Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Belated Mass Vaccination

　　I attended the mass vaccination today. The applicants were from hospitality industries of my prefecture. Senior citizens and people with chronic diseases or high risks for infection are prioritized in the official mass vaccination by the Government, so the young generation have been put off.
　　The president of the industry group is my friend from junior high school, and he was meaning to take various steps for recovery from the pandemic in the industries, and one of the steps was the vaccination. That's why this mass vaccination was planned and I was asked to check every applicant's condition if they were all right to get vaccinated, or not. Staffs of accommodations, restaurants, actors and actresses from show businesses, , , people who were tasked with many roles in the hospitality industries got together.
　　After the perfect preparation of the vaccination, however, it was postponed. Can you guess the cause? It was because the contamination of the vaccine, Moderna, was reported. Consequently, a major part of our stocks of Moderna which were seemingly possible to be contaminated judging from its Lot number were collected. I was afraid if the foreign body was something biological, but it was a micro piece of stainless steel which had been apparently peeled off from the production machine. Anyway, the mass vaccination had to be postponed and it finally started today.

(Vocabulary)
put sth off ～を先延ばしにする

 

What I Think About Afghanistan

　　Afghanistan is surrounded by several countries, all of which are eccentric and hard to deal with. Since the time of Alexander the Great, no foreign nation was able to control this country. Even well-known Alexander the Great wasn't able to conquer the area, and every nation or power which tried to conquer the area since then was fought back. The U.S. is going back home now. I've seen the same scene in which lots of people were trying to escape the country as that of present Afghanistan. Though I didn't know about the global conditions, I felt somewhat sorry to see the people who were fleeing Vietnam in 1975. Then Laos and Cambodia became communist. Then Iran became islamic in 1978.
　　The U.S. lost its authority. Lots of people in the world would think so, observing the situation of Afghanistan. I saw the U.S. President Biden's televised address about a month ago, and he told us that Afghanistan's situation is perfectly controlled by the U.S., but his fabrication was exposed in a few weeks. The U.S. declares that it will protect Japan from invasions by other countries, but is that credible? I learned that the U.S. isn't almighty. Japan should get armed enough to discourage the Chinese Communist Party.
　　How about buying the U.S. Naval 7th fleet along with the soldiers from the U.S.? The U.S. can save budget and the U.S. national bond which Japan owns would be enough to pay for them.

(Vocabulary)
lose one's authority 権威を失墜する

Heavy Rainfall

　　Heavy rain has been continuing across Japan like in the rainy season, which is from June to mid-July in a usual year. A part of Kyushu got devastated by a landslide and inundation above the floor level.
　　This abnormal weather is said to continue for a week judging from the pressure pattern. It seems timely for the Government which requests its nationals to refrain from going out for nonessential and nonurgent business, but the expansion of damage is concerning.
　　The sectors of transportation, sightseeing, hotels, restaurant business, and so on are already suffering hardship. Then, this heavy long-lasting rain is added. I hope that they will survive the hardship and live up to the expectation of people who are itching for a chance to set out for trips.
　　I got an e-mail today from the organization consisting of all the hotels in the Dogo Onsen Spa area, which is the most popular tourist spot in my hometown of Matsuyama City. They asked me to assist in the mass vaccination, which is scheduled next Thursday, of the staff members of tourism industries in Dogo Onsen Spa. I replied OK promptly.

(Vocabulary)
inundation 浸水, 氾濫(はんらん)
live up to sth [句動詞]《受け身形不可》＜期待など＞に添う
The movie didn't really live up to expectations. その映画は実際のところ期待はずれだった．
be itching to do sth (inf) ＜…＞したくてうずうずしている
be itching for sth (inf) ＜…＞が欲しくてたまらない

 

Small Trip to Fuchu City

　　I was asked to check the condition of the applicants for the vaccination from Hiroshima Prefecture, and I visited Fuchu City in the Prefecture. I left my house on the previous evening and took a hotel in Fuchu. I love wandering in strange places and I took a walk around the hotel. It was located near the Fuchu Railroad station and the station was thought to be the center of the city, but I felt it was deserted. It might be due to the pandemic and/or the restriction from it. Almost all of the commercial facilities were closed.

 

Cancellation of My Trip

　　I had a plan to visit Hokkaido this summer vacation to see my youngest daughter. She works in a hospital in Hokkaido as a resident and she is a postgraduate student of Oxford at the same time. She temporarily came back from the U.K. last summer avoiding the pandemic in the U.K., and she is going to re-visit and stay in the U.K. for at least two years. If the pandemic should cease next summer, I'm sure to visit Oxford next summer vacation with my wife, but its possibility might not be high. We'd like to see her in Hokkaido, but we had to give up the plan due to the surge of the Wuhan virus infection.

 

Mass Vaccination

　　The mass vaccination had already started in Japan. The health care workers, including me, were given a shot on a priority basis. Next, the elderly who wanted to get vaccinated and people with chronic diseases have been given the shot. Then ordinary people began to receive the vaccination.
　　However, there's a shortage of doctors, who perform the preliminary examination of applicants. I was asked to attend the vaccination meeting planned by the nearby municipality. Arriving at the designated place, there were about 10 doctors and 30 to 40 paramedical staff members along with clerical staff.
　　In addition, there must have been some more staff behind the scene who prepare the vaccines, which was frozen. The vaccine was from Pfizer and it was preserved frozen. It should be thawed before use and should be set in syringes. Paramedical staff members would be ready behind the partition wall. I'd like to join the vaccination projects when I have time.

(Vocabulary)
on a priority basis　優先的に
thaw [他] (thaw something ↔ out とも) 〈冷凍食品〉 を解凍する

Tokyo Olympics

　　The 2020 Tokyo Olympics has just started though it's in 2021. There were various controversies over the holding of the Games, but the Government decided to hold it overcoming huge difficulties. To tell the truth, I'm not so much interested in the Olympics, but there would be no country other than Japan that would be able to hold such a big international event at present. People who are involved in the Olympics still have a lot on the plate, but I hope that it ends in success.

 

Plague 2020

　　I read a nonfiction book about the pandemic of the Wuhan virus which had been published just a year ago. I've read five or six nonfiction books by the same journalist before and I believe in his ability of collecting accurate information. The process from the sparse appearance of the virus in Wuhan to June in 2020 was documented precisely and I learned much from the book.
　　Turning back all the history from the bird's view, I noticed several points which I didn't understand in real time. When Wuhan was locked out, the Japanese Government didn't mind the issue. The prevalence of the virus was underestimated in Japan. What who said then is documented in the book. I learned that the Japanese health and labor ministry was unable to control the risk.

(Vocabulary)
sparse まばらな, 少ない, 〈髪が〉 薄い
precisely 正確に, ちょうど

Huge Landslide in Atami

　　This year's rainy season is lasting longer than in usual years in Japan. My hometown has few natural disasters in its nature of the locality, but some areas in Japan get flooded almost yearly. Atami City near Tokyo got huge landslides the other day and several dozen people were killed or are still missing. Atami City is one of the famous tourist spots in Japan. People in the city have already got damages from the pandemic and furthermore they got this disaster.
　　There is a massive solar power plant near the trigger point of the landslides. People started to say the plant had something to do with the landslides. The solar panels are from China and would be produced by the slave labor of the Uighur. The governor of the prefecture to which Atami City belongs has long been questioned if he receives something from China. He approved the construction plan of the solar power plant and the landslides started from the side of the plant.
　　The landslides are said to be a "man-made" accident now. The mainstream media don't report the issue, but the examination into the cause of the landslides has just started. The mainstream media keeps quiet about this issue. They seem to have lost their values.

(Vocabulary)
nature of the locality 　土地柄

 

The Asahi Shimbun Company

　　The Asahi Shimbun Company is the most known newspaper company in Japan. The content of the paper used to be believed reliable, but its reputation is rapidly going down and the circulation is plunging. It's due to its long-lasting mendacious reports and their malicious activities were exposed to the public one after another on the internet. In general, paper-based information is slower than the online news. Every newspaper company is suffering from the decrease of its circulation, but Asahi's agony is far beyond other companies'. I'm expecting Asahi's bankruptcy.

(Vocabulary)
circulation 《[C]通例単数形で》 (新聞・雑誌・本の) 販売［発行］部数
The newspaper has a daily circulation of 55,000. その新聞は1日に5万5,000部を発行する．
a mass circulation newspaper/magazine 大量発行の新聞［雑誌］
mendacious [形](フォーマル) 虚偽の, 偽りの

 

A Week To Go

　　The start of the Tokyo Olympics is coming in less than a week. Lots of players and associated people are arriving in Tokyo. To confine the pandemic, the Japanese Government decided to hold the Olympic Games without spectators, which causes various controversies everywhere. I don't know if the decision is reasonable or not, but I hope that the Tokyo Olympics will become the starting point of the restoration from the pandemic.

 

No Spectators in the Olympics, Disappointed

　　The last Tokyo Olympic Games were held when I was only 6 years old. I don't remember much about the Games, but I can clearly recall two scenes, a man lighting the Olympic flame platform and a running black man from Ethiopia with bare feet. I didn't know where Ethiopia was. Even through the TV, it was the first time to see a black man. As I was in a small village, I'd never seen a single person from overseas, let alone a black man.
　　A half century has passed since then. The Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo again. I can't wait, but no spectators seem to be allowed in the stadium. It's so sad, but I'll watch them on TV.

 

Bridge Closed

　　The Japanese Government asks doctors to cooperate to accelerate the public vaccination as a national policy against the pandemic. The government wants to give it to as many people as possible before the Tokyo Olympics. The local medical association sounded my opinion the other day and I decided to join the vaccination meeting in Fukuyama city.
　　Fukuyama city is located at the opposite side of my hometown across the Seto Inland Sea. A scenic route called Shimanami Kaido connects both cities. Try to google "Shimanami Kaido", you can see beautiful pictures. Read the following paragraphs please, looking at the map to understand the rough picture.
　　I started out at 6:30a.m. When I reached Ikuchijima island, I knew that Innoshima Ohashi Bridge, which connects between Innoshima and Mukaishima islands, was closed due to torrential rain which hampered the sight. I was forced to get off the highway on the first interchange on Innoshima island. If only I could get to the next island of Mukaishima island, I was able to use a ferry boat to Onomichi City on Honshu. While I was waiting for the rain to become weak, another bridge, Ikuchijima Ohashi Bridge was also closed. It meant I was confined to Innoshima island. I'd already given up arriving at the designated site on time, but I became unable to come back home.
　　I heard about a tiny ferry boat for locals in the return direction, and headed for it. The boat was continuously working and I was safely able to come back home. The pictures were shot from the ferry boat. I took on a responsibility for joining the meeting next Thursday. I want to fulfill my task next time.

English as Means

　　The Japanese media keep quiet about the origin of the Wuhan virus. It's very weird. They might be under the influence of the Chinese Communist Party. I often check international news sites, like the BBC, FOX, CNN, Frankfurter Allgemeine if I have time. In those media, the recent hottest topics are about the origin of the virus, while the Japanese media ignore them. I don't feel so much difficulty in reading news items and I really and deeply realize that I was lucky to have learned English. I can get various information from all over the world.

 

Vaccination Leave

　　I got a vaccination yesterday. I have a general fatigue today. I'm not febrile, but I feel weary anyway. I have a regular appetite luckily and finished breakfast as usual. Then I began reading "Into the Wild", but stopped due to listlessness. I've spent meaningless hours on the sofa until noon. I did almost nothing, but I got hungry. I watched two movies on Netflix in the afternoon over a light snack. I don't like spending time like these, but I had no other way to kill time. Today was the day of no advancement.

(Vocabulary)
listless (疲れて) やる気のない, 無気力な
meaningless 意味のない, 無益な

Inoculation

　　I got the 2nd shot of the vaccination against the Wuhan virus today. As I received an e-mail from the company to inform the employees of the vaccination leave, I took a day-off tomorrow in advance. When I got the injection, I didn't feel so much pain, but as it's getting dark, my left shoulder, the deltoid muscle to be precise, started to be sore. Even turning over in bed is difficult due to the pain. It was a nice judgement to take a day-off tomorrow.

(Vocabulary)
sore (傷・かぶれなどで) 痛い ひりひりする, (筋肉痛などで) 痛い
sore eyes 痛む目

 

Kitchen Car

　　The sales in the kitchen car is getting popular in Japan. Under the pandemic of coronavirus, getting together in the bad-ventilated space became strictly restricted. Consequently, taking food out became preferable. The following pictures show a kitchen car and a flame in it. It is of a famous grilled chicken chain. I'll take their food for today's lunch.

No Stock

　　I've sometimes written about a wine importer based in Osaka. A sales person of the company, whose main purpose is to find a new market in my hometown, drops in at my house about twice a year while he is in my hometown to sell wines to me. I'm a good customer for him over recent years. However, he wasn't able to come to my house this spring due to the restriction from the pandemic. Consequently, my wine stock ran out. As you may agree with me, you can't know the taste of wines by its labels or prices. That's why I make it a rule to get wines from him after tasting.
　　There's no other way and I got some bottles of wine at a nearby department store. The following picture shows one of them, which is produced in Kofu in Japan. It was not bad, but not the best for me. Finally I ordered the same wines online as I bought last time from my salesman.

https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2020/11/wine-tasting-.html

 

Tokyo Olympics

　　Do you know about what you call the lost 1940 Tokyo Olympics? This year falls on the 2600th year from the foundation of Japan. Japan seemed to have been in the midst of joy, but in vain. The reason why this Olympics was withdrawn was the conflict against China. China launched their first-ever atomic bomb experiment on the opening day of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Then the Wuhan virus this time. I have no words to express the cruelty of the Chinese Communist Party, thinking of what they are doing to the Tibetans, Mongolians, Uighur people, and other minority groups.
　　I hope the 2020 Tokyo Olympics would be held this year even in the condition of the restricted version. I'm dreaming that people of the future will assess it like it was the start of the rebirth of the new world.

 

Navy Day

　　Today is Japan's Navy Day, which was abolished in 1945 by the order from GHQ, the Occupation Force to Japan. However, this memorial day should be celebrated even now along with the Army Day of March 10th. These two memorial days are deeply inscribed in Japanese of integrity and became an occasion that those people get together and have a feast in my hometown.
　　To my regret, the meeting was cancelled this year just like last year due to the Wuhan virus pandemic. It seems that the pandemic is being stamped out in my hometown, but some variants are still sometimes reported across Japan. The situation is still open to conjecture.

(Vocabulary)
feast [C] 祝宴, 宴会
stamp sth out ＜社会の害悪など＞を撲滅［根絶］する
conjecture [U] 推測, 憶測
be open to doubt 議論の余地がある
The fate of the bill is still open to conjecture.　この法案の運命はまだ予断を許さない