Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Bike Delivered

　　I ordered a bike online and it was delivered. I'll show you the picture. It was made in the U.S. and was imported into Japan. I haven't thought of it much, but it's great. People who lived a century ago would never believe that an individual could do it. The bill was paid by credit card. It would also have been amazing for those people.
　　The bike is so beautiful. I like it. I just see it on my computer screen, but it is really nice. Cycling might become my lifelong hobby. I couldn't put it outside and set it just inside the entrance. I thought that I would place it in the living room as an ornament, but my family laughed at me, saying that only seeing the bike would never make me reduce weight. I talked back to them that it might be good for my mental health.
　　Anyway, I will be able to show you various pictures around my hometown from now.

Come Back Home and No One There

　　I came back home after 4 days' continuous work. There was no one but Mocha, my dog. My wife will be late due to a party after the commencement of her college. I wondered if there was something to eat? Alright! Several kinds of frozen food were stored in the fridge. I plugged in the electric kettle for my tea and turned on the rice cooker. I found ash or cement like dust (maybe dead skin) on the floor and turned the roomba on. Then, I turned the laundry machine on as I was told by my wife. I set the DVD recorder for the local news. After that, I went out for a walk with Mocha. I realized that my life is really based on the stable supply of power.
　　As I wrote the other day, the scheduled partial blackout is going on in eastern Japan. Daily life would be so inconvenient.

Long Walk

　　I walked my dog today a little longer than usual. The weather was clear and the temperature was that of early spring. It was very comfortable. The total distance of today's walk was 9.8 km. I am posting two pictures that were taken on the way. Though there is unrest like in Libya and the catastrophic disaster in New Zealand in the globe, how peaceful my hometown is! I feel really happy living in this city. One of the pictures shows the scene at a high school, where the students were working out for the Japan high school baseball championships in the summer.
　　I have been recording all the traces of my walk since last May, and the total distance of my walk during the last 10 months reaches nearly 500 km. I plot this data on the map of Japan, and I'm virtually enjoying the trip across Japan. All the procedure was done automatically by my smart phone. I'm imagining I'm in Fukushima prefecture, north of Tokyo now, and I am heading for the south.
　　I ordered a new bicycle, Jamis Aurora, by e-mail the other day. I'm thinking of accumulating the total ride distance on the world map independently of the walking distance. What route should I choose? How about from the North Pole to the Antarctic? Anyway, my wandering area would surely expand and you would be able to see a wide variety of pictures around my hometown.

First Rain in 33 Days

　　My hometown has a mild climate and is a nice place to live in. The product from the sea and the mountainside is rich. It seldom has natural disasters, at least in my memory. However, it has only natural issues. It has repeated shortages of water in summer. In an extreme condition, the school pools are closed. People are told to avoid washing cars, watering plants in their garden, and going to the beach. In the feeding services of schools, cooks make an effort to save water. Economical activity goes to contraction by the water shortage.
　　The city hadn't had rain for 33 days. Which means, we didn't have rain yet this year. But finally we got rain today. It's not enough to fill the reservoir, but better than none.
　　In the southern part of Japan, the rainy season is from the end of May to the beginning of July. If we didn't have enough,,,,,I don't want to imagine the situation.

My Daughter Came Home

　　You might think the topic is a little orotund, but ask me, "Where did she come from?" She returned from Germany 'after a year's interval'. She lived in Freiburg alone and learned the German language and how German life was. Her major is German culture.
　　A Japanese old saying tells us that if you love your kids, you should leave them alone in travel. I looked for the same proverb in the dictionary and found this. "Spare the rod and spoil the child." Her life in Germany wasn't always happy, but she didn't give up and survived. I found something different in her from what she used to be a year ago. I realized that the old saying was correct. It was not bad to allow her to live in Germany as the saying goes.

(Vocabulary)
orotund (けなして) (演説・文章などが) 仰々しい [同意] pompous
saying  ことわざ, 格言
as the saying goes  ことわざにあるように, よく言うように
Spare the rod and spoil the child.《諺》 かわいい子には旅をさせよ。／むちを惜しめば子どもを駄目にする。

Telecommunication System

　　When I had my house built eight years ago, I had up-to-date optic fiber cable for internet access installed. The optic fiber cable has enabled me to use internet comfortably with its transfer speed. I have been able to enjoy what you call, "internet surfin", since then. The fast-pace of technological innovation is spectacular, however, and it has remarkably changed the present IT world.( <-- great sentence!)  Now, you can watch TV via internet from the progress of the quality and speed of the transmit. You don't have to visit the DVD movie rental shop any more. You can order a movie from your house via internet whenever you want to watch the movie.
　　I decided to upgrade the optic fiber cable to the most updated one the other day to utilize the internet TV and applied to NTT, the Japanese biggest telecommunication company, for installation.
　　A few days later, SECOM, the security company, and gas company called me, telling that they had to modify their own system. I have used an analogue line for my phone, but I was going to change it to a digital line this time. I could imagine that SECOM used the phone line to know how my house was, but I didn't know the gas company was using the remote monitoring of my house. They seemed to have monitored the gas consumption and kept not to be short. If an abnormal condition was found, the monitoring system is designed to inform the company. If the gas leaked, the gas consumption monitoring system will catch the unusual gas usage and SECOM will detect the leaked gas. That is to say, my house is proven protected from gas leakage accidents in two ways. It's wonderful.
　　I'll report later about the internet TV.

(Vocabulary)
reflection [C] (鏡・水面などに) 映った姿［像，影］/ [U] よく考えること, 熟考
After some reflection, I decided not to accept the job. よく考えた末，その仕事は断ることにした．

Golf Training Center

　　The picture shows a golf training facility near my house. Golfers shoot the ball toward the pond and the nets are for the protection of the people around. The material of golf balls is light enough to float on water. They conveniently come together following the flow of the water after it's rained or are collected by a small boat with a net. The underutilized pond is nicely used. Is there such a facility in other countries or is the idea only for a small country?

(Vocabulary)
underutilized  〈施設・能力などが〉十分に活用されていない

Bulk Trash

　　There are five PCs and several parts of PCs which are lying idle since long ago in my house. They are outdated. You might wonder why I hadn't done away with them. Honestly, I've wanted to throw them away, but I couldn't. The rules about garbage collection are strict and we are required to make a classification of garbage on the basis of materials. Especially, several items were rejected to be collected by the municipal collection service. PCs are one of those items. Just for your information, I wrote about such bulk trash before.
　　The system of recycling materials in Japan is thorough. I saw the plastic bottle return system in Germany last year and I thought it was good, but it was for recovering the deposit money added on the bottles. I also wrote about it before. Come to think of it, it's great for Japanese people to support the system voluntarily. Anyway, I decided finally to ask a junk dealer to collect them with a fee, though electronics emporiums receive them with the cost of disposal. Oh, I almost fogot, I have to erase their data on the HDD before passing them to the dealer.
　　By the way, modern life never avoids consuming materials and producing garbage. I think before my outdated PCs that I have to spend life with as less waste as possible for the next generation.

(Vocabulary)
bulk [bulky, big, huge] trash〔家具、冷蔵庫、テレビなど〕粗大ごみ
idle 《通例[名]の前不可》 使用されていない, 稼動していない, 遊んでいる
The factory has been idle since May. 工場は5月から稼動していない．
sit/stand/lie idle  放置されている, 遊んだままになっている
do away with  (不要なものを)捨てる
for your information　ご参考までに（申し添えておきますが）、ちなみに、後学のため◆【略】FYI　場合によってかなりキツイ言い方になる。
voluntarily  自発的に／無償で
junk dealer / rag collector / recycle service 廃品回収業者
fee（サービスに対する）手数料
an electronics emporium 大型家電店

Archaeological Museum

　　When I wrote the entry about the Sican civilization, I remembered a museum near my house. Its name is Matsuyama City Archaeological Museum. The picture was a signboard and was shot to make a note of the word "archaeology". When I see something during a walk, I often wonder how to describe it in English. I could imagine the meaning of "archaeology" from the Japanese subtitle, but took a picture instead of writing it down in my memo pad. Needless to say, I looked the word up later in my dictionary. This museum is about 10 minutes' walk from my house and I frequently pass it walking my dog. I've never visited it, however. I'll go and see the inside before very long.

(Vocabulary)
make a note of sth　 ＜…＞を書き留める, メモする
keep a note of sth　 ＜…＞をメモしておく
before very long  そのうちに

Miscellaneous Thought about 2010

　　The most remarkable characteristics of the year 2010 in Japan was the change in the way of thinking about China. The ratio of Japanese people who feel friendly about China went down from 70% to 20%, according to the leading newspaper's opinion poll. People of integrity have already known about the cruelty of China, but now, ordinary Japanese people are afraid of the recent huge armament of China. As the news originating from China increased, people began to recognize the real China. As for me, I know the spiritual nature of Chinese people. I visited Vancouver about 20 years ago for the first time. Since then, I've been there every 2-3 years. I directly feel the worsening of the security and the atmosphere in Richmond, just to the south of the Vancouver International Airport, where lots of Chinese people settled. Canadian people who had originally lived there couldn't stand it. I heard some of those had escaped from Richmond. That's also the case in Ikebukuro in Tokyo. Chinese people never follow the local rules and never join in the neighborhood community. They don't care about others. The other day, a Chinese fishing boat, which was considered to belong to the military, invaded Japan and hit a patrol boat of the Japan Coast Guard on purpose. Besides that, stupid high officials hid the videotape recording of the violence of the Chinese boat from Japanese citizens. Lots of politicians are thought to be brainwashed by China. A democracy campaigner from China who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace is still in prison. Chinese common sense is by far different from ours. Most Japanese people know the real China. The current administration, I think, is stupid, but the people are never idiotic. I hope the government will be disbanded soon.
　　For my family, every daughter went up to their next step. All the members kept fit. My parents and Mocha are the same. Nothing bad happened to my family and it should be celebrated. I hope that the coming new year will be a brilliant year for all people on the globe.

(Vocabulary)
characteristic 《[C]通例複数形で》特質, 特性, 特徴
opinion poll [research / survey] 世論調査
spiritual nature 精神性
democracy campaigner 民主活動家
current administration 現政権
disband  [自]〈軍隊・組織などが〉解散する; [他] …を解散させる

Winter Vacation

　　Two of three daughters are at home now. Both are on vacation from each university. My house really comes to life in this period. Even our dog, Mocha, looks like he is pleased with the atmosphere.
　　The youngest lives in a local city and needs to drive a car, but the eldest lives in Tokyo. She does not have to use a private car. Tokyo has a developed system of transportation. Finally, the driving skills of the youngest are better than those of the eldest, though the eldest got her driving license four years earlier.
　　The second daughter lives in Germany now, but she will be back at the end of January. She is supposed to go directly back to her university, so it would be in March for all the daughters to get together at home. I can't wait for the day.

(Vocabulary)
life  [U] (場所の) にぎわい, 活気, 活況
There's not much life on the street after dark. 暗くなると通りは閑散としてしまう．
come to life (burst into life とも) (場所が)にぎわう, 活気にあふれる
At night, the city really comes to life. 夜になるとその町は活気にあふれる．
skill 「…の技術［技能］」などを意味する場合，skill of...は不可．skillの前に名詞をつけてcomputer skillsなどとする.

A Scene

　　I went out for a walk with my dog following my footsteps today. I took pictures of the Korean school on the way. Deep in the dark forest stood the school. The sign in Korean on the wall reads "Thank you, daddy and mom".
　　Let me add the graphic detail about around here. In the 16th century, the then European superpowers began to invade and occupy Asian and African countries. They always dispatched missionaries at first, who had Bibles on the one hand and arms on the other. The Japanese rulers were afraid to be occupied by them and prohibited Christianity. Some people, however, didn't obey the rule and were persecuted. This area was a former execution ground. Thus, this area had been isolated until 40 years ago when a famous prestigious high school moved there. Until then, only the Korean school stood here.
　　At present, the environment has changed remarkably. The most massive-scale municipal park and the archaeological museum as well as the above noted high school were constructed in this district one after another. My house is also located here. It's like a newly-built artificial housing district. It's very comfortable to live here. Around the Korean school, however, it sounds like the hands of the clock are at a standstill. It's said that pupils who attend the school receive an anti-Japanese education and are forced to respect Kim Jong-il in such a deserted area. I wonder what will become of the Korean pupils?

(Vocabulary)
follow one's footsteps  足の向くままに歩いて行く
missionary  宣教師
execution ground  処刑場

Prep Against Winter

　　It's getting awfully cold these past couple of days. My hometown is located in the southern part of Japan and has a mild climate. I mean, it's not so hot in summer and not so cold in winter. In this winter, however, that's not the case. Though the snow didn't accummulate, it was snowing heavily in the afternoon. Snowfall in December is extremely rare. A TV news report said that the mountainous region, 30 kilometers from here, had had considerable snow. I hurried to an auto-supply shop to swap tires for winter ones. I store four winter tires with wheels in my house and before it starts to snow, I exchange them every winter.
　　To no one's surprise, more than 20 cars were waiting to exchange tires at the shop even in December. The owners must have been surprised to see the snowfall just like me. I had to wait for two hours, but could replace my present tires with winter tires. I felt relieved and now I can go skiing at any time.
　　When it comes to skiing, my youngest daughter is in Niigata prefecture now, which is well known as the heavy snowfall area in Japan. It faces the Sea of Japan and the northerly freezing wind brings cold waves from Siberia. I hope she'll enjoy skiing with her friends.

(Vocabulary)
accumulate [自] たまる, 積もる
Huge snowdrifts had accumulated on the airport's runways. 大きな雪の吹きだまりが空港の滑走路にできていた．
winter tire スタッドレスタイヤ 〔英米ではstudless tireという言い方はしない。〕
an auto-supply shop / an automotive supply house 自動車用品店
swap  [他] …を交換する, 取り替える
Do you want to swap umbrellas? 傘を取り替えっこする？
swap sth for sth  ＜…＞を＜…＞と交換する
replace (タイヤ・電池など)を交換する
replace sth with sth  ＜…＞を＜…＞に切り替える
Most washing machines need to be replaced after about ten years. 大半の洗濯機は10年ほどで買い替えが必要になる．
at any time いつでも
heavy snowfall area 豪雪地帯
northerly  北の, 北への; (風が) 北からの
cold wave 寒波

Depression and Healing

　　It might be a part of the symptoms of what you call depression. I've been reluctant to do anything these past couple of months. I don't know why. Due to the empty nest syndrome? Or, I began to hate my job? Having said that, I can't help doing nothing. I have to work. I continue to keep this blog from now too to cheer myself up.
　　Several acquaintances had been concerned about me, because I didn't post any messages on mixi, the most popular Japanese SNS for some time. Messages on the SNS and entries on this blog are just the broadcast mail for my friends, some of whom live overseas. Anyway, to my friends, I'm getting better day by day. Don't worry!
　　By the way, I got an e-mail from my second daughter who lives in Germany. A picture was added and I'll show it to you. She sounded like she had visited Bern with her friends. Only a year ago, she couldn't do anything in Germany, but now she can travel around in Europe. Her growth made me happy and could be an effective medicine. She is now invited to her friend's house to celebrate Christmas day. I am also grateful for the family's favor. I can't wait to see her pictures of German Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

(Vocabulary)
reluctant 気が進まない, しぶしぶの
reluctant to do sth  ＜…＞することに気が進まない
uplifting (人を) 幸せな気分にする, 気持ち［精神］が高揚する（ような）
broadcast mail 同報メール
growth [U] (知能・情緒面などでの) 発達, 成長
personal growth 人間的成長

 

Colorful Landscape

　　Even those who have never been to Japan would have heard of its colorful autumnal scenery. Tourist attractions associated with colorful leaves are scattered across the country. As the summer heat leaves, the mountains begin to turn red starting in the nothern part. There's a word, "red leaves front" in Japan. It is used to mean the red leaves front is coming down to Tokyo. As you know, Japan is a small archipelago country, but it stretches from the subtropical to the subpolar zone. The descent of the red leaves front is a seasonal feature of Japan as well as the ascent of the cherry blossom front in Spring.
　　The same can be said for a several-hundred meters high mountain. The red leaves front descends from its top to its base. The picture was shot in Shirataki that I wrote about in the last entry. If the weather was brighter and my camera was good, the picture would have been more beautiful.

(Vocabulary)
subpolar 亜寒帯
descent (フォーマル) (飛行機などの) 降下, (山などを) 下る［下りる］こと
ascent 《[C]通例単数形で》 上昇, 登ること

Mochi Pounding (Rice-cake Making)

　　I'll write about the village festival continued from the last entry.
　　Have you ever seen Japanese-style mochi pounding? I'll show you a Google Image site linking to lots of images of mochi pounding. When celebrating something in Japan, people like neighbors, relatives or companies often get together and cooperate on rice-cake making. I'm going to tell you how to make rice-cake, but it's not easy to translate items into English. I hope that the pictures from Google will help you understand what I want to say.
　　Now, at first, you steam the sticky rice and put it into a rice mortar, and pound it with one, sometimes several, big and heavy pestle. As I couldn't find suitable words, I expressed special items for mochi-pounding as "mortar and pestle". If you know more suitable words, tell me please. I think that you'd know what I was talking about.
　　Anyway, repeating the action of Lifting a pestle in the air and banging it down on the mortar requires physical power and is hard work. Women usually don't pound rice cakes with a big pestle, but I found a smart pounding machine that is shown in the picture. An aged woman was pounding a mass of sticky rice with a man supplying a small amount of water that prevented the rice from caking to the mortar and pestle. I was watching the movement for a while. She didn't need to aim at the mortar. The machine was set just in a good position. She was only stepping the bar down regularly. It was very simple and easy. I was impressed with the idea.

Google Images

(Vocabulary)
mochi pounding / rice-cake making 餅つき
mortar and pestle 臼と杵
glutinous [sweet] rice / sticky rice 餅米
steam（ご飯などを）蒸す
sweat（野菜などを）蒸す
bang down〔斧や棒など〕振り下ろす
cake [自] 固まる, こびりつく
be caked with/in sth  ＜…＞がこびりついている

Village Festival

　　I went out for a change on my scooter with my friends. The destination was a mountain area called Shirataki, one and a half hours from my house. The autumn in Shirataki was very colorful. It transpired that the village festival was held and we could enjoy something associated with the festival. At this village, the legend has it that a star-crossed princess, Rurihime, killed herself while diving into the waterfall. The parade in the picture was for mourning for her.

(Vocabulary)
for a change 気分転換に
transpire
[自](フォーマル) 起こる
it transpires that
(フォーマル) …ということが判明する［明らかになる］
It later transpired that the document had been forged.　文書が偽造されていたことが後に明らかになった．
star-crossed 《通例[名]の前で》(文) 星回りの悪い, 幸薄き
star-crossed lovers  (小説・劇などの) 幸薄き恋人たち (シェイクスピアの『ロミオとジュリエット』の冒頭のせりふから)
legend has it that  …と言い伝えられている

Ksitigarbha (Ojizousama)

　　The topic, Ksitigarbha is from Buddhism. It is called "ojizousama" in Japanese and is supposed to look after children, travellers and the underworld. I found an ojizousama at the roadside and I'm going to write about it. To tell the truth, I had noticed it for several months, but I thought that the topic about Buddhism was too weighty for me to write about here, however I changed my mind having found its apron and cap changed and washed. I'll try to describe Ksitigarbha, though this entry might be hard to understand.
　　You might have seen the statue of Buddha in Buddhist temples. I think that you could pick up the fact that two Buddhist images accompanied Buddha. The Buddhist image on the right side viewed from Buddha is Samantabhadra (Fugen Bosatsu in Japanese) and another is Manjusri Bodhisattva (Monju Bosatsu likewise). Samantabhadra is supposed to be associated with mercy and Manjusri Bodhisattva with wisdom. Thus "Fugen" and "Monju" are frequently used in Japan. As one good example, do you remember the fast breeder reactor Monju? If you have an interest, check this URL: http://www.jaea.go.jp/04/monju/EnglishSite/index.html
　　Being back on track, what is ojizousama for? The three symbols of Buddhism are believed to be in the sky far away from us, whereas ojizousama stays by our side and is always with us. The Bible says, "When two or more get together under the name of Christ, Christ is sure to be with them too." If you are praying alone, Christ might hear you, but he is away from you. On the other hand, in Buddhism, ojizousama is always with ordinary people. It is the most conspicuous feature of ojizousama. It is usually set at the roadside and you often see it.
　　Ojizousama is also said to be a guardian of children as I mentioned above. When a child passes away or is born dead, its parents often build the statue of ojizousama mourning for their child and wishing for the help of ojizousama for their child. If you find a ojizousama along the roadside, there might be the scene of a serious traffic accident where a child had been killed. If the ojizousama wears an apron and cap (usually red), it was surely built for a little kid. Some religious people wash the apron and cap and keep it clean.
　　The picture was shot near my house. The ojizousama was makeshift with only two stones piled up. It was set beside a vegetable field, but its apron and cap were always clean, though it was natural to be muddy. Though I have no evidence, an elderly woman might be taking care of it, recalling her child who had passed away years ago.

(Vocabulary)
Ksitigarbha  地蔵菩薩
the underworld  下層社会, 冥土, 冥途
weighty〈問題などが〉 重大な, 深刻な；weighty matters 重大な問題
pick up a fact  気づく
Buddhist image  仏
image  (絵・彫刻の) 像, 肖像, 彫像　carved wooden images 木彫りの像
Samantabhadra  普賢菩薩　慈悲と理知を司る　Buddhaからみて右側
Manjusri (bodhisattva) 文殊菩薩 知恵を司る仏様 Buddhaからみて左側
conspicuous  目立つ, 人目をひく;《[名]の前でのみ》 際立った, 顕著な
guardian angel（人と土地を守ってくれると信じられている）守り神
mention 言及する
be born dead / die at birth 死産する
mourn for sb  ＜人＞の死を嘆き悲しむ
but for the grace of God  神のご加護がなければ
by the help of God  神のご加護によって

 

Eriocheir japonica

　　The title is the name of a crab which is frequently seen in Japanese small rivers. I am showing you the picture of it. One of my friends shared them with me today. His wife's original house is located in a rural area and her father caught them near his house.
　　This blog is read all over the world and some readers sent me e-mails. I was often surprised to read them, because their ways of thinking about Japan were sometimes far from the truth. Lots of people seem to think that Japan is too developed to keep its environment normal and natural across the country. I'd like to put emphasis on Japanese efforts to keep the earth as it was meant to be.

(Vocabulary)
share some of ~ with ～のお裾分けをする
place/put emphasis on sth  ＜…＞を強調する
as it was meant to be

Antifilarial Agent

　　It's getting cold day by day. I gave my dog, Mocha, this year's last antifilarial agent this chilly morning. As you know, filaria is transmitted by mosquitos which usually are active in summer. You might not think that such an agent is necessary in November, but mosquitos are frequently found around my house even in early winter.
　　Japan is surrounded by warm currents which are rather warmer compared with countries of the same latitude. I sometimes realize that Japan is sited in an unbelievably blessed natural environment. Anyway, that's why mosquitos are active in November.
　　It's very easy to make him take a tablet. I have only to put it on the top of his meal. His ordinary meal is from Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc. He has been fed it for more than 5 years of his whole life. He has never eaten any other meal. His meal, I think, is perfect. He doesn't smoke, he doesn't drink alcohol, he takes shots of vaccines every spring and he takes walks regularly. His lifestyle is completely healthy, I believe.

(Vocabulary)
antifilarial agent  抗フィラリア薬
give medicine to / give someone medicine
make someone take a medicine （人）に薬を飲ませる
dog [canine] heartworm/ filaria フィラリア
filariform larva フィラリア型幼虫
wholesome 〈食品などが〉 健康によい, 健康的な
I like plain wholesome food. 何も加えられていない健康的な食べ物が好きだ．