Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

U.S. Presidential Visit to Hiroshima

　　The G7 summit takes place in Japan. The U.S. President Obama will get the chance to visit Hiroshima, where the first-ever atomic bomb was dropped, and offer condolences to the victims. It became a big issue in Japan whether the President should apologize for two atomic bombings done by the U.S. or not. However I'd say that it's up to the U.S. if you ask me. If the U.S. citizens want to do so, they are free to do it.
　　A fighter flew above Hiroshima just after the bombing. The pilot was piloting the newly built plane from the factory to the forefront in Kyushu. He witnessed Enola Gay veer away from Hiroshima and the following mushroom cloud. He is alive now and says; it was just a massacre, not the war, because the war should be fought between soldiers, not unarmed citizens.
　　I know there are various opinions about the bombing in the U.S., but it's obvious that the atomic bombing was a breach of the Hague Convention of 1899 and 1907, and any excuse is unacceptable, but leave it aside.

What we should do now is:

　　We need to keep the past alive. The sitting presidential visit is long overdue. I know that there's still debate about the bomb, but it's not debatable that lots of human tragedies were caused by an atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We should understand why that happened and never repeat the tragedy again.
　　I'd like to assess how high the level of the U.S. citizen's cultural standard is from the words of the President.

(English Version)  http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Greater8.pdf

(日本語版) http://hassin.org/01/wp-content/uploads/Greater88.pdf

(Vocabulary)
the cultural standard 文化水準、民度
the standard of living 生活水準、民度
The people in that country enjoy a high standard of living.その国は民度が高い。
Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 ハーグ陸戦条約


オバマ大統領来日＋広島訪問

　日本でＧ７サミットが開かれている。この機会を利用してオバマ大統領が広島を訪れ、原爆犠牲者達に献花するという。謝罪するとかしないとかが問題になっているが、それはアメリカの問題であり、我々日本人がとやかく言う問題ではないと思う。アメリカが謝罪すべきだと思えば謝罪すればいい。
　
　原爆投下直後に広島上空を飛んだ戦闘機があった。その操縦士が現在存命で、記録を残している。彼は兵庫県で最新型の戦闘機（紫電改）を受取り、九州の前線基地まで運搬していた。原爆を投下したエノラゲイは急旋回をして急ぎ立ち去ったという。そしてキノコ雲を見たパイロットは思った。
　
　『これは戦争ではない。虐殺だ。戦争というのは軍人と軍人が戦うものであり、非戦闘員の真上で原子爆弾を爆発させる行為は虐殺以外の何ものでも無い。』
　
　原爆投下の是非の議論がアメリカにはあるというが、明らかにハーグ陸戦条約に違反しており、弁明の余地はないがそれは置いておこう。
　
今、我々がしなければならないこと。
　
　原爆投下を風化させてはならない。現職アメリカ大統領が広島を訪問するのは遅すぎたくらいだ。アメリカ国内にいろいろな議論があることは知っているが、原爆投下が無数の悲劇を招いたことには議論の余地はない。我々日本人はなぜ原爆投下に至ったのかを理解し、悲劇を二度と繰り返してはならない。アメリカ大統領の口から発せられる言葉で彼らの民度を確かめたい。

Grumman F6F Hellcat

　　This article is the continuation of the previous entry. The old man, who looked over 80, asked us, "Do you know how these holes were made?", indicating several holes on the bridge structure. "An F6F Hellcat shot ordinary people who were walking on this bridge in 1945", he continued. It might be a pilot's pastime on the way back from an operation of attacking somewhere. There was no military-related facility around. The color of the red bridge might be catchy.
　　My mother's original house is located at a distance of 20km from there over the hill. They earned their living through the cultivation of citrus fruits on terraced fields, and their house was one of the most unobtrusive houses. One day in early summer in 1945, an F6F hellcat emerged abruptly and shot houses in a rural area. My 3 months old cousin was sleeping on the veranda then and was nearly shot by the bullet which hit the wall 30cm above her. She was not killed luckily, but my grandfather told me that he had seen clearly the pilot smiling. That was not a war, but a lawless slaughter. The old man's story reminded me of my late grandfather's story.
　　The U.S. took aim at innocent people like this. Incontrovertible evidence of the cruelties of the U.S. remains even in such a tiny place.

　前の記事の続きである。
　
　８０歳を越える老人はしっかりとした言葉で続けた。ここにある穴はなぜついたのかわかりますか？グラマン社製の戦闘機F6F Hellcatがこの橋を渡る人を攻撃したのです。どこかを攻めた帰りに弾が余っていたので撃ったのでしょう。歩いている人を面白半分で狙ったのかもしれません。軍関連の施設はなにもないところなのに、狙われるとは不思議。赤い色が目立ったのだろうか？と。
　
　ここから山を越えて約２０ｋｍのところに母方の実家がある。段々畑で柑橘を育てる農家である。当時生後数ヶ月の従姉妹が縁側で寝かされているときにやはりHellcatに狙われ、頭の上３０ｃｍくらいのところに銃弾が飛んできた。幸い命に影響は無かったが、戦闘で余った弾を帰り道で使ったのだろう。祖父は撃ってくるパイロットの顔が見えたという。
　
　こうやってアメリカ人は無抵抗の一般人を狙った。動かしがたい証拠がこんな小さな町にも残っていた。

Iconic Drawbridge

　　My workplace is located in a small town and one of the town's icons is a red drawbridge built about 80 years ago. It is now preserved as a kind of historic asset of the town and works correctly even now as it used to do. The town regularly makes it work for maintenace once a month on the third Saturday. Today is the day and I took a walk around the bridge. Several tourists got together at the end point of the bridge. I listened to an old man's story about the town there and was surprised. I'll write about his story in the next article.

Matsue City

　　I visited Matsue City, which is a historic castle town like my home town, with my friends to attend a Lions Club related wide-area meeting. I had visited the city nearly 40 years ago, but I don't remember anything about the city. As soon as I arrived in the city, I stopped by Matsue Castle, the most prominent sightseeing point in the city.
　　In general, medieval Japanese castles were protected with their high location or surrounding moats, but the moats got meaningless in modern times and most of them were filled in. Matsue Castle, though, keeps its original moat even at present. Tourists can enjoy sightseeing from on the boat floating on the moat. An hour of relaxing boating in the cool breeze on the surface was really wonderful.
　　After climbing up to the keep, I was going to visit Koizumi Yakumo Museum, but it was closed for refurbishment. He is a Briton and a big figure on the Japanese literature scene. When I was a kid, I read his works over and over again. I'd like to revisit the city to find out about his life.
　　Shimane Prefecture, in which Matsue City is included, is known as the scene of several Japanese myths. The performance in the welcoming party held by local Lions Clubs was a Kagura (Shinto music and dancing). I was impressed that the performers were all young people, 10 to 18 years old, as far as I saw. The education of Japanese myths had been prohibited during the U.N.'s domination (1945-1952). Consequently, even now, it doesn't appear in kids' textbooks in the wake of the GHQ's policy. I was very glad to see young people learn our myths. After the party, my local friend took us to a nice bar, where I found my favorite Islay malt whiskey and lost my memory. (grin)

(Vocabulary)
moat  (城壁周りの) 堀; (動物園の) 堀
the castle moat 城の堀
keep [C] (中世の城の) 天守閣
refurbish 〈ホテル，レストランなど〉 を（全面的に）改装する, 新装する
refurbishment  (建物・部屋などの) （全面的な）改装, 新装

Gürtelrose

　　Vom Ende April bis zur ersten Woche im Mai gibt es aufeinanderfolgende Feiertage in Japan und diese Zeit wird "Golden Week" genannt. Ich habe eine Reise nach Kyuschu geplant, aber ich konnte wegen des Erdbebens nicht reisen. Ich habe das Ziel geändert. Aber, ein anderes Unglück hat mich überfallen. Ich habe an einer Gürtelrose erkrankt. Ich musste für einige Tage zu Hause bleiben.
　　Das war die erste Erfahrung mit der Krankhert für mich selbst. Es mag das einzig Gute sein, dass ich das Gefühl der Kranken erleben konnte.

Hazakura

　It's getting warmer day by day. My workplace is located in a farming and fishing village. The surroundings are getting green. The following picture was shot from my room in my workplace. Do you know the name of the tree in the picture? It's Sakura, the cherry tree, one of the symbols of Japan. We call this status of cherry trees "Hazakura". Though it's one word in Japanese, if described in English, it is cherry trees whose blossoms have fallen, revealing the fresh green leaves. I get to see the leaves and flowers up close, right at eye level.
　From the end of May, the rainy season will start. It's essential to rice farming and the water will be stored against the heat of the summer. I like the green cherry leaves in the rain. I'll show you the pictures later.

(Vocabulary)
a cherry tree whose blossoms have fallen (, revealing the fresh green leaves). 葉桜
I get to see the leaves and flowers up close, right at eye level まさに目の高さで、桜の葉や花を間近に見ることができる
get to do sth ～する機会を得る　～することができる

Going Out

　　Staying home all day instead of going out, I got nearly depressed. I decided to go out in the neighborhood. I walked slowly along my usual jogging route in the morning. The school in the picture is Aiko High School, from which I had graduated in 1977. The school had renovated its grounds and looked nice.
　　After lunch, I went out for a drive with my wife to the forest in the adjacent Iyo City. There were places for BBQs, campgrounds, hiking trails, and a small serene pond. I climbed up to the hill summit not on foot but by car. The landscape was great.
　　Though I got refreshed by a natural breeze, the pain due to herpes zoster was still alive. I came by a liquor shop to get a bottle of wine to sterilize my whole body on the way back. Just joking around! It's my lame excuse against my wife.

　じっと家に居ても気が滅入るので、朝、散歩に出た。ジョギングをしているコースをゆっくりと歩き、母校の写真を撮った。人工芝のサッカーコートを作ったというので見に行った。写真をｕｐする。昼食後、伊予市の森林公園へドライブ。そして帰りにワインを一本。全身のアルコール消毒と言ったら、白い目で睨まれた。体調が悪いのにアルコールはダメでしょうと、、、(^_^;)