Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Excavation

　　I have my hair cut once a month at a specific barber's. I was surprised to see around the barber's today. The scene around was unbelievably changed. Lots of houses were removed as part of the redevelopment of the JR Matsuyama Station. I found some people there who didn't look ordinary construction workers doing something. Their work looked very delicate. Looking closely, they were excavating the soil. They were too focused to speak to. I'm looking forward to seeing the archaeological findings.

 

Tough Restriction

　　My hometown of Matsuyama City goes under strict restrictions against the coronavirus pandemic on Apr. 25th. The restriction is supposed to be the toughest ever. Restaurants and bars are prohibited from serving alcoholic drinks all day and they must be closed at 20:00. They are receiving some support from the government, but they are only the minimum necessities. Big commercial and amusements facilities are required to shut down. The authorities request us commoners to refrain from shopping expeditions except for food, clothing, and other necessities. This restriction is planned to continue until May 11th. The vacation season, which we call the "Golden Week", is included in this period. The travel agencies, hotels, and lots of shops would suffer heavy losses.
　　Vaccinations are finally on track in Japan, too. Due to the smaller number of infected people than other countries, the delivery of the vaccine was delayed in Japan, but it has just started. The domestic vaccine will appear until the end of this year. I'd like to go on overseas trips this summer, but hopes seem to be slim. I hope that the world will come back to what it used to be as soon as possible.

(Vocabulary)
suffer heavy [high, great] losses in the business 　商売で大損害をこうむる

 

Air Out

　　My parents are now in two nursery facilities respectively. Their return to their house is thought to be already hopeless. My wife, my daughter, her husband and I went to my parents' house for its cleaning. Opening the door, the air was damp and heavy, so first off, we opened all the windows and aired the house out. After a while working, we ordered pizzas from a nearby shop. We used my mother's favorite plates, which reminded me of my mother's healthy days. My mother turns 90 this year. I know no one can avoid aging, but I became a little sad.

Newborn Baby's First Visit to a Shrine

　　I'm writing about a long-lasting tradition of Japan, "First Visit To a Shrine".
　　"Newborn Baby's First Visit To a Shrine" is celebrated by his/her parents and grandparents on about the 30th day after birth. As you may know, sunlight is harmful for newborn babies, so about 30 days after their birth, babies can go out for the first time while avoiding the direct sunlight. The parents of the newborn baby take their baby to the shrine to wish his/her happiness on this day.
　　My wife and I accompanied the visit. The baby's paternal grandparents were already in heaven, and five of us including the baby sat down on the tatami mat in front of the Shinto priests to receive purification from them. After the memorable visit, we got seated to a special dinner.
　　We flew to Tokyo, where my daughter's family live, with intensive care against the coronavirus pandemic. Our granddaughter can't do anything now, but I'd like to keep an eye on her growth.

Balneum

　　My daughter is giving her daughter a bath in her kitchen sink. I took this picture with my wide angle lens and consequently the baby's face is enlarged. She looks relaxed during bath time. I recalled the scene when my wife was giving my daughter a bath about 30 some years ago.

Meet My Grandchild

　　My daughter gave birth to a baby girl on March 5th. The baby was totally healthy without any congenital illness. I didn't mind whether the baby was a boy or girl, and I simply hoped that the baby would be born healthy. The news of the successful delivery really made me relieved. She discharged from the maternity hospital a week after the childbirth. Some might wonder about the week's stay in the hospital, saying "The baby has something abnormal, or not?", but it is the usual way for the delivery in Japan's hospital for both mother and the baby to receive a week's hospital care after the birth. My wife was staying in Tokyo for about three weeks after her discharge to help her to take care of the baby.
　　Above was really good news, but bad news came in at the same time. People who got infected with the corona virus are increasing across Japan. The government asked the nation not to move for nonessential and non-urgent tasks, but I was not able to wait to meet my first grandchild and visited Tokyo with prudential preparation. The baby was so adorable. I've no words to express my delight.

Yellow Sand

　　Do you know a troublesome phenomenon, Yellow Sand, which is often seen in Spring in Japan and maybe South Korea. The fine particles flung up from the desert in the west of Peking streak from the west of Peking across the Korean Peninsula to Japan. It's nothing but an annoyance.
　　The yellow sand not only stains cars, but also damages their air intake system. My car is fortunately an electric car and doesn't need the air, but cars which are driven by gasoline would need more careful maintenance after the drive than usual. What's worse, it harms human health. My throat felt harsh now though I wore a mask all day. Nothing good comes from China.

 

Lifting Emergency Declaration in Greater Tokyo Region

　　The long-awaited day comes tomorrow. The prime minister, Suga, announced that the Government is going to lift the variety of restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic on the 21st. My company requests its employees to avoid the move to the areas in which the state of emergency is declared. I admire the efforts of the government and people who work in the travel industry and endure hardship under the restriction. I just hope that the epidemic will disappear. I got a flight ticket on the first weekend of April. To where? Of course to Tokyo! I can't wait to meet my granddaughter who was born on Mar. 5th. My wife is in Tokyo now to help our daughter's chores and sends me granddaughter's pictures every day. I've refrained from stepping into downtown and the epidemic areas of the Wuhan virus in my position as an occupational doctor. Shall I go to those places soon?

 

Single Life

　　My wife left for Tokyo on March 10th to take care of our daughter who would discharge from the maternity hospital on 11th. She is going to stay in Tokyo for three weeks and I was going to enjoy my single life during her absence. I'm visiting some restaurants for breakfast and supper, and am eating lunch in the cafeteria of the company, but I can't avoid household chores like cleaning, washing, taking out the trash, and so on. The trash must be separated according to municipal rules. It's such a handful for inexperienced persons.
　　My second daughter and her husband came to my house, maybe with mercy. Then I was calculating how many pairs of socks and underwear I have. I was thinking of managing to survive the three weeks without washing. My daughter was appalled and told me that my laundry is sure to emit horrible odors and I should learn how to use the washing machine. I had no other option and I learned it from my daughter. The washing machine seemed to have various convenient functions, but I learned automatic washing only. I've only to put my laundry and some detergent into the tank and just push the starting button. It's very handy and helpful.

 

The Second Happiest News This Year

　　I wrote about the marriage of my second daughter the other day, and today, my eldest daughter who got married last year gave birth to a baby girl, who is my first grandchild. She or it - I've no idea about which I should use as the pronoun for the baby anyway - is perfectly healthy. I'd like to visit Tokyo, in which my daughter lives, just now to meet my grandchild, but the appalling virus stands in my way. My company requests employees to refrain from moving to Tokyo and other highly infected regions. I can't wait for the lifting of the emergency state declaration of Tokyo.

 

Silent Marriage

　　My second daughter got married today on National Foundation Day, on which the 1st Ten-noh, what you call Japan's Emperor, Jinmu, ascended to the throne 2681 years ago. It should be a happy and epoch-making event in my family, but as you know, we are told to refrain from having a big party including even wedding ceremonies. As a result, my second daughter left home silently. I resent the outbreak of the Wuhan virus.

(Vocabulary)
resent 〈不当な扱いなど〉 に憤慨する, 〈人〉 を恨む

 

Rusty Downtown

　　I drove my car downtown in the evening and saw its surprisingly deserted atmosphere. The municipality now regulates the bars and restaurants which serve alcoholic drinks to close their business at 20:00 hours in exchange for official benefits. The regulation will be in effect for two weeks, but if the prevalence of the virus continues to expand, the period would become longer. I have some familiar bars downtown and I hope they will survive this virus crisis.

(Vocabulary)
deserted
〈場所・通りなどが〉 人けのない, 閑散とした
The streets were deserted. 通りには人けがなかった．
〈建物・町などが〉 さびれた, 打ち捨てられた
a deserted mining town さびれた炭鉱の町



寂れたダウンタウン

夜、車でダウンタウンを走ってみた。その静かさに驚いた。現在、酒を出す店は２０時で店を閉めねばならない。また完全に休業したら政府から補助金が出るので、２０時で閉めるよりも休んだ方が有利だと考えて休業する店もある。対策強化期間は２週間の予定であるが、期間が延長されたら潰れる店も出てくるだろう。ダウンタウンにはなじみの店が何軒もある。何とか持ちこたえて欲しい。

Backup

　　Lots of countries are suffering from the prevalence of the Wuhan virus. Japan is one of those and medical personnel and other people concerned have been spending hectic days. I left the clinical field last summer and am working as an industrial physician now. That is to say, I don't take on the treatments of the patients of pneumonia any more, but today, I work in a hospital as a substitute of physicians who went out to the front line against the virus.
　　When can human beings overcome the outbreak of the Wuhan virus? I'd like to go out for trips and to have big parties with friends. I'll have my first grandchild next month, but now, my company requests employees not to move across the prefecture's border as much as you can. Only my wife is going to visit my daughter's house to help her for a couple of weeks after the delivery. I have to wait for a few months or so before meeting my grandchild.

 

Tidy Up My Parents' House

　　My wife and I cleaned up my parents' house for this weekend. The house is too big to complete the work only in two days and we have yet to complete it. My parents are now in nursery facilities separately due to the difference of their care level. My father is almost bedridden, sometimes consciously. My mother can walk, but suffers from severe dementia. To my regret, my parents wouldn't be able to spend their last stage of life in their home. I've managed this house since they'd fallen ill. I mainly took care of the outside of the house because if not, it would spoil the fine view of the neighborhood.
　　However, the deterioration of the house was progressing. I wanted to air rooms out frequently, but I hadn't enough time. When I was wondering about the management of the house, my second daughter, who will marry next month, proposed that she and her husband should live in the house. It would save them paying the house rent and is good for the house itself. This is why we tidy up the house in haste.

 

Grandpa's Dream

　　My eldest daughter got married last February without any gathering and ceremony due to the Wuhan virus prevalence. It was regrettable being unable to see her in a wedding dress, but next March, she will give birth to a baby. I can't wait. I will pamper him/her to the utmost. Take a look at the picture at the bottom.
　　Showing this picture to my wife I told her that I'll buy the baby this car. She laughed at me, saying that the toy is too early for the baby and it makes no sense until the baby begins to walk by itself. However, it took not to so long for her to notice that another car sat behind the cute one. "Just to be sure, you don't mean the bigger one, do you?"
　　The car behind is a Tesla Model Y, Tesla's SUV, which accommodates 7 people, and I love it. It's not a hit on the market in Japan now, but it will be rolled out within 3 years, considering that the Model 3 took 3 years to land in Japan since it showed up in the U.S. market.
　　I'm thinking that I'll purchase both cars - I don't know if the near one can be called a car or not - shown in the picture at the same time. The last obstacle is how to persuade her,,,. It's a big problem.

来年３月に初孫が誕生する。今から待ち遠しい。生まれたら、これ以上無いくらい甘やかすだろうと思う。下の写真を見て欲しい。先日、この写真をカミさんに見せて、生まれたらこの車を買うと話した。

カミさんはそれに乗れるようになるのは十分に歩けるようになってから。気が早いと言って笑うのだが、後ろにもう一台写っていることに気づくのにそう時間はかからなかった。あんた、後ろの車のことを言っているのではないよね、、、、、

後ろにあるのはテスラモデルＹ　まだ日本では発売されていないが、モデル３が米国発売から３年後に日本で発売開始となったことを考えると３年後くらいに発売されるだろう、、、これらの車を２台セットで買おうと思っている、手前の可愛い奴が車と呼べるかどうかはわからないが。、、、ただ、カミさんをどう説得するか、それが問題だ。

Jog

　　I jogged more than 20 km after such a long interval since I had stopped running at 38 km in the Shimonoseki Marathon in November in 2019. The next Ehime Marathon will not be held and I thought that the next chance will not come in the near future, but my friend asked me to join their training. They are continuing training and run faster than me. So, I started 40 minutes earlier than them along the same route and they caught me up later. The weather was clear and comfortable. The riverside of Shigenobu river was really peaceful. I lost my dear friend by leukemia in May who had grown up in the same high school and the same university. I'm deeply grateful to have such physical strength as I can run more then 20km even over 60 years old.
　　I started a new life as an industrial physician this summer. If the outbreak of Wuhan virus didn't occur, I would have become a ship's doctor on a gorgeous cruise ship now. In this world, no one knows when something will happen. I'm going to enjoy my life from now on too.

本当に久しぶりに走った。去年１１月の下関マラソンで３８ｋｍでDNFとなって以来の２０キロ越え。来年の愛媛マラソンは中止となり、しばらく走ることは無いなと思っていたのだが、誘われて走ることになった。長距離ランの間隔が空いているので、速く走る仲間より３０分以上早めに出て追いついてもらうように設定して走った。天気は快晴。穏やかな風が吹き、重信川沿いの道は快適だった。６０歳を越えてこれだけ走れる体力と健康を本当にありがたいと思う。今年は中高大学と一緒に過ごした友人を失った。

今年、転職し、新たなスタートを切った。武漢ウイルスがなければ今頃クルーズ船の船医をしていたはずなのだが、人生何があるかわからない。これからも健康には気をつけて人生を楽しもうと思う。

Wine Tasting

　　A wine importer told me that their salesperson would visit several restaurants and bars in my city which serve wine to customers for the purpose of sales and the expansion of their sales channel. The salesperson, who had come by my house before, would like to drop in at my house at that time for tasting wines. As the importer is based in Osaka, which is also an epicenter of the outbreak of the Wuhan virus, I had a little anxiety over infection from him. After due consideration I said ok on the condition of his serious carefulness. My friends got together to taste high quality wines, some of which weren't out of our reach. My wife prepared meals which went well with white and red wines. After tasting, we ordered wines which everyone liked.
　　To my surprise, he left opened wines to us. Those bottles seemed to pass a few days after opening. Even if he brought them back to his company, they would pass the freshness date. Anyway, I was grateful. Naturally we enjoyed them and the dishes. Take a look at the following picture. I've never seen such a scene as more than 20 kinds of wines are open at the same time.

ワイン試飲会

大阪からワインの輸入業者が松山に行商に来た。レストランなどの業者相手の売り込みだが、そのついでに我が家に寄りたいと先月連絡があった。大阪は武漢ウイルスの大流行地で、そこからやってくるということで少し心配はしたのだが、感染に最大限注意するということで我が家に来てもらった。仲間の都合を聞き、今日となった。カミさんが簡単な料理を用意し、準備万端。それぞれ気に入ったワインを注文した。

終わりに、なんと驚くことに、残った試飲用のワインを全て置いていってくれた。開封して数日経ったワインばかりだろうから持って帰っても使えないという判断だろう。ありがたや。言うまでもなく大宴会となった。写真を見て欲しい。同時にこれだけのワインが開いている光景は見たことが無い。

Inspection by Housing Company

　　My house will turn 17 years from its construction next March. The housing company which had built my house advised us to get the house inspected about the outer wall and the roof. I wrote about the inspection of my house in the 10th year here (link). As I wrote, the observation of the roof was done with a camera attached on the top of a rod. You can see pictures of those days in my entry. 7 years has passed since then, and the method of inspection was changed this time.
　　A drone was used to observe the roof and the outer wall this time. I felt that the observation became finer and closer. The use of drones wasn't prevalent 7 years ago, but now it has become popular. It would be also one of the good examples of conversion of technology from military-use to commercial-use. No matter how it was developed, the technique was thankful. I was looking at how the inspection was done. In general, there were no signs requiring urgent repair, but the detailed report is supposed to come to us.

https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2012/12/ten-years-inspection.html

自宅点検

我が家は新築からもうすぐ１７年を迎える。先日、建築会社から案内があり、今日、屋根と外壁の検査担当者が来て、検査を受けた。１０年目の検査の時はこの記事のように竿の先にカメラを付けて屋根の点検を行った。外壁は目視だけ。

どんな検査だったかというと、ドローンを使った詳細な検査だった。７年前にはまだ一般的ではなかったドローンの利用が今や誰でもが使えるようになった。これも軍事技術が民生用になった一例だろう。経緯はどうあれ、有り難い。検査の様子をずっと眺めていた。概ね問題ないようだったが、検査結果は後日動画を詳細に検討してから届けられるとのこと。

My Wife Arrived

　　My task was done until the morning of 27th. I'd enjoy sightseeing from now on. An office clerk took me to the hotel which I booked in advance. I deposited my possessions at the hotel and went to the airport to pick my wife up by a rent-a-car. It took an hour and 35 minutes from Kagoshima to Tanegashima by a high-speed boat, but only 40 minutes by air. I took pictures of the plane which had just arrived.

２７日の朝までで仕事は終了。これからはこの島の観光を楽しむ。病院スタッフに宿まで送ってもらい荷物を預けて、宿でレンタカーを借りた。そして空港へかみさんを迎えに行く。
高速船だと所要時間は１時間３５分だが飛行機だと４０分。あっという間に着く。到着した飛行機を撮影した。

Economy Stimulating Campaign

　　The world over has been thrown into emotional, political and economic turmoil by the Wuhan virus. Its terrible influence is spreading not only among patients and hospital personnel but people engaged in restaurant business and tour business. Under the serious condition of virus origin, my hometown of Matsuyama city launched its original travel campaign for those people who are in trouble.
　　As Japanese people are told to refrain from nonessential move across the prefectural border, the city encouraged "their" citizens to use hotels in Dogo Onsen Spa by offering hotel coupons. Dogo Onsen Spa is one of the popular tourist destinations in Matsuyama and also the oldest hot spring in Japan. I had bathed in Dogo Onsen Spa several times, but I've never stayed at any hotel in Dogo district which is 20 minutes' drive from my house. Using municipal coupons, my wife and I stayed at a gorgeous Japanese-style hotel.

世界中、武漢ウイルスの蔓延で大変なことになっている。患者と医療関係者以外にも影響は拡がっており、飲食業や旅行産業は廃業の危機にある。そんな中、松山市は地元の住人に道後温泉に泊まろうというキャンペーンを開始した。費用の一部を松山市が補助してくれるという。ならばと言うことで道後温泉に宿泊した。道後温泉に入ったことはあるが、宿に泊まるのは初めて。観光客気分で楽しんだ。