Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Foot-and-mouth Disease

　　There are lots of current affairs domestically in Japan, but the foot-and-mouth disease is definitely one of the top issues. The disease broke out in Miyazaki Prefecture in Kyushu two months ago, and the effect is even now spreading due to the political failure of the ruling party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). The government couldn't contain the disease though the Liberal Democratic Party managed to do that 10 years ago. The farmers had and will have to decimate all the cattle in the infected areas. What are the farmers' feelings like? They would have no words for describing them. I'm angry at the DPJ from the bottom of my heart. They shouldn't have gained power. I never agreed with anything that the DPJ did during their eight months of office.

(Vocabulary）
foot-and-mouth disease　口蹄病
contain 〈火事・伝染病など〉 を食い止める, 抑える
Doctors are struggling to contain the epidemic.
decimate 〈住民・動物など〉を多数死なせる,〈森・作物など〉を大量に破壊する, 〈産業・事業など〉に大打撃を与える

Distortion by Russia

　　A big event to mark the 65th anniversary of the victory against Germany in World War Two, was held on May 9th in Russia. The huge military parade was conducted by more than 10,000 soldiers in Red Square in Moscow. It sounded like it was on the biggest scale since the collapse of the USSR. Not only Russian troops but former CIS troops joined the ceremony. Additionally, it was highly important that the U.S., the U.K. and French troops attended the ceremony for the first time as the used-to-be friendly forces against Nazi Germany. Moreover, to my surprise, Polish troops joined the parade, who shared the historical issue known as the Katyn Forest massacre with Russia for the first time in 65 years.
　　Not only military personnel, but 25 countries' heads of state also attended the event, including the loser, German Prime Minister Merkel, and the heads of the Baltic states and Poland, which also had lots of historical issues against Russia.
　　This event was taking advantage of the fact that Russia had contributed to beat Nazi Germany, but first of all, Russia intended to encircle the movement of the review of the war proposed by the Baltic States and Poland.
　　The Baltic States and Poland look upon Russia the same as Nazi Germany. You might think their idea strange, but the acknowledgement of the achievement of Russia in beating Nazi Germany doesn't contradict looking upon Russia as the partner of Nazi Germany.
　　The war against Nazi Germany is called the Great Patriotic War in the USSR and Russia, which started in June 1941, when Nazi Germany began to attack Russia. On the other hand, World War Two broke out in September 1939, triggered by the German invasion of Poland. So, what was Russia doing from September 1939 to June 1941?
　　I'll tell you the truth. Russia was invading Poland from the east while Nazi Germany was doing the same thing from west. At that time, they perpetrated the Katyn Forest massacre. They also invaded the Baltic States, Finland and Romania. It meant the denial of the Versailles Treaty and what Russia had done was just the same thing as Nazi Germany had done.
　　That is to say, there are chapters one and two for World War Two in connection with Russia (USSR), both of which are totally different from each other. Russia emphasizes only the second chapter and covers up the first. Such a fundamental fact is easily found if you look at the chronological table. It's beyond doubt that Russia intends to distort the historical fact.

(Vocabulary)
Red Square  赤の広場
military parade  軍事パレード
USSR  Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
CIS  (the Commonwealth of Independent States)
独立国家共同体 (旧ソビエト連邦の12か国から成る国家共同体)
highly important  特筆すべき
Katyn Forest massacre カチンの森事件
Nazi Germany  ナチスドイツ
head of state（王・大統領などの）国家元首
Baltic state バルト海沿岸の国（北から、Estonia、Latvia、Lithuaniaの三国）
take advantage of ～をうまく［巧みに］利用する、～を生かす、～を活用［駆使］する、～の特典を生かす; ～を悪用する、～に乗じる、～に便乗する
look on/upon sb/sth as sth  ＜…＞を＜…＞であると考える, ＜…＞を＜…＞と見なす
Great Patriotic War  大祖国戦争
invasion of sth
an invasion of privacy  プライバシーの侵害
Versailles Treaty  ベルサイユ条約
in connection with ～に関連して
chronological table 年表
chronological  年代順の, 年代順に配列した
in chronological order   年代順に
beyond (a) reasonable doubt  (法)  合理的な疑いの余地なく

 

ロシアの捏造

　５月９日、対独戦争勝利を記念するイベントがロシアで開催された。一万人以上が参加する大軍事パレードだ。これはソ連崩壊後最大規模だという。ロシア軍だけでなく、旧CIS諸国の軍隊やアメリカ、イギリス、フランスまでもが参加している。さらに驚いたことに、ポーランド軍までが参加しているのだ。６５年の戦後史の中で初めてのことだ。また、パレードには軍関係者だけでなく、２５カ国の首脳も参加している。ドイツのメルケル首相もだ。さらにバルト三国、ポーランドの首脳まで。
　このイベントはナチス殲滅にソ連軍が多大なる貢献をしたという事実を最大限利用するものであるが、なかでも最近バルト三国やポーランドから出てきている歴史見直しの動きを封じることにその目的があると思う。
　バルト三国やポーランドはロシアとナチスドイツを同一視している。おかしな考えだと思われるかもしれないが、ナチスドイツ打倒におけるロシアの功績を認めることと、ロシアをナチスドイツと同一視することは矛盾しないのだ。
　ナチスドイツ相手の戦争はロシアでは大祖国戦争と呼ばれ、ドイツが侵攻してきた１９４１年６月に始まった。しかし、第２次世界大戦は１９３９年９月、ドイツのポーランド侵攻によって始まっているのだ。ではこの間、ロシアはいったい何をしていたのだろうか。
　真実を伝えよう。ロシアはナチスドイツと一緒になって東側からポーランドに攻め込んでいたのだ。このときにカチンの森事件は発生した。さらにバルト三国、フィンランド、ルーマニアにも侵攻した。これはベルサイユ体制の否定であり、ナチスドイツのやったことと寸分違わない。
　つまり、ロシアの第２次世界大戦には全く異なる第１部と第２部があり、ロシアは第２部だけを強調しているのだ。そして第１部を隠蔽している。こんなことは年表を見れば一目瞭然だ。ロシアが改めて歴史の捏造を図っていることは疑いようがない。

Incredible Signboard

　　I stayed at the Kansai Airport Washington Hotel last night. There was a convenience store on the 2nd floor. I went down to the store late at night to get some snacks, and found an incredible signboard there. It said in Chinese, Korean and English that you should line up at the cashier, and shouldn't open the package and shouldn't eat or drink anything there. My room was equipped with two pairs of mules with a slip of paper saying "Don't take it away!" These are natural and need not be mentioned. I'd never seen this kind of warning in other stores. It might indicate the tendency of the decline of security in Japan.

(Vocabulary)

mule [C] 《通例複数形で》 (かかとのない) つっかけスリッパ

Copenhagen

　　There's no direct relationship between the title and the content in this entry, but lots of people recall environmental issues from the name of this city at present. I'm going to write my personal opinion about the issue.
　　In my daily work in the cold season, I recommend patients to take a bath after warming the bathroom in order to prevent any unexpected incident in the tub.
　　Fill the bathtub with hot water at first, and keep the shower flowing for some time to warm the room. However, the reverse of this procedure is unreasonable. I mean, warming the air of the bathroom for the purpose of heating water in the bathtub is ridiculous and meaningless. The water's capacity for holding heat is several thousand times larger than that of the air.
　　If you see this phenomenon from the global view, Japan is surrounded by the sea and ocean currents and is the least warming-sensitive country among the developed countries. Should such a country lead the movement for preventing warming? In your daily life, if the most influential person doesn't do anything, it's nonsense that the rest should struggle to do something.
　　We are told fossil fuels will run dry in about 100 years or so. If Japan saved it and human beings could use it for 10 more years, it's total nonsense. The fuel that Japan could save would be utilized by some other countries. It mainly goes to China and leads to the enhancement of their military power, and lastly Japan would be occupied by them.
　　The issue of global warming is apparently imputable to China and the U.S. They are staging a deceptive drama, and Japan has to see into it to keep the energy and the technology from them.

(Vocabulary)
Copenhagen　コペンハーゲン
tub  浴槽, バスタブ, 湯船 =bath, bathtub(英)
fill the bathtub with hot water  浴槽に湯をためる
environmentally sensitive  環境変化の影響を受けやすい
current in the ocean / ocean current 海流
fossil fuel 化石燃料
run dry in __ years or so  ＿年くらいで枯渇する
imputable
impute sth to sb (フォーマル) ＜罪・責任など＞を＜人＞に負わせる, 転嫁する, ＜性質など＞を＜人＞に帰する
deception 欺瞞, だますこと, 詐欺行為
stage a deceptive drama  欺まん劇をでっち上げる
see into（人の本心などを）見抜く

　タイトルと内容に直接の関係はないが、今、コペンハーゲンと聞けば、多くの人は環境問題を思い浮かべるであろう。以下に私見を述べる。

　風呂での事故を防ぐため、浴室を暖めてから入浴するよう指導している。お湯を張って部屋を暖めて、その熱で浴室を暖める。しかし、その逆、つまり部屋の空気を暖めてその熱でお湯をわかすという発想はない。熱を保持する能力は空気に比べて水は数千倍にもなるからだ。
　地球レベルで見ると、海に囲まれた日本は先進国中、その海水のおかげでもっとも温暖化の影響を受けにくい国だと言える。その国が率先して温暖化防止をしなければならないのだろうか？私生活で何かしようとしたとき、もっとも大きな影響がある人が何もしないのに、残りが議論しても意味がない。
　あと、１００年しか持たないと言われる化石燃料だが、日本が節約して１０年長く持ったとして、それが一体どれほどのことだろう？日本の節約分は確実に他国に使われる。化石エネルギーを節約して、その節約分が支那に廻り、軍事力増強に繋がり、日本が占領される。
　温暖化問題は明らかに米中の問題である。エネルギーを、技術を奪われないためには、米中の欺瞞を見抜かなければならない。

Oscar and March 10th

　　　To my surprise "The Cove", a movie that had been shot secretly and illegally, won an Oscar. Some Japanese commercial fishermen captured some dolphins which had damaged their traditional fishery and sold them for food. The fishermen didn't enjoy killing them, and have to protect their way of life. Dolphins often destroy their fishnets and eat fishes or clear fishes away from the coast. Dolphins are really a threat for people who eke out a living from coastal fisheries or depend on the sea. The movie, "The Cove", describes these people. The filmmakers illegally sneaked into an off-limits area and shot the movie.
　　　An Oscar is a prize that the Hollywood-inhabitants, who esteem whales and dolphins more highly than human beings, select so I don't need to refer to it. However, I wondered how much bias they have! What stupid racial discrimination they have!
　　　Australian people kill more than three million kangaroos, which do harm to their crops, a year. The U.S. people kill huge numbers of cattle for their main food. They sometimes claim that dolphins are clever. I know, of course. Then, they'd like to insist that stupid creatures can be killed meaninglessly, would they? How about China and Korea which have the tradition of eating cats and dogs?
　　　The arrogance of western people hasn't changed at all since 15th century. Come to think of it, today is one of the anniversaries in the history of human beings. Do you know who was the first to kill more than 100,000 citizens in one night since recorded history?

(Vocabulary)
secret filming（ビデオカメラによる）盗撮
a commercial fisherman  漁業関係者
fisherman  （娯楽としての）釣り人　（という意味もある)
fishnet  漁網
eke sth out
eke out a living/an existence  何とか生計を立てる, 細々と生活する
fisherman who depends on the sea  その海に生計を頼っている漁師
inshore adv. 海岸近くに, 海岸に向かって; adj.海岸に近い, 沿岸の
coastal [coast] fishery  沿岸漁業
off-limits area  立ち入り禁止区域
inhabitant  one of the people who live in a particular place:
esteem  …を尊敬する, 評価する
highly esteem sb   ＜人＞を高く評価する
refer to sb/sth ＜…＞に言及する, 触れる
cattle  (集合的に) 牛, 畜牛

　驚いたことに、盗撮フィルムがオスカーを取った。漁業に打撃を与えるイルカの漁を盗撮したものだ。イルカを獲るために遠洋まで出かけていくのではなく、イルカに生活を脅かされている沿岸漁民が生きるためのすべだ。人間よりイルカや鯨が大事だと思っているようなハリウッドの住人が選ぶ賞なので、大騒ぎする必要はないが、それにしてもこの人種差別はどうだろう。

　作物に害を与えるという理由で毎年３００万頭のカンガルーを虐殺するオーストラリア、牛を主食とするアメリカなど、白人が主張できるような内容だろうか。イルカが賢いというのなら、賢くない動物は殺しても良いと言うことだろうか？犬を食べる伝統のある、支那や朝鮮、猫を食べる支那はどうだ？

　白人の傲慢さ、１５世紀から何も変わってはいない。そういえば今日は人類が初めて一晩に１０万人を虐殺した日だった。

 

TOYOTA Under Fire

　　　I recalled the scene of the Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals after seeing the public hearing over Toyota. I mean the scene of the high-handed Joseph Berry Keenan who irreverently accused Japanese top officials of waging the Great East Asian War.
　　　Japan couldn't avoid the war, no matter how much effort it had made to do so. In other words, once the U.S. had decided to attack a country, they would resort to endless procedural machinations and be sure to wage war against it. It is a common maneuver of theirs. You might remember Saddam Hussein in Iraq or Noriega in Panama. Mr. Toyoda Akio might be Mr. Tojo Hideki in the Tokyo Tribunal.
　　　The president of the U.S.-based affiliate was behaving like he was irresponsible and only under the contol of the head office in Japan. He looked like Puyi, the last Emperor of China ,in court during the Tokyo Tribunal. The appeal of the victim lady smelled of the footlights, just like the old women who shed tears to get money from Japan, claiming the groundless story that they were forced to become comfort women of the Japanese Army.
　　　The testimony of this lady was incredible on many points. When the gear is in the neutral position, does the car accelerate? Both the reverse gear and the parking brake are designed not to work when the car is running at high speed. Moreover she seemed to be able to call her husband in such extreme panic in the uncontrolled car, which was moving at a speed of 100 miles per hour. The present owner of this car got this car from her after 3000 miles and now the meter indicated 30000 miles and he/she hadn't experienced the same incident until now. If I were her, I would never have sold this car to others because this car is too dangerous, like a weapon. I doubt her sincerity. Did the incident that she claimed really happen? I think that they should establish an independent committee consisting of specialists from other countries like Germany, France, England, etc. The committee would tell us who is correct between TOYOTA and the victim lady.
　　　The questions from Congress were low-level and lacked dignity, just like Keenan's in the Tokyo Tribunal. They were a little gentle with Mr. Toyoda, but looked like a lynch mob when they beat him up on the technical points of view, the field which Mr. Toyoda was not well versed in.
　　　In the incredible American society of product liability, if the driver insists that the cause of the accident is attributed to the defect of the car, he'll win, even though he isn't right. That is to say, car manufacturers always have these weak points.
　　　The relationship between the U.S. and Japan is on the brink of disaster due to the impolite anti-U.S. policy of Mr. Ozawa Ichiro and Mr. Hatoyama Yukio. If I tell you that this Toyota issue is simply revenge by the U.S., what do you think?
　　　It is the easiest way of getting huge votes for professional politicians to beat big foreign companies. I suspect that the U.S. government got tired of Japan's present policy, and they wanted to avenge it on Toyota, the Japanese industrial symbol as there were no such issues while Japan was on a pro-U.S. policy. It looks like a common maneuver of the U.S.
　　　Japan bashing for the sake of the mid-term election seems to be the same situation as the commencement of the Great East Asian War, which Franklin Delano Roosevelt wanted.
　　　Is the Justice of the U.S. common and eternal on the globe? I believe that Japan must become independent of the U.S. as soon as possible.

Note: Japanese names are rendered surname first in accordance with customs in Japan.

(Vocabulary)
tribunal [C] (特定の問題の裁定を行う) 裁判所, 法廷, 裁定委員会
hearing / public hearing  公聴会
high-handed  高圧的な, 独断的な
hubris  (フォーマル) 傲慢(ごうまん), 不遜(ふそん)
irreverence  非礼, 不敬
irreverent  非礼な, 不敬な
resort to endless procedural machinations  際限のない策謀に訴える
machinations 《複数扱い》(フォーマル)  陰謀, 策謀
common maneuver / formula  （問題解決などの）常套手段
maneuver
1 [C] (技術を要する) 操作, 操縦, （一連の）動作
2 [C] 駆け引き, 策略
a political/legal maneuver   政治的な［法律上の］駆け引き
affiliate 支社, 支店, 系列会社, 子会社
Puyi  溥儀
smell of the footlights 芝居じみている
smell of something ＜…＞のにおいがする
shed tears (over sb/sth)(特に文)  （＜…＞のために）涙を流す
groundless  根拠のない, いわれのない
lynch （アメリカの判事 W. Lynch1742～1820の名に由来）法によらない私的制裁。私刑。
be (well) versed in sth ＜…＞に精通［熟達］している
independent committee　第三者委員会
product liability  製造物責任
brink  (悪いことなどの) 瀬戸際, 寸前
on/at the brink of sth  ＜…＞の寸前［瀬戸際］で, に瀕(ひん)して
His presidency was on the brink of disaster.  彼の大統領体制は崩壊寸前だった．
professional politician  政治屋
be tired of one's current job 今の仕事に嫌気がさす
outrageous 法外な, とんでもない, 常軌を逸した
outrageous prices  法外な値段
avenge (文) …の復讐(ふくしゅう)をする
midterm election　中間選挙
--------------------------------------------------------
　一昨日の公聴会の模様を一部テレビで見た。東京裁判を思い出した。倣岸不遜のキーナンが暴言を吐いて被告達を叩くあれである。あの戦争は日本がどのように和平工作をしても不可避だった。つまりアメリカが一旦この国を叩こうと決意したならばあらゆる策謀で戦争に持ち込み叩き潰すのがアメリカの常套手段であるからだ。イラクのフセインしかり、パナマのノリエガ潰ししかりである。豊田章男は東條英機か？

　現地アメリカ人社長の答弁もまるで自分が責任ないように、全て東京のコントロールだと話していた。まるで東京裁判での満州の溥儀皇帝のごとく。被害者の女性の糾弾ときたら、ありもしない慰安婦で金目当ての婆さんどもが泣き芝居で騒いでいるのと重ね合わされるほど芝居染みていた。時速１６０キロで走る車の中、パニック状態で電話できているし、ニュートラルで加速するとか、バックギアに入らないとか（当たり前だ）、サイドブレーキがきかないとか（当たり前だ）、理解できない内容のコメントだった。しかもこの車を他人に売っている。買った人が危険だとは思わなかったのだろうか。彼女には誠実さがないのだろうか。買った人が死ぬかもしれないと思わなかったのだろうか。実はそんな事実はなかったのだと思わざるを得ない。議員も程度の低い質問、揚げ足取りなどまるで品性も品格もない、あの東京裁判のキーナンのようである。トヨタ社長に対しては若干穏やかであったが、技術面で攻め立てるなど、リンチの様相が強い。

　こういう車の性能など、あとでケチをつけることは簡単であり、運転者が事故を起こした際、車のせいだと言えば、アメリカの非常識とも言える極端なプロダクトライアビリティの社会では消費者がインチキでも必ず勝利するのである。つまり車のメーカーはいつもかかる弱点を抱えていると言って良い。

　日米関係は小沢一郎や鳩山由紀夫の礼節なき反米外交により戦後最大の危機を迎えている。そんな中今回の事件はアメリカの意趣返しと見るのは穿ちすぎであろうか？

　政治屋は票を取るために外国大企業いじめがてっとり早い。政府にとっても、日本は普天間でけしからん、ついては日本の象徴であるトヨタを狙い撃ちしリベンジを図る、まさにアメリカのいつものやり方である。実際小泉より麻生までの長期間、その親米属国路線の間日本車の不買運動その他一切のアメリカ側よりのイチャモンは無かった。

　中間選挙のために日本を叩く、まさにあのルーズベルトの戦争である日米開戦と同じ様相を帯びてきた。アメリカの正義は世界の正義だとでも思っているのだろうか？

Book Burning

A Japanese word "焚書" means throwing books into the fire. I looked for the direct English translation in my dictionary, but in vain. Nazi Germany, of course, did it and the U.S. also did it just after the Greater East Asian War. At least 7000 kinds of books that were inconvenient to the U.S. were burnt. The number of those books are reportedly to be more than tens of millions across the country. I don't think that justice is on their side.
By the way, China is now implementing this bird-brained policy in Uighur, but a book written in the Uighur language was secretly taken out of Uighur through Hong Kong, and got translated into Japanese. The original title is "Iz", which encourages the Uighur people to become independent. I read it and knew what has been happening in modern times.

(Vocabulary)
book burning  焚書
Nazi Germany  ナチスドイツ
implement 〈計画・政策・法律など〉 を実行する, 実施する, 履行する
bird-brained  ばかな, まぬけな
 

Breaking the Seal on the GHQ Burned Books (Reprint)

The GHQ, the command center of the American occupation forces in Japan, make a great deal about "freedom of speech" on the surface, but all reportage and publications were subjected to a thorough prepublication censorship. Even private letters were unsealed and read due to this censorship.
The GHQ's control of the expression of people's views did not stop there. They undertook a book burning on a scale that one can't help but compare it to the infamous book burnings of the Nazis. Under the name of "propaganda publications," a total of 7,769 works published before the war were confiscated for "burning." In this essay, Prof. Nishio Kanji shines a light on exactly what types of books were seized, and exactly how were they taken.
In short, the truth of the shock that the policy of the GHQ was the obliteration of Japanese history and thought is here proclaimed to the world.
* Summary:　http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL02_1/68_S2.pdf
  Full text:　http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL02_1/68_S4.pdf
  Author profile: http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL02_2/52_S2.pdf

(Vocabulary)
reprint 〔他の出版物｛しゅっぱんぶつ｝の記事｛きじ｝などの〕転載｛てんさい｝
make a great deal of progress  大きく進歩｛しんぽ｝する
reportage  ルポルタージュ 報道
censorship  検閲
sb can't help (doing) sth;  sb can't help but do sth)  ＜人＞が＜…＞なのは［＜…＞するのは］どうしようもない
I can't help the way I feel about you. 君への思いをどうすることもできない．
infamous  悪名高い [＋infamous for]
confiscate  (罰として) …を押収する, 没収する
shock [C] (経済状況・暮らし・慣習などを脅かす) 突然の変化, ショック
obliteration(特に書き言葉) (爆弾・あらしなどによる) 壊滅
obliterate
(爆弾・あらしなどが) …を壊滅する
(特に書き言葉) 〈記憶・感情など〉 を消し去る, 取り去る
(文) …を覆い隠す obliterate sth from view ＜…＞を覆って見えなくする
proclaim [他](フォーマル)  …を公然と述べる, 公言する

日本を占領したアメリカを中心とする連合軍（GHQ）は、建て前では言論の自由をとなえていましたが、報道・出版の徹底的な事前検閲を行いました。書信の開封による検閲まで行っていました。GHQの言論統制はこれにとどまりませんでした。ナチスが行った悪名高い「焚書」とは比較にならない大規模な焚書をも行いました。「宣伝用刊行物没収」という名のもとに、何と７７６９点の戦争前に刊行された書籍を没収し「焚書」したのです。GHQの占領政策は日本の歴史・思想を抹殺することを目指していたという衝撃の事実が今や世界に公表されるわけです。

 

 

 

Whales and Japan - Japan Deprived of Culture -

     Not only eating whales but utilizing them comes from Japanese traditional culture. Japan was deprived of its own culture under the name of the preservation of whales without the confirmation that whales are endangered or not. Until the discovery of crude oil, the superpowers had been struggling to capture the considerable number of whales only for whale oil. Their bodies, except for oil, were simply discarded. They went out far away from their countries for whales, whereas Japanese people just caught whales migrating up north off the coast of Japan. Besides, only a small part of their bodies are  thrown away in Japan. The rate of utilizatiion is 100%. Japan started whaling in the Antarctic Ocean for food after the end of the Great East Asian War and abandoned it a few decades ago. It actually lead to the decrease of whales, so Japan is investigating the number of whales now. While the number of whales increases, the fish catch decrease. It's reportedly because of the huge appetite of whales. Fishermen working around the Antarctic Ocean would know the facts.

     If you need analogies it means depriving western people of beef, French people of foie gras (it's  animal abuse), Koreans of dogs, Chinese of cats and dogs, the Inuit of whales and Americans of turkey.

     And, one more question, why does the Sea Shepherd attack only Japan out of several whaling countries, like Norway, South Korea and Iceland?

     Any question is welcome, if it's reasonable.

     See also; http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/opinion/24iht-edbowring.html?scp=2&sq=whales&st=cse (added on 24th)

(Vocabulary)

fish catch  漁獲量

foie gras〈フランス語〉〔ガチョウの肝臓〕 フォアグラ

analogy  [C] 類似性 

Sea Shepherd

     Have you heard of the Sea Shepherd? People with common sense will take them for a gang of ruffians, I think. It is them who are illegal, though they accuse Japan. If I had an opportunity to talk to them, I'd like to tell them that you have the right to accuse Japan of the commercial hunting of whales if you don't eat beef.

     At first, I thought that their stupid behavior must have been from racial prejudice, but I guess now, I was wrong. History shows that Japanese don't attack until the last minute, and they knew it. I feel anger toward the Japanese Government as well as the Sea Shepherd. What will become of growing anger against the Sea Shepherd and their sponsors. Propositions to stop the import of OG beef are boiling on the internet in Japan. However, there's unconfirmed information that their sponsor is the U.S. meat companies. If it is true, the boycott of OG beef would be to their sponsor's benefit. It's a bit tricky.

    Yesterday, Australian Prime Minister Rudd announced that Australia would file a lawsuit against Japan to the International Court of Justice. I couldn't believe this news. Is he sane? Does he want to fight with all whaling countries? Does he want to expose the Australian selfish EEZ (exclusive economic zone) to the world? I imagine that he would like to distract public attention from the country's serious internal affairs. Chinaphil Rudd might follow the stupid policy of the Chinese Communist Party.

     As for the internal affairs of Australia, I have an interst in Aboriginal Issues and the serious jobless rate of Australia, because Japan has the same kind of issues, though the seriousness of them is far less than Australia. In particular, how will the authorities handle the growing number of newly made Aborigines? Do Australians want to make the country socialist? The present Japanese Government looks like they want to become socialist, and I am developing a critical feeling about it. Anyway, I doubt the intelligence of the people of Australia and New Zealand.

(Vocabulary)

knot of roughs   ごろつきの集団

knot  一団

rough [C](やや古・インフォーマル) 乱暴者, ごろつき

ruffian  ごろつき

the commercial hunting of whales  商業捕鯨

feel anger toward sb   ＜人＞に腹を立てる

anger with/against

growing public anger against the government  政府に対してつのる国民の怒り

negligible 〈影響・損害などが〉 無視してもよい, 取るに足らない

unconfirmed 〈報告などが〉 未確認の, 〈話・うわさなどが〉 確証のない

an unconfirmed rumor 確証のないうわさ

boycott  (抗議などの手段として) …をボイコットする, 排斥する

boycott  ボイコット, 不買［排斥］運動 

boycott on/of 

a boycott of products tested on animals  動物実験をした製品のボイコット

tricky (状況・仕事などが)面倒な, 扱いにくい

Getting everyone to use the new computer system will be tricky.  全員に新しいコンピュータシステムを使わせるのは面倒なことだ．

International Court of Justice  国際司法裁判所

exclusive economic zone 〔【略】EEZ〕 排他的経済水域

distract 〈人〉 の注意をそらす, 気を散らす

Don't distract me while I'm driving. 運転中に気が散るようなことはするな．

distract sb from sth  ＜人＞の注意を＜…＞からそらす

Jack's music was distracting me from my book.  ジャックの音楽のせいで読書になかなか集中できなかった．

distract attention from sth ＜…＞から注意をそらす

internal affairs / matter of internal politics  内政問題

Aborigine （オーストラリアの）アボリジニ

jobless rate / unemployment rate  失業率

socialist country 社会主義国

socialist 社会主義の, 社会主義的な; (国家・政権が) 社会主義の

develop a critical feeling 危機感を抱く

doubt the credibility of the article その記事の信頼性を疑う

Recalling The Kobe Earthquake in 1995

     Serious chaos seems to be still continuing in Haiti, according to the Japanese medical aid team. A group who had plotted to take a few dozen kids out of Haiti, were reportedly arrested at the border. They were alleged to be trafficers of kids. The situation is out of my imagination. Why can't the authorities give enough food to people who are starving, and accommodation to people who lost their houses?

     This catastrophe reminded me of the quake that hit Kobe City 15 years ago. Due to the poor control of the then authorities, the casualties rose up to 50,000. The toll topped 6,000. I belonged to the surgical department of the university hospital at that time and the rescue team was organized in a day in the university, and I was one of the rescue staff. I got into the devastated area on the second day, and saw people behave bravely, concealing their real feelings. They were totally staying organized while waiting for food, necessities and medical consultations. No assaults, no looting, co-operation and mutual assistance; these were the principles of the afflicted people.

     Some Japanese critics insist that this difference must come from racial characteristics, but I don't agree with their opinion. Look at Barbados. The people of this country are descendants of black people who were unreasonably captured and taken there from African countries just like the Haitians. What's the difference between Haiti and Barbados?

(Vocabulary)

traffic  密売買

trafficker  （悪徳）商人、〔麻薬などの〕密売人、人身売買業者

traffic  trafficked, trafficking

[他] 〈麻薬・兵器など〉 を密売買する

[自] 密売買する traffic in sth  ＜…＞を密売買する

He was arrested for trafficking in drugs.  彼は麻薬の密売で逮捕された．

stay organized  秩序が保たれている

bravely  気丈に

afflicted people  被災者

Barbados  バルバドス

Recent Political Issue

     The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had a landslide defeat in the general election held last summer. Since the long-standing conservative party was beaten, the Japanese administration has been in serious turmoil. Since then, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has been ruling the administration. Most Japanese people didn't really want the change of government. Some just intended to smack the LDP down a little, and some wanted to have the DPJ rule the regime for a certain short time. This idea of the Japanese people has turned to be wrong now.

     The DPJ broke the promise between Japan and the U.S. without consideration. They stopped the cooperative global activity against terror in the Indian Ocean and alternatively threw the Japanese taxpayer's money away into the chaos of Afghanistan. Likewise, they are planning to scatter the Japanese franchise to foreigners including Chinese and Korean, most of whom are anti-Japanese. The DPJ rejected lots of plans that were figured out by the previous regime and this has led to a shrinking of economic activity despite the fact that Japan is amid a financial downturn. The DPJ looks like they want Japan to perish or come under the rule of cruel China. I don't want to be a subject people.

     I decided to do something to stop the DPJ. Mr. Ichiro Ozawa, who makes headlines nowadays, is the power broker not only in this party, but in the country.

(Vocabulary)

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)  自民党

Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) 民主党

smack  ぶつかる, 衝突する, [他] …を平手でたたく

break one's promise  約束を反故にする

franchise  参政権

subject peoples  被支配民族

gray eminence / power broker in the country  陰の実力者 

Lecture of Former COS Tamogami

     You may not believe it, but the Japanese media don't want to cover what is inconvenient to the Chinese Communist Party. It's because there are people in the media who are obedient to China. It is generally said that lots of Chinese agents built up the underground network of spies. China seems to have established it behind closed doors. Only the Japanese people who can reach the information on the internet on a daily basis had known the fact until the Beijing Olympic Games. Since the Oympics, however, lots of Japanese people came to eye the activitiy of China. China called up Chinese students and residens at Nagano City and made them interfere with the activities of Tibetans and Uighurs. They also attacked Japanese people who purely wanted to see the torch relay. The anti-Japan broadcasting company, NHK, couldn't help reporting the fact.

     There was a chief of staff in the Japan Air Self-Defence Force who officially mentioned that Japan used to be a good country. I think his comment wasn't a problem, but he was replaced promptly due to this remark. Can you believe it? He is Japanese and he just praised Japan. Now you know how seriously brainwashed Japanese top officials are.

     A year later, he became one of the heros. He wrote a dozen books and has been invited to speak all over the Japan and sometimes the U.S. Today, he came to my hometown and I attended his lecture. It was very productive.

(Vocabulary)

media  単数形で用いる

cover/ report  報道する

behind closed [locked] doors  秘密裏に

call out/ call up（部隊を）動員する

interfere with sth ＜…＞を妨害する, 害する, に支障を来す

torch relay  聖火リレー

chief of staff (COS 幕僚長)

Japan Air Self-Defense Force  航空自衛隊

praise  …を称賛する, ほめる

praise sb for (doing) sth  ＜…＞（すること）に対して＜人＞をほめる

productive  実りの多い, 有意義な

Pictures are presented by the host.   

To the Haitian People

     Please accept my condolences. I don't know Haiti well. Do you have earthquakes frequently? Japan has many. Do you have a cold winter? We had a catastrophic earthquake in Kobe city on Jan. 17th in 1995 in the midst of the winter and I went into the city on the second day after the quake as one of the rescue staff. It was just a scene from hell. More than 6000 people were killed.

     I saw the Haitian situation through CNN online. I really want to do something for the Haitian people with my skill as a surgeon, but time is passing mercilessly. I'm frustrated to be here in Japan.

(Vocabulary)

Please accept my condolences   心よりお悔やみ申し上げます

be frustrated to  もどかしい

End of the Year Party

     The end of the year party might be called the winter feature in Japan. In other words, it is a seasonal tradition. Lots of people go downtown or have a party in their homes in December. Though people can hold a party whenever they like, the party dominates in December. My hometown is amid an economic downturn, but the weekends in December are exceptional.

(Vocabulary)

seasonal tradition  風物詩

summer feature  夏の風物詩

dominate  集中する

(Jan. 8th 2010)

Wako, 倭寇

     Piracy started in 13th century on the Japan Sea. China and the two Koreas call the pirates Wako, which means the Japanese assault. In other words, they insist that the pirates consisted of Japanese people. I'd like to make reasonable and theoretical remarks.

     Some Japanese people started piracy in 13th century to take their properties back from China and Korea. Japanese traders were frequently cheated by their customers and suffered damages. They got bent out of shape and easily resorted to the act of piracy without deep consideration. However it's the case only in the early period of "Wako" and most members of "Wako" were Chinese, who were made out to be Japanese. Japanese students are now taught that Wako was the crime of Japanese people. It is also part of the distorted history, which was made up by China and the two Koreas. I'd like to advise young Japanese people not to use the expression, "Japanese Pirates".

     By the way, I wondered if there was the same example in the world, and looked for it on the internet and found a few interesting facts.

     In the 17th, 18th and the first half of 19th century, American pirates carried out scores of raids on the Caribbean coast of Spanish territory. They were called "buccaneers". Their money stimulated and activated the economy in America (British American states and Commonwealths before independence), and their activities were useful for the resistance against Spanish forces at the same time.

     When the William & Mary College was on the verge of closure, it was the boss of the buccaneers who donated big money and rebuilt the college. This college is the alma mater of the U.S. third President, Thomas Jefferson and also one of the most prestigious univiersities in the U.S. It has a longer history than Yale University. The buccaneers were undertaking the same role as Captain Drake in England. Captain Drake is a hero in England, but in the U.S. the buccaneers are hidden away. We only know it as the name of a football team, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

     When you have a talk with Americans and the topic becomes Wako, you should say something like this: You are very lucky, because Caribbean people are mild and quiet. They never accuse Americans of piracy. Japanese people have been accused of innocent alleged piracy for a long time. It's a born burden to be located next to China and Korea which have massive inferiority complexes.

(Vocabulary)
piracy (CD・コンピュータソフトなどの) 海賊版作成, 海賊行為 (船を襲撃する) 海賊行為
copyright/patent piracy  著作権［特許］侵害
get bent out of shape  不機嫌になる、へそを曲げる、怒る
resort to sth      (やむなく) ＜手段＞に頼る, 訴える
be made out to be a Japanese  日本人に扮する
raid  (不意の) 襲撃, 急襲 (+on/against)
buccaneer　海賊　= pirate
British American states and commonwealths 英国領アメリカ諸州 〔ほとんどの州はstateだが、一部の州はcommonwealthなので。〕
be on the verge of (doing) sth   ＜…＞の［＜…＞する］寸前である
sb's alma mater  ＜人＞の母校, 出身校

Something Will Change?

     Do you know the American soldier, Joe O'Donnell? I know him via a documentary program. He was dispatched by the U.S. to Nagasaki City in the immediate aftermath of the Greater East Asian War. His job was to take pictures of the city two weeks after the atomic bombing. On arriving in the city, he was astonished to see the effect of the atomic bomb. He fulfilled his job. He shot lots of pictures and reported it to the U.S., but at the same time he stored many pictures as his own. He might have been shocked to see the victim city. He didn't show his pictures to his family at all. He packed and put them away deep into the attic.

     When many years had passed since the war, he decided to make his pictures public. Most Americans didn't want to know and see them, and he was criticized for doing it. His wife left him and his family came apart. Most Americans don't seem to want to accept their cruel deeds.

     How do the U.S. handle the historical fact of the atomic bombing and the following cruel massacre of innocent people. They have to stand in front of the judge whose name is history. How did they conclude their acts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

     I found an interesting article and will show you it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/for-veterans-day-the-grea_b_353270.html

(Vocabulary)
pack away　（物を箱などに）しまい込む
put away  しまい込む
attic  屋根裏部屋

Recession

     The serious recession hit Japan as well as other developed countries. Lots of workers have been laid off or many companies have scheduled the voluntary redundancy packages. I'm working in a middle-sized hospital as a surgeon. Most of my co-workers have special licenses or abilities, so they, including me, are supposed to be resistant to the economic stagnation, in other words, we are the last people to lose our jobs.

     My hospital has about 70 staff members except for the outsourcing workers such as in the pharmacy, the dietary department and the maintenance service. Several recruits join us occasionally. The tendency of them seems to have changed lately. They are eager to get some licenses. They switch jobs and get started newly in the field of medicine or welfare service. It might be because this kind of jobs are unaffected by the economic depression. The previous job of our most recently coming recruit was the processing of fish meat. He was standing by the line that made dried bonito shavings in a factory. He is going to enter the school of nursing next spring that is open in the early evening. He works in the daytime until 16:00 at my hospital as an assistant of the care workers, and goes to school after that. It takes much longer time to get the license in this type of school, but he has to make money as well. His age is just 30. His late start as a full-fledged member of society, compared to the people of around his age is apparent. His next five years would be hard. I really wish he will get to the destination as soon as possible.

(Vocabulary)

redundancy  [C,U](英) 余剰人員（の解雇）

voluntary redundancy   希望退職

dietary department （病院などの）給食部

company recruit / new recruit  新入社員

occasionally  たまに, 時々, 時折

very occasionally  めったに（…ない）

dried bonito (shavings) かつお節

- / full / full-fledged member of society  社会人

The Sorting of Projects

     The present hottest topic in Japan is the sorting of national projects by the Domestic Party of Japan (DPJ), which had been the perpetual opposition party, and just attained power last August. The DPJ had done nothing but go against everything that the ruling party would do since it had been born. I think that the DPJ, just now in the regime, is in a state of confusion. They might want to show off their work, but I don't agree with their opinions. They are cutting the budgets of many projects that had been scheduled by the former regime, and it made me uneasy. Their thoughtless sorting is shrinking the GDP and it is leading to a stagnant economy. On the other hand, the government will throw 5 billion dollars away to Karzai, the President of Afghanistan, who is also known as the dealer of illegal drugs. Unbelievable!

     I naturally hope that the Afghans will have peace as soon as possible, but is it possible to rule this country with the western notion of democracy? The people in this country repeated and continued to fight for more than 3000 years. Alexander, the Persian Empire, the Mongols, the Mughal Empire, the British Empire and lastly Russia retreated, giving up the occupation of this land. Who can govern this country? The five billion dollars from Japan would be of no use.

(Vocabulary)
Sorting of Projects  事業仕分け
perennial / perpetual opposition party  万年野党
perennial  (問題・争いなどが) 絶え間なく生じる, 慢性的な, (人気などが) 根強い; 〈植物が〉多年生の
perpetual = constant
attain 〈目標など〉を達成する,〈地位など〉を獲得する,〈水準など〉に達する; 〈ある規模・速度など〉に到達する
state of confusion  右往左往状態
show off (けなして) 能力［業績，持ち物］をひけらかす, いいところを見せようとする, 見えを張る
thoughtless  (けなして) 思いやりのない, 不親切な; 軽率な, 思慮のない
An accident may result from their thoughtless actions. 軽率な行為が事故につながるかもしれない．
stagnant 〈水・空気などが〉 よどんだ, よどんで臭い; 〈景気・市場などが〉 停滞した, 低迷した, 伸び悩んでいる
a stagnant economy  停滞経済
the Persian Empire  ペルシア帝国
the Mughal Empire  ムガール帝国

The Book of Virtues

     Japan was beaten by the U.S. in World War Two. Then, the U.S. feared that Japan would get strong again, and took various measures to keep Japan feeble. One of their measures was to imprint the masochistic view of history on the Japanese mind. It was a kind of brainwashing. However, luckily, lots of Japanese are recovering from this awful way of thinking. Another way was to make a bonfire of huge amounts of books that were inconvenient to them. The Allies did the same thing as the Nazi that they intensely accused of the same thing. Moreover, they distorted the history of Japan, and deprived the Japanese people of "Kyouiku Chokugo", the Imperial message on Education. The Allies insisted that this message would foment militarism and banned the learning it. Most Japanese have been told that the Imperial message on Education was evil. Actually, I had believed it.

     The other day, I attended the lecture of Mr. Tamogami, the former chief of staff. In the lecture, he said that the Imperial message on Education was translated into many languages except Korean and Chinese, and now it is used for the education of virtue in many countries including the U.S. It was amazing. I got it today, and read only a little bit. I'll report on the book later in this blog. The picture is of the book.

(Vocabulary)
feeble  (高齢・病気などで) 体の弱った, ひ弱な
a feeble old man  体の弱った老人
imprint sth on sb's mind/memory/brain   ＜…＞を＜人＞の心［記憶，脳裏］に刻み込む
masochistic view of history  自虐史観
make a bonfire of  ～を焼き捨てる
bonfire  (祝賀の) 大かがり火, (ごみを焼く) たき火
Allies  (特に第二次世界大戦での) 連合国
the Imperial message on Education  教育勅語
勅語とは天皇のことば。みことのり。明治憲法下で、天皇が大権に基づき、国務大臣の副署を要さず、親しく臣民に対して発表した意思表示。
militarism　軍国主義
foment (けなして・フォーマル)  〈戦争・暴動など〉 をあおる, 扇動する = stir up
chief of staff  幕僚長

 

Korean Security against Fire

     Seven Japanese were killed, one seriously injured and two injured by the bursting fire at a live shooting range in Pusan, South Korea on Nov. 14th. Was this disaster reported in the world? Different from South Korea that has the conscription system, most people in Japan have not only never touched the real gun but have also never seen it. Therefore, the firing ranges are attractive to some of them. The victims were good friends and classmates of a junior high school in Kyushu. They seemed to visit Pusan for a two-day and one-night trip from Kyushu, which was three-hours' distance from Pusan by the high-speed boat. I was very sorry to see their families on TV. They were just enjoying the Korean trip.

     I wondered how the security was against fires in Korea. Are there some official rules against fires? I've been to Soeul once and I felt something uneasy at that time. One of the famous tourists' attractions, Namdaemun market also gave me a sense of unease. In the market, I'd never seen any fire hydrants in the streets. The paths in the market were too narrow for the fireengines to get into the market. I didn't notice any emergency exits in the long subterranean shopping mall that connected my hotel and the nearest subway station though my hotel was the biggest or second-biggest modern hotel in Seoul. The number of the tourists from Japan will get lower for a certain period of time.

(Vocabulary)
live firing range  実弾射撃場
Pusan (釜山) 南朝鮮の第２の都市
conscription / conscription system / military-draft system  徴兵制
conscript 〈人〉 を徴兵する = draft(米)   〈人〉を説得して参加させる= recruit
overnight domestic trip 一泊二日の国内旅行
unease  不安, 心配
a sense/feeling of unease   不安な気持ち
She felt a growing sense of unease. 彼女は不安な気持ちがつのってくるのを感じた．
Namdaemun market  南大門市場
fire hydrant (FH) / fire plug  消火栓
subterranean shopping mall / underground shopping district 地下商店街