Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Eye Contact With The Pilot

　　I set off for Osaka at noon on ANA1636 from Matsuyama airport. The airplane was a DHC-8-Q400 made by Bombardier Aerospace. I had flown on this plane several times and I think it's suitable for short-range flights in a small country such as Japan. The place where it stopped in Osaka was a little away from the airport building and I got on the bus which was waiting for us just in front of the exit ladder. While the bus was waiting for the last passenger, I unintentionally saw the cockpit. At that time, I was eye to eye with the captain. His name was "Jason" or "Jake", though I didn't remember exactly, according to the chief purser's announcement before the flight. He greeted me politely in the Japanese way and gave me a good impression. Such a small incident makes my travel happier. I thought that I would use ANA again.

　　I am staying in a hotel near Kansai International Airport now. Tonight's dinner was sushi. Yuri will live in Germany for one year and I was afraid that she would miss Japanese food. Particularly, Freiburg, where she is going to stay, is located in the south of Germany, I mean, it's in the midst of mountains. I imagined that sushi wouldn't be good in Freiburg. When I visited Freiburg last time, I had my hands full with just staying, moving and coming back to Japan. So, this time, I'm going to try as many things as possible.

(Vocabulary)

set off 　出発する

exit ladder　〔船や飛行機の乗り降りに使うはしご〕

boarding ramp　（飛行機などの）

unintentionally  何気なく

be eye to eye  目と目が合う 

purser  船の事務長; 旅客機で客室乗務員のうち上級の者。

have one's hands full with ～のことで精いっぱいである 

 

Dr. Fish

　　There are fishes which are called Dr. Fish in Japan. I don't know their real name, but my daughter, A, had tried to put her feet into the aquarium. In the picture, her feet and Dr. Fishes show up. They gather around her feet. Do you know what they are doing? They are eating dead skin cells, and it seems to be good for her skin. Annlie told me that it tickled, but was comfortable. I replied that I'd never be such a fish that had to eat her dead skin if I could live another life again. And one more funny story. She had a scab on her foot at that time, and the fishes ate it. The abrasion was almost cured, but it started to bleed again.

 

(Vocabulary)

aquarium [C] (複 aquariums, aquaria /-riə/) (養魚用の) 水槽; 水族館

show up（写真などに）写っている 

dead skin cells / cuticle / horn 角質

tickling / titillative  くすぐったい 

crust / scab （治りかけた傷口の）かさぶた

 

Yuri's Send-off Party

　　Yuri is set for staying in Freiburg from the end of this month for about one year. My family and relatives who live near got together and had a send-off party for her today. It's a great occasion for a member of the family to live abroad. Particularly, for her grandparents, it's an incredible adventure. They spent their childhood during the Great East Asian War, and even now, they feel uneasy about living abroad. However, as for me, I feel a little bit envious of her for living abroad in her younger days. It must become a precious experience.

Wireless LAN

　　My house is equipped with the local area network (LAN). Two PCs, the DVD recorder, two hard disk drives and a print server are always connected. Additionally I installed a wireless access point today. It's for A's mobile PC. She didn't know about the wireless networking system until today, so she was surprised to see that her PC works. Her astonishment really amused me. She took her PC out of the house and played for some time with our dog, Mocha, in the garden while listening to music on the distant HDD with the Bluetooth system. The progress of technology is literally wonderful.

Portable Printer

　　　The day that my second daughter, Yuri, leaves for Germany is coming close. She is preparing for her one-year stay in Freiburg now. Today, I got a portable printer for her. It looks functional and I will show it to you in the picture. It just seems to be a box, but works well as a printer. It's amazing. I also got  some spare ink cartridges and an AC adaptor for use in Europe.

Commencement

　　　I went to the graduation ceremony of my youngest daughter, A, today. She has attended a new school system, which was founded by the new educational law implemented in 1998. The junior and junior high school are each three year systems, but A's school is unified and is a six year system. The number of pupils is only about 80. Only 80 pupils spend the same time for six years, and they naturally got to be good friends with each other. All of her classmates will step up to the universities and become leaders of Japan in the not too distant future. She graduated with honors and the pupil whose back shot is in the picture is A. In the picture, she is expressing profound gratitude and resolution as the representative of the graduates. She is set to become a medical doctor after six years.

(Vocabulary)
commencement
[U] 開始, 始まり
[C,U](米) 卒業式, 学位授与式
profound gratitude  深甚な謝意

Diary Broken

I've been keeping a diary for 20 years. What I did every day or various notes have been written in it. I bought something, I replaced the light bulb in the kitchen, I went somewhere, these daily activities are recorded in it. When I can't recall something, this diary is helpful.  In other words this diary is a kind of memorandum.
Today, while I ignored the warning of a low battery in my PC, HP200LX, it suddenly froze and the data for about 10 months after the last backup was destroyed. I hopefully thought that it would work a little longer. I was so sorry.

(Vocabulary)
light bulb  電球
memorandum book 備忘録

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2006/01/hp200lx.html

Dormitory Uncertain

My daughter, Yuri, and I were looking for a domitory for her in Freiburg for several days though we have yet to find one. We were at a loss and decided to ask the municipal staff member who was dispatched to Freiburg from Matsuyama City. He is a public figure and has some limitations in giving assistance to individuals, I think. We are expecting good news from him.

(Vocabulary)
uncertain 〈事が〉 はっきりしない, 不確かな, 不安定な
Our plans are still uncertain.  私たちの計画はまだ確定していない．
have yet to do sth  (フォーマル) まだ＜…＞していない
at a loss   途方に暮れて, 当惑して
at a loss to do something   どう＜…＞するか途方に暮れて
Detectives are so far at a loss to explain the reason for his death.
刑事たちはこれまでのところ彼の死因の説明に窮している．
at a loss for words   言葉に窮して
public figure  公的な人物

ILANAAQ

     The Vancouver Olympic Games is really coming soon. Japanese representatives are flying into Vancouver one after another. At the same time, the history and streets of Vancouver are introduced by many media. A sushi restaurant near the Fairmont Hotel, Vancouver, where I had eaten dinner was also on air. Lots of Japanese people don't know how popular sushi is in Canada, so they would be surprised. I was really sorry not to visit Vancouver during this season.

     By the way, in the same program I saw the emblem of the Vancouver Olympics, ILANAAQ, which seems to mean "friend or friendship" in Inuit, and it must have been derived from INUKSHUK. I saw it at the top of Whistler Mountain in 2006, and the meaning of the statue didn't matter to me then. However, I noticed that the emblem was from INUKSHUK, and I searched for information about it on the internet. I'm enjoying their pictures now.

     My daughters, Eri, A, my friend and I are in the picture below which was taken at the top of Whistler Mountain in 2006.

(Vocabulary)

ILANAAQ  イラナーク　INUKSHUK（イヌクシュク）という、カナダ先住民のイヌイット族が、石を人の形に積み重ねて作ったオブジェ。これを５色でカラフルに彩ったものが、この大会のマスコットとなり、ILANAAQ（イラナーク）と名付けられました。これは、イヌイット語で「友愛・友だち」を意味するそうです。

 

Meeting After 30 years

     The high school which I graduated from tells graduates to inform the school of their contact information all the time. However, some graduates fail to do it and become unable to be reached. They can't get the official organ of the school and invitation letters of alumni meetings or events like that.

     The other day, I found one of my classmates who had been missing for 30 years by chance on the net. I was really surprised and had a contact with him. Additionally, more luckily, he had a chance to come back home through his business and we had a party.

(Vocabulary)

contact information  連絡先

organ (フォーマル) (政府・政党などの) 機関紙［誌］ 

the official organ of the Communist Party  共産党の公式の機関誌

by chance  偶然に, 思いがけず

 

Two Barbershops

     I've been going to the same barbershop for more than 30 years, and the shop is run by a married couple. They are congenitally deaf and thereby couldn't speak with a normal voice. As I've been a regular customer of theirs, I can distinguish just a few of their words, but they usually work silently without essential questions. As for me, I say, "Just as usual". It's all that I say to them". It's absolutely calm except for the noise of the TV in the shop. I drop in at the shop after night duty, and like to have my hair cut while having a nap. They cut my hair, wash my head and give me a massage of my neck and shoulder. It's very comfortable and I often fall asleep.

     By the way, my father, who is a retired elementary school teacher, told me that one of his old pupils had opened his barbershop near my house and he told me to go to his shop sometimes, so I went to his barbershop today. His barbershop was modern and comfortable, but he was very talkative. I wished that I could have a nap. He wants to get lots of customers and his talkativeness might be his effort to get his business on track. I decided to go to both alternatively.

(Vocabulary)

get one's business on track  事業を軌道に乗せる

2010 Winter Olympic Games

     The Vancouver Olympic Games will begin soon. I've been to Vancouver five or more times. Skiing is my family sport and we were going to visit Vancouver this season, but various factors didn't allow us to enjoy the Olympic Games in Vancouver. We really wish that we could stay in Vancouver for a week. Just after coming back home from the last visit to Canada, I wrote this entry.

     The other day, the new outfit of the Japanese Olympic Team was unveiled. It consists of gold and black, and I didn't feel it was nice, but it sounds like having high potential in keeping body temperature and preventing wind resistance. While I was making outspoken remarks in front of my wife, she said to me, "If the authorities gave you the uniform of the national ski team, you would fly out of your skin and wear it, even if you were making such remarks now. Oh, one thing, remember that the uniform clings to your body and shows your middle-aged body to the public...." "Oh, no!"

     Anyway, it's wonderful to be able to see the scenery of Whistler and other skiing places around Vancouver. I'm not sure, but lots of TV reporters will visit and show us tourist attractions and nice shops and restaurants in Vancouver. For now, I have to content myself with these TV programs.

(Vocabulary)

various factors / various reasons  諸般の事情

wind resistance  風の抵抗

cling to sth  ＜…＞にくっつく

My wet shirt clung to my body.  ぬれたシャツが体にぴったりくっついた．

cling-wear  体の線がはっきり見える衣服

outspoken 〈人・意見などが〉率直な,〈批評などが〉歯に衣(きぬ)を着せない

fly out of one's skin（驚いて・うれしくて）飛び上がる

content (フォーマル) 〈人〉 を満足させる

content oneself with sth   ＜…＞で満足する, に甘んじる

A Nice Adviser

     I got up late because of fatigue on Jan. 2nd, but this day was a special day. We would have a guest this afternoon. The guest was a charming Japanese lady who had the experience of staying in Freiburg for a year. I met her at the welcome party for German people last year for the first time. I wrote about the party here. Yuri decided to learn about the German culture in Freiburg and we asked her for advice for staying in Freiburg. Yuri began to have an interest in Freiburg after visiting the city with me last year. I didn't give her name here, but all her advice sounded nice.

A Long Drive

     My wife and I left home for Nagoya, where my second daughter, Yuri, lives. It was about 10 minutes after the change of the year. As I wrote in the last entry, the highway toll was set to be extremely low from Jan. 1st to 5th. We used this special offer from the government. Nagoya is a big city located between Tokyo and Osaka, and it takes at least 6 hours from my house by car. We drove the car alternately. Japan is a small archipelago nation, but it extends from a subtropical zone to a subpolar one. The weather varies in each section. There is a place called "Sekigahara" near Nagoya, just east of Biwako Lake, which is the biggest lake in Japan. Sekigahara is noted for frequently having a lot of snow in the winter due to the complicated terrain. The picture was taken at a rest area in Sekigahara. I like driving in the snow and my car is equipped with winter tires, but my wife seemed to get tired in the snow. I took a short nap in my daughter's room while my wife and Yuri loaded things into the car and cleaned up the room. We started for our home before noon and arrived at about 9 o'clock. It was a 9 hour drive and it was a really tough day.

(Vocabulary)

offer  (期間限定の) 値引き, 安売り 

[＋offer on]

There are some great offers on flights to Europe at the moment.  今ヨーロッパ便ですごく安いのが出てるよ．

a free offer   無料特典

a special offer   特価, 目玉商品

alternately  交互に

subtropical zone  亜熱帯

subarctic/subfrigid/subpolar zone  亜寒帯

  

Unusual Dec. 31st

     It's the last entry of the year for 2009. My work has been so hectic in this period and December 31st is not the usual last day of the year.

     This year, my second daughter Yuri, is away from home. My other two daughters are going to apply for each of the next steps; one is graduate school and the other is one of the national universities. Both are prestigious and it's not easy to pass the exams. They are devoting themselves to study. Inside my house all went quiet. It came to a complete silence like someone can hear a pin drop. It looks like my dog, Mocha, knows the situation. He is also quiet.

     Yuri is in Nagoya City now. My wife and I will visit her apartment tomorrow and take her and part of her possessions back home. She is set to live in Germany from April for at least one year and has to cancel the contract of her apartment in March, so all her possessions should be sent to home at that time. My wife wanted to save the cost of transportation and we decided to transport them by ourselves. The toll of the highway will be discounted to 1000 yen no matter how many times we used it for the first 5 days of the new year. We'll start just after the change of the year.

(Vocabulary)

graduate school　〈米〉大学院

all go quiet  静まり返る

(Jan. 13th 2010)

Bus Tour

     As I wrote several times before, I'm planning to visit Germany for the first time. My destination is Freiburg City. It is a small city which is located near the Black Forest in the southwest of Germany. I picked the city from among many places because the city is the sister city of my hometown. If the city is big or famous for sightseeing, there would be ready-made tour programs from lots of tour companies. However, to our regret, the city is not so big as Frankfurt and not so famous as Schloß Neuschwanstein. It means that we had to set it up all by ourselves.
     Germany has been the country of dreams for me since I started to learn German about 30 years ago, but I didn't have an opportunity to visit. My second daughter, Yuri, is majoring in German culture and told me this Spring that she wanted to visit the country. Consequently, I attended the reception for the friendship mission from Freiburg this April and figured out the outline of the city.
     Yuri is a beginner learner of German and I plotted to get her to make the plan during our five day stay in Freiburg. She tried to communicate with a tour company in German and it was maybe successful, I think though I made sure by an e-mail written in English. (grin)
     The essential reservations, like air tickets, hotels and trains were already done, but we have something to worry about. The number of passengers of the bus tour isn't enough for the company at present. If the number doesn't reach a certain amount, the tour will be cancelled. We had to think about a replacement.

(Vocabulary)
essential  不可欠な, 必須の

Prep for Trip

     My second daughter, Yuri, came back home and started preparing for our trip to Germany.
     Her passport ran out in February this year and at first she applied for a new one. When she got it ten years ago, I did all the procedures for her, but this time I made her do it. She went to the city hall and got a copy from the family register. She had her portrait taken at a photo shop. She successfully applied for it and got it a week later. I'd just told her to get it without any detailed instructions. It might be due to blind parental love, but I felt her growing up.
     Next, I gave her all the pamphlets and guidebooks that I'd collected up until now. Some of them were sent from the tourist information center of the German city of Freiburg. It is written in German, but she can understand German. I'm expecting her to set all the schedules.
     The development of internet technology brought us an umbelievable convenience for the trip. The reservation of hotels and transportation can easily be done on the internet. You can even know the time schedule of the train between Frankfurt and Freiburg from Japan. However, I'm afraid that she would make a mistake in making the hotel reservations and decided to ask the travel agent to do it. We are going to stay the night of 26th in Frankfurt and leave for Freiburg the next morning.

(Vocabulary)
apply for a passport  パスポートを申請する。
extract of family register  戸籍抄本
blind parental love  親ばか

Haiku Competition (俳句甲子園)

     Haiku is a Japanese traditional literature. It is often called the world of 17 letters. An infinite of universes can be described in only 17 letters. My hometown, Matsuyama City, has produced lots of haiku writers, like Siki Masaoka and Kyoshi Takahama. Therefore, most haiku freaks want to come to Matsuyama and Matsuyama is likened to Mecca for Muslims.
     The pictures show the high school students' haiku competition that was held on Aug. 8th. The busiest car-free mall was used as the competition site. Five representatives of each high school were at the red and white table, and announced their reviews and rebuttals about the opponents' haiku.
     The five judges decided which team had the better knowledge and skills and raised a red or white flag and the team which won more than three flags sealed the victory. The high school that was the No.1 of each pool play could go on to the tournament. I'm sorry, my alma mater couldn't get to the tournament.

(Vocabulary)
produce a lot of famous politicians 多くの有名な政治家を輩出する
haiku poet [writer]  俳人
liken somebody/something to somebody /something
(フォーマル) ＜…＞を＜…＞に例える, なぞらえる
Mecca サウジアラビア西部の都市
mecca : a place that many people want to visit for a particular reason
car-free mall 歩行者天国
pool play  予選リーグ
alma mater  母校

(KW: 正岡子規　高浜虚子　松山市　俳句　甲子園)

Bridge of Mikasa and Russian POW

     The first picture shows the bridge of the Mikasa. I climbed up there. There was a copper plate that is in the second picture. This plate was made from a famous painting and it was exhibited inside. I'd like to have taken a picture of it, but it was prohibited. I found an illustration of the painting on the internet and am showing you it here. You can see some people in the illustration. The top four officials of the Mikasa are drawn in the center of the illustration. Their position on the deck was pointed out with four plates. The nxt three pictures are the instruction board and the plates. Picture no.4 is of Saneyuki Akiyama, who was from my hometown and was a hero on the sea. Picture no.1 is of Admiral Heihachirou Togo, who is one of the three greatest admirals in the world along with Admiral Nelson and John Paul Jones. The last picture is mine. I'm standing in the spot of Saneyuki Akiyama.
     The title of the drama that I related in the last entry is "Saka no Ue no Kumo". My office is located in the center of the city. Nearby is the modernistic Saka no Ue no Kumo Museum, designed by Ando Tadao and dedicated to the novel "Clouds Over The Hill" by Shiba Ryotaro, which tells the story of the local Akiyama brothers and their roles in defeating the Russians in the Japanese-Russo War (1904-1905). A footnote to this conflict is the Russian Cemetery near Raigoji Temple with the graves of 98 Russian soldiers, of the around 6,000 Russian prisoners, who were held with a fair amount of freedom in Matsuyama. They could enjoy walking just about freely in the city and bathing at Dogo Onsen Spa, which was noted for the oldest hot spa in Japan. Some got married and started businesses. Russia was informed about this treatment and finally Russian soldiers got to shout "Matsuyama" when they waved the white flag. Though Russia took a few hundred thousand Japanese POWs into custody and they were treated inhumanely in Siberian labor camps, the Russian soldiers' cemetery has been kept clean and tidy for a hundred years by people from the neighborhood and the junior high school students nearby. I'd like the present Russian people to know this fact. The last five pictures are of the Russian cemetery.

(Vocabulary)
copper plate  銅板
wave the white flag  降伏する
Siberian labor camp  シベリア抑留
inhumane
extremely cruel and causing unacceptable suffering:
the inhumane treatment of political prisoners
I was shocked by the inhumane conditions.
―inhumanely adv

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (KW:日露戦争　戦艦三笠　秋山兄弟　好古　真之　眞之　松山　ロシア人墓地　坂の上の雲)

Offline Meeting

     I went to Tokyo just for fun. When I got the air ticket two months ago, I had a task, but it vanished later. I met my eldest daughter and had a party with my acquaintances, whom I knew only on the internet. I met them for the first time, but we hit it off from the start. Their careers and present jobs were far different from mine and it made my knowledge widen. Such a meeting would offer mental and spiritual sustenance to me.
     The Japanese style inn where we got together was located in one of the busiest areas of Tokyo, Shinbashi. This station is noted for the birth place of the train. The first railway track in Japan was constructed between Yokohama and Shinbashi. There's the steam locomotive square in front of Shinbashi station. An old locomotive is exhibited and it is often used as a designated spot.

(Vocabulary)
hit it off  会ってすぐに意気投合する
from the start 初めから、ぶっつけから、最初から
offer mental and spiritual sustenance  心の栄養になる
sustenance  [U] (生命維持に必要な) 食物, 栄養（物）
railway track 《鉄道》 線路