Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Evacuation Drill

　　The annual evacuation drill was performed in my office today. The drill was set under the assumption that a fire broke out in a hospital ward after midnight, when the number of staff members on duty was extremely small. A few nurses played the roles of long-term bedridden patients, the finder of the fire, the informer to the fire department, and some trying the initial fire extinguishing, shutting the fire protection doors, and so on. At the end of the drill, a veteran firefighter dispatched for supervision from the fire department stated his opinion. His assessment was really good and I was relieved to hear his remarks. Then the session of the actual handling of fire extinguishers started. Several staff members who hadn't used them learned how to use them.
　　Even though you know what to do in case of fire, you'll find something if you actually do the drill. This drill is required by law. I felt the significance of doing the drill annually.

 

今日は職場で火災の際の避難訓練が行われた。設定は深夜、職員数が減り、患者もおおかた寝ている時間帯に病棟から出火したという設定。火災が起こった部屋で休んでいる患者役、火事の発見役、消火器を用意したり、患者の搬送をする役、消防への通報役など役割を決めて万一の際の手順を確認した。防火扉の開閉や、実際に消化剤の代わりに水を入れた消火器を使って訓練した。やはりやってみるといろいろと見えてくるものがある。消防署職員の指導の下、法令によって年に一度することを義務づけられているのだが、火災が起こらないことを願いつつ毎年訓練をすることの意義を感じた。

Another Autumn Festival

　　I went out for a drive to Kikuma town, an hour's drive from my house, where a distinctive autumn festival had been held in connection with the local shrine. The whole concepts of the autumnal festivals nationwide are alike, but this shrine is known for its historic event, the horse running controlled by kids, dedicated to the deity. As I wrote before, I got a single-lens reflex camera in the summer. In the months since, I came to want to shoot pictures of fast-moving materials like running horses with my camera. I tried to take pictures with various settings for swiftly moving horses, and found that the shooting was fun and difficult at the same time.
　　The weather was cloudy and it sometimes rained. I saw lots of professional and high-level amateur photographers across the running way. Their lenses were almost telephoto and looked expensive. My shooting gear was not so good as theirs, but I was able to get nice pictures!

かなりおおざっぱな抄訳：　もう一つのお祭り
我が家から一時間ほどの場所、菊間町のお祭りを見に行った。お祭りの概念はどこの祭りも同じだが、ここは子供たちが乗る馬の疾走が有名で、使い始めたばかりの一眼レフを使いたくてやって来た。いろいろな設定で撮ってみたが難しい。小雨が降っており、高価なレンズを構えたプロやアマチュアカメラマンの集団が向こうに見えたが皆レンズには雨対策をしていた。僕は傘の中から撮影。子供たちはこの日のために練習を重ねてきただろうに、快晴の中で走らせてやりたかった。

Autumn Festival

　　The annual autumn festival was held for three days in my hometown. It might be the counterpart of Thanksgiving in western countries. The guardian deity of the town usually stays in the shrine, but the deity makes the neighborhood tour during the festival riding on the Mikoshi, the portable shrine. He moves to the portable shrine from his home and drops in at newly-built houses, newcomers' houses, and several places set for prayer. The bearers of the portable shrine have to work from early morning to late at night. My daughter went our in the early morning for taking care of them, mainly for their meals. I'd like to join them, but I wasn't able to leave my office. The picture was shot at the nearest prayer site from my house. Look at the picture. They are setting the offerings to the deity before the priest's prayer.

お祭り

今年もお祭りのシーズンがやって来た。西洋の収穫祭に当たるだろうか。通常は神社の中に鎮座する町の守り神がこのときだけは神輿に乗り移り町内を巡る。新築の家、新しく町内へ転入してきた人たちの家、また町内のあちこちで立ち止まり、住民のために神主が祝詞を上げる。神輿の担ぎ手は早朝から深夜まで忙しい。娘はその方々の食事の世話などに早朝から出かけたが僕は勤務のためそうはいかない。こういうイベントには参加しなければつまらないのだが。写真は我が家の近くでの神事の風景。

From the Ward

　　My office is adjacent to a grade school. Kids who are at the age of 6 will enter a grade school in April and learn there for 6 years. While traveling to the school, all the kids wear their uniform and carry their trademark, "Randoseru", which is a firm-sided backpack made of leather, etc. and is used by Japanese elementary schoolchildren, often red for girls and black for boys. I've heard it's getting popular among even adults overseas, but it's for kids in Japan. A six-year boy or girl carrying "Randoseru" looks somehow comical, because "Randoseru" is bigger for six-year old kids and it seems as if "Randoseru" is walking, not the kids.
　　When I saw outside during my rounds this afternoon, I found little kids gathered on the grounds. There were also several policemen. An intersection and crosswalks were drawn by line powder on the ground and makeshift signal posts also stood. It was the traffic guidance by police for 6-year old boys and girls. The kids would learn how to ride bicycles around the intersection. I wanted to see their cute behaviour, but I had to continue my rounds.
　　Kids play something around their homes and the school. There's no danger to be kidnapped, but traffic accidents can happen. It's the reason why this lecture was held in the school. I wondered if such kind of lectures would be held in foreign countries.

回診中、病棟の窓から

職場は小学校の横にある。日本では満６歳を過ぎた４月に小学校へ入学し、６年間を過ごす。皆制服を着て通学し、トレードマークのランドセルを背負う。昨今このランドセルが海外では大人たちに人気だと言うが今はそれは置く。６歳の子供がランドセルを負って歩くと、ランドセルは子供の大きさに比して大きく、子供がと言うよりもランドセルが歩いているようで少しコミカルに映る。
　
今日の午後、病棟回診中に外を見ると、小学校で警察官が子供たちに交通指導をしていた。運動場に線を引いて道路を作り、模型の信号機を使い、自転車での走行マナーについて指導していたようだった。子供たちの動きが可愛くてしばらく眺めていたかったが仕事中のため断念。実際に子供たちが自転車に乗り、どのように走るのか見ていたかったのだが。
　
通学中に限らず子供たちは自宅近所や学校周辺で自由に遊ぶ。誘拐される危険性はまずないのだが、交通事故に遭遇する危険は常にある。ランドセルには目立つように反射材が張られている。ところで、どこの国でもこのような交通指導はあるのかな？

 

National Athletic Meet in Ehime

　　The National Athletic Meet, which had started in 1946 to encourage people living on the heavily devastated land and has been held across Japan every year since then, is now being held in my home, Ehime prefecture.
　　Prefectures take their turn to be in charge of hosting. Ehime prefecture hosts the event for the first time in 64 years. The last National Athletic Meet in Ehime was hosted by four prefectures including Ehime. In the wake of the war, even in the shortage of principal necessities like food, clothes and houses, it would have been difficult for my prefecture to shoulder all the costs alone.
　　Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress visited Ehime two days ago to attend the ceremony and were supposed to be back in today's afternoon, so I was on standby on the roadside to send them off since two hours before the estimated time of their passing to get a position in the front line of the crowd. Directly looking at them, I waved my national flag. I set my camera at the height of my chest and shot pictures without aiming. That's why some pictures were oblique. They were so refined. His Majesty the Emperor was seated to the back of the driver and was half-rising from his seat and gently waving his hand at us. I wasn't able to help praying for the happiness of the Imperial Household, which is linked to Japanese mythology, and the 125th His Majesty the Emperor.

(Vocabulary)
the National Athletic Meet　国体（国民体育大会）
Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress　天皇皇后両陛下

愛媛国体

１９４６年から開催されている国民体育大会が今年は我がふるさと愛媛県で開催されている。戦後の荒廃した国土で国民を元気づけるために始まった大会だが、現在では各県単位で持ち回りで開催されている。愛媛県で開催されるのはなんと６４年ぶり。前回は四国の４県合同で行われた。戦後間もない頃で食糧難の時代、一県だけで開催するのは困難だったのだろう。

またこの国体は天皇皇后両陛下が出席される３つのイベントの一つで、今回の大会に合わせて愛媛県を行幸された。一目、そのお姿を見たく思い、通行される道路脇に２時間前から待機した。写真は胸の高さにカメラを構えて、ファインダーを覗かずに取ったもの。そのため少し傾いている。

上品なお姿だった。運転席の後ろに座られている天皇陛下は中腰になられてこちらに手を振ってくださった。神話に連なる皇室、第１２５代天皇陛下、そのご健康を祈らずにはいられなかった。