Visit to Yasukuni Shrine

　　I visited a hospital in Tokyo, in which my old friend from my junior high school was there for cervical vertebral surgery, then I visited Yasukuni Shrine. It was convenient that his hospital was located in the neighborhood of the shrine, but I usually visit the shrine when I come to Tokyo and have some time. The shrine isn't properly known or talked of overseas, because lots of Japanese and non-Japanese medias report it with malice. Yasukuni Shrine is the counterpart of Arlington National Cemetery in the USA.
　　My trip's destination of Singapore is one of the scenes of a hard-fought battle in the Great East Asian War. I'm meaning to visit Penang, which was conquered by Britain and was named "Prince of Wales Island" in a self-serving manner. My plane would pass over the sinking spot of the battleship "Prince of Wales". I don't have enough time to visit various former sites of battle, but I prayed for a safe trip and that I could find lots of new discoveries from the trip. The cherry trees all over the grounds had burst into bloom. Everywhere you looked, there were petals in elegant, subtle shades of pink. They sometimes scattered in the wind to create a dreamy atmosphere.

(Vocabulary)
the scene of a hard-fought battle　激戦地
former sites of battle　戦跡
self-serving （けなして）利己的な, 身勝手な

マラッカ海峡クルージング記：　出発前に靖国神社参拝

古い友人が頸椎手術のため入院している病院を訪ね、靖国神社に参拝した。友人の入院している病院が靖国神社に近いこともあったが、東京に出て時間のあるときは靖国参拝をしている。左翼偏向メディアによりこの神社は海外へ向けて正しく報道されているとは言いがたいが、たとえて言えばアメリカのアーリントン墓地のような場所である。

これから向かうシンガポールは大東亜戦争での激戦地。イギリスに統治され、Prince of Wales島と勝手に名付けられたペナン島にも立ち寄る。戦艦Prince of Walesが沈没した場所の上空を通過することにもなろう。今回の旅で戦跡を訪ねる時間的余裕はないが、旅の安全と多くの知見を得られるよう祈った。境内には桜が咲き、あたりは上品で可憐なピンク色で染まっていた。