている。アメリカ嫌いの現政権もなにも言葉はあるまい。果たしてドイツに対してはどうか？今年は国交開始１５０周年という節目である。ドイツには失望した。

Cycling

　　Since I saw lots of people riding their bike in Germany last year, I have been interested in bikes, though the environment for cyclists isn't good in Japan in comparison with Germany. Some of my friends were also addicted to the bike at that time. Naturally, cycling is good for my health. This is why I bought the bike. It would be great if the cycling path network extended across the country and trains could accommodate bikes.
　　I bought a pair of cycling gloves and shoes on my friends' advice today just before my first ride. Both are made for cycling and are comfortable. I was surprised, however, to find the holes on the sole for binding the shoes and the pedals. I just knew that there was something to connect both, but didn't know about the holes. If it rained, my feet would surely get wet naturally.
　　Anyway, I went out for cycling. It took some time to understand how to change the gears, but the bike was well designed, as to be expected. The bike was really controllable even for me though I'm just a beginner. I enjoyed riding for about 2 hours and biked nearly 20 km. It led me to know that the distance can be more than I had previously expected. I'd like to ride at least 20 km every week at first, and gradually make it longer.

(Vocabulary)
on one's advice ～の勧めで

From kind comments
unsolicited (電話・手紙・Eメールなどが) かってにかかって［送られて］くる,(アドバイス・申し出などが) 押しつけがましい, おせっかいな
swerve  (ぶつからないように) (道などで) 〈人・車などが〉 急にわきに寄る［それる］
swerve to avoid/miss sb/sth  ＜…＞を避けて急にわきに寄る
swerve from sth  ＜…＞から逸脱する, それる
stray (動物が) 迷子の, はぐれた, 帰る家のない
a stray dog/cat  迷子の犬［猫］ 偶然にそれた
a stray bullet  流れ弾
axonal 軸索の
pothole  路面のくぼみ
making a nuisance of myself by ~ing
busybody  おせっかい焼き, 詮索(せんさく)好きな人

 

Resilience

　　The recovery work and the relief activities for affected people began in earnest. More than 200,000 affected people stay at several thousand shelters which are scattered within a 300 km radius at present. The access roads to the shelters were broken and there had been no communication between most shelters and the rescue bureau for a few days. The authorities didn't know where and how many people were isolated and stranded. The people must have been starving and very cold. Some of them were wet to the skin. It was snowing.
　　Numerous choppers from Japan's Self-Defence Force (JSDF) and the U.S. military forces were searching for affected people in the rubble or houses isolated in the sea water. I would remember them with humble gratitude. A friend in need is a friend indeed. This is true.
　　By the way, I don't evaluate the government. Their response was so poor that they couldn't supply enough necessities to the affected people who were evacuated with the barest necessities. They had no food, overcoats, heaters, electricity and kerosine, to name a few. On the other hand, ordinary people were great. They looked out for each other even in the shelters. The construction companies speeded up reconstruction efforts on the roads. The Joban highway (Link 1, Link 2), which is the most important road for the victims was completely destroyed, but it was recovered to the level that trailers could run one by one for only 6 days. Sendai port is also important to transportation by cargo ships. This port was already recovered partially though a number of cars, rubble and something like that are sunk in the port and they hamper the entry of the ships into port. Sendai airport was also restored partially. As the runway was a half of what it used to be, it's only available for the U.S. military and JSDF aircraft, but it's enough now. Oil factories are completely retrieved. Those works were done by ordinary people. Everyone knows and does what they should do.
　　For the last of this entry, I have to refer to the present heros, who are working at the collapsed atomic power plant with their life on the line. All of them know the possible exposure to radiation. What drives them? One of their wives reportedly said to her husband "I hope you will be a Messiah for Japan." This fireman is great and his wife is much more than great. I couldn't hold back my tears.
　　It is expected to take many years to complete the overall reconstruction work. However, we will surely overcome these difficulties.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/24/japan-disaster-reconstruction-road-recovery

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1369307/Japan-tsunami-earthquake-Road-repaired-SIX-days-destroyed.html

(Vocabulary)
resilience  立ち直る力, 回復力
recovery efforts / work // rehabilitation work  復旧作業
in earnest 本格的に
relief activities for affected people  被災民救援活動
humble (ほめて) 謙虚な, つつましい
a humble apology (フォーマル) 心からの謝罪
with only the barest necessities  着の身着のままで
bare 《[名]の前でのみ》 かろうじての, ほんのわずかの
the bare essentials (the bare necessities とも) 最低限必要なもの
to name a few 数例を挙げると
look out for sb/sth  ＜…＞に注意する,  ＜…＞を保護する, の世話をする
speed up reconstruction efforts of ～の復旧作業を急ぐ
refinery / oil factory  製油所
retrieve [他](状況)を修復する, 立て直す, (元のよい状態)に復旧する
Messiah 《常に単数形で》 (比喩的に) 救世主
hold back one's tears  涙をこらえる

Atomic Plant Collapse

　　There are several atomic power stations in the disaster-stricken area, where Japanese people had launched the first-ever atomic power station in its history in 1965. Those power stations were designed elaborately against severe earthquakes and successfully survived the harsh rocking from the earthquake this time.
　　However, an unbelievable and unforeseen huge tsunami destroyed the emergency power generating system of the plant. They ended up getting short of power in eastern Japan. Tokyo has also been crippled by the accident as I wrote in the entry called "Rotating Blackout".
　　Some people cry out for the abolition of the atomic power stations now, but I don't think so. Cars sometimes cause traffic accidents and passenger planes sometimes crash. Do you think that you should stop using cars and planes? These machines got more and more secure through miserable accidents. I hope atomic power stations will be safer and more reliable.

(Vocabulary)
unforeseen  (状況などが)思いもよらない, 予期しなかった
unforeseen circumstances/events  予期せぬ事態［出来事］
emergency power generating system　非常発電装置
cripple …に打撃を与える, をだめにする, 麻痺(まひ)させる
Asia's economy has been crippled by inflation. アジアの経済はインフレで打撃を受けている．

Bike Delivered

　　I ordered a bike online and it was delivered. I'll show you the picture. It was made in the U.S. and was imported into Japan. I haven't thought of it much, but it's great. People who lived a century ago would never believe that an individual could do it. The bill was paid by credit card. It would also have been amazing for those people.
　　The bike is so beautiful. I like it. I just see it on my computer screen, but it is really nice. Cycling might become my lifelong hobby. I couldn't put it outside and set it just inside the entrance. I thought that I would place it in the living room as an ornament, but my family laughed at me, saying that only seeing the bike would never make me reduce weight. I talked back to them that it might be good for my mental health.
　　Anyway, I will be able to show you various pictures around my hometown from now.

Come Back Home and No One There

　　I came back home after 4 days' continuous work. There was no one but Mocha, my dog. My wife will be late due to a party after the commencement of her college. I wondered if there was something to eat? Alright! Several kinds of frozen food were stored in the fridge. I plugged in the electric kettle for my tea and turned on the rice cooker. I found ash or cement like dust (maybe dead skin) on the floor and turned the roomba on. Then, I turned the laundry machine on as I was told by my wife. I set the DVD recorder for the local news. After that, I went out for a walk with Mocha. I realized that my life is really based on the stable supply of power.
　　As I wrote the other day, the scheduled partial blackout is going on in eastern Japan. Daily life would be so inconvenient.

Change of Mind

　　I feel gloomy about the devastated people who have to stay in a shelter during such cold nights, but I'm writing about something happier for now. If not, I would be depressed. It will need such a long time measured in terms of 10-year units to recover from this catastrophe. I think of long-lasting aids for them to rise up, such as utilizing the products of eastern Japan, travelling there and timely donations for various events.
　　It's 2300 on the 14th. I'm in the safe office. Just now, lots of personnel are reportedly said to be on the go to repair the plant. They must be working in the exposure to the high-level toxic radiation. Some of them might lose their lives. I'm full of gratitude for their devoted work.
　　Anyway, I'll write about my new bike in the next entry.

(Vocabulary)
gloomy  憂鬱な, 重苦しい
devoted 愛情深い, 献身的な

A Parcel from the UK

　　A part of my bicycle gear was delivered from the UK. I was delighted to see it when I came back home. It was transported from the UK all the way! What's more, the bicycle shop that I ordered my bicycle from sent me an e-mail saying that my bicycle was assembled and they had sent it to me. All the gears from the UK haven't been delivered yet, but I'm going to ride it this weekend. I'll show you pictures later.

Rotating Blackout

The authorities decided to take measures of a rotating blackout against the shortage of power due to the atomic power plant accidents. It's reasonable and I agree with the plan, but how many people will be affected by this plan? I've never heard of a rotating blackout before. The electric company explained that they divided their vast power-supplying area into 5 smaller area groups and would stop supplying power to those divided area by rotation. It will shrink the economic activity of Japan, but it can't be helped.
My eldest daughter lives in the heart of Tokyo. She says that ordinary people's lives have been considerably affected by the shortage of power. The transportation of necessities seems to be restricted and they are getting short of those day by day.
The power plant survived the ever-hardest quake as it was designed, but the authorities didn't figure out the more than 5 meter tsunami. One of my classmates in high school is what you call a top specialist in the field of atomic power and works at the neighboring atomic power research center in Tokai. He was really sorry, saying that his life would be nonsense if the research of the atomic power stopped due to this accident. The anti-tsunami system is far cheaper and easier than the anti-quake system. The researchers were successful in the difficult protection from the quake, but were careless about the tsunami, even though the measures against tsunamis were simple and far easier than those against rocking.
The Japanese people are seeing how it will develop with breathless interest.

(Vocabulary)
by rotation  交代で
can't be helped  仕方ない
with breathless interest  固唾を飲んで
on a rotating basis  輪番制で
rolling blackout  計画停電

Afterquake

　　As the main quake was super-enormous, the afterquakes are big. The tsunami-alert from Japan's Meteorological Agency has been continuously issued after the main quake. And so, the fire department can't start their work against the fire of the chemical industrial complex, because it is located near the seashore. The rescue team can't likewise recover the bodies floating along the coast .
　　Several villages can't be reached even by the rescue team yet because all the routes to the villages were completely damaged. A village had been reportedly smashed leaving only 40% of its population alive. It means that 60% of the residents are missing or dead. This quake is the most terrible natural disaster if you ask me.
　　The accident in the Fukushima atomic power station is getting serious and people living near the plant have been evacuated from their houses. Naturally, it will cause a shortage of power. All the national economical activities will be affected badly. What will become of Japan?

(Vocabulary)
afterquake 余震
main shock ［quake, tremor］/ principal earthquake 本震
meteorological agency 気象庁
industrial complex コンビナート

Catastrophe

　　The eastern part of Japan was relentlessly rocked by an incredibly horrendous earthquake. It is said to be the most enormous one for 1000 years or the biggest natural disaster since recorded history. As you remember, a big earthquake battered Kobe City in 1995 and the death toll rose to 6000. It was really terrible, but today's earthquake is supposed to be 180 times more powerful than Kobe's earthquake. Unbelievable! The magnitude of the earthquake was beyond belief.
　　Eastern Japan, especially the Pacific coast, has been told that a big earthquake would break out in the near future, considering several earthquakes that have occurred regularly around this area in the past ten centuries. And so, people who live there were ready for earthquakes. The buildings, houses, infrastructure and other systems against disasters were well prepared. Actually, the earthquake couldn't destroy those, but the tsunami was far beyond our belief. The tsunami was 10 meters high in some areas and went over the coastal levee. Though houses could get over the earthquake, the tsunami hit and destroyed them.
　　My hometown had no damage and I live a calm daily life now. However, the influence of the earthquake will gradually emerge in my city. It will take a long time to recover, but Japan is strong enough to overcome any difficulty. I sent some money as a donation that I had saved for my next ski trip to Canada. The TV news says that the atomic power plant had a problem and the affected area is short of electric power. I decided to save electric power to supply it to them.
　　I have something that I want you to notice. It is that there's no rioting, no looting and no rumor that foments insurgency. People willingly and patiently line up to get something like food, water and other necessities. People try to be nice and look out for each other. I think that it's a kind of virtue of the Japanese people. The rescue teams from all over the world will thankfully help us rise up. They will realize our spirit of cooperation, noticing our behaviour even in an emergency.

(Vocabulary)
horrendous すごく恐ろしい, ぞっとする
beyond belief　信じられない［信じ難い］ほどの
The vastness of the universe is almost beyond belief. 宇宙の広大さはほとんど信じられないくらいだ。
assumption  [C] 仮定, 想定, 思い込み
coastal ［coast］ levee  防潮堤
foment 〈戦争・暴動など〉 をあおる, 扇動する
try to be nice 気を使う
look out for each other お互いに気を使う 

ALIVE

I'm fine. My loved ones are all fine. Don't worry about us.

Thank you for your concern. 

Bicycle Pump

　　A week has passed since I ordered my bicycle, "Jamis Aurora," online. The shop personnel told me that it would take a few weeks to deliver it because they were so busy having received many orders. If their work is as previously scheduled, my bicycle will arrive next week. I'm going to enjoy cycling on a regular basis to keep fit. I'm not sure now, but I'm thinking of joining the 100 km cycling event that will be held this autumn, though I'm a beginner now.
　　I visited a sports goods shop to examine some cycling gear today. As I don't know much about cycling gears, I asked my friends to come with me and they gave me some useful advice. I examined some goods directly with both hands and compared both the prices in the shop and on the net. Consequently I bought a bicycle pump, a light, a chain lock and bicycle clips which are used for fixing the bottom of the pants at about the same or at a lower price as on the net and after getting back home I ordered online several gears from the UK to be delivered to my house at a lower price on the net than in the shop. It's amazingly convenient.
　　The picture shows the bicycle pump that I bought today. It should be stored at the entrance or out of the house, but I put it in my room and often look at it with a smile. The number of the entries classified into the category "Sports" will increase.

(Vocabulary)
bicycle pump　自転車の空気入れ
as (previously) arranged / scheduled 予定通り
keep fit 健康を維持する
bicycle clip （自転車の乗る人の）ズボンの裾留め

What I Learned From Libya

　　The unrest in Libya is also broadcast almost every day in Japan. I wonder why Libyans hate Libyans so much that they kill each other relentlessly? What reason for excusing their slaughter do they have? I read some books about African history and I understood that there had been lots of armed intervention by the European superpowers into the African Continent in previous times. It was more harsh than I had learned in my high school days.
　　In Africa most borders were marked out, not considering African native people but suiting the  convenience of Europe. It is said that lots of kinds of people live in Libya, like Arabs, Berber and other African tribes. They have their own views and agendas. The majority are Sunni Muslim, but some people are Coptic Christians. It might be impossible for these people to get together and shape a single nation. Will the conflict drag on for a long time?
　　Japan is located in the far east of Eurasia. In a fixed area, with almost a single ethnicity and almost a sole history, Japanese people have survived on the globe since recorded history. Though there are several dialects, people use Japanese for daily communication. The people who live in Japan are the Japanese public. The way of thinking is alike. It might be an extremely special occasion. I reached this conclusion.
　　This might be the reason for the incredible stability of Japan. Despite frequent replacements of the prime minister, the social status is calm with a few rare exceptions. Armed uprisings have seldom broken out in Japan after the Edo era, which started in 1603 and continued until 1868. In this period, the social security was extremely stable and science technology and various cultures developed remarkably. These accumulations of technologies and cultures surely became the basis of the present Japan.
　　I hit on a curious idea now. The words, "country", "nation" and "state" are translated into Japanese as a single word, "kuni". This fact makes it difficult for me to distinguish between these three words. For example, in European countries and the States, different ethnic people live and different languages are spoken and there are different cultures in one country. It might be the reason that English has various words that stand for the Japanese word, "kuni".
　　Anyway, I hope that Libya will became a secure country soon.

(Vocabulary)
in previous times かつて
mark sth out  (線を引いて) ＜場所など＞を区切る, 仕切る
ethnicity  民族性, 民族意識
uprising  反乱, 暴動, （武装）蜂起

Earthquake In New Zealand

　　Two victims of the latest earthquake in New Zealand were transferred to Japan. It is reported that one lost a foot and the other can't walk alone. Both are around 20 years old and had left Japan only a few weeks ago with big expectations for living in Christchurch. Nearly 30 Japanese students are still missing. I'm really sorry to hear the news with all the more reason that my second daughter lived in southern Germany for a year to learn German. The families of missing people were shown the scene today and it made them throw away the last bit of hope. The scene of the collapse is incredibly catastrophic.
　　Pacific Rim countries are prone to earthquakes. It is well-known common sense that the buildings in those countries are strong enough to survive earthquakes. What measures against earthquakes do they set up? Another earthquake rocked the same city 6 months ago. After the earthquake, the owner of the building in which there were lots of students who were reportedly crushed had gotten an official certificate to use the building as before. Don't certain mistakes exist in the administration?  Body damage was so heavy that families can't identify their daughters or sons. DNA tests will be used to identify the victims.
　　It is profoundly lamentable to lose people who were full of promise.

(Vocabulary)
with all the more reason that ~  それだけに一層～
the last bit of hope  一縷の望み
Pacific Rim 環太平洋地域
Japan is prone to earthquakes. 日本は地震国である。
full of promise / with a future 未来のある