Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

A Belated Happy New Year!

　　I'm long overdue for posting several articles into this blog. I was going to write an ariticle just after the year 2015 had started, but I was lazy and busy.
　　A few days ago, I made up my mind to buy a German car, the SLK200. The following picture below is the brochure of the car. I had already ordered one, but it will take a half year before the car will be delivered to me. I can't wait until its arrival. I read its brochure almost every day. In April last year, I made a test drive of a SLK200 and I wrote my impression on the car in this blog. The car was incredibly great. This test drive gave me a keen interest in the car. After 10 months since then, I decided to get one!

(Vocabulary)
be long overdue for~ とっくに～しているべきである、～の時期をとうに過ぎている

My Father and 660cc Small Car

　　I'm writing about my 83 year-old father. He is still fine, but is weak in walking and he can't walk continuously for 100 meters. Whenever he goes out, he drives his 660cc car and his way of driving is sometimes erratic.
　　The increase of aged drivers is recently emerging as a social problem in Japan. Their driving often causes terrible accidents, so the authorities ask them to return their driving license. You are supposed to renew your license every five years, but people who suffer from partial dementia can pass through this barrier.
　　My father has been driving cars for more than 60 years and is confident about driving. However, seeing him drive, I feel it's dangerous. Finally I induced him to stop driving cars and got his car away under his three sons' influence.
　　On the other hand, I didn't want him to stay inside all the time, because it leads him to be inactive. I gave him a mobility scooter to enjoy wandering outside. The following picture shows his small 660cc car.

(Vocabulary)
erratic とっぴな, 不規則な
lacunar dementia まだら痴呆症
mobility scooter （障害者・高齢者用の）電動カート

Commemoration

　　One of the members of my Lions Club, who was nearly 90, had passed at the end of the year 2014. He loved Japanese sake and rakugo, which is traditional comic storytelling performed solo. You know rakugo? Seated on a zabuton cushion, a comic tells a story, energetically speaking the dialogue for all the characters. To clearly distinguish one character from another, rakugo performers use various speech patterns and physical mannerisms.
　　A unique party for remembering the deceased was held today, called by his friend, a full-fledged rakugo master of Katsura Koharudanji "桂小春団治". People who gathered honored his memory enjoying wonderful rakugo and Japanese sake, which were offered from more than 30 sake producers all over Japan.
　　Next, a young rakugo performer, Katsura Koume "桂小梅", accompanied Katsura Koharudanji from Osaka and showed his rakugo before Katsura Koharudanji. I didn't expect much of him, but it was fairly good. In the party, his seat was next to me and I heard of his daily life. I had a good time with him. I'd like to visit his homeground, Hanjo-Tei "繁昌亭" in Osaka in the near future.

Udon Noodles

　　I'm not good at cooking. I seldom cook at home, but a cooking class of udon wheat noodles, whose lecturer was my friend, was held today. I attended it with my second daughter. Udon wheat noodles are used in various dishes and people usually get the noodles from shops. Today's class was meant to make the noodles themselves.
　　Udon is one of the traditional foods in Japan. Specifically, Kagawa Prefecture, next to my home Ehime Prefecture, boasts the greatest consumption of udon wheat noodles among all the prefectures in Japan. With its dry climate suitable for growing wheat, it was an ideal location for udon production. It's been going on here for over 300 years.
　　I'll write how they're made. The ingredients are simply wheat flour, salt, and water. The first step is making salt water. The amount of salt is adjusted carefully in accordance with the day's temperature and humidity. The salt water is mixed with the flour to make the dough. The kneading must be done thoroughly by hand to squeeze out any excess air from the dough. The dough is then tramped on. By applying pressure on it like in the picture below, the protein in the dough forms a sticky substance called gluten.
　　Normally, the dough has to rest overnight, but our class was restricted in time and the dough was left for an hour and cut to the suitable size. Even so, the taste was great!