Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Urban Valley

     I carry around a digital camera these days. I'm going to shoot many pictures around me. One of the biggest benefits of using a digital camera is that you can take as many photos as you want. This picture is shot on the way to my hospital from my parking lot. It has a composition of looking up towards Matsuyama Castle from the urban canyon. The castle is in bright natural light but the sunlight doesn't reach the bottom of the valley.

(Vocabulary)
composition [U] 構図, 画面構成, 配置

(KW:松山城　都会の谷間)

My Daughters

     It's very difficult to express my emotion properly and with accuracy. I'm going to ask a professional writer, Maria to check this essay. I don't know where she lives, but she is on the internet and a great coach. If you are a Japanese, read the revised version that I'll post later.

     I have 3 daughters, no sons. When my first daughter was born and I met her for the first time, I was in mild embarrassment. 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 my shyness.
     In succeeding years two more baby girls were born. I have no words for describing how they were lovely. I attended their school events as much as possible, though my work was busy. They 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. Their ages are 20, 18 and 15. The youngest daughter is in a long winding tunnel since 2 years ago, if you know what I mean. She doesn't want to talk with me. She always take a seat 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 snaps or videos of her. I sometimes get angry with such behavior.
     My wife advised me to remember the junior high school days of my eldest daughter. I'm sure that she was alike. It seems that most young girls hate their fathers in their teens. I got it, 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 got through the tunnel. She doesn't mind being seated next to me. January 8th is Coming of Age Day in Japan this year. She attended the ceremony with a gorgeous kimono. I deeply realized that time flies.
     I'm hoping that the other daughters pass through the hideous tunnel as fast as possible.

(Vocabulary)
hideous
〈姿・形などが〉 醜い
(見た目が) ひどい, 目も当てられない
〈犯罪・体験などが〉 忌まわしい, おぞましい

(KW:成人式　着物)

Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine

     I went on an overnight domestic trip to Dazaifu City. The purposes were two. One is a new year's visit to the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, and the other is watching a Karuta match of my eldest daughter.
     Today's Dazaifu City owes its name to an office called the Dazaifu or "Government-General Headquarters," which was established approximately 1300 years ago and which ruled all of Kyushu for a period of some 500 years. Within the city, there are many historical sites which serve as reminders of its past, including the ruins of the Dazaifu itself, the Mizuki("Water Fortress"), Kanzeonji Temple, Chikuzen Kokubunnji Temple, and Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine. Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine is sacred to the memory of Michizane Sugawara, also known as "The God of Learning." In 901 A.D., Michizane was suddenly demoted from his position as Minister of the Right and sent to work at the Dazaifu, where he died two years later. Tenmangu Shrine was built on the site of his grave. The main hall, as it stands today, was constructed in 1591 A.D. and it is registered as an important Cultural Property.
     My second daughter will take the entrance exams of some universities this winter. I prayed for her success to Michizane Sugawara, the God of Learning. This shrine is famous among students preparing for an exam. Many entrance test takers visit here every year.
     Next, I'd like to write about the rule of Karuta, but it's beyond my English ability. I'm going to show you how to play Karuta here some day.

(Vocabulary)
sacred  神聖な　極めて重要な
Sacred to the memory of sb  (墓碑銘で）～にささげる
test takers  受験者

(KW:太宰府天満宮　菅原道真)

A Happy New Year

     As the New Year unfolds, I look forward to what is in the cards for the new year. I'll turn 49 in September. 49 = 12 x 4 + 1. They take 12 years together in Japan. That it to say, I got into the 5th cycle in life. I wonder what will happen for the coming 12 years. All my daughters would be full-fledged members of society and live alone or with their partners. I could be a grandfather.
     Anyway, the exciting 5th cycle has just started!

(Vocabulary)
unfold　[自] 〈ドラマ・事件・歴史などが〉 展開する
No one can predict how events will unfold.
だれも事件の展開を予想できない．
in the cards　ありそうな、起こり得る、起こりそうな
turn  …歳になる 《連結動詞》
take ~ together  ～をひとかたまりと考える
full-fledged  一人前の, すっかり成熟した

A Snowy World

     I drove my car for about four hours to my wife's original house, where my father-in-law lives alone. Though Japan is a small country, only a 4-hours' drive changes the climate very much. There was snow as far as the eye could see around his house. It was a snowy world. My wife had grown up in such a cold region and doesn't like winter. On the other hand I had grown up in a warm area and don't like summer. I love winter. My daughters and I were verry happy to see snow. The 2nd photo shows my wife's household grave. My youngest daughter is making heart-shaped offerings with snow to show respect to her grandmother and commemorate the deceased.

(Vocabulary)
commemorate the deceased  今は亡くなった人々をしのぶ

Matsuyama and Russia

     I spent a leisurely lunch break today. I didn't have any urgent task after lunch. I took a walk around my hospital and dropped in at a bookstore. I flicked through the latest magazines about PCs.
     The photo shows a tram. There are two types of tram; modern and traditional. This is the modern style tram. These trams come every ten minutes in the daytime. There are some lines. One is a ring line around Matsuyama Castle. I like this line. This line is through both the busiest area of this city and the tranquil area. Most tourists can enjoy the link between two kinds of area. Another line takes us to the hot spa area. The hot spa of Matsuyama city is called "Dogo Onsen". It's famous as the oldest hot spa in Japan. The US Air force didn't bomb this area in the Greater East Asian War because they wanted to enjoy bathing here under their occupation. During the Japanese-Russo War, there was a big prison camp here. Though many war prisoners were transferred here, their treatment was very good. They were allowed to take a walk in the city and to bathe in the hot spa too. Japanese hospitality in Matsuyama was well-known to the Russians. When the Russian soldiers surrendered, they seemed to shout "Matsuyama" with their hands up. The graveyard of the soldiers who died in Matsuyama is kept up by the people in the neighborhood association and the junior high school students.

(Vocabulary)
leisurely  くつろいだ、のんびりした、急がない
flick through  〈話〉〔本・書類などに〕ザッと目を通す
the Greater East Asian War 　大東亜戦争
Japanese-Russo War　日露戦争
prison camp　（戦争）捕虜収容所
keep up  管理する、手入れをする、整備する

Oyster Nabe (Food Boiled Together in a Pot)

     Today's evening TV news says that the price of oysters has decreased sharply because one of the origins of the Norovirus infection is said to be from eating raw oysters. Despite that there's no evidence of epidemic food poisoning from oysters, but such a rumor is getting around in Japan. It's a shame to believe such groundless rumors.
     I'm going to have oyster pan dish today or tomorrow. This food is very popular in Japan, especially in winter. We put oysters, tofu, various vegetables, anything if it's needed and Japanese dressing materials in the pan and boil them. Norovirus will disappear when heated up. It's lucky that oysters are cheap now.

Here Comes the Sun!

     Beautiful Morning! It had been raining or cloudy for about one week and I had some strong winds last night. This morning it's very cold but getting sunny. My dog, Mocha, looks happy. He is sleeping at the entrance in my house when it's cold. I made him go out of my house and run freely.
     Three of four photos below were taken moment by moment. It's the rising sun, taken from my house. The last photo shows my bike just before starting for work. There are a lot of autumnal leaves in front of my house. I have to sweep up fallen leaves before going to work. The next morning after a windy night in winter like this morning, I have to rake a yard and my garage. It's hard and tiresome work for me.

End of the Year Party

     I'm a member of Mixi (Japanese biggest social networking service). Five members of Mixi got together at a small Japanese-style pub and held the year-end party last night. Our occupations and careers were different from each other, so everybody's story was fresh and intersting to others. I relaxed. Four hours had passed as quick as a wink.
     The photo was taken by one of us just before starting the party and shows Matsuyama Castle. The complete renovation of it has just been done this month. As you can see, this was taken at night under the display lights of the castle. Don't you think it is very clear and beautiful? It's because his digital camera was up to date.

(Vocabulary)
renovation （renovations） 修復, 刷新

Cold Burn

     Our dog, Mocha got a cold burn on his left buttock. My youngest daughter, A, was afraid that he might feel cold at this time of the year. She put two disposable body warmers into a salt pot that was made from steel and gave it to him last night.

     This morning I found Mocha trying to touch or lick his left buttock and there was a burn wound. It seemed not to be infected. I'm going to wait for his recovery while I wash his wound every day to keep it clean.

Car Wash

     I took my minivan to a car cleaning service shop today. When I was much younger, I usually washed my car by myself. I want to do it now too, but it takes an hour or more and bushes me. I make it a rule to ask someone to wash my car at this time. This shop is a time-saving and labor-saving place. While my car was being washed, I could write this over a cup of coffee.

(Vocabulary)
bush （人）をくたくたに疲れさせる
at this time  現時点で（は）、今のところ（は）

The Maintenance of My Car

     People drive on the left in Japan. The driver's seat of the Japanese car is on the right side. When I make my car move backwards, the left side mirror tilts downward automatically to make it easy to look around the left rear tire.
     The other day, I found that it didn't work properly. I took my car to the dealer today. The reason for the problem was due to my mistake. I didn't fully understand the function. I didn't know how to switch between the automatic movement and the manual movement.I was very sorry.

Two Parties

     Two end-of-the-year parties coincided with each other last night. I attended the hospital end-of-the-year party at first, then attended another party of my rally team.
     I had a little hangover this morning. Every time I have a hangover, I regret drinking too much and my wife says, "You just never learn, do you?"

My Parents and South Korea

     My parents went to South Korea today for the first time. They have visited many countries after their retirement. I think the number of the countries where they visited would be more than 20. The local travel agency that they often use organized a tour to South Korea and invited them to participate in the tour.
     They visited South Korea today for the first time but it's not the first time they'd talked with Koreans. This incident had already become null and void, so I'm going to talk about it here. It was about 40 years ago. See also; http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2006/11/travel-for-me-c.html
     When my family lived on a very small island between Shikoku and Kyushu (you can see it with Google Earth, 33°10'10.34"N 132°17'15.32"E), a few Koreans were camping and poaching shellfish. Japanese people who were on the island knew of their existence but got to have nothing to do with them and didn't report the matter to the police. It's unthinkable at present. Anyway, Koreans were doing their jobs. It was a tranquil time. There was no concept of smuggling on the island in those days.
     One day, a middle-aged lady came to my house. She couldn't speak Japanese. Something unusual seemed to have happened to them and they needed a lot of water and some medicine. It was supposed that someone got badly burnt judging from my present knowledge. There was no police, no hospital, no pharmacy and no fire department on the island. She and her daughters had only 3,4 small pans and buckets as containers of water. My parents went to the elementary school where they were working, opened the sickbay and took out some first aid kits for them. After that my parents and I carried as much water as possible to their camp and gave a few bigger buckets with lids to them. Next morning they disappeared.
     A year later, that lady suddenly dropped in at my house at midnight with a lot of shellfish. My parents was so happy to see her again and gave her as much water as they needed. Our family moved to another place next spring so it was the last time they saw her and her family.
     Before starting for Seoul, my father said to me, "I'd like to see her family again. Look for them on the internet." I'd like to, but both entering a country secretly and giving some help to undocumented people are illegal. I explained that to him.
     I wonder what impression my parents are getting in present day Seoul.

(Vocabulary)
null and void  （法的に）無効な
poach   [他] …を密猟する, 密漁する  [自] 密猟する, 密漁する
unthinkable   考えられない, 想像もできない
it is unthinkable that  …とは考えられない
tranquil  穏やかな, 静かな, のどかな
smuggle  …を密輸する, 不法に持ち込む［持ち出す］
sickbay  (船・学校などの) 医務室
undocumented  正式な文書記録のない, 文書による証明のない  証明書類［許可書］を持たない

Ski Schedule

     Today I took a short trip to Okayama City to see my ski friends. It was about 3 hours' drive by way of the Seto Oohashi Bridge over the Seto Inland Sea. At this meeting the schedule of our next ski trip to Whistler was decided to be from March 16th to 24th. We usually get discount air tickets 2 months before the tour, but this March is unpredictable.
     My eldest daughter might be in Seoul as an exchange student. My second daughter might go to university. My youngest daughter is going to visit Australia on a school trip in mid-March. Their school things are a drain on my wallet. This coming March would be an expensive time.
     Though all my family would like to enjoy skiing in Whistler in Canada, my wife is a college teacher and would not be allowed to stay away from her college at the time of graduation and the preparation for welcoming new students. As for me, I might have to use my paid leave to help my daughters.
     It seems that Whistler has the biggest snowfall this year since 1995. My friends egg me on to go skiing! What should I do?
     The photo shows the Seto Oohashi Bridge. This bridge links Honshu with Shikoku island. The location is 34 deg 23'19.71" N  133 deg 49'5.97" E.  If you have Google Earth in your computer, look at this place.

(Vocabulary)
egg sb on  ＜人＞にけしかける, をそそのかす

My Wife's Absence

     My wife is absent on business for 1 week. She is in France or Italy now so I have to do many household chores. I was going to cook delicious and good-looking meals this morning and take pictures of it. Of course, the pictures were going to be posted on this blog so that my wife might feel at ease to see it on the internet. But I couldn't. I don't know where anything is. Where is the salad oil? How do I use the oven? It was a reminder of the movie "Kramer vs. Kramer". In this movie, the central character, Dustin Hoffman, makes French toast for his son at great pain. I'm just like him. Consequently, our food was not so beautiful. I gave up posting it's picture.

(Vocabulary)
reminder  思い出させるもの, 気づかせるもの

Nearest Hot Spa

     I, my wife and A, went to a public bath; "Yurara". Yuri was out to take a mock exam. The hot water of this public bath is supplied from the source of Dogo hot spring. Dogo hot spring is famous as the oldest hot spring in Japan, but the atmosphere of Dogo spa is modern and urban. I like rustic hot-spring resorts and don't like Dogo spa.
     Anyway, we soaked and relaxed in a hot spring.

(Vocabulary)
mock exam　　模擬試験
rustic　田舎の人、田舎者、野暮な人
　　田舎の、素朴な、純朴な、飾り気のない、ひなびた感じの、野暮な

(KW:ゆらら　道後温泉)

Riding Shoes

     When I ride my bike, my wife often warns me not to get injured because I'm not young and not so prompt in every situation as young riders. Next, she complains about my shoes. I don't care about clothes, shoes,,,anything to put on in daily life. I put the same shoes on when playing with my dog, going to work and gardening. Of course, when riding my bike, I think riders can understand it, the left foot must shift gears on the dorsal foot. Consequently the toe and dorsal phase of the left shoe get worn to threads. The shoes, worth 200 dollars, don't last half a year. So that, I got new riding shoes, as shown in the photo.
     I found them in the motorcycle parts shop near my house, but they were more expensive than I expected. I wrote the model name and code on my memopad. After that I found the same shoes on the internet with 52% OFF! The next moment I found I had clicked the order button. I tried to put them on this evening. The feeling was wonderful. I'm happy because one of many complaints of my wife has disappeared.

(Vocabulary)
dorsal foot　足背
worn  〈布などが〉 すり切れた, 〈靴・タイヤなどが〉 すり減った

 

November

     It's November! I have 3 private events this month. The 1st event is to take an official exam of The Hangul Language Proficiency Test. I've been learning Korean for 2 years. It's the first time for me to take this test, like TOEIC for English. The levels of ability of Korean are categorized into 5 grades. The highest level is called 1st class, and lowest, just beginner level is called 5th grade. I'll take level 4. I'm confident.
     The 2nd event is that this month is the 1st anniversary of writing my blog. I started writing blogs in November last year. I'd like to congratulate myself on keeping it up for 1 year.
     The last one is that I have to be a house husband for 10 days during my wife's business trip. She's going to Europe at the head of the college trip. She is a teacher at a technical college. I have to get up earlier and prepare breakfast and lunch for the kids. I have to make dinner at night. I already feel depressed now.

(Vocabulary)
proficiency    熟達, 熟練, たんのう
at the head of   ～を引率して

Loitering

     Today was a really comfortable day. I wanted to clean my room up and take a long walk with my dog, but I was called from my hospital. Today's duty doctor was a physician and she couldn't give a surgical treatment. I had to go to my hospital to care for the inpatient. Though the distance between my hospital and my house is 15 minutes' ride, I loitered around on the way back home being enticed by the autumn breeze. I spend almost 2 hours on the way home. I'd received more than 100 e-mails from abroad before now, but nothing from Japanese who had ever lived in Matsuyama city before. If you have lived in Matsuyama city or around here before and live abroad now and want to see some specific site, it's my pleasure to take snapshots where you want and post them here. I'm glad to be a journalist or photographer for you. Don't hesitate to send an e-mail to me!

(Vocabulary)
loiter  (目的もなく) ぶらぶらする, たむろする  のんびり歩く, のろのろ進む
loiter in/around something  ＜場所＞の中［周り］をぶらつく
[同意]  hang around
entice
entice somebody to do something  ＜人＞をそそのかして＜…＞させる

(KW: 愛媛県　松山市)