Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Strolling

　　I strolled in the city of Bath. The first picture is a monument for victims of World War II. Bath was also bombed during the war. The Germans would have done it. What did they aim to do in such a rural city? By the way, Bath has something to do with Frankenstein and there was a museum about him. I had been eager to drop in, but I couldn't due to the time shortage.
　　Then, I walked around the Circus, which was one of the sightseeing points. My daughter's apartment is between the Circus and the Royal Crescent. It's a very easy-to-grasp location. There were lots of cars parked in front of both historic buildings. The gaps between cars were extremely short and I felt sympathy for the car owners. It would take time to park or drive out of the parallel parking spaces. Tesla cars automatically park themselves, but even so, it would take time for many lock-to-lock steering.
　　The last picture is Saracens Head, the oldest pub in Bath, which opened in 1713. According to the audioguide of the city tour bus, the pub was loved by Charles Dickens. He is a well-known novelist, whom even I know, and I really wanted to sit at his regular place in the pub, but I didn't have time to do so due to the following schedule.

(Vocabulary)
easy-to-grasp　わかりやすい
parallel parking space 縦列駐車スペース

　一人で街をぶらつく。最初の写真は慰霊碑。第二次世界大戦でこの街にも空襲があり、その犠牲者を悼むものだった。おそらくはドイツ軍だろうが、こんな田舎町を爆撃して何が目的だったのだろう？この街はフランケンシュタインゆかりの街だそうで、ミュージアムがあったが明日にしよう、明日にしようと思っているうちに時間がなくなり訪問できず。少し残念。
　そして、バースの観光名所の一つ、The Circusを一周した。娘のアパートはこのThe Circusとthe Royal Crescentの間にある。こんなにわかりやすい目印はそうはない。どちらの建物でも車は路上駐車。車間は狭く、入れるのも出すのも大変だろうなあと同情した。テスラ車については自動で縦列駐車をしてくれるが、時間はかかりそうだ。
　そして、最後の写真は１７１３年開店のバースで一番古いパブと言われるSaracens Head。あのディケンズゆかりのパブと観光バスの案内で知った。入ってみたいと思っていたが、次の予定があって立ち寄れず。

Notting Hill

　　We deposited our luggage at the hotel and headed for Notting Hill. I knew this name from the movie "Notting Hill" which was made in 1999. Since then, I wanted to walk around the streets where Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant were cheerfully walking in the movie. Two lead characters come across at a small bookshop and the shop exists even now in a corner of Portobello road in Notting Hill. I had my daughter take pictures of me in front of the bookshop. There was a crowd of people, but few entered the bookshop. I wanted to take pictures inside the bookshop in the same angles as the movie, but refrained from entering the shop so as not to interfere with their business. It so happened that the crowd disappeared for a short time and I was able to take the 2nd picture.
　　One more thing, the movie was actually shot at a different point, which is shown in the 3rd picture. The layout of the bookstore in the 2nd picture was replicated to this shop and the movie was made. This place isn't a bookshop, but bears the signboard, "Travel Book Shop". The owner would leave it as it was very consciously. There was a crowd of visitors in front of the shop. The movie was made no less than 20 years ago, but its popularity continued.
　　The next picture(4th picture) shows "The Distillery". I wanted to try some gin, but two ladies didn't want to, though two men wanted to.
　　We strolled along Portobello Road for about an hour and I had a great time. I wished I had 3 stomachs for eating many kinds of exotic food. More than 10 antique shops entertained us. Lots of silverwork and items from the Mideast were displayed in storefronts and stalls. If I had the ability to appreciate things of beauty, I might have made a real find.
　　We dropped in at a restaurant, Poppies, which seemed to be very famous for its "Fish & Chips", and I ate cod and haddock sharing with my wife over a glass of white wine. It was very nice.

https://www.arukikata.co.jp/web/article/item/3001828/

ホテルへ荷物を預けた後、タクシーでノッティングヒルへ向かう。その昔、ノッティング・ヒル（邦題：ノッティングヒルの恋人）という映画があった。Julia RobertsとHugh Grant主演のロマンティック・コメディで一度現地を歩いてみたかった。二人の出会う書店が現存し、その前で記念撮影。書店の前には人だかりがあるのに中へ入る人は少ない。たまたま人の流れが切れたときに撮影できた。店内で映画と同じアングルで撮影したかったが、邪魔になると思い諦めた。ただ、実は、実際の撮影はこの書店のレイアウトをそのまま移して別の場所で撮られた。その場所が３枚目の写真。因みにここは現在は本屋ではないが、Travel Book Shopと映画撮影の痕が残っている、というより残しているのだろう。ここも人だかり。２０年も前の映画なのに、人気は衰えず。

その次の写真はこれも有名な醸造所The Distillery ジン発祥の地。一口飲みたかったが、女性二人がアルコールが苦手なためパス。ボーイフレンド氏と僕は飲もうとしたのだが。

１時間ほどブラブラする。実に楽しい。胃袋が３つくらいほしかった。中東系の骨董品屋が多くあり、目の肥えた人なら掘り出し物を見つけるのかもしれないが、僕には無理。歩き疲れて立ち寄ったのがFish & Chips で有名な Poppies　https://poppiesfishandchips.co.uk/
codとhaddockという２種類の魚を食べる。美味！

At King's Cross Station

　　Getting off the tube and going up to the ground, I saw a huge Buckingham Palace-like building in front of us. Was that King's Cross Station? or was it a little smaller one on the right side? Having been introduced to the station by a nearby person, we headed for the station. The King's Cross Station was bustling. The electric timetable board showed several places which I'd known, some of them were places which I'd like to visit. I wished that I had been able to visit them someday. My wanderlust was rearing up.
　　We shared a table with a person who looked like a businessperson to take brunch on the second floor where we could view the entrance hall of the station. This station was the scene of the station from the nine and three forth platform from which Harry Potter departed for the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the novel of "Harry Potter" written by J.K.Rowling. I knew of the Harry Potter Shop at King's Cross Station, and searched the ground floor from upstairs, and found a crowd of people at my left hand. We approached the site and found a long line of visitors to the shop. A shop person told me that it took about an hour to get in the shop, and I gave up seeing the goods inside the shop. Additionally, I found a funny setting on the wall of the shop.
　　A shopping cart, half of which was cut away, was set on the wall, making the cart look as if it was penetrating into the wall. It was the scene when Harry went into the wall on the platform in the movie. Lots of visitors were lining up to take pictures on the set. I was afraid that it took more than an hour to reach the set, and we gave up. I just thought that I could visit the set late at night, but the cart apparently was put away into the shop during their closed hours. That was very practical. They'd like to avoid the situation that lots of people get together around there in the night.

(Vocabulary)
bustling（場所がたくさんの人で）ごった返している;〈場所が〉にぎわった, 活気に満ちた[＋bustling with]
wanderlust 放浪願望, 旅へのあこがれ
rear up 〈問題などが〉頭をもたげる

　地上に出てビックリ。大きな宮殿がある。駅併設のホテルか？それともこちらがキングスクロス駅か？横に立っていた人に確認して向かって右側のキングスクロス駅に向かった。駅の中はごった返していた。案内板を見ると多くの目的地が書いてある。半分くらい既知の地名だった。あちこち行ってみたいなあと、また放浪癖が頭をもたげてきた。
　ビジネスマン風の男性一人が使っていたテーブルに相席させてもらってここでブランチ。この駅はハリーポッターが魔法学校に出発する駅で、出発する９と３／４番ホームがあるとされた駅。小説にちなんでハリーポッターショップがあるらしい。食事をしながら眺めると地上階の向かって左の方に人だかりが見える。食後、向かってみると、やはり目的の場所だった。
　ショッピングカートは前半分が切断され、あたかも壁に突き刺さっているかのようだった。映画の一シーンだ。写真を撮ろうかと思ったが、１時間くらいは待たねばならないようだったので諦めた。夜来れば良いのではないかと思ったが、セットは夜は片付けるらしい。夜中に人が集まることを避けたいのだろう。

New College

　　A married couple of a psychiatrist and a family doctor- the emeritus and emerita professor of Oxford University, who kindly assisted my daughter with her life in Oxford and her learning in Oxford University, guided us around the New College where they had spent their student days. "New" is attached to its name, but this college isn't new and has a long history. As for this college, Ten-noh devoted a full two pages to the background of its foundation. It implies the significance of the college.
　　With them, we were allowed to enter every space in the college. With my daughter's translation and my knowledge about medieval Europe, I enjoyed their guidance and the scenes of every corner of the New College.
　　I read "La Peste" - the pest - by Albert Camus last year. I wanted to know how the pandemic had been in the medieval era. I knew from the memoir of Ten-noh that the pest pandemic was the background of the foundation of the New College. This college was located at the northern end of Oxford Old City which had been surrounded by stone walls. Its wall had various devices to repel the enemy.

　娘がお世話になった名誉教授ご夫妻にご自身が在籍したニューカレッジを案内していただいた。一般には立ち入ることの出来ない場所も案内していただき有意義な時間を持てた。NEWとなっているがその歴史は古く、天皇陛下もこのカレッジを特に取りあげ、留学記の中に書かれている。
　去年だったと思うが、カミュのペストを読んだ。中世のパンデミックがどのようなものだったのか気になったので。そのペストがこのカレッジ誕生の遠因となっていたことに驚いた。このカレッジは城壁に囲まれたオックスフォードの北端に位置しており、敵を跳ね返すための攻撃用の設備が点在していた。まるでお城であった。

(Vocabulary)
emeritus 《男性の名誉職に用い，「名誉…」を意味する》
emerita 《女性の名誉職に用い，「名誉…」を意味する》

Iceland

　　As my plane was approaching Iceland, the clouds broke and beautiful terrain came in my eye. I took the first picture below. After coming back to Japan, I looked for this peninsula on Google Map. This peninsula is Snæfellsnes Peninsula which is located at the northwest of Reykjavik.
　　According to a guidebook, this peninsula is rich in a diverse array of beautiful scenery; beautiful waterfalls, a vast lava plateau, beaches with cobblestone, soaring magnificent mountains like Kirkjufell and Snæfellsnes glacier at the tip of the peninsula. Under the glacier, a volcano sits. Voyage au centre de la Terre (Voyage to the center of the earth) by Jules Gabriel Verne is set in this volcano. I was able to unexpectedly see the site of one of the most famous science fiction novels.
　　In addition, I was able to look down the whole view of Reykjavik. Its pictures were blurred and I refrain uploading them here. I saw the volcanic smoke going up near Reykjavik. Was that a hot spring or a geothermal power station? Anyway I wish I could visit the country some day.

　飛行機がアイスランドにさしかかると、雲が切れて美しい土地が見えたのですぐに写真を撮った。（1枚目の写真）帰国後調べてみると、ここはレイキャビクの北西に位置するスナイフェルスネス半島(Snæfellsnes)
　ガイドブックを読むと、息を飲む様な美しい景色が続く場所で、美しい滝や、溶岩の大地、丸い小石の浜辺、キルキュフェットル（Kirkjufell）など堂々とそびえる山々、そしてスナイフェルスネス半島の端にあるスナイフェルス氷河。その氷河を冠した山の下には火山が眠っています。ここはジュール・ヴェルネの書いた地底旅行の舞台となった場所でもあります。との説明を見つけた。
　また、上空からレイキャビクの街を望むことが出来た。遠くて写真の出来は悪くてここにはあげないが、肉眼ではきれいに見えた。レイキャビクの近くで噴煙が上がっている。温泉だろうか、地熱発電だろうか、　訪れたいなあ。

(Vocabulary)
Voyage au centre de la Terre 地底旅行
Jules Gabriel Verne　ジュール・ベルヌ

Green Book (Netflix)

　　I watched a movie, Green Book, on Netflix and I came to know about the Green Book through this movie. I'd like to actually hold it to see inside and looked for it on Amazon. I found many of them. They were cheap on the American Amazon site, but expensive on the Japanese site for getting them only out of curiosity. I gave up feeling the real history of persecuted black people.
　　My generation in Japan learned that democracy was brought by the U.S. for the first time after the defeat in the Pacific War, but it was a terrible lie. As this movie tells, real democracy didn't exist in the U.S. even after the Pacific War. In addition, the war in which Japan fought the U.S. and its allies was called the Great East Asian War in Japan. Japan had to fight them to expel the superpowers from their colonies in Asian countries. The U.S. changed the war's name itself into the Pacific War to conceal Japan's justice.
　　Anyway, I was surprised by the fact that this movie was based on a real heart-warming story. I love these kinds of movies which leave lingering happy emotions.
　　As for not only Netflix but other movie distribution systems, I'd like to send the developers applause. Thanks to them, I can watch movies anytime and anywhere.

 

Silent Invasion

　　My friend gave me a book written in English, which is shown below. The title of this book is "Silent Invasion". Its Japanese edition has already been published and I was going to read it, but using this present as an opportunity, I decided to read this book. I'm reading "Into The Wild" now, and will read it after that book.
　　The first words which came into my eye immediately when I looked at the contents were "Dyeing Australia Red". If you know about this book for the first time, you would be able to imagine the content. Arrogance, totalitarianism, militarism, and infringement of human rights of China have long been criticized and now even pro-China countries like Germany and Australia came to change their attitude altogether.
　　I thumbed through its preface and the author wrote about the Australian torch relay associated with 2008 Beijing Olympics. There seemed to happen a disturbance or a riot caused by Chinese students. Apparently it's the same situation as Nagano city in central Japan. Mainstream medias in Japan concealed the incident and most Japanese don't know about it even now.
　　Around when I started writing this blog, I often picked up topics about politics and foreign affairs. It was to let ordinary people not only in Japan but across the globe know the facts. Now, however, they can reach the primary information by the development of the internet technology. The mainstream medias became unable to lie to people. It's wonderful.

(Vocabulary)
本の目次のページにはふつう単に contents と書く. なお, content と単数形にすれば本の「内容」になる
disturbance 騒ぎ, 暴動 , 騒動, 騒乱; （平静･正常な進行を）乱すこと

Amazon Kindle

　　Reading is one of my favorite occupations. I've found that very often my eyes pass over the words without taking in the meaning, but even though, as many books as I read, I get as much knowledge as I can. Reading books is a big delight to me. However I sometimes feel the deterioration of my memory. When I have to specify the information source - for example when I'd like to explain something to others - it's not seldom that I can't recall where in which book the source was written. I frequently get irritated by that. Then I found out about Amazon's "KINDLE". I read several affirmative and negative opinions of the present Kindle users online and those comments sounded very handy to me, and I bought one at last year's Cyber Monday Sale on Amazon.
　　I have bought several Kindle version books online since then. A few minutes after I had ordered books from Amazon, I could read those books even after midnight. This system is really handy though it's a little sad that my bookshelves won't get occupied by good books. On the other hand, however, I won't be bothered to prepare the store space for flooding books.
　　To my utmost delight, I can carry lots of books all the time in my body bag and I can read books in my short free time. It's a little unhandy to take notes on pages of Kindle version books more than on paper-base books, but not impossible. Above all, you can use online search services like Google Search or online dictionaries anytime if your Kindle is connected to the internet. I don't need to even carry dictionaries!
　　The only question is how many books my Kindle can keep, but I'll worry about it when my Kindle reaches its maximum capacity.

(Vocabulary)
occupation [C] a way of spending your time; [=]pastime:
One of my childhood occupations was collecting stamps.
Then そんなとき

読書は趣味の一つ。時々、無意識になって十分な理解をせぬまま、眼だけが文字を追っているようなときがあるが、それでも読めば読んだだけ知識が増えるし、楽しい。ただ、記憶する能力が落ちてきたようで、後で書かれていた情報を確かめるときにどの本のどこに書かれていたのかわからずに困ることがよくある。そんなとき、アマゾンのキンドルを知った。使っている人からの言葉で便利そうに思い、またサイバーマンデーのセールで半額くらいになっていたので購入。昨年末の話だ。

その後、何冊も購入した。本棚に本が並ばないのがさみしいが、多くなると保管場所に困ることにもなる。嬉しいのは、持ち歩いているバッグの中に何冊もの本が入っていること。ちょっとした時間に本が読める。紙ベースと比べてメモを記入することに制限があるが、書き込みできないわけではないし、なにより検索が使えることが素晴らしい。またネットに繋がっていれば不明な単語、用語がすぐに調べられることも素晴らしい。消費電力がごく少なく、また目に優しい照明となっている。

問題はどれくらいの本を保存できるかと言うこと。まあそれは一杯になってしまったときに考えることにしよう。

Sake Lovers' Meeting

　　My Lions Club has been holding meetings concerning alcoholic beverages four times a year. Every meeting has its theme. In addition to the major classification of alcoholic drinks, like sake, wine, beer, whisky, and so on, the drinks are chosen by its birthplace, its ingredient, or by the season in which the meeting is held. Naturally, delicious seasonal dishes accompany the beverage.
　　The theme this time was "whisky". There are two kinds of descriptions of whisky, i.e., "whisky" and "whiskey". In Japan "whisky" is more frequently used. Japanese whisky is descended from Scotch, and the Scotch-like description without "e" is used.
　　Five major areas for the production of whiskys are Ireland, Scotland, America, Canada, and Japan. A Japanese had brought the technique of producing whisky from Scotland in the latter half of 19th century and his story was broadcast recently. He is the founder of Nikka and father of Japanese whisky. Now Japan is experiencing a boom in whisky.
　　The lecturer was the branch manager of Suntory Co.Ltd, the other company of the two major whisky companies in Japan. His story was full of wit and was enjoyable. I learned lots of things about not only Japanese whisky but also other ones.
　　You see a little bottle of Maker's Mark on the table, it was a souvenir. The lecturer told us what the logo and its seal meant. They were added to my whole stock of knowledge.

(Vocabulary)
Sake Lovers' Meeting 　ほろ酔い会（松山中央ライオンズクラブで開催される年に４回の酒飲みたちのイベント。毎回種々のアルコール飲料が用意され、専門家たちの蘊蓄に耳を傾け、アルコールを楽しむ会）
connoisseur　専門家、(美術品などの) 鑑定家, (その道の) 通, 玄人,食べ物・酒・音楽など特定の分野についてよく知っている人
a wine connoisseur　ワイン通

180 South

　　I watched a movie featuring environmental issues. "180 South" is the title of the movie. The founders of Patagonia and the North Face got together and set out for a long journey to the south in 1968. During the journey, they got inspired and later succeeded in their business. The movie depicted a young man who traced their journey recently and the awesome and beautiful scenery of the Patagonia district of Argentina was spectacular. In the movie, the director made the young man start to mention environmental protection. I felt something uneasy at that time. The movie took on an aspect of leftism.
　　The leftists always call for irrefutable slogans such as "for children", "for environment protection", "No more war" and "No more Hiroshima". These slogans are actually right, I think. However, are their acts acceptable? Their self-righteous opinions were repeatedly portrayed in the movie. I became sick in the latter half of the movie.
　　What they are calling for is right, but what they are doing is not always right. It is my conclusion about the leftists. Something was strange in the movie. Coming back home, I checked some website concerning the Patagonia Brand and found a surprising fact; Patagonia is one of the sponsors of the notorious Sea Shepherd. It looks like they don't know that humans cannot help killing other kinds of creatures to live. There's a verb "itadaku" in Japanese, which means "receive something with gratitude and in a pious manner". We use this verb in the processing of meat not simply saying "kill" or "receive the lives of other creatures". Japanese has the backbone of the Shinto religion. There's nothing to be accused of by the cruel people of the Sea Shepherd.
　　Coming back on track, the scenery in this movie was nice, but the ideology behind the movie was not acceptable for me. I shall never buy the product of Patagonia and North Face from now.

I wrote about Shinto before here:
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2005/12/shinto-religion.html

(Vocabulary)
irrefutable  反駁(はんばく)できない, 論破できない
self-righteous 独善的な
portray 〈本・映画などが〉…を描く, 表現する [同意] depict
portray sb/sth as sth ＜…＞を＜…＞として描く［であると表現する］
The president likes to portray himself as a friend of the poor. その大統領は自分自身を貧者の友であると表現したがる．
in a pious manner 敬けんな態度で

(Vocabulary from kind comments)
hamstring  (人)を制約する, …を妨げる
flat out (米) (強調して) 本当に, まったく
baleen くじらのひげ
ramification 《[C]通例複数形で》(フォーマル)  (決定・行動などの) 影響, 結果
legal/political/social ramifications  法律［政治，社会］への影響
life form 生物, 生命体
propagate [他](フォーマル) 〈考え・信念など〉 を広める, 普及させる
a) [他](専門) 〈植物・種子など〉 を育てる, 繁殖させる
b) [自] 育つ, 繁殖する
sustenance (フォーマル) (生命維持に必要な) 食物, 栄養（物）[同意] nourishment
go astray
〈物が〉 紛失する, なくなる
〈計画などが〉 うまくいかない
 正道を踏みはずす, 悪の道に染まる
lead sb astray
＜人＞を邪道に導く
＜人＞を惑わす, だます
prey on sb/sth
prey on sth ＜…＞を捕食する
prey on sb ＜弱者など＞をえじきにする
prey on sb's mind 〈事件・状況・考えなどが〉 ＜人＞の心をさいなむ
get off one's soapbox 演説をやめる、自説［自分の意見］を引っ込める
【反】get (up) on one's soapbox
hit/strike home 〈発言・状況などが〉 胸に突き刺さる, 身にしみる

Silver Spoon (銀の匙 中勘助）

　　Last year, I happened to see my former teacher who had taught me Japanese in my junior high school days. He had won the respect of pupils with his intelligence. To my sadness, however, he had slight impaired cognition. It was natural that he didn't remember me, one of many pupils. I told him various recollections expecting that something excavated even a part of his memory from the depth of his brain.
　　I was born and brought up in a rural place of Ehime prefecture. In such places, the compulsory education was so-so, and it was not enough for me. I felt some emptiness. At that time I thought I'd like to become someone who leads the nation and moved to the prefectural capital city alone to get a higher level of education. Then, I met the above teacher. He used a novel, "Silver Spoon" as a textbook of Japanese. I remember that I had been overwhelmed by the toughness of the novel. I couldn't believe that the novel was the textbook. So, I told him about "Silver Spoon", and it seemed to trigger the blowing of 40 years' period. He started to talk and talk.
　　The other day I found the book in the list of the municipal library. I borrowed the book and read it. It was nice, and I enjoyed it though I didn't think so 40 years ago. I thought it was due to being short of age that I couldn't understand the novel 40 years ago.

(Vocabulary)
win/earn/gain the respect of sb 　＜人＞から尊敬される, に感心される

Brûlée vive (Souad)

　　I read an unbelievably shocking story in the book of the title, which was originally written in French and translated into Japanese in 2004. It appeared to be translated into several languages and I'd like you, my subscribers, to read it. The name of the author was Souad, a very simple name. It's written under an assumed name, because she could be killed by her relatives if they knew her address and present name.
　　I'm going to write about the content from now. The content was so cruel that I almost closed the book before reading it through. The saving grace was that the story ended happily at the end.
　　Souad was born about 40 years ago in the West Bank of the River Jordan. In Islamic countries, women are cruelly ill-treated. This book is an accusation of the abuse of women in her original country. Have you ever heard of the murder called "honorable murder", which means illegal executions conducted by victim's relatives like her father or brothers. Souad got pregnant unwillingly before marriage, and it was a big shame for her family. That was why they decided to kill Souad and her brother-in-law actually set fire to her hair with some oil. She was critically injured and had been on the brink of death for a few weeks, but a French woman, who was a staff member of an NPO, found her and managed to take Souad out of Jordan to Switzerland to undergo suitable medical treatment. She had already turned 17 at that time, but wasn't given any education. She had to undergo more than 20 operations of skin transplants in the strange country. She appeared to have so much hardship to accustom herself to the ordinary European life style. After more than 20 years of hardships, she was asked to write her biography for women still living under cruel conditions in Islamic countries. The person who asked her to tell the whole world of the abuse of women in Islamic countries was the woman who had actually rescued her from the foul hospital, where Souad was being accommodated. It's an honorable task to reach out selflessly at a time of another's greatest need under the threat of being targetted by her relatives, who have been wanting honor that would be given after her successful murder.
　　I admire her courage from the bottom of my heart, and will talk about this fact everywhere in Japan. I'd be happy if my action is helpful for her and her supporting NPO even if only slightly.

(Vocabulary)
assumed name  偽名
the West Bank of the River Jordan ヨルダン川西岸地区（シスヨルダン）
set fire to 火を付ける
accustom yourself to (doing) sth  ＜…＞（すること）に適応する
treatment [U]
conditions 《複数扱い》 (暮らし・仕事などの) 環境
Conditions in the prison were appalling. 刑務所内の環境はおぞましかった．
tell sb of sth  (フォーマル/文) ＜人＞に＜…＞について話す［言う］
foul　汚く、悪臭のある、不衛生な、、、（といったイメージ)
reach out to sb  ＜人＞と心を通わせる, に援助の手を差し伸べる; ＜人＞に助けを求める
selfless 無私［無欲］の, 私心のない
sb's murder (the murder of sb とも)  ＜人＞が殺害されること; '＜人＞が'殺すことではない
selfless devotion to others 私心のない献身
even if only slightly / if only a little  少しでも

Millennium

　　The topic of this entry isn't what you call millennium, but the name of a novel that was written by Stieg Larsson. He seemed to have passed away before knowing of his success with his novel becoming the best seller in the world. This is a trilogy, but the last volume alluded to a follow-up story. I'm very sorry not to be able to read the next one. This novel was the most interesting one in my life. I spread out the map of Sweden where the novel was staged and read it through. I devoted myself to this novel for a few days, and could do only the minimum stuff.

• (Vocabulary)
• allude to sb/sth (フォーマル) ＜…＞をほのめかす, にそれとなく言及する
• He alluded to the war in his speech. 彼は演説の中で戦争にそれとなく言及した．
• allude to ~ as a preliminary ～に伏線を張る

Isabella L. Bird

     I've been reading several books of travel in recent times, which were recorded by foreign travellers in 1800-1900. Those books describe ordinary people's lives. Their lives are really interesting. What were their food, clothes, transportation and houses like? The history which I'd learnt is written from the viewpoint of rulers. Lots of famous people and incidents are the main characters in the history which I know. However, these notes of travel are written by many travellers and tell me how the ordinary Japanese people spent their lives. Naturally the writers have their own characters, likes and dislikes. They might have changed various things, but if you read several books, you'll know the facts.

     "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan" by Isabella L. Bird was really good. She recorded both good and bad, or convenient and inconvenient things of Japan. I got lots of new information from it.

 

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

 

Trial of New Rain Jacket

    I had used a heavy duty rain jacket made for mountaineering for the last twenty years. It was extremely light. It was natural. It was specially designed for climbing up to the globally highest level of mountains. The air permeability had already been damaged by my sweat and blots and it couldn't be used in a high mountains anymore, but it was still of use in my daily life. I set it on the pocket of my scooter in case of the sudden rain. I liked it, but it was destroyed by a dog as I wrote here before. (link)
    I told the owner of the dog at that time that it was okay because the jacket was old enough to be thrown away. It used to cost alot, but now it was not expensive though I'd like to say, "I really liked it!" I knew such a complaint was nonsense.
    After that, I bought a new one a few weeks ago. I thought I wouldn't have a chance to climb up difficult mountains. I chose the second best class rain jacket. The next week, an insurance agent came to me and told me that the owner of the dog really hoped to compensate me for it. Eventually I got half of the money spent on the initial cost of a twenty year old jacket. The old torn jacket turned into some money. It might be kind of lucky.
    It was raining outside at noon and I decided to test it today. The picture is the jacket and a roadside park on the coast line near my hometown, where I'm taking a rest. The result was very nice and more than I expected. The development of this field is also wonderful.

(Vocabulary)
air permeability  通気性
blot 汚れ
compensate sb for sth 賠償する, 補償する, 償う

The Replacements

     I watched a movie that gave me a pleasant cooling sensation. It was just like I drank an icy cold water in the scorching desert. The casting was wonderful. The actor who was supporting was Gene Hackman, who is one of my favorite actors. I wrote some lines down because those were pregnant with hidden meanings. I'm using these phrases in this blog to fully understand and memorize it.

(Vocabulary)
pleasant cooling sensation // sensation of coolness  清涼感
scorching  焼けつくような, ひどく暑い
the scorching desert heat 焼けつくような砂漠の暑さ
pregnant with sth (formal)
containing a lot of a quality:
Every phrase in this poem is pregnant with meanings.

 

Overboard

     The title, "Overboard" is quite new to me and I looked it up in my dictionary. What it means is that something goes down into water. It is the title of a movie, starring Goldie Hawn. The Japanese title of the movie is "潮風のいたずら", which means "a mischief of the sea breeze". "Overboard" and "a mischief of the sea breeze" are the titles of the same movie. I couldn't connect both concepts or bridge the gap. Anyway, I tried to watch the movie.
     The conclusion; it was great and I really enjoyed it. I like this kind of movie. It soothes me, relaxes me and makes me feel happy. Murder and horror movies aren't my cup of tea. The main character, Goldie Hawn, is one of my favorite actresses. Her smiling and helpless look has captivated me for a long time.

(Vocabulary)
overboard  船から水中へ
Man overboard!   人が落ちたぞ！
look sth up  (本・コンピュータなどで) ＜…＞を調べる
sea breeze  潮風
mischief  (子供の) いたずら, 悪さ
murderous 《通例[名]の前で》 (襲撃などが) 残虐な 残忍な, 凶悪な
have a helpless look 困ったような顔つきをしている （人）の心を捉える
captivate 《[他]通例受け身形で》〈人〉 の心を奪う, を魅惑する

(KW:潮風のいたずら　ゴールディ・ホーン)

The Shawshank Redemption

     The topic is the title of a movie. I was interested in the word "redemption". It was the second time that I had come across this word. You can see a paper bag in the picture. It was delivered at the 109th annual congress of the Japanese Surgical Society. The word "redemption" was printed on the bag. I looked it up in the dictionary and felt something weird. I didn't know whether it was used properly, though it was printed on the official bags as a catchphrase of the assembly and I thought that it must have been correct. However, after watching the movie, I'm wondering if this word isn't correct.

(Vocabulary)
redemption
罪のあがない
(現金・商品などへの) 引き換え, 兌換(だかん)
体面の回復
(株・債権などの) 償還
beyond/past redemption
回復［救い］の見込みのない

(KW: ショーシャンクの空に)

The Rookie and 3 Godfathers

     I watched two DVDs last weekend. One of them was, "The Rookie", which is based on a true story. It is the story of a man who gave up his dream once due to an injury to his shoulder, but restarted and achieved it. I like this kind of movie. It encourages me. I watched its climax scene in tears. I will enjoy this movie again later.
     The other movie was, "3 Godfathers", starring John Wayne and presented by John Ford. The casting couldn't be better, but my impression was not good. Particularly, the story of the last ten minutes was weird. I couldn't follow it. However, I was deeply impressed that this movie was made in 1948. Do you know what had happened in the Far East around 1948? The separation of North and South Korea got definite and the Jeju massacre happened in the Korean southern island of Jeju under the occupation of the U.S. The conflict between Chinese communist party and Chinese Nationalist Party was beginning to get fierce. At this time, such a movie was being produced in the U.S. What a difference of the level of the cultures between them! It must have been reckless for Japan to wage the war against the U.S., but I also admire the then leaders of Japan, who were really devoted to their mother country so as to make Japan survive in the world.

(Vocabulary)
in tears  涙を浮かべて

(KW:オールド・ルーキー　三人の名付親)