Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Infectious Gastroenteritis

     March 26 was my hospital's duty day. My hospital was open 24 hours for emergency cases. I worked all night long at O.P.D. Though it is almost the end of winter, the number of patients with influenza is increasing in Japan. I don't know why, but anyway I saw more than 10 cases of influenza. Next, infectious gastroenteritis was impressive. The number of cases was more than 20. Some of them needed fluid replacement against dehydration.
     On March 27, I felt a little dizzy. I thought it might be from fatigue. A headache started in the evening. On 28th, massive diarrhea developed. I realized I had been infected with a virus, maybe norovirus. Every time I saw a patient, I washed my hands, but it seems like it was not enough. I didn't have any appetite. I drank a cup of milk at breakfast and ate unwillingly a third of my usual lunch today. It was a hard day.

(Vocabulary)
fluid replacement   補液、水分補給

Mocha Goes To School

     Mocha is our dog. He seems to be a dog who can't stand being alone. He is really smart and friendly. He can relieve our depression and anxiety. He is literally a member of my family.
He gets to bark frequently these days. I think it's because no one is in the house in the daytime. He barks at anyone who goes by in front of my house. I think he is just missing people. However, his barks are noisy and scare people who don't know him. Besides, he has a tendency to lunge at people with joy. This behaviour is scary for them.
     We decided to have him trained by professional trainers who train police dogs. I'm expecting to see his updated intelligence.

(Vocabulary)
lunge at somebody  突進する, 飛びかかる
He lunged at us with a knife.  彼はナイフを手に私たちに飛びかかってきた

Yuri To Go To Nagoya

     The day is coming soon. The mover came to my house and picked her goods up today. Her goods will be delivered to her new apartment on April 1st.
     My wife is showing her how to do household chores, like cooking, washing and ironing. I talk with her about her bank account, credit cards, college activities and anything I think she needs. I miss her and am worrying about her single life far away from home.

(Vocabulary)
mover (米) 引っ越し業者

Yuri, 7 years old, in Jasper National Park in Canada

Seven Years (2)

     I decided to throw my old skis away. I bought them 7 years ago. I didn't ski with them for these two seasons. I bought the latest model of skis after a lot of hesitation last year. I went skiing with them to Whistler last year. They were a little short and it was easy to turn. I felt comfortable on them on the Whistler ski trails.
     The old skis that are shown in the picture did the round trips over the Pacific Ocean two times with me. While I share many good memories with those skis, the length of those skis are 185cm, which is a little long and hard for me to handle now. I took the picture of them the night before the trash truck came to collect them. Thanks a lot!

Wonderful Meeting (Corrected by Maria)

     A famous Japanese poet, "Machi Tawara (俵万智)," describes a lovebird's meeting in her poem:
     The meeting would have been impossible if their births didn't coincide in history. Only 100 years of difference in their birthdays would have made it impossible to meet each other. The probability of their meeting is extremely small because they have to live in the same era before they meet in this world. The poet sings of a glorious life experience that only occurs by chance. The poet's words make us realize how many experiences we miss. As may be expected of the poet, her way of thinking is different from that of ordinary people.
     Just the other day, I found myself wishing I could pass through history and touch those that went before me when a discovery was made at Matsuyana Castle. Matsuyama Castle is in the heart of my home town. It was constructed 400 years ago, taking 25 years. The original features of the castle have been maintained by timely restorations and fundamental reconstructions in every century. The castle has been under reconstruction these past 2 years. During the renovation, a lot of the castle was replaced in order to conserve the original features for the next 100 years. In the process of replacement, to my surprise, two pictures were found on the ceiling. A samurai was painted on the wooden ceiling. It is estimated that it was drawn 200 years ago. It was big, local news. Who painted it? Who is in the picture? One picture is an overhead view of a samurai's head. It might have been drawn by a carpenter who worked on the ceiling. That samurai might have been a kind of official of the renovation committee in those days. The other picture is a portrait of a samurai. I felt close to this unknown painter and the picture of the samurai. I felt a sense of fun for the painter to see the picture and thought he and I might have been good friends if I had been born in the same era.
     The painter and the samurai disappeared into history. I can't meet nor talk with them but if I had enough imagination, I might be able to exchange feelings with them. Human history flows all around me and I cannot touch what already happened before I was born. I happened to be born after World War 2. I am caught in the big stream of history. I'd like to visit various historical sites all over the world and talk with those who have gone before me. Can I hear the voice of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo? Can I hear the voice of Robert Scott at the South Pole? Can I see famous artists like Pablo Picasso and Renoir drawing or walking at Le Bateau-Lavoir on the hill of Montmartre?
     What lessons can I learn from my forbearers?

(Vocabulary)
expect sth of/from sb/sth   ＜…＞に＜…＞を期待する
Good behavior is expected of all our students.
本校の生徒は生徒としての本分をわきまえて行動すること．
forbearer 先人
forbear   慎む, がまんする
forbear from doing sth (forbear to do sthとも) ＜…＞するのを慎む

(KW:松山城)

School Trip

     My youngest daughter, Annlie, is on the plane heading for Australia now. It's a school trip of her junior high school. She'll visit Cairns and Sydney and have a homestay in Cairns.
     She was only 12 years old when I took her abroad for the first time. She couldn't understand English at all at that time. I remember that she tried to speak to a cabin attendant of Air Canada, "Could I have an orange juice?" ,which I taught her. She loves dogs and wanted to take pictures of dogs that were being walked at Whistler. After she memorized this phrase, "May I take a picture of your dog?", she took pictures of more than 30 dogs saying this phrase. Speaking in English seemed to be fun for her.
     Three years later, she reached the sub-2nd grade in STEP (Society for Testing English Proficiency). It's great work. She is good at English as a subject. I hope that she will be able to enjoy real communication with Australian people.

Yuri's Astonishment

     She has some time before starting to learn German at her university. She seemed to have started to learn German by herself. She got some German grammar books today. When I got back home, she was pronouncing the definite articles of German in the LIVING ROOM. Because she usually studies in her room, I imagined that she was enjoying demonstrating that she had a strong will to master German. Der, Des, Dem, Den, ,,,,, She was memorising by speaking each definite article out loud. So, I said "Guten Abend! Herzlichen Glückwunsch! Ist Deutsch interessant für dich?" She was astonished to hear me speak German. It seems like she didn't know that I can speak German. It was so funny.

Yuri's Starting

     My second daughter, Yuri, passed the entrance exam of the university that she most wanted to enter. The university is in Nagoya, which is located a hundred miles east of Osaka and is as big as Osaka. She's going to start learning German there. She is very happy now. On the other hand, I'm unhappy.
     I had hoped that she would go to Matsuyama University that is 20 minutes' drive from my house. If that were the case, the cost of her living would be lower and I wouldn't miss her. Besides, I was planning to get her to apply for a driving license and buy her a new motorcycle. I was thinking of taking a long ride to Hokkaido with Yuri next summer.
     She chose to live alone in Nagoya rather than to live with us. It means that I have to prepare a lot of money for her. She will go on to postgraduate study after graduation from the university. I'm sorry I can't stop working as I have to keep sending money to her for at least 6 more years.

(Vocabulary)
if that were the case　それが事実なら

Apartment Hunting

     I'll leave for Nagoya tomorrow to look for a dormitory or apartment for my second daughter, Yuri. It's not bad to fly to Nagoya with Yuri. It should be a happy trip, but I have some concerns. It's about the plane, which is small and so it will bounce around. I'm really scared.

Wonderful Meeting

     A famous Japanese poet, "Machi Tawara (俵万智)," describes the lovebird's meeting in her poem like below:
     The meeting must have been impossible if their births didn't coincide in history. Only 100 years of difference in their birthdays would make it impossible to meet each other. The probability of their meeting is extremely small because they have to live in the same era before they meet in this world. The poet sings of a glorious life like this. As may be expected of the poet, her way of thinking is different from that of ordinary people. However, I was vaguely thinking that her tale might be true.
     The other day, this happened:
     There's Matsuyama Castle in the heart of my home town. It was constructed 400 years ago, taking 25 years. The original features of the castle have been maintained by timely restorations and fundamental reconstructions in every century. The castle has been under reconstruction these past 2 years. During the renovation, a lot of parts of the castle were replaced in order to conserve the original features for the next 100 years. In the process of replacement, to my surprise, two pictures were found on the ceiling. A samurai was painted on the wooden ceiling. It is estimated that it was drawn 200 years ago. It was big, local news. Who painted it? Who is in the picture? One picture is an overhead view of a samurai's head. It might have been drawn by a carpenter who worked on the ceiling. That samurai might have been a kind of official of the renovation committee in those days. The other picture is a portrait of a samurai. I felt close to this unknown painter and the drawn samurai. I felt a sense of fun for the painter to see the picture directly and thought he and I might have been good friends if I had been born in the same era.
     They disappeared into history. I can't meet and talk with them but if I had enough imagination, I might be able to exchange feelings with them. Human history had already begun and I happened to be born after World War 2. I really feel that I am in the big stream of history. I'd like to visit various historical sites all over the world and talk with those who have gone before me. Can I hear the voice of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo? Can I hear the voice of Robert Scott at the South Pole? Can I see famous artists like Pablo Picasso and Renoir drawing or walking at Le Bateau-Lavoir on the hill of Montmartre?
     What lessons can I learn from my forerunners?

(Vocabulary)
lovebird  仲の良い恋人同士、おしどり夫婦
sing  〈人・功績など〉 を詩で賛美する
sing of somebody/something  ＜…＞を（詩で）賛美する
tale  (架空・伝説上の) 話, 物語
enovation　〔古い建物・部屋・家具などの〕修復、修理、リフォーム：　革新、刷新
if I had enough imagination　想像をたくましくすれば
Le Bateau-Lavoir　洗濯船
パリのモンマルトルにあった安アパートの名前。 1904年から1909年まで、パブロ・ピカソが恋人のフェルナンド・オリビエと共にここに住んだ。
the hill of Montmartre　モンマルトルの丘
forerunner　先駆者、先人；　前兆、前触れ、兆候

Matsuyama Castle      (KW:松山城 改修)

Bocchan Train

     I went out in lunch time today. The photo shows the Bocchan Train which is one of symbols of my home town. My town is famous as the place from the scene of the novel, "Bocchan" and "Sakanoue no kumo". Both novels describe people in the Meiji Era (1868- 1912). This train, now mainly for tourists, shows up in "Bocchan" and runs near my hospital.

My Study

     It's a PC nerd's room. (grin) This room is designed my way. I always feel relaxed in this space. I can talk to many people in the world from here. I'll show you the back side of my uplifting space some time.
     My priority is my family now. But in the future, after my retirement and the independence of my three daughters, my wife and I are going to join some activities for handicapped people both nationally and internationally. My wife is kind of a specialist of social welfare.
     I'm charging my batteries here.

(Vocabulary)
uplifting   (人を) 幸せな気分にする, 気持ち［精神］が高揚する（ような）

Filing An Income Tax Return

     The time had come for me to file an income tax return. You have to file it from Feb. 15 to Mar. 15 in Japan. I did my own taxes. My 2nd and 3rd daughters had a dental treatment for straightening their teeth last year and I paid a lot of money for it.
     The tax return that I calculated was as much as I expected. I felt happy and I was keeping this calculation secret from my wife and the tax return was to become my pocket money.
     However, the sad thing is, the calculation sheet was found by her today. It's my fault for leaving it on the tray of the printer. The bank account that the tax refund was dispatched to was changed from my private account to the household account. I'm in the doghouse!

(Vocabulary)
dispatch  〈手紙・荷物など〉 を送る, 発送する
be in the doghouse (informal) (へまをやって) まずい状況にある

Trouble with a Broadband Router

     My house was built four years ago. The residential broadband was getting popular and reasonable at that time and I had the house designer install LAN domestic wiring. Three desktop PCs, a DVD recorder, a networked printer, two networked HDDs and an internet protocol telephone are always connected by LAN and sometimes two laptop PCs are networked with a wireless connection. As you think, I'm a kind of PC nerd.
     The condition of the broadband router has been bad these days. I had to reset it once a week since a couple of months ago. Finally it broke down on Feb. 5. I send it to the repair department of the manufacturer. It seems that it will take 10-14 days to be repaired. I can access the internet in my office, but my daughters can't. They complained so much that I bought a new router. To my surprise, the price of the router was a fourth of the price four years ago and besides it's less than the repair fee.
     Anyway, I can post this entry now from my study.

(Vocabulary)
residential broadband  家庭用ブロードバンド
domestic wiring  屋内配線

Walking in Tokyo 2

     I got up at six, earlier than usual. I had breakfast with my two daughters. One of them lives in Tokyo. I was going to take my second daughter to the university and stay there but no attendant was allowed to enter the campus.
     I thought, what shall I do for 7 hours until the end of the exam? Just sit somewhere? No! Play Pachinko? No! It maybe costs a lot! Watch movies? No! I can watch movies in my home town too! Let me do something that can't be done if I weren't in Tokyo! I decided to take a long walk after much debate.
     I moved to Shinjuku by train and started walking without any destination. I got into the Kabukicho area, which is the biggest nightlife circuit in Japan. Though it was daytime, I was overwhelmed by its gaudiness. Next, I headed east or north, because the university where my second daughter was taking an exam was in that direction. I mean I didn't want to be far away from that university.
     I came across the Korean town. I could read Korean characters, so it was fun to walk around with a canned coffee in my hand. I didn't have any map. I just saw where I was by the map board on the street. I found Waseda University on the map. I've never been there. I set my destination to it.
     I walked around and around Waseda University and found a street car. This street car was the one which I had wanted to get on for a long time. I felt lucky to find it. This street car's trip would be a long story. I'll write about it in another entry.

(Vocabulary)
after much debate  十分考えた後で
nightlife circuit  夜の歓楽街
gaudiness  けばけばしさ

Walking in Tokyo

     I'm in Tokyo. My second daughter will take a university entrance exam, but she is not familiar with Tokyo. I took her there. I'm going to stay in Tokyo until tomorrow.
     I took a walk around Ueno Park for the first time. This area of Tokyo forms a kind of hill. Because I thought the topography of Tokyo was flat, I was a little surprised. Come to that, I had never walked a lot in Tokyo. I always use trains. I enjoyed looking around Ueno Park.
     The photo shows the statue of Takamori Saigoh in the Park. He is an architect of the transfer of power back to the Emperor in 1868. I think it is the one and only revolution of all ages and cultures that didn't exact any toll. Tokyo remained intact. It might be one of the reasons that Japan could develop in such a short period.

(Vocabulary)
topography  [U] 地勢, 地形
the island's topography  その島の地形
exact  (フォーマル) 〈承諾・服従など〉 を強要する, 〈税など〉 を取り立てる
exact sth from sb  ＜人＞に＜…＞を強要する
exact a high price/heavy toll  大きな犠牲をもたらす

(KW:上野公園 西郷隆盛 明治維新 大政奉還)

My Father Gone

     My father-in-law passed away today. He was a great man. He worked his way from the bottom after  World War 2 and brought up 4 children.
     He greeted the end of the war on Bougainville island (Papua New Guinean territory) when he was only 20 years old. He had been working as an engineer on that island and Shortland Island, 6 miles south of Bougainville island. His main job was maintenance work on fighter planes.
     Bougainville island was one of the bloodiest battlefields and is famous for the place of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's death. My father-in-law seemed to be in line saluting his coffin when his body was recovered and came onto the base.
     I used to listen to his story during the war over shouchu, a distilled sprit. He said that he wanted to visit there again and express sympathy for the dead of both countries.
     I tried to get information of the area from 1986 to 1995, but I couldn't get enough. I wish there had been internet at that time. After 1995, my father-in-law was fading away or had weakened.
     The borderline between Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands is drawn between Bougainville and Shortland island. Shortland island is one of the Solomon Islands and Bougainville island is similar, but it belongs to Papua New Guinea. The Revolutionary Army of Bougainville (BRA) island was fighting with the government army for indepencence at that time and the government closed all doors to foreign countries. I didn't get any news about Bougainville island around that time. I'm very sorry not to have been able to take him there.

     With folded palms,

(Vocabulary)
work one's way   苦労して進む
work one's way from the bottom  何もないところからはい上がっていく
bring sb up 《通例受け身形で》 ＜子供＞を育てる, しつける
fade  [自] (face away とも)(文) (病気・加齢により) 〈人が〉 衰弱する

　義父が亡くなった。大東亜戦争のあと、裸一貫から４人の子供を育て上げた立派な人だった。

　彼は２０才の時、パプアニューギニア領ブーゲンビル島で終戦を迎えた。この島と６マイル南にある隣の島、ショートランド島で零戦のメンテナンスを行っていた。

　ブーゲンビル島は最も凄惨な戦場のひとつであり、山本五十六大将が亡くなった地としても有名である。義父は山本の遺体が回収され、基地に運び込まれたとき、その棺に向かって敬礼して迎えたと言っていた。

　義父の元気な頃、焼酎を飲みながらよく戦争中の話を聞いた。死ぬまでにもう一度、島を訪れて日米両国の犠牲者に黙祷したいとよく言っていた。１９８６年から９５年頃までこの地域の情報を得ようとしたが、十分なものは得られなかった。そのころに、今のようなインターネットがあればなんとかなったかもしれないが。９５年頃を境に義父は衰え始め、ついに彼の望みを果たせてやることはできなかった。

　パプアニューギニアとソロモン諸島の国境線はブーゲンビル島とショートランド島の間に引かれている。ショートランド島はソロモン諸島の一部であり、ブーゲンビル島も同様である。しかし、ブーゲンビル島はパプアニューギニア領なのである。ブーゲンビル革命軍（BRA)が当時独立を目指して政府軍と戦闘を続けており、鎖国状態となっていたのである。

　合掌

(KW : 山本五十六 ブーゲンビル革命軍 大東亜戦争 ショートランド ブーゲンビル島) 

A Cheap Wine

     I got the cheapest foreign wine at the nearest supermarket. That cost me only 500 yen, about 5 US dollars. You know, I've wondered about that price. This wine is from Chile. So ... somehow, they have to grow the grapes, turn the grapes into wine, make a bottle, slap a label on it, insert a cork in it, box it up, ship it halfway across the world, store it in a warehouse and then bring it to the store in a truck - all for under four dollars, because the store has to make at least a dollar profit too. Someone must be getting a raw deal.
     Anyway, the taste of the wine was worth it for more than 10 US dollars.

(Vocabulary)
slap sth on sth  ＜…＞をべたべた塗りつける
box (up)  …を箱に入れる［詰める］
ship  [他] (船・飛行機・トラックなどで) …を運ぶ, 輸送する
a fair deal   正当な扱い
get a raw/rough/bum deal   (informal) 不当な扱いを受ける

Natto Boomlet

     Natto is one Japanese foods that most visitors from out of Japan hate. Natto is fermented soybeans. Natto is a very healthy food. Soybeans contain many kinds of nutrients, such as protein.
     By the way, it appears the production of natto cannot keep up with the rapid increse of demand now in Japan. It's because a new method for diet by eating natto was introduced on a TV variety show on Jan. 7. On that night I went out shopping for natto as soon as the program had finished, though it was late at night because I was afraid that natto would run out.
     Next evening I dropped in at the same supermarket after work. As I expected, natto was out of stock. A few days later, I found some new brands of natto from out of Ehime Prefecture arranged at the supermarket. All of the natto producers across the country seem to be working to capacity.

My Daughters (Corrected by Maria)

     I have 3 daughters, no sons. When my first daughter was born and I met her for the first time, I was mildly overwhelmed. I didn't know how to handle a baby girl. I grew up with two brothers, no sisters. I couldn't change her diapers due to feeling quite inadequate around such a precious package.
     In succeeding years two more baby girls were born. I have no words for describing their loveliness. I attended their school events as much as possible, though my work sometimes interfered. The girls wanted to be with me all the time; when having dinner, when taking a bath, even when sitting on the lavatory! Every time I went to work, they tried to follow me. I had to leave home with painful reluctance.
     But look now, they are 20, 18 and 15. Times have certainly changed.  Two years ago, the youngest daughter lost herself in a long winding tunnel where she hides herself away, locked alone with her dreams. She no longer wants to share with me. She sits on the sofa away from me in the living room and even at the dining table. She didn't tell me when her school's athletic meeting was held, because she hated me to attend and take pictures or videos of her. I sometimes get impatient and angry with such behavior.
     My wife advised me to remember the junior high school days of my eldest daughter. I'm sure that she acted similar. It seems that most young girls hate their fathers in their teens. Okay, but why? I always loved and cared for them. I did everything I could for them. It's utterly unreasonable.
     As for the eldest, she seems to have surely made her way through the tunnel. She doesn't mind being seated next to me. January 8th was Coming of Age Day in Japan this year. She attended the ceremony with a gorgeous kimono. This event has brought home to me how time flies.
     I'm hoping that the other daughters pass through the hideous tunnel as fast as possible.  I miss them and await the day they can share their lives and dreams again.

(Vocabulary)
package  神様からの贈り物
utterly  まったく　完全に
bring sth home (to sb)  （＜人＞に）＜…＞を痛感させる, はっきりと悟らせる

They always make me proud.