Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Arita Porcelain Park

　　If you like ceramics, you'd know about Meissen chinaware. Arita town has a sister city treaty with Meissen city and there was a facility to show the friendly relationship between them. It's name is Arita Porcelain Park and we visited there. It's not so long ago when it had been built, but the park was half-closed, or at least I saw the park so. Was it due to the unfavorable economic conditions? The museum, which I was eager to visit, was closed. I've heard that the museum houses several national treasure class porcelains. I really wanted to see them.
　　Today's hotel was Arita huis (link), where you can enjoy Arita wares; i.e. all cuisine was served with Arita wares. The dinner was really delicious and BEAUTIFUL. I reevaluated the importance of ceramic tableware. I understood that tableware can make the dishes more beautiful and extravagant.

https://aritahuis.com/

陶磁器に興味のある方はマイセンについても知っているだろうと思う。有田はマイセン市と姉妹都市提携をしている。そのマイセンとの繋がりが良くわかる施設がある。それが有田ポーセリンパークだ。数年前にテレビで見て一度訪問したいと思っていた。。。が、往時の面影はなく、不景気のためだろうか、寂しい雰囲気になっていた。景気が回復すれば元に戻るのかな？

今日の宿は有田焼の食器を楽しむことの出来る宿、、、すなわち、有田焼の器に載った料理をいただける宿。本当に美味しく美しい料理だった。料理を盛るための器を再評価する旅となった。

Arita

　　We were overwhelmed by the beauty of lots of Imari wares. Then we moved to another porcelain town of Arita. We stopped by a Japanese-style restaurant in Arita and we were surprised by their porcelain wares rather than their cuisine. More than 100 porcelain wares shops were aligned along the main street. Its number made me wonder how they were able to exist together. We dropped in at two famous factories. My wife was interested in porcelain and she knew the name of the factories. Tableware which had been used in Japan's Imperial Household and that used as a present for participants to an Imperial happy event like a wedding ceremony or some other official banquets were exhibited. I wanted to take pictures of them, but it was prohibited. Some wares were made more than 100 years ago, and they'd like to avoid deterioration by flash.
　　We toured three representative porcelain sites in Japan today. I started to feel that beautiful porcelains make our daily life happy.

焼き物の美しさに圧倒され、有田に移動した。まずは腹ごしらえと和風レストランに寄った。出てきた器にまたビックリ。写真を撮らせてもらった。重い箱形の食器。料理よりも出てくる食器に感嘆した。続いて町を散策。恐らく１００軒以上はあるだろう焼き物の店が道路沿いに並んでいた。こんなに多くて商売になるのか？と心配になるくらいの数だった。そのうち、有名な二軒に立ち寄った。皇室で利用されている食器、皇室の慶事で使われる引き出物などの展示があった。撮影は禁止されていた。さらに数世紀前に作られた国宝級の伊万里焼の壺がいくつも並んでいた。価格は付かないのだろうと思う。
この日は、唐津焼、伊万里焼、有田焼と見て回った。美しい焼き物は生活を豊かにするような気がしはじめた。

Imari

　　I visited Imari city. Needless to say, Imari is the town of porcelain and I visited its epicenter the "Okawachiyama" area. Even the ornament and rail of a bridge and the information board of the area were made of porcelain there. I dropped in at some potteries and saw their artworks in wonder. How did they make those pieces? My wife liked one of them, a small censer, and bought it. We both tasted coffee and tea with Imari ware in a coffee shop. I didn't have preliminary knowledge on Imari ware and the story of the owner was new and I learned much from him.

(Vocabulary)
censer 香炉
censor 〈本・映画・手紙など〉 を検閲する

伊万里市を訪ねた。伊万里といえば焼き物の町。その中でも特に窯の集まっている大川内山に立ち寄った。橋の装飾、欄干、町の案内板まで伊万里焼、、、(^_^;)
数件の窯元を訪ね、展示室を訪ねてその美しさに息を呑んだ。どうやってこれほどのものを作り上げるのだろうか。訪れた記念に小さな香炉を買った。そして、伊万里焼のコーヒーカップで出されたコーヒーで一服。伊万里焼について、たいした予備知識は持っていなかった。コーヒーを飲みながらその歴史を学んだ。

Whale Museum

　　After shopping at the morning market, we dropped in at an old folk house which had made a fortune by whaling. It's embarrassing to admit, I thought that Japan's whaling had been performed only on the Pacific coast like in Wakayama prefecture, which is still annoyed with the leftists from all over the world or activists of the Sea Shepherd. The Pacific side of Kochi prefecture is also well-known for its traditional whaling, but Yobuko is on the coast facing the Tsushima Channel, the opposite of the Pacific coast. Considering the occasional collision of whales against high-speed boats around Kyushu, the whale resources would have been abundant since long ago.
　　This old house was partially renovated to a museum of their family business of whaling. There was a variety of exhibits such as old whaling gears, documented records, lots of pictures, and whales' real bones. I learned that there had been surely a big whaling industry in Yobuko. Do you know about the International Whaling Commission - IWC? I wonder what on earth IWC has been for. After the withdrawal of Japan, which had conducted research whaling every year, the commission lost evidences or data on which they discuss about the whale resources. They don't investigate them by themselves. I believe that the purpose of the commission was to harass the nations which had the culture of whale eating. The IWC must be kind of a Whale Fan Club. They might think that banning Japan from eating whales leads to the promotion of their beef sales. The egoistic idea of non-whale-eating nations severed the line of passing down the culture and technique of whaling which was inherited in Japan for centuries long. While looking at the exhibits, I became angry at the continuing racial discrimination.

https://www.karatsu-kankou.jp/history_and_culture/detail/224/HistoryAndCulture

朝市観光の後で捕鯨で財をなした旧家跡に立ち寄った。恥ずかしながら、捕鯨は太平洋側でのみ行われていた漁業だと思っていた。和歌山は今でも続いているし、そのため、世界中からやってくるシーシェパードなど、左翼の活動家に悩まされている。そして、高知県も有名。だが、佐賀県で捕鯨が行われていたとは知らなかった。考えて見れば九州周辺では今でもジェットフォイルと鯨の衝突が時に起こるのだから、鯨資源は豊富だったのだろう。

この古い家は一部改装され博物館となっていた。内部には古い漁具や捕鯨の歴史が紹介されていた。国際捕鯨委員会という組織があるが、一体何のための組織だったのだろうか。日本が脱退した後、資源調査さえ行われていないと聞く。単に自分たちは食べない鯨を食べる国々に対する嫌がらせだったのではないかと思う。まるで鯨ファンクラブだ。鯨食を禁止すれば日本へその代替として牛肉をたくさん売れるとでも思ったのか。欧米に文化の継承をたたれば捕鯨技術。展示物を見ながら未だに続く人種差別に腹が立ってきた。

Yobuko Morning Market

　　The first three pictures were taken from the window of our ryokan. Two sight-seeing boats were going out of the bay. This peaceful area looked like Onomichi City located at the coast of the Seto Inland Sea.
　　There was a famous sight-seeing spot called Nanatsugama, which consisted of seven caves at the point of 20 minutes' navigation from our place. Those caves were formed by the erosion of the basaltic cliff. I heard that you could enter the biggest cave by boat and I asked how to apply for the tour at the front desk, but the wave was too high to hold the tour.
　　After breakfast we went out to see the morning market, which was well-known for its nostalgic atmosphere with a long tradition. It was a bit early and the street wasn't busy. We walked along in a relaxed mood. I got a coffee cup of Karatsu ware at the shop in the following picture. I'm going to use it in my office.

(Vocabulary)
navigation 　航海［飛行］術; 航行［飛行］させること; 航海, 飛行
hold the tour 　ツアーを開催する
basalt 　玄武岩






最初の３枚の写真は旅館の窓からの風景。早朝２隻の観光船が呼子湾から外海へ向けて進んでいる。瀬戸内の尾道市に似たのんびりとしたたたずまいの土地だ。

すぐ近くに七ツ釜と呼ばれる７つの洞窟がある。黒い玄武岩の断崖が波に浸食されて出来たもので、最大サイズの洞窟は遊覧船で観光できると聞いていたので、七ツ釜観光についてフロントで尋ねたが、外海は荒れていて今日は観光船は運休だと伝えられた。

朝食後、朝市見物に出発。時間が早すぎたみたいで、観光客は少なかったが、写真の店で唐津焼のコーヒーカップを入手。オフィスで使うことにする。良い想い出になった。

Yobuko

　　I arrived at a Japan-style inn. Judging from its location, obsolescence, and structure, the inn would be fairly old, but its location was great. Some inns around my inn were closed. It might be due to the suppression of tourism by the outbreak of the Wuhan virus. There was the bay of Yobuko just in front of the inn and I saw lots of squid-fishing boats. A decent ship in the picture was a packet boat connecting small islands off the coast of Yobuko. Looking at the map, there were lots of tiny islands near Yobuko and I didn't know anything about those islands at that time, but I knew a great real history on those islands on the next day. I'll write about it later.
　　By the way, I have to write about the great dinner. Before that, I felt that the inn served a minimum of what they should offer in normal conditions with a minimum number of workers. The Wuhan virus also hit this inn and they seemed to manage to overcome this harsh reality. Additional orders were not accepted. They would buy in just necessary and sufficient food. Our room was tidy but simple. The time schedule of bathing was a little restricted. HOWEVER, the raw squid was really delicious. I've never seen a translucent squid. How fresh! That's all about why we were in Yobuko. Some squid were moving though their body was cut into small pieces. Those tastes made me feel like visiting Yobuko again.

(Vocabulary)
buy in 買い付ける、仕入れる
simple 〈デザイン・装飾などが〉 シンプルな, 簡素な

宿に到着

名護屋城や有名な武将の陣地跡などを見て、呼子の宿に入った。古い部類の宿である。近くの宿の中には休業中の宿もあった。武漢ウイルスの影響だろうか？部屋で少し仲居さんの説明を聞いた後、散歩に出た。写真は宿の前の海である。イカ釣り漁船が並んでいた。写真に写っている客船は近くの島へ向かう定期船。地図を見ると一部は橋で繋がれているが、小さな離島がいくつもある。ちっぽけな島々、このときは知らなかったが、翌日にその驚くべき歴史を知ることになる。

さて、夕食である。最低限のスタッフで最低限のサービスに徹している感じがした。武漢ウイルスの影響がここにも出ていて、何とかこの時期を乗り切ろうという覚悟が見えた。料理は追加注文は不可。その日に必要な分だけを仕入れているのだろうと思う。入浴時間帯の制限もあった。部屋はきれいに片付いていたが質素な部屋だった。しかし、この地の名物、いか料理は絶品だった。イカは透明で、食べやすいサイズに刻まれていてもまだ足を動かしていた。白くなったイカしか知らなかったのでとてもその透明さに驚き、その味にも驚いた。地元の冷酒はまた格別だった。またイカを食べるために訪れたい、そう思わせる味だった。

 

 

Hado Cape and the Japan-Korea Tunnel

　　I was able to view the small islands and the Genkai-nada Sea in the distance from the Nagoya Castle Remains, but I went to the seacoast, Hado Cape additionally. Did Hideyoshi come there, the very end of Kyushu, and look toward the continent? It was only an undersea observatory that was man made in the scene from the tip of the cape. I was happy to know that I saw the same scene as in the era of Hideyoshi. How did Hideyoshi imagine the world over the sea?
　　The next visiting site was the controversial exploratory drilling spot for the Japan-Korea Tunnel. When I heard of the plan of tunnel-drilling between Japan and Korea for the first time, maybe 4-5 years ago, I assumed it to be fake news, but it actually existed near the Nagoya Castle Remains. Moreover the drilling site was in the midst of the positions of military commanders serving under Hideyoshi. I wonder who of the commanders imagined that the tunnel from there to the Korean Peninsula would be planned 400 years after their fight? Roughly overlooking the history of Japan, it was the times of restricted trade with China and Korea when Japan had spent really happy times. And so, I think that this tunnel is unnecessary and even inauspicious. To my delight, simply, this project seemed to be stranded.

波戸岬と日韓トンネル

名護屋城跡から遠くの島々を見渡せたのだが、地域の最北端に寄ってみた。波戸岬だ。秀吉もここから大陸の方角を眺めただろうか。周りに人工物は一つだけ。海中の様子を眺めることのできる海中塔だけだ。秀吉の時代と同じ景色を見ているのだと思うと嬉しくなった。海の向こうの様子を秀吉はどのように想像しただろうか。

次に訪れたのが日韓トンネルの調査が行われている場所。初めて聞いたときフェイクニュースだと思ったが、実際に存在していた。この場所は名護屋城跡のすぐそば、周りは秀吉配下の武将たちの陣地が密集していた場所。この武将たちの中で誰が、４００年後にこの地から朝鮮半島へ向けてトンネルが掘られるような計画が持ち上がるなどと想像したろうか。歴史を見れば、日本が平和だった時代は例外なく、大陸との交易に制限を掛けていた時代。なので、このようなトンネルは無用だと思う。ただ、嬉しいことにこの調査、活発に進んでいるような様子はなかった。

Nagoya Castle Remains

　　I visited Nagoya Castle Remains without due preliminary knowledge on it and its magnitude amazed me. You might wonder, but this huge castle's remains aren't so well-known even among Japanese.
　　Most modern history textbook are edited by the anti-Japan schools and they tell us that the 16th century's leader of Japan, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, was an evil and ugly man. However, as far as I had learned by myself, he was a great man. I was taught that he planned to invade Korea and Nagoya Castle was the advanced base for it, but his action was natural if you see from the point of Japan's national security. More than 100 positions were built around the castle and you can still see some of their ruins. Seeing how enormous this ruin was, I assumed that Hidehoshi might have a plan to newly build a big city at this northernmost area of Kyushu.
　　I dropped in at a museum established as an annex and was surprised again at its exhibition including false information distorted by the anti-Japan perspective of history. I'd like to know who supervised this exhibition and asked about that at the front desk, but no one knew. I can point out more than 10 false items. For example, they say, rice cultivation was brought to Japan "from Korea". To tell the truth, this has been completely denied by recent archaeology. The panel on the wall read Kaboto(河姆渡) ruin near Shanghai and Itazuke ruin in Kyushu, which had perfectly destroyed old theories. Didn't the supervisor know about these important ruins? I'll show you some pictures shot at the Nagoya Castle Remains.

(Vocabulary)
position [C] (軍隊の) 陣地

名護屋城

ほとんど予備知識を持たず訪れた。そしてその規模に驚いた。これほどの城跡、もっと世に知らしめねばならないだろう。

１６世紀末の日本の指導者、秀吉を悪と教える現在の教科書。自分で調べて勉強した結果、よくぞこの時代にいてくれたものだと感謝しかない。偉人である。この城は朝鮮半島経由で明と戦うための前線基地。秀吉の邪心からの朝鮮侵略だと教えられるが、あれは日本の安全保障を考えれば当然の対応である。城跡の周囲には各地の大名の陣地が作られていた。その数、ざっと１００以上。大変な規模である。そのうち、大きな陣地の跡は今でも残っている。秀吉はここに巨大な都市を造ろうとしたのではないか。そんな気さえしてくるほどの規模の城跡だった。

併設されている歴史ミュージアムへ入ってみた。なんと、反日史観のオンパレードだった。半島系の学者が作ったのだろう。誰が監修しているのか知りたかったが、スタッフに尋ねてもわからなかった。例えば稲作は朝鮮半島から日本に伝わったなどと寝言が書かれていた。壁に掛かるパネルには河姆渡遺跡や板付遺跡が記入されているのにである。名護屋城跡周辺で撮った写真を何枚かＵＰする。

Trip to Saga

　　As I've been feeling confined these days due to the outbreak of the Wuhan virus, I decided to make a trip to Saga prefecture, whose level of the virus's prevalence was about the same as my prefecture. The local government issues an alarm to avoid moving into pandemic areas like Tokyo, Hokkaido, and so on. Saga was out of the alarm areas. My purpose was to visit the Nagoya Castle Remains. FYI, this castle is located in Kyushu and is different from the famous Nagoya Castle in Aichi prefecture in central Japan. The place of the remains is called Yobuko, which is well-known for its famous specialty of squid, which is my wife's favorite.
　　There was some routes for Saga prefecture and I chose the ferry boat between Misaki, the westernmost town of Shikoku and Saganoseki, the almost easternmost town of Kyushu. I spent the last two years of elementary school days at Misaki town, so I felt nostalgic to see and find the change of the streets and other scenes. The picture of the chimney below was shot just before the arrival in Saganoseki. Its of a very famous copper refinery and you can see it from Misaki town. The chimney was towering just the same as 50 years ago. Another picture shows the site of evacuation. I learned that such places were called muster stations during my cruise trip. Is this expression "Emergency assembly point" right?

佐賀旅行

武漢ウイルスによる生活の制限のためなんとも息苦しい。気分転換に感染者数が愛媛県と同レベルの佐賀県へ観光に行くことにした。行き先は名護屋城跡。すぐそばの呼子はカミさんの好物のイカで有名な町。

ルートは愛媛県の西の端から九州に渡るフェリーを利用。この土地は小学校時代に２年間過ごした土地。実に懐かしい。下の煙突の写真は目的地の佐賀関港に到着直前に撮影した。天気が良いと四国側からも見える煙突だ。そして最後の写真は緊急時の集合場所を示した看板。英語の表現に引っかかった。マスターステーションという単語は知っているが、この表現も正しいのかな？

Grandpa's Dream

　　My eldest daughter got married last February without any gathering and ceremony due to the Wuhan virus prevalence. It was regrettable being unable to see her in a wedding dress, but next March, she will give birth to a baby. I can't wait. I will pamper him/her to the utmost. Take a look at the picture at the bottom.
　　Showing this picture to my wife I told her that I'll buy the baby this car. She laughed at me, saying that the toy is too early for the baby and it makes no sense until the baby begins to walk by itself. However, it took not to so long for her to notice that another car sat behind the cute one. "Just to be sure, you don't mean the bigger one, do you?"
　　The car behind is a Tesla Model Y, Tesla's SUV, which accommodates 7 people, and I love it. It's not a hit on the market in Japan now, but it will be rolled out within 3 years, considering that the Model 3 took 3 years to land in Japan since it showed up in the U.S. market.
　　I'm thinking that I'll purchase both cars - I don't know if the near one can be called a car or not - shown in the picture at the same time. The last obstacle is how to persuade her,,,. It's a big problem.

来年３月に初孫が誕生する。今から待ち遠しい。生まれたら、これ以上無いくらい甘やかすだろうと思う。下の写真を見て欲しい。先日、この写真をカミさんに見せて、生まれたらこの車を買うと話した。

カミさんはそれに乗れるようになるのは十分に歩けるようになってから。気が早いと言って笑うのだが、後ろにもう一台写っていることに気づくのにそう時間はかからなかった。あんた、後ろの車のことを言っているのではないよね、、、、、

後ろにあるのはテスラモデルＹ　まだ日本では発売されていないが、モデル３が米国発売から３年後に日本で発売開始となったことを考えると３年後くらいに発売されるだろう、、、これらの車を２台セットで買おうと思っている、手前の可愛い奴が車と呼べるかどうかはわからないが。、、、ただ、カミさんをどう説得するか、それが問題だ。

What I Think About the U.S. Presidential Election

　　The U.S.A. Should it have been the leader of democratic nations? The dignity as the leader has fallen down. I'm so sorry. Most of the media are rotten. Lots of evidence for election fraud has been exposed on the net. Nevertheless, the media keep silent. Why? The pursuit of the truth should be the mission of the media, shouldn't it? I no longer trust the mainstream media and if I want to know something, I seek for the information on the net. I hope that President Trump will win the election, but now, it's not the main issue. I hope that justice will beat the evil.

 

アメリカ大統領選挙に想う

アメリカと言えば民主主義国家群のリーダーとも言える存在。それが今、地に墜ちている。選挙不正は一体どうしたことか。今、大手メディアは報道しないがネット上では確実な証拠がどんどん挙がっている。僕はもう既存メディアを信用していない。必要な情報はネット上で探し、既存メディアから流れてくる情報は必ず、ネット上でも確認することにしている。トランプ米大統領に勝って欲しいが、もうそんな話ではなく、真実を突き止め、この混乱を起こした組織を潰して欲しい。

Jog

　　I jogged more than 20 km after such a long interval since I had stopped running at 38 km in the Shimonoseki Marathon in November in 2019. The next Ehime Marathon will not be held and I thought that the next chance will not come in the near future, but my friend asked me to join their training. They are continuing training and run faster than me. So, I started 40 minutes earlier than them along the same route and they caught me up later. The weather was clear and comfortable. The riverside of Shigenobu river was really peaceful. I lost my dear friend by leukemia in May who had grown up in the same high school and the same university. I'm deeply grateful to have such physical strength as I can run more then 20km even over 60 years old.
　　I started a new life as an industrial physician this summer. If the outbreak of Wuhan virus didn't occur, I would have become a ship's doctor on a gorgeous cruise ship now. In this world, no one knows when something will happen. I'm going to enjoy my life from now on too.

本当に久しぶりに走った。去年１１月の下関マラソンで３８ｋｍでDNFとなって以来の２０キロ越え。来年の愛媛マラソンは中止となり、しばらく走ることは無いなと思っていたのだが、誘われて走ることになった。長距離ランの間隔が空いているので、速く走る仲間より３０分以上早めに出て追いついてもらうように設定して走った。天気は快晴。穏やかな風が吹き、重信川沿いの道は快適だった。６０歳を越えてこれだけ走れる体力と健康を本当にありがたいと思う。今年は中高大学と一緒に過ごした友人を失った。

今年、転職し、新たなスタートを切った。武漢ウイルスがなければ今頃クルーズ船の船医をしていたはずなのだが、人生何があるかわからない。これからも健康には気をつけて人生を楽しもうと思う。

Wine Tasting

　　A wine importer told me that their salesperson would visit several restaurants and bars in my city which serve wine to customers for the purpose of sales and the expansion of their sales channel. The salesperson, who had come by my house before, would like to drop in at my house at that time for tasting wines. As the importer is based in Osaka, which is also an epicenter of the outbreak of the Wuhan virus, I had a little anxiety over infection from him. After due consideration I said ok on the condition of his serious carefulness. My friends got together to taste high quality wines, some of which weren't out of our reach. My wife prepared meals which went well with white and red wines. After tasting, we ordered wines which everyone liked.
　　To my surprise, he left opened wines to us. Those bottles seemed to pass a few days after opening. Even if he brought them back to his company, they would pass the freshness date. Anyway, I was grateful. Naturally we enjoyed them and the dishes. Take a look at the following picture. I've never seen such a scene as more than 20 kinds of wines are open at the same time.

ワイン試飲会

大阪からワインの輸入業者が松山に行商に来た。レストランなどの業者相手の売り込みだが、そのついでに我が家に寄りたいと先月連絡があった。大阪は武漢ウイルスの大流行地で、そこからやってくるということで少し心配はしたのだが、感染に最大限注意するということで我が家に来てもらった。仲間の都合を聞き、今日となった。カミさんが簡単な料理を用意し、準備万端。それぞれ気に入ったワインを注文した。

終わりに、なんと驚くことに、残った試飲用のワインを全て置いていってくれた。開封して数日経ったワインばかりだろうから持って帰っても使えないという判断だろう。ありがたや。言うまでもなく大宴会となった。写真を見て欲しい。同時にこれだけのワインが開いている光景は見たことが無い。