Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Harajiri no taki Falls, the oriental Niagara Falls

　　We were learning the history of Buddhism on the Kunisaki Peninsula where lots of Buddhist temples stand on the last day, but we ended up visiting Harajiri no taki Falls, which is given the nickname of oriental Niagara.
　　I was surprised to see the waterfall. It was rightly a small Niagara Falls. The magnitude was completely different, but its shape was alike. I've been to the real Niagara Falls twice. While staying in Pittsburgh to learn the technique of the liver transplant, I knew that you could visit Niagara Falls by car in two days and a night. The next time was with my youngest daughter. We visited Prince Edward Island, Toronto, and Niagara Falls at that time. By the way, if Canadian people were to see this waterfall, what would they say?
　　The magnitude aside, the difference between these falls and Niagara Falls would be the presence or absence of the Maid of the Mist.

最終日は国東半島を巡って仏教の歴史を学ぶつもりが、結果的には滝めぐりツアーになってしまった。東洋のナイアガラと呼ばれている滝があることは知っていたがここへ寄れたのは偶然のなせる技。原尻の滝という道路標識が見えたので寄ってみたらこの滝だった。
驚いた。まさに東洋のナイアガラというニックネームがふさわしい。規模こそまったくことなるが形はそっくり。本物のナイアガラの滝へは２度行ったことがある。最初はピッツバーグ大学へ肝移植の見学に行ったとき。ピッツバーグから週末に１泊２日で行けると聞いて友人たちとドライブ旅行をした。２回目は三女と一緒にカナダ東部、プリンスエドワード島、トロントを旅行したとき。カナダ人がこの滝を見たらどう思うかな？笑うかな？
原尻とナイアガラの違いはその規模を別とすれば霧の乙女号が無いことくらいだ。本当に良く似ている。

Kuju Highland, Mt. Aso, and Mercedes-Benz SLK200

　　We took up my hotel in Beppu City on July 16th. After bathing in the prominent spa town of Beppu, while I was wondering where to go the next day over a nightcap, I came across a slip of paper, which was handed out at the front desk at check-in. I didn't mind it, because I assumed that it was a mere flyer or something. Looking at it closely, it was a free ticket for several dozen hot spas in Oita Prefecture. That would be also one of the measures for boosting tourism.
　　I was going to visit Kunisaki Peninsula vaguely, in which lots of Buddhist temples are located, but I changed my mind to go for a drive to Kuju Highland to enjoy other "free" hot springs. My car, a Mercedes-Benz SLK200, went really well with the scenery of Kuju Highland.
　　To start off, we came by a suspension bridge, which is said to be the highest in Japan. I was interested in its height, but I suffer from acrophobia and I just took a picture of the bridge at enough distance as you can imagine from the following picture.
　　The last two pictures show Mt. Aso, which is compared to a lying Kannon, the Buddhist deity of mercy. The volcanic crater is at its facial part. The area you can see in the picture is inside the somma, i.e. the flat place between a somma and a volcanic cone of the double volcano of Mt.Aso. The opposite side of the lying Kannon is the seriously devastated area of the last earthquake which occurred in April. I really wish for their rapid restoration.

(Vocabulary)
somma 外輪山

１６日の夜は別府に宿泊した。日本でも有数の温泉を満喫し、寝酒をやりながら翌日にどこへ行こうかと考えているときに、チェックイン時にもらった書類の中に小さなチケットがあるのに気がついた。大分県内の温泉の無料入浴券だ。これもおそらく観光産業を活発化させようという試みの一つだろう。
仏教の歴史を学ぶために国東半島にある仏閣を巡ろうと思っていたが、そのチケットを利用してあちこちの温泉に浸かることにした。で、向かった先は久住高原。もとよりのんびり気の向くままの旅の予定だったので何の問題もない。別府から湯布院を通り久住高原へ。この道は実に快適でメルセデスベンツＳＬＫ２００がとてもよく似合う。何度も車から降りて写真を撮った。車が一段と美しく見えた。
まずは日本一の高さを誇るという吊り橋へ。地元の活性化のために生活には全く関係の無いこの橋を架けたという。高所恐怖症なので、橋を遠くから眺めただけだが大勢の観光客が渡っていた。
写真の最後の２枚は阿蘇山を捉えている。観音像が横になった姿に例えられ、顔の部分に活火山がある。この写真に見えている範囲は外輪山の内側で、元々は噴火口だった場所。噴火口の中に阿蘇山が盛り上がったというわけだ。この山の反対側がこの４月の地震で酷く被害を受けた場所。早い復興を祈るのみ。

Usa Naval Air Corps (Usa isn't U.S.A.)

　　There used to be a Japanese Imperial Naval Air Station in Usa City during the Great East Asian War, in which Kamikaze members had been trained. Now, there's their memorial monument at the site. Long straight roads run around there. If you don't know about the history, you'll wake up to the fact that some huge facilities used to exist there, because long straight roads are rare in Japan outside of Hokkaido. Around this air station, reinforced concrete bomb shelters for fighters called Entaigo were built, some of which are preserved even now. You can see one of them in the following pictures.
　　I found a flyer of the Usa Peace Memorial Museum there and visited it. Lots of things associated with the Great East Asian War and models of the zero fighter and its cockpit which were used in a movie set were exhibited. With the strong conviction that we had to absolutely avoid wars, I went out of the museum.

(Vocabulary)
Usa Naval Air Corps 宇佐海軍航空隊

宇佐市には大東亜戦争中に特攻隊員を養成した基地があった。今、航空基地は廃止され、追悼施設が作られている。周辺には直線の道路が作られているが、歴史を知らないものでも、過去に巨大な施設があったことがわかるだろう。北海道を除いて日本国内には直線道路が少ないのだ。ここには戦闘機を隠して置くための掩体壕と呼ばれる格納庫がいくつも残っている。
追悼施設にチラシが有り、宇佐市平和資料館のことを知った。現在施設の改装中だった。数年前に作られた映画で使われた模型の零戦や撮影に使われたセットがあった。戦争は絶対に避けなければならぬという思いを強くした。

Usa Jingu Shrine

　　I visited Usa Jingu Shrine, which is one of the representative shrines along with Ise Jingu Shrine. I'd like to write about this shrine, but it's far above my English skills. In such a case, I made it a point to quote the English version of their official website, but the official website of Usa Jingu Shrine has no English version. What can I do this time?
　　Anyway, Usa Jingu Shrine dates back to the 6th century. It's the Head Shrine of a total of 40,000 Hachiman-shrines across the country. Three persons are enshrined and I prayed to every deity for people associated with me, including the subscribers of this blog.
　　The day we visited the shrine was the middle day of three consecutive holidays, and so lots of tourists should have occupied the grounds, but it was not so crowded. Naturally we were lucky to park our car without waiting, but people working at souvenir shops were grumbling about the big earthquake which had struck Kyushu in April. Though Usa City hasn't suffered any damage, the number of tourists dramatically went down due to the devastated damage of the principal tourist spot of Mt.Aso related facilities. Without visiting Mt.Aso, the tour of Kyushu would surely become less interesting. The travel coupons which the Government issued would be considerably effective to activate the tourism in Kyushu, I thought.

宇佐神宮の説明をするには僕の知識はあまりにも貧弱すぎる。こういうとき、これまでは英語のサイトを紹介するだけにしていたのだが、神社の公式ウェブサイトは日本語でしか書かれていない。どうしたものか。とにかく、この神社の歴史は６世紀までさかのぼる。全国にある八幡様４万社の総本山で、多くの文献に現れてもいる。３人の神様が祀られており、それぞれの神に自分に繋がるすべての人の幸福を祈念した。(和気清麻呂については英語力が追いつかず、、、)
この日、三連休にもかかわらず境内は混んではいない。駐車場の係員に尋ねると通常の半分にも満たないらしい。宇佐神宮の周辺は地震の影響は無かったが九州の中心的な観光地、阿蘇山の観光が出来ないことで、九州全体の観光客が激減し、観光産業はかなり厳しいらしい。政府の発行したクーポンはかなりタイムリーな対策だと思われた。

In'nai Machi, The Stone Bridge Town

　　We took a short break at In'nai town on the way to Usa City. The first picture shows the information center along the road. The Kanji character says "Stone Bridge Town of In'nai". The signboard in the next picture attracted me. That read that there were nearly 100 stone bridges functional in the town. The most popular one was located just at the roadside we were traveling on, and we visited the bridge called Torii-bashi bridge. I'll show you pictures below. This bridge is just 100 years old this year and is used even now. Kyushu has been hit by huge typhoons lots of times during these 100 years almost every year. However, this bridge survived. I was amazed at its elaborate design and the stone-piling technology.

石橋が多いことで知られる院内町の道の駅で小休止。案内看板で見ると１００近くはありそうだ。案内所でそれらの石橋の内、最も有名な橋が道路沿いにあることを知り寄ってみた。写真の橋で築後１００年になる。現在に至るまで１００年間、多くの巨大台風に見舞われたがびくともしていない。設計の確かさ、石積みの技術に驚嘆した。

Ryumon no taki Fall

　　Today, we'll visit Usa City, adjacent to Nakatsu City. On the way to Usa City, we dropped in at a waterfall, Ryumon no taki, which was recommended for us to visit last night by a hotel staff. The lower half of the waterfall was smooth and looked like you were able to enjoy sliding down on the surface of the rock. Several dozens of people were preparing something on the ground facing the waterfall and some event would be held there. We'd like to see the event, but didn't have enough time to do so. We left for Usa City after 20 minutes or so.
　　There are many waterfalls around, including smaller ones. I thought they could be called the works of art formed by Mt. Aso's volcanic activities.

Jion no taki Fall

　　There stands volcanic Mt. Aso in the center of Kyushu. It's huge and is the biggest volcano in Japan as far as I know. Thanks to it, there are lots of hot springs and scenic tourist spots around, but it has been the origin of earthquakes at the same time. There's a strong association among volcanos, earthquakes and hot springs.
　　On the way to the Amagase hot spring, at which our hotel was located, I happened to see a big waterfall along the road and pulled in to park my car. We took a short walk around the waterfall and took some pictures. Take a look at them. Then I found a twisted rock near the waterfall. That would have been formed by the volcanic activities long long ago.

Yabakei Gorge

　　We got out of the downtown of Nakatsu City and arrived at Yabakei Gorge in the inland region of the city. In the period of Edo, when the water level was high, people weren't able to cross the river to the other side safely and they had to walk on the path carved along the cliff - you can see it in the following picture - holding the rope in their hands. As you can imagine, however, a few people lost their life there.
　　In the middle of the 18th century, a priest, whose name was Zen-kai, happened to pass the gorge, and grieved over the dangerous route. He started to drive a tunnel with poor tools, and finally after 30 years of struggle he made it! His tunnel is now called "aonodoumon". Its strength was heightened by the present technologies and the tunnel is used even now. If you want to see it, use the image search with the key word of "aonodoumon". It is partially preserved as it used to be in 18th century.

(Vocabulary)
Yabakei Gorge　耶馬溪
image search/retrieval 画像検索

Nakatsu City

　　In April this year, the mid-Kyushu centering Kumamoto Prefecture was hit by a huge earthquake and fourteen people were killed. The damaged regions are even now struggling to restore themselves, and so in addition to their efforts, the Government decided to issue discount tickets for accommodations in Kyushu to boost their reconstruction. Hotel charges in Kyushu are 70% off at most by the Government fund.
　　Contributing toward the recovery from the devastating blow, my wife and I made it a point to go for a drive to Nakatsu City, which is located at the northeast of Kyushu facing the Seto Inland Sea. We've been to the inland region of the city about 20 years ago with our whole family, but it was the first time to visit the center of the city. This city is known as the hometown of Yukichi Fukuzawa. You can see the face of Yukichi Fukuzawa on the 10,000 yen bill. We visited his museum and Nakatsu Castle, at which we learned lots of things. He was great as I expected.
　　Then we dropped in at two historic folk houses, which were used as clinics from about 1800 to 1950, before the dawn of the modern medicine. Precious stuff was exibited, but the visitors weren't permitted to take pictures. It was really regrettable.
　　BTW, the ferryboat in the following picture is connecting Shikoku and Kyushu.

KÄRCHER K-5

　　My house has an open terrace, which is called loggia. I wrote about its cleaning here two years ago. Now the stone panels of the loggia got dirty again and need cleaning, but I'm unwilling to clean them, remembering the hard work that I referred to in the blog entry. It must take 3 or 4 hours of the precious holiday. I've reached the point where I just don't care any more. However, I had been pestered to polish the stone panels by my wife.
　　One day I happened to watch a TV commercial of the high pressure water washing machine of KÄRCHER. My intuition urged me to get it for the cleaning of the stone panels. I had the next day off and visited a DIY store showroom. I was able to try it there and ordered it online that night.
　　The effectiveness was so great! The cleaning of all the stone panels were done in 15 minutes and without hard work! Incredible. I'll show you the pictures of before and after the cleaning. The ability of the machine was amazing.
　　As I talked about the machine to my parents, they wanted me to clean their house's fences and the floor of the parking lot. Consequently, I had to work a whole day at the end of the day.

(Vocabulary)
I've reached the point where I just don't care any more.
もうどうでもいいと思うくらいになってしまった．

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2014/07/cleaning-stone-panels.html

Terraced Paddy Fields

　　After the replacement of my car to a Mercedes-Benz SLK200, the number of drives increased. Today, I went out for a drive to a scenic place, which had been on air the other day. The destination was a terraced paddy field. That was recently designated by the Government as one of the three scenic terraced paddy fields in Japan. That was 2 hours' drive from my house. The lunch and coffee which I brought there was really nice in the soft breeze.
　　By the way, I'll quote something from a book which I happened to read as follows. Japan is surely one of the industrialized countries, but the forest area accounts for 68.5% of its land area. Among the developed countries, it's ranked as the third, after 73.1% of Finland and 68.9% of Sweden. The Japanese archipelago accounts for 0.2 % of the global land area and 1.7% of all the human beings live in Japan and 5.6% of the global GDP was produced there.
　　That can be called "miracle". We Japanese can be proud of that. If you ask me why this miracle was realized, my answer would be like this. It's really simple, but it would be the only single answer. People in Japan have been taking care of nature, while they have developed its industrial technologies.
　　FYI, the rate of forest area of China, whose GDP is the 2nd of the world is only 21.5%.

　車を変えてから休日のドライブが増えた。今日は先日テレビで見た棚田へ行ってみた。写真のように狭い土地で稲作が行われていた。風が気持ちよく、持参した弁当、コーヒーがこの上なく美味しかった。
　たまたま読んでいた本に書かれていたのだが、日本は工業国ではあるが、その国土面積の６８．５％が森林。先進国の中ではフィンランドの７３．１％、スウェーデンの６８．９％に次いで３番目。日本列島は世界の陸地面積の０．２％、そこに世界の人口の約１．７％が住み、世界のＧＤＰの５．５％を生み出している。という。
　これは奇跡とも呼べる現象で、日本人が誇って良いことだと思う。なぜこのような奇跡が実現したのか、といえば、日本人が近代産業を発展させながら、同時に自然を大切にしてきたから、としか説明のしようがない。支那は森林率は２１．５％　はげ山を見れば日本人なら自然に対して申し訳ないと考えるが、支那人は『自然は人間の必要に応じて好き勝手に利用すればよい』とでも考えているかのようだ。
(読んでもらえるのは２５０単語までという自己規制で最後の部分は英文からは省略)

Terrorism in Bangladesh

　　The terrorism in Dhaka was a sorrowful event. It's scandalous that people with high ambitions who had been devoting themselves to developing Bangladesh's infrastructure were killed by Bangladeshi young people. What on earth did the killers want? What did they get by this act of terror? The assistance from Japan would get stuck at least for a while. Who among Bangladeshis welcomes this situation? I feel an intense anger against the terrorism in Dhaka.