Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Memories of My Family

     I've made several websites of my family's kind of events, like trips, school activities, someone's birthday and so on. Some of them are linked to this weblog. I'm going to translate them. One of them, the record of a trip to the Canadian Rockies has almost been translated. Please look at it.
     There are lots of photo albums, video tapes and photos of my kids in my house. I couldn't have thrown away the school work of my daughters. Many paintings, wooden or clay works, letters to me or to my wife expressing gratitude, old notebooks in which poor and cute letters are written. All of them are kind of the treasure of my family. However, to my regret, there isn't enough space for them. I selected extremely important items and I'm storing the rest on DVDs to save space. Of course some of them were stored as pictures. These DVDs would be gifts from me and my wife when my daughters get married.

Passport

     I'm going to enjoy skiing in Whistler in Canada this spring. I prepared new skis for me and my kids, a new video camera, and a walkie-talkie and so on. Besides, I sometimes check the website of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to see security information about Canada. I'm glad to see that Canada is a secure country. Today's online news on my PC display says that terrorist attacks again occured in Iraq. I strongly feel I'm lucky to have been born in Japan.
     By the way, I almost forgot to determine if my passport was valid. I checked it yesterday and knew the expiry date was Feb.29th this year. I was so surprised to see it. I was lucky again to find out before leaving Matsuyama. I immediately applied for passports for me and my kids.

Admission

     My father-in-law fell down and broke his left humerus and was admitted to a hospital. He lives alone, 5 hours away from here. I and my wife visited his hospital today. He didn't look so bad. It was heart-warming. He has two sons. Both of them want and are persuading him to live with them, but he doesn't want to. He seems to want to keep them at a distance. I don't know what to do. However, the situation is not so optimistic. I have to find a useful tactic.

Driving School

     The other day my eldest daughter Eri started driving school. She doesn't have good reflexes. This morning the topic during breakfast was who will be the first to sit in her front passenger seat. I said, "in the US the front passenger seat is called the death seat or suicide seat because the mortality rate of the person on that seat is higher than that of people in the other seats." Nobody applied. Anyway she seems to be happy to learn how to drive a car.

Yoga

     In recent years yoga has really boomed in Japan. Besides, the number of TV programs that handle the issues of health are increasing. In every program, they say that some foods, some exercise, some ways of life, and some habits are good for health. Some of them often show how to do yoga. They say doing yoga has the effect of reducing weight and keeping fit.
     By the way, watching such TV programs, my daughter started doing yoga. She is doing yoga every morning and night for 5 minutes. It seems like kind of warm-up exercises. People who do yoga display flexibility in their body. I sometimes thought that their flexibility might be a kind of disease as their bodies were unbelievablely flexible. I've been thinking yoga was a kind of religion because I saw some religious Indians doing crazy yoga. I don't like yoga because my body is like a lead pipe, or barrel. However, because my daughter strongly advised me to do yoga, now I'm doing yoga to reduce my weight for skiing in Canada. You can never tell what might happen or might not happen.

My Hospital

     The photo shows the view from the roof of my hospital. My hospital is located in the center of the city. I live in the outskirts of the town and commute by compact car. I sometimes go downtown after getting off work. At that time I leave my car in the parking lot overnight. This location is ideal for hitting the town.

 

English speaking party

     Every Thursday night I attend the English speaking club. Last night a party was held for a newly married member. The city has many spots in the downtown and also in the Dogo Spa area and in other places. We went to a western style restaurant in the Okaido area.

Bath Reaction

     Hot springs are around every corner in Matsuyama city. My wife and I went to one of them called "Saya Onsen" last night. My wife likes to get esthetic treatments, so I always have to wait until it finishes. Besides, it was so relaxing to lounge in the spa. Consequently it makes me want to stay in the tub for a long time. I got bath reaction. I couldn't have enough breakfast this morning but recovered before noon.

Long Walk

      I got up late with a hangover. I had a fugu party with my network friends last night. Though fugu (balloon fish) is kind of poisonous in some parts of it's bowel, it is so delicious when cooked properly.
     I was off today. I went out for a long walk with my dog "Mocha". I live near my Alma Mater now but I don't know this area so much because I have been away for 15 years. Besides I usually use a car or a motorcycle when I go out. To my surprise I found a small shrine honoring a feudal lord. There is a hill near my house. They say there was a castle on top of the hill about 400 years ago and the lord and his son were killed through disembowelment. The history of the area was written on a brass plate. I wondered what scenery those people had been seeing. No buildings, no elevated roads, no trains, no planes,,,. 

 

Muscle Pain

     Today is a national holiday in Japan. I was awakened by muscle pains in my lower legs. I had a muscle ache in my lower legs when I over-extended myself, abdominal pain when I lifted myself up and chest muscle pain when I raised my shoulders. Anyway I had muscle pains in my whole body. I went down the stairs like a patient with casts. My wife said "Age tells." My second youngest daughter said "You must be getting old. I will be a better skier than you in the near future."

Ski

     This winter I and two of my daughters got new skis. Today, I went skiing with my youngest daughter. I have three daughters. The youngest one is the best skier of them all. These days we haven't had enough snow here in Ehime prefecture. They say it's because of the effects of global warming. As I wrote before, however, this winter we have enough snow. We enjoyed skiing to our hearts'content.  Photos are taken just below the top of the ski area.

(KW: 美川スキー場)

Confucism

     I attended a special lecture at Matsuyama Univ.
     The topic was a Korean Confucist, Kanhan, who had brought Confucism to Japan in 1597. He was captured by the Japanese sea forces and confined for ten months to Ozu city, which is near my hometown. After that he was transfered to Kyoto which was the capital area in those days. He met the most sophisticated people there.  He enlarged the number of his friends and lots of people got to show him deep respect. He taught them the fundamentals of Confucism and wrote some textbooks.  Those books were the sourcebook which was passed down the generations. After the death of the absolute ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, he got his freedom and could go back to Korea.
     Confucism was a backbone of the nation in the Edo era and in modern Japan.
     In 1868, the last Edo Shogun returned political power to the Emperor, and the Emperor began to rule once again. Then feudal policies such as the land-owning and class systems were abolished and a new constitution was established.
     This was a bloodless revolution without any bleeding.  There is no revolution in the world that can rival it. I suppose this bloodless revolution could be achieved because of the confucian ethic that every Japanese kept in their heart.
     The post world war 2 reconstruction in Japan was successful. I believe this was because of the confucian values which every Japanese had. The U.S.President Bush said, Iraq and Japan are similar, and so Iraq can make a recovery like Japan. He doesn't know the spiritual difference between Iraq and Japan. I was mad at him after hearing him tell such a silly thing. He is nothing more. Our Japanese had been getting kind of an education of the confucian ethic for about four centuries.
     Confucism is a backbone of Japan again. I'm ashamed I didn't know how Confucism was born in Japan at all. Besides, such a great historical event had something to do with my prefecture "Ehime".
     There are lots of pending issues between Korea and Japan. However, I hope both countries get close to each other from the bottom of my heart. We are alike. I really felt so today. 

儒教

松山大学の特別講演を聴いた。演題は韓国人儒教学者「姜沆」。１５９７年に日本へ儒教を伝えたとされる人物である。秀吉の朝鮮出兵の際に囚われの身となり日本へ連れてこられ、大洲市に幽閉された。その後、京都へ移送され日本の文化人と交流を深め、多くの日本人から尊敬のまなざしで見られるようになる。彼は日本人に儒教を教え、書物も書き残している。これはその後、何代にもわたって伝わっている。秀吉の死後、自由を得て本国に帰国した。

儒教は江戸時代そして現在の日本でも国家の屋台骨となっている。１８６８年、最後の将軍が皇室へ政権を返した。明治維新と呼ばれるこの改革は全くの無血革命であった。世界に類を見ないもので、日本人の心に儒教の教えが生きていたためだったと考えられる。

日本の戦後復興はうまくいった。これもまた日本の持っていた儒教的な価値観によるものだろうと思っている。米国ブッシュ大統領が、日本とイラクは似ている、だからイラクも日本のように解放、改革できるといった。アホである。何世紀もにわたり、安定した平和な暮らしの中で、儒教の教えに浸かっていた我々日本人をイラク国民と一緒にしてもらっては困る。

重ねて言うが儒教は日本の精神である。この儒教がどのようにして日本で始まったのか、知らずにいたことが恥ずかしい。ましてやこの歴史的な事件が我が郷土に関係していたとは。

Massive Snowfall

     This winter Japan has a record snowfall across the country. The weather is something different from usual. At the end of last year one of the safest public transportation systems, the JR express train derailed due to gusting winds or tornados. Some people were killed and more were injured. In the northern part of Japan more than 50 people have died because of the massive snowfall and related problems.

A Happy New Year

     A New year's resolution of mine is of course to keep writing this weblog.

     My whole family visited my parents' house and enjoyed some special food. I, Eri, and A went out shopping for ski equipment. Eri is going back to Tokyo on 7th, and we have a plan to go skiing to Whistler in March. Eri doesn't have her own ski-wear and boots now. She had had her own before. She has grown up so fast that her ski-wear and boots were too small for her. My wallet is getting thin.

The last day of 2005

     There are so many things to do at year-end. One of them is cleaning my house. My house was built 3 years ago. The house-maker advised me to wax the floors once a year but I did them on the 1st floor only once in 3 years. I was going to do the second floor at the end of this year. I didn't have enough time to do so. In order to wax a floor, I have to make all the floor tidy. I am thinking I must do it next spring. The annual event of my family is to watch the TV program on NHK, the New Year's Eve show called Kouhaku Utagassen. It's an annual NHK sponsored year-end men versus women singing contest. I heard this program is being broadcast in many countries all over the world. Anyway I think the contest this year is not so good. It looks ugly and besides I don't like the host.

Drive

     My family took a long drive to my wife's original home. It's 180 miles away from Matsuyama city where I live now. When I got married 20 years ago, it took 8 or 9 hours. But now, it has been shortened to 4 hours. It's because the Seto Oohashi bridge over the Seto Inland See and Highway was constructed. My profession is to cure disease and I'm proud of my job. However, I envy the people who were related to such a big project, which would remain on the map even after their death. I sometimes imagine if I hadn't selected the medical department when I took the university entrance exam, what would I be doing now?

Eri Came Back

     My oldest daughter, Eri came back home. She lives in Tokyo. When she came into the house, it got noisy. My two younger daughters looked cheerful and our dog "Mocha" too. I'd been expecting she would be strong or tough because she has been living alone in Tokyo, which is unfamiliar to her. However, Eri is Eri. Nothing had changed. I felt a bit happy and a bit sad; mixed emotions.

Eldest daughter

     Today, I was going to get home earlier than usual because my eldest daughter was supposed to be back home all the way from Tokyo. She is a student of a university in Tokyo, the capital city of Japan. However, she sent an e-mail late in the afternoon saying that she won't get home today because she got up late and couldn't get a Skymate ticket (kind of a discount ticket for young people). I was so disappointed.  No child knows how dear she is to her parents.

Shelter

     The strongest cold wave this winter hit Matsuyama city. I keep a dog (eleven-month-old male Dalmatian) outside of my house. My daughter quickly sheltered him in my house by herself because I was out. She wants to be a vet and loves animals. My photo shows the hastily built shelter in the entrance.

So cold

     Japan is a small country, but it stretches north to south, and goes from the subpolar zone to the subtropics, so there's a wide range of climate.
     My home town, Matsuyama city, is located on the Seto Inland Sea and has a warm climate, but today Matsuyama was hit by a cold wave. It's so cold.
     I'm reluctant to walk my dog this morning.