Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Tsudumi

　　There's a Japanese restaurant named "Omotenashi-dokoro Tsudumi" 500 meters from my office as the crow flies. The location is so close, but I rarely eat there. Can you imagine why? It is always booked up and you have to make a reservation three months in advance. That is, it's too late to decide on the restaurant at noon, for dinner that night. Can you decide where to have dinner three months before? You would surely shout "That's incredible!" to hear that. To avoid the extreme rush of booking, its telephone number is not listed in any book. The information of the restaurant travels by word of mouth.
　　The number of seats in the restaurant is only six. Six is the maximum. Besides the owner receives only a single booking per day. He used to be the chief-chef in the ANA hotel which is the highest level hotel around here and he returned to his original home to take care of his almost bedridden mother. He decided to open his own restaurant in his hometown and serve one single group a night with all of his skills. His plan was successful and his restaurant became a huge hit. People indulge in tasting the lavish dishes.
　　The other day, I was able to have dinner there because of a sudden cancellation, so I immediately booked it for dinner. When we started talking about the porcelain during dinner, the owner brought out some old sake flasks and cups which had been produced 100 years ago. The conversation with such professionals is always fun.

(Vocabulary)
decide on/upon sth [句動詞] (多くの選択肢の中から) ＜…＞を選ぶ, 決める
Have you decided on a career (×decided a career) yet? もう仕事を決めましたか．
複数の選択肢の中から1つを選ぶ場合はdecide on/upon somethingを用いる．
by word of mouth 口コミで
indulge (飲み食い・無駄遣いなど)（思う存分）楽しむ, 羽目をはずす
indulge in sth ＜…＞にうつつを抜かす, ふける

Egoistic America

　　I'll write about the Iranian Azadegan oil field which is located 80 kilometres west of Ahvaz, near the Iraqi border. Japan had been involved in its development for a long time. Iran has been in a friendly relationship with Japan since the old times. There is hardly any political issue between both countries. The U.S., however, forced Japan to cut ties with Iran in connection with Iran's development of nuclear weapons. Japan had to quit cooperation unwillingly.
　　Now, Japan has an territorial row with Russia about the Kuril Islands and the southern half of Sakhalin (Karafuto in Japanese). Viewed strictly, there's nothing to argue about the sovereignty of Japan over those areas. However, Russia illegally controls the area at present. Kunashiri Island, one of the islands which Japan has insisted on its sovereignty against Russia has been suffering from a shortage of power. The bitterness of the coldness in winter would be indescribable. Recently Russia put together a plan of construction for a geothermal power plant on the island. I could never accept that Russia would damage Japanese land  and create a fait accompli, but to my great surprise, an American company acknowledged an order from Russia. Did the U.S. - Japan's most reliable partner - recognize Kunashiri Island as Russian territory? Do they have so-called morals?


(Vocabulary)
Azadegan oil field  アザデガン油田
accept an order / acknowledge an order  受注する
the Kuril Islands 千島列島
geothermal power plant 地熱発電所
accomplished fact / done deal / fait accompli (French)  既成事実
create a fait accompli 既成事実を作る

アメリカは日本が推し進めてきたイランのアザデガン油田の開発では、イランの核開発を理由に日本企業に参加を取りやめるよう要請し、日本はこれを吞んだ。今回ソ連が実効支配する国後島の地熱発電所の建設で日本が嫌がっているのにアメリカの会社が受注する事になった。アメリカも国後をソ連領と認めたのか。怒れ、日本。

Ehime Marathon

　　Marathons have become more popular in Japan recently. Nothing about marathons has attracted me until now, as some of my friends took part in the 51th Ehime Marathon. So, I went to Horinouchi Park designated as the endpoint of the marathon to cheer them on and welcome them. An IC chip attached to every runner's number tag enabled you to know the present location of a particular runner. I'd like to have seen my friends running on the route, but I didn't fully understand the road traffic regulations, which are seemingly very strict, so I stayed at the finish, waiting for their arrival. A Hougaku concert of traditional Japanese music was taking place in a hall in the park so while I was checking their present position, I was able to listen to beautiful tunes until their arrival. The picture shows a part of the park. The castles on the hill are one of the potent symbols of Matsuyama City. A variety of stalls were busy in their preparations.
　　All my friends, but one, successfully arrived at the finish. The one who didn't make it stopped running at 30km because he didn't reach the finish line within the given time. He was picked up by bus and brought to the endpoint. The runners must arrive at the finish line within 6 hours. I was watching the runners coming into the finish during the last 20 minutes. Some of them were slightly fat and it made me think of the possibility that I could participate next year.