Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Good-bye Bath

　　I left Bath by the great western railroad (gWr). I took some pictures of the small street leading to my daughter's apartment. I'd never visit here again. I engraved the scene, atmosphere and cool weather on my memory. My daughter lived here and commuted for a year. I wanted to say loudly "Thank you" to all the people who helped her. 

　　I got a cup of coffee on the train and enjoyed the scenery through the window, always checking where I was on the screen of the iPad. I happened to find Windsor Castle on the screen. I looked in the direction of the castle, but I couldn't see it. However, I understood the rough position of the castle. I'd like to visit the castle on the next trip to the U.K. My daughter will move to Brighton this summer following the governmental(NHS) decision. I'll visit Brighton and around London next year. 

 

 

Wine Tasting

　　The biannual event of wine tasting in my home was held on Apr. 12th after a while. Under the strict regulations of the pandemic, it wasn't able to be held regularly for a few years. In addition to the regular participants, three of my friends newly joined.
　　Wine is usually bottled tightly and it's difficult to taste a wine before buying it and you have to choose them from the shelves of liquor shops only by their labels. You sometimes fail to choose what you'd like to drink because their tastes are unknown before opening the bottles. This is the reason why I began to hold a wine tasting gathering in my home. I invite professionals from a wine importer of Osaka to know the background of each wine along with tasting of it.
　　The participants enjoyed tasting and choosing their kind of wine and ordered it from the company. The marketer brought 10 kinds of wine and in total we ordered four dozen bottles of wine. After the tasting, we had a merrymaking over several kinds of wine.
　　The following picture shows me organizing the bottles which were delivered at a later date.

(Vocabulary)
at a later date 後日

Formal Visit to the U.K. by Japanese Ten-noh

　　The Japanese Government announced that their majesties the emperor and empress were supposed to make a formal visit to the U.K. in June. The visit was once planned three years ago on the invitation of Queen Elizabeth, but was suspended pending the COVID-19 pandemic. The queen passed away during the suspension and the Imperial couple would apparently visit her tomb in tribute to her. The couple graduated from Oxford University and they are supposed to drop in at Oxford city on the last day of the visit. However, it's not decided yet when they'll visit the U.K. in June. Early or middle or late June? To tell the truth, my wife and I are planning to visit the U.K. in June, too. Should we visit at the same time as the Imperial couple, or not? We are examining the pros and cons of the visit in the same period with them. We are focusing on the southwest area of the U.K. this time, centering on Bath, Cardiff the capital of Wales and Stonehenge along with a few places in the city of London.
　　Bath is literally the town of bath. Ancient Romans reached the U.K. and built public bath facilities in Bath. I'm not sure, but the word "bath" may be derived from this city. My hometown has the Dogo Onsen Spa which is known as the oldest hot spa in Japan and the Roman-style bath would be the oldest bath in the U.K. Given this situation, the next trip to the U.K. may be a lot of fun.

(Vocabulary)
Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress 天皇皇后両陛下
on the invitation of ～の招きで
Given this situation このようなことから

My Father's Ashes Placed Eternally

　　I'm going to write about a Buddhist practice today, though it's hard for me to express Buddhist terms in English. More than a year has passed since my father passed away. His ashes have been placed in the family altar since. Ashes, in general, are placed in the tomb within a few weeks after the cremation. My parents built the family tomb around 20 years ago on a hillside from which you can command a panoramic view of the hometown. They must have wanted their ashes to be placed in this tomb, but the tomb is rustic and looks desolate and I placed his ashes in my house. He had been hospitalized for his last three years and strictly limited to receive visitations by his friends and even family members due to the abhorrent COVID-19 pandemic. He would have been lonely and I felt sorry for him and placed his ashes in my busy house.
　　Now, the equinoctial week is coming just around the corner. This week carries significance in Buddhism. Lots of families pay a visit to their ancestral grave during this week and put up a "Sotouba" wooden tablet, which came from stupa in Sanskrit, and give more than a passing thought to ancestors.
　　On Sunday last week, I visited my father's original house, a historic old temple, with his ashes and walked around the grounds in which my father would have spent his childhood, and offered a prayer to the ancestors' graves on a hill behind the temple. Once his ashes were placed in his tomb, he couldn't be moved.
　　Then, today, I had a Buddhist priest, who is a nephew of my father, down and a Buddhist memorial service of putting the ashes into the tomb. The door of the tomb was closed and my father's life was also closed today.

(Vocabulary)
ashes (pl.)遺骨
place sb's ashes in a tomb 納骨する
family altar, Buddhist household shrine 祭壇
cremation 火葬
halfway down the hill 丘の中ほどで
halfway up a hill; on a hillside 丘の中腹に
hillside 丘の斜面[中腹]
command a panoramic view of ～を一望できる
rustic 飾り気のない　素朴な
desolate 〈場所などが〉人気 (ひとけ) のない ; 荒れ果てた; 活気のない
〈人が〉孤独な , 寂しい, わびしい, 心細い; 惨めな; 〈事が〉陰鬱な, 寂しい
equinoctial week 彼岸
stupa 卒塔婆 wooden grave tablet
give more than a passing thought to ～に思いを馳せる［致す］
a passing thought 一時的な考え
have ~ down（客を）招く

Camping Car Show

　　I joined a camping car show in Makuhari Messe in Tokyo. The scene took me back to my childhood.
　　In my childhood, my family often made camping trips. I think that it was mainly for saving money, but the camping trips were a lot of fun for the kids. Our family's first car came to my house when I was 10 years or so. Since then, the camping trip has become our family's standard way to spend vacations. The effects of my parents being avid campers are still living in my soul.
　　After his retirement, my father remodeled a van into a camping car by himself and enjoyed domestic trips with his wife. I thought that it was an ideal living on pension experience. Around that time, the car navigation system started in Japan. I presented a portable car navigation device to him. It made him happy in a big way, because his wife didn't want to see maps in a car as she got carsick easily. The device helped him drive on the pre-planned route.
　　However, the portable batteries of those days didn't have enough ability to be used on camping trips. If the present portable batteries and various electrical components for camping were to have been developed 10 years early, my parents would have been interested in camping cars before me.

Ehime Maru Memorial

　　The Oahu island tour started. We had a place which we should drop in at. Do you remember the collision of the fisheries training vessel Ehime Maru and the U.S. nuclear submarine USS Greeneville in 2001? We actually live in Ehime prefecture in Japan. The high school students who were to enter into the fisheries industry and their instructors left Uwajima City located at the southern part of Ehime prefecture. Out of them, 5 crews and instructors, and 4 students, a total of 9 capable and promising people didn't come back to Japan. We had put the Ehime Maru Memorial on the top of the queue to visit. The Memorial is located at a park near the coast and we were able to see the direction of its sinking point from the memorial. All of us put our hands together and paid a tribune for a short time toward off the coast.

　オアフ島半周ツアーが始まった。まず立ち寄りたい場所があった。我々の住んでいる愛媛県の水産実習船が２００１年２月にハワイ沖でアメリカの原潜と衝突して沈没し、９名が亡くなった。その慰霊碑が沈没地点を望む公園に設置されていて、まずその慰霊碑に立ち寄った。亡くなった教員・乗組員５名＋高校生４名と聞いている。慰霊碑から見渡した先の海域に向かって皆で手を合わせ冥福を祈った。

Farewell Bonfire

　　My father passed away in January this year. In Buddhist teaching, his spirit is said to come back to his original place and stay there for several days during a certain term called "Obon". On the first day of the "Obon", the bereaved are supposed to light a fire called "Mukae-bi", a welcome bonfire, for the bonfire to work as the beacon for the returning spirit from the next world. I lit the Mukae-bi several days before and I lit "Okuri-bi", the farewell bonfire today.
　　I'm full of a sense of loss and recalled lots of memories with him, seeing the Buddhist materials burn. After a while, I put it out, hoping that his spirit would come back next year.

Segaki-e; 大施餓鬼会

　　I've been writing this blog for 18 years, and every entry became a substitute of my diary now. I'm going to record a Buddhist service, which is called Segaki-e, for my departed father today.
　　The family temple brings together people who lost their beloved ones over the past year and holds a Buddhist mass, Segaki-e, which is a service for the benefit of suffering spirits. My wife and I attended the mass to pray for my father's happiness in the next world.

(Vocabulary)
菩提寺　family temple

First Bon Festival

　　Japan has the custom of making a sacred fire at the Bon Festival in order to welcome departed souls back. During the Bon festival the spirits of ancestors are believed to come back. This fire will be a beacon for the spirits. Originally this fire should be lit on a clay vessel, but I put special spiritual wood on the barbecue grill. My father loved camping and outdoor activities and he would be happy.
　　Coming two weeks from now on, my ancestors will live with us in the same house.

Dinner

　　We visited a Spanish restaurant with our daughter for dinner, it was full and we dropped in at a nearby pizza shop. I asked her how her life had been in the U.K. and realized that she got through various difficulties. A Japanese proverb says, "you should be willing to go through struggles when you are young". I found that this proverb was true. I wanted to work overseas when I was young, but I think that it would have become too much of a burden for me.

　娘が行ったことのあるスペイン料理店に行ったが満席で、近くのイタリア料理店でピザを食べることにした。娘の生活やイギリスの状況をいろいろと尋ねた。日本のことわざに「若い頃の苦労は買ってでもしろ」というのがある。娘の話を聞いていて実感した。自分も留学、あるいは海外の病院で働きたいと若い頃は思っていたが、自分には無理だったかもと思う。ピザは３種類を注文してシェア

Degree Ceremony

　　The visitor's tickets for the degree ceremony were handed out after the brunch meeting. With it firmly in my hand, I walked to the Sheldonian Theatre in which the ceremony would be held. I had walked through the old city several times and didn't miss the way, but I was surprised to see a horde of visitors to the ceremony at its entrance. I was afraid of whether we came in, or not. I didn't want to end up in standing room, but luckily, we managed to take seats, though my daughter's seat was distant and behind the column viewing from our seats. I had to twist my body to take snapshots of her.
　　I couldn't catch the words used in the ceremony, but it seems to have been Latin. Latin has traditionally been used for as many as 1000 years in the ceremony. How wonderful! The students took their seats before the opening of the ceremony once, then they went out of the room after greeting three university personnel (I don't know the name of their roles, but proctor?). When they re-entered the room next, they were formally dressed with a hood of several colors and a mortarboard. The color of the hoods apparently represented their majors. This is totally my speculation, but the first greeting means the permit for their degrees from the university and the second greeting to the personnel formally dressed might be showing their gratitude. Their - both university side and students - greeting, taking the mortarboard and bowing, was somehow humorous and all the people were smiling. Laden with both a stately and homey atmosphere, the ceremony was awesome. Seeing the smiling faces of the young people who would be leading the world in the future, I became happy. They made me feel that I have to work hard at my post.

(Vocabulary)
standing room 立ち見席
stately　悠然とした, ゆったりとした; 威厳のある, 堂々たる;〈人が〉風格のある, 堂々とした
homey 〈場所・雰囲気などが〉 我が家のような, 居心地のよい

　ブランチの後、学位授与式へのチケットが配られた。学生一人につき二人まで招待できるので我々には２枚配られた。これを手に会場のシェルドニアンシアターへ向かった。何度も歩いた旧市街、迷うことなく到着。しかし、入場の列を見て驚いた。大勢並んでいる。式が始まるまでに入れるのだろうか？立ち見席だったら嫌だなと思っていたのだが、なんとか開式までに席に着けた。しかし、席は近くの柱がちょうど娘を隠してしまっていたが仕方ない。身をよじってなんとか娘を撮影した。
　式進行で使われる言葉がまったく聞き取れなかったが、ラテン語だったらしい。１０００年も続く伝統なのだとか。恐れ入りました。会場内でいったん席に着いた学生たちは、中央に出て正式な役職名はわからないが大学当局者に対して一礼して出て行き、次に入ってくるときにはいろいろな色のフードを着けて帽子を持っていわゆる正装で入ってくる。赤や青や緑など色とりどりのフードは専攻や学位の種別を表しているらしい。全くの想像だが、一度目の挨拶で学位の許可をもらい、２回目は学位を身につけたという挨拶か？帽子を取って会釈する仕草がどことなくユーモラスで大学側も学生側も全員がニコニコしている。厳粛な雰囲気とアットホームな雰囲気が共存している素晴らしい卒業式だった。世界を率いることになる英才達の笑顔を見てこちらも心が温かくなった。自分も自分の持ち場で頑張らねばという思いかな。「一隅を照らす」彼らを見ていてこの言葉を思い出した。

Brunch Meeting

　　All the guests were led into a makeshift tent set on the turfy quad. The brunch meeting was to be held in an upscale dining hall and my daughter wanted us to see the hall, but the hall wasn't available due to the maintenance of the air conditioner. If you want to see the hall, google for it with the key words; Pembroke College Oxford dining hall.
　　I was afraid that I had to chat with people on both sides in English, but I was able to pick the seat at the end of the table. Additionally my daughter took her seat between me and the professor. She worked as an interpreter when the need arose. He had travelled across Japan several times and the most impressive place was apparently Koyasan or Mt. Koya. We had an animated conversation about his travels in Japan.
　　The dishes were simple and so-so, but the dessert and the white wine were great. The British white wine might make my English smoother. I have three daughters and each of them let me experience a variety of things so far. I would be put through lots of fun things from now on too.

(Vocabulary)
quad（学校の）中庭
turfy 芝で覆われた、芝の多い
if [when] the need arises 困ったときに
have an animated conversation about ～の話で盛り上がる
animated 活発な, 生き生きとした, 快活な

 

　本来は歴史的価値のある立派なダイニングルームがあって娘はそれを見せたかったらしいのだが、エアコンの工事中で使えず、急遽、中庭にしつらえたテントの中でのブランチだった。KW: Pembroke College Oxford dining hallでググると写真が出てくるので是非ご覧ください。
　両隣に外国人の方々が着席すると両側と英会話をしなければならなくなるから困るなあと思っていたら、一番端を選ぶことが出来た！超ラッキー。しかもコレッジの教授との間には娘が居るのでいわば通訳付き。願ってもない席順となった。この先生は日本に旅行歴があり、一番印象深かったのは高野山とのこと。日本への旅行の話で盛り上がった。
　料理はまずまず、デザートは良かった。また白ワインも。この白ワインは僕の英語を少し滑らかにしてくれたかも。娘が３人いるのだが、それぞれがいろいろな経験をさせてくれた。今後もいろいろなことがあるのだろうなあ。

Drink Reception

　　When I was thinking what to do until the drink reception in front of the college, my daughter suddenly emerged from the college. She was already formally dressed. After the Degree Ceremony, she would put on her hood and mortarboard. It was a little early for the reception, but my daughter and we headed for the reception room. I'd like to post some pictures of my daughter with her formal dress, but she didn't permit it. I wish that you could feel the atmosphere of the drink reception and the college from my pictures. I was so tense.

そんなことを考えていたら突然中から娘が出てきた。既に正装している。学位授与式の時に帽子と、緑色のフードを着けるのだという。少し早いが一緒にカレッジ内のドリンクレセプションの会場へ向かった。娘の写真を載せたいが、載せてはいけないと言われているので、建物とドリンクレセプションの雰囲気を感じてもらいたい。このレセプションの会場ではかなり緊張した。娘に笑われた。

Pembroke College

　　Today, the Degree Ceremony was held. We equipped ourselves well and headed for Pembroke College which our daughter belonged to. We had seen it from outside, but it was the first time to get in. We arrived at the entrance more than one hour earlier than the schedule, and walked around the college. The buildings were laden with historic importance. They must have survived for a few centuries.
　　How did our daughter spend her time here for a few years? I've read some English papers of our daughter and admired her. The grant which she had received was not reimbursable for two years. Meanwhile, she got her physician's license in the U.K. too. She earned her bread and butter by working as a physician in the U.K. During the pandemic, she went back to Japan and worked as a trainee doctor to make money for learning, joining the class of Oxford University through the net on the other hand. She doubled the postgraduate of Oxford University and a Japanese doctor to survive the pandemic. She's really wonderful.

(Vocabulary)
equip oneself well, get ready to 身支度をする
reimbursable adj.〈費用・経費などが〉償還の対象になる, 払い戻してもらえる
bursary(英), grant (国の) 補助［助成］金, 奨学金

　今日はこの旅行の目的である娘の学位授与式がある。身支度を調え、娘の所属するペンブロークカレッジへ向かった。外から眺めたことはあるが、内部へ入るのは初めて。予定よりも１時間以上早く着いてしまったので、ゆっくりと外周を歩いてみた。その雰囲気に圧倒された。何百年も前の建築に違いない。
　ここで娘はどのようなことを学んだのだろうか。娘の書いた英語論文をいくつか読んでみたが、たいしたものだと思う。最初の２年間は衣食住、学費全て返済不要の奨学金をもらえた。その間にイギリスの医師免許を取得し、医師としてのアルバイトで生計を立て、コロナの時期には一時帰国し、リモートでオックスフォードでの研究を続けながら、一方で研修医として働き、留学に関わる一切の費用を自分でまかなった。オックスフォード大学の学生と日本の研修医の２足のわらじでこの時期をしのいだ。たいした奴だと思う。

Christ Church College

　　After giving them a parting wave, we headed for Christ Church College, which was one of the tourist destinations in Oxford. The main purpose of my wife might be visiting a gift shop associated with "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" , which was written by a professor in Christ Church College.
　　Be that as it may, it was past admission hours, but by my daughter showing her Id card, we were allowed to enter the college. Some tourists were staring at us jealously. I admired my daughter's present status and felt proud of her.
　　We walked along the tour course and entered the hall where the students have meals. When I entered this hall last time, its majesty surprised me and it deprived me of my carefulness, just overwhelmed me in other words, so I looked at the interior details this time. I saw lots of painted portraits. I was able to identify one of them as the portrait of John Locke. He seemed to have belonged to this college. Knowing that, I asked my daughter why she didn't choose Christ Church not Pembroke College. She answered that most students of this college were posh and she didn't like such an atmosphere. I understood her feelings, as she had always been modest in Japan. The memoir of Ten-noh helped me understand her college life in Oxford at the same time.
　　When I entered the hall, the prep for dinner had just started. It was the reason the sightseers were stopped from entering. The tables on the raised platform were called the "high table" and teachers and postgraduates are designated to be seated there. My daughter had been seated at the high table a few times to adjust the number of members at the high table.

(Vocabulary)
Be that as it may それはともかく、
majesty [U] 雄大さ, 壮麗さ

　New Collegeのあと、クライストチャーチコレッジを観光した。近くにある「不思議の国のアリス」ゆかりの店に行きたいとカミさんが言うもので、クライストチャーチの方がついでかも。
　それはともかく、観光客の受入時刻は過ぎていたが、受付で娘が自分のＩＤカードを提示すると何の問題もなく通してくれた。時間切れで入られない人たちの羨望のまなざしが印象的だった。娘の成長を有り難く思い、また誇らしく感じた。
　まずはホールへ向かった。学生たちが食事を取る場所である。前回訪問時にはその荘厳さに圧倒され注意力を失い、ただただ驚いただけだった。今回は掲げられている絵画に注目した。そしてジョン・ロックの肖像画を見つけた。このコレッジで暮らしていたという。
　娘にこのコレッジを選べば良かったのにと話すと、ここの学生はposhな人が多くて自分には合っていないとのこと。今回は陛下の留学記のお陰で大学のシステムが少しわかっているのでいろいろと得ることが多い。
　ちょうど学生達の食事の準備が始まったところだった。そのために一般観光客は入場不可となったのだろう。一段高いところにあるテーブルがハイテーブルと呼ばれ、教官クラスが着席する。一部大学院生も人数調整の必要からテーブルに呼ばれるそうだが、なんと娘も座ったことがあるという。凄い経験だなと我が娘ながらその成長に驚く。

The Trout Inn 2

　　The internal details of the pub were great and its atmosphere was also relaxing, but we chose an outdoor table to enjoy the scene. At first, I ordered one of the local beers of Camden pale ale, which reminded me of the scene of Chipping Campden where I drove a rental car with my second daughter five years ago. Taking a close look at the picture, however, I found the difference in spelling. This beer was brewed at Camden town in London not the Cotswolds, but it was OK. My heart was full with the fact that my wife and I were with my youngest daughter who had successfully finished all the courses of Oxford University which has long been acknowledged as No.1 in the world. I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I forgot the name of our dishes.

　室内の装飾も見事だったが風景を楽しみたいため外の席を選んだ。
　まずは地元のカムデンビール　エールタイプのビールを選択　まずはイッパイ！
このビールを選んだのは、５年前に次女とドライブしたイングランド・グロスターシャー州のコッツウォルズにある小さなマーケットタウン、チッピング・カムデンを思い出したから。良く見ると綴りが違うし、後で調べると全然関係なかった、、、(^_^;)　ロンドンのカムデンタウンで造られていた。まあ、ＯＫ。世界ナンバー１の大学を卒業した娘とここに居るだけで何も言うことなし。写真のような料理をオーダーしたのだが、料理名はサッパリ忘れてしまった。

https://www.thetroutoxford.co.uk/#/

 

My Daughter

　　I saw my daughter at a bus stop of Thornhill Park&Ride. She would have gone through lots of hardship with a brave spirit in the unfamiliar country. I got an impression that she had stepped up on the next stage of life. It's a pity that she is shy and doesn't want me to upload her picture.

It was about 7 o'clock and we left our baggage at the hotel room and headed for the Trout, which I'll show you below. The Japanese Ten-noh spent 2 years here in Oxford in his 20's. His memoir was one of my travel guidebooks this time. I'm going to roam over something related to him.

My trip memo of this travel would become considerably long.

三女と再会

Thornhill Park&Ride で娘と再会した。随分としっかりした印象を受けた。イギリスで苦労してきたのだろう。逞しくなったものだ。とてもシャイで写真を載せるなと言われているのが残念。１９時を過ぎているのでホテルへ荷物を置いてすぐに天皇陛下お勧めのパブ、The Trout へ向かった。先に書いたとおり、天皇陛下は２０代の二年間、オックスフォードで自由な学生時代を送られている。彼の人生で恐らくこの二年間だけが自由な時間だったのだろうと推察する。その留学記に書かれている地名をできる限り歩いてみたいと思っている。この自分の旅行記は長くなりそうだ。

Travel Guidebook

　　The last visit was with my second daughter just after my youngest daughter had started living in Oxford. I was anxious about her; What place did she live in? or Could she get along well?
　　I hardly had the background knowledge of Oxford, London, and the U.K. at that time. I had just thumbed through a few travel guidebooks during the outward flight. My youngest daughter who had just started her life in Oxford didn't have any room in her heart to welcome us or guide us around the city. There was no building named Oxford University and I noticed a few dozen colleges in the city. Because of that reason, I just visited some tourist spots in Oxford on the last visit.
　　While I had been seeking a useful guidebook for understanding the history of Oxford City and the education system of Oxford University, an ad in the newspaper caught my eye. The ad said that the memoir about life in the U.K. written by the present Ten-noh would be republished with a new book design 30 years after the original publication. Promptly I uttered "That's it!" and I ordered it from Amazon. I read the memoir repeatedly taking notes, writing in the margin what came up in my mind, and attaching postits. Lastly I compiled my destination list. The memoir was one of good reference materials, though the contents were basically of nearly 40 years ago.

(Vocabulary)
preliminary [background] knowledge 予備知識
outward flight 行きのフライト
because of that reason そのようなわけで
memoir [C](フォーマル) 思い出の記, 追想録 [＋memoir about]
publication [U] 出版, 刊行

Yashima Hill

　　Utilizing the opportunity of my business trip, I dropped in at the medieval battle field of Yashima Hill. A famous battle between the then most powerful political powers and a war genius took place there in the 12th century.
　　My late father took me there in my childhood. He was a primary school teacher and told me about the old battle. I remember that I wasn't able to fully understand his words at that time, but I remember that I had felt that numerous people had lived before my time and I had realized the stream of time. Now I'm interested in history. Small talk from people around me might exercise influence on my character.
　　Few families had their own car in those days in Japan and we climbed up the hill by the cable car, but the cable car was abandoned a few decades ago due to the decrease of passengers. Family cars became common in Japan. I visited the abandoned cable car station. The cable car was there as is. I got the sense that my father and I were there with happy faces. Time goes by securely.

A Business Trip

　　To be charged with an easy task in a tiny island, I'm here in a small shabby unassuming hotel along the coast. Through the window I can see the island which I'll visit tomorrow morning. A ferry will take me to the island in only 6 minutes. The following picture shows the scene which I'm viewing. You might take this channel as a river, but actually this is the genuine sea which even connects to the U.S.A. There are so many islands in the Seto Inland Sea and those islands became hot spots for scenic photo opportunities. If I have some free time tomorrow, I'm thinking of wandering around my workplace.