Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Jogging

　　Japan has a rainy season called "tsuyu" in the areas other than Hokkaido and a hot summer will come after tsuyu. It's in the midst of tsuyu, but the weather was unusually clear today. I went out jogging. I'm going to run a few marathons this autumn and winter and started practice.
　　My house is located in the suburbs of Matsuyama City and there is a big park nearby, which is designed for exploiting the natural terrain of a hill, so the jogging route in this park is abundant in slopes. It's tough for me to jog here for the start of the practice of this season, but I ran. There are enough public washrooms in the park and I can get enough drinking water from the faucets there for free.
　　Then I visited the military cemetery adjacent to the park on the way home. I'll show you some pictures of the cemetery. Military horses and dogs are also honored there.

　

Memorial Services

　　I'm writing about "Houji", the traditional Buddhist rite. My parents are barely alive, but my wife's parents are already in heaven. They went to heaven 12 and 27 years ago respectively. My wife and I visited my wife's original home today to attend the memorial meeting.
　　Generally, in Houji, a monk chants a sutra for the departed and then his/her descendants get together and have dinner. If you ask me, I think this custom is for connecting the bereaved for now on forever and it's one of the good old traditions of Japan. The picture was shot behind the original house. As you see, the weather was clear. I spent a wonderful time with my brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces.

 

Suitcase Damaged

　　I found that the wheels of my suitcase were broken when receiving it at Honolulu airport. It was the second time. The first time was in the airport of Munich or Firenze. The handling of the luggage overseas, I feel, is rougher than in Japan. Anyway, I had time at night and sent an e-mail along with some pictures of the suitcase to ask my insurance agent if the damage would be covered by my insurance. The prompt reply told me that the damage was under the coverage. I had just only to pay the transport fee from my house to the repair center of GLOBE-TROTTER near Tokyo. 6 years have passed since I bought this suitcase, but it looks like brand-new and works well. Wonderful!

スーツケースのタイヤが破損した。日本の空港だと何も起こらないのに、海外での扱いは乱暴なのだろうか？夜ちょっと時間ができたので写真を撮って保険を請求してみた。 そしたらなんと全額保証された。自宅から、GLOBE-TROTTERのリペアセンターまでの往復の費用は負担しなければならないが、タイヤを新品に交換してくれるという。良かった。記録を見るとこのスーツケースを購入して６年になるが、いまだに新品同様。ありがたい。

Vacation Life in Hawaii

　　This vacation was a little bit different from previous vacations. We've usually stayed in a resort alone, but this time, my friends visited us one day, and we joined a Kauai island tour with my friends on another day. We
had to adjust our schedule according to their plan, but we had a lot of fun.

　　By the way, our usual way of living in Hawaii is like this:

　　Basically, we had no plan. We got food and drinks for a week at a supermarket on the 1st day, and then did nothing in particular. We went to bed when we got sleepy, and got up when eyes were open. I enjoyed reading books in the air-conditioned living room over a cup of Kona coffee or tropical fruits juice, which I prepared for myself from various fresh fruits and vegetables using the blender. Sometimes we enjoyed cooking as a hobby with lots of unfamiliar ingredients using unfamiliar cooking utensils. I've once mistakenly used the oven for steaming a small chicken. The figures shown on the panel were calibrated in degrees Fahrenheit. Waiting, waiting, and waiting, but the chicken wasn't heated. I instantly assumed that the oven didn't work, but it was my fault. Anyway, staying in unusual circumstances was always fun. Just staying in the resort was a really refreshing experience. During the daytime, I went jogging or walking, and I often soaked in the sea water or in the pools when it got hot. A feast for the eyes was often walking around me.(grin) If I felt like it, I went to a bar in Hilton Village and listened to the conversations of the next tables, but those conversations were hard to understand for me. I reflected that those conversations might have various slang, dialects or unfamiliar accents for me. Anyway, they were great lessons for me. One thing, I made it a rule to stay in the Village from 2200 to 500 hours for security.
　　By the way, I got accustomed to spending vacations on Oahu island and I'm thinking of renting a car and viewing the sunrise at the easternmost point of Oahu on the next vacation, though we have to start out before 5 o'clock. Then I'd like to see the sun setting from the westernmost point, but I heard that the west coast of the island wasn't secure, and a taxi driver, who transports us between the airport and the Village every time we visit Oahu, advised us to keep away from the west coast after sunset, so we'll follow his words for now.
　　The following pictures show my favorite route for walking. You'd know what I wrote above. I always wear clothes with which I can move into the sea or pool anytime. My digital camera is water-proof, and I brought a pair of new shoes called "marine shoes" this time, which were really handy in the resort. I rushed into the lagoon on the way also today, succumbing to the heat.

(Vocabulary)
feast for the eye 目の保養

今回は友人の訪問があったり、友人と一緒のツアーに参加したりと、事前にスケジュールの調整が必要だったが、いつもの休暇中は何もしない、計画を立てないというのが基本。初日に一週間分の食料を買い込み、後は部屋でゴロゴロする。眠くなったら眠り、目が覚めたら起きる。コナコーヒーやトロピカルフルーツジュース（備え付けのミキサーで自分で作る）を片手に読書を楽しみ、時々「趣味としての」料理を楽しみ、日中はジョギングや散歩、暑くなれば海へ浸かり、プールへ浸かり、時に目の保養をして、気が向いたらヴィレッジ内のバーへ飲みに出かける。隣のテーブルの会話に聞き耳を立てリスニングを試みるも、飲み屋の会話はスラングが多いためだと思うが、相当に難しい。そして、２２時以降と午前５時前にはヴィレッジから出ないことにしている。これは身の安全のため。しかし、そろそろ慣れてきたので、次回はレンタカーでも借りてみようかと、オアフ島の最東端で日の出を眺めてみようかと考えている。日の入りがみえるところは、かなり治安が悪いので当面は見送る。(小錦の地元)

写真はお気に入りの散歩コース。いつでも海やプールに浸かることの出来る格好で散歩している気持ちがわかってもらえるかな。今回マリンシューズと呼ばれる、水陸両用の靴を初めて使ったが、とても便利だった。この日も暑さに負けて、散歩途中にラグーンに、、、(^o^)

Social Gathering

　　Japan has its original calendar and era names, such as Showa, Heisei, Reiwa, and so on. I was born in 1958, and this year falls on Showa 33th. People who were born in this year have been gathering for about fifteen years and holding a party four times a year, on March 3rd, June 6th, September 9th and December 12th. The coincidence of the number of the month and day is derived from the 33th of Showa. I joined this group 5 years ago, or so. In relation to the school year, people who were born in between April 1958 and March 1959 belong to the group.
　　It seemed that a special party in Hawaii had been planned a decade ago, which would commemorate the turning 60 of all the members. The d-day was set on June 6th in 2019 after all the members would turn 60. The age 60 originally means the starting of the living on a pension in Japan, but 60-year-old people are generally vigorous enough to continue to work. Most members weren't able to get day-offs contrary to expectations and it was only 10 people or so that were able to join the party. Today is the d-day. It should be June 6th, but it was changed to Saturday, 8th to make it easier to join the party from Japan.
　　The venue was a restaurant called Kai Market adjacent to the beach in the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. When I entered the hotel, I found a signboard welcoming a company trip from our hometown. It was the Ehime branch of Toyota and apparently the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the branch. Admiring the leading company's employees' trip, we headed for the restaurant. The sky was blue and it was only a step to the brilliant sea. There were so many kinds of dishes and I was busy enjoying them and forgot to take pictures. All the participants ate a lot,drank a lot, and some danced the hula. Most people were supposed to visit Pearl Harbor on the next day and then come to my condo, so we stopped by a supermarket on the way back and prepared beverages for tomorrow's party.

(Vocabulary)
venue (会議・競技などの) 会場, 開催地

What 60-year means in Japan:
https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2012/10/reunion.html

　

Shot by my whole-sky camera:
https://theta360.com/s/psywobrJ9n70qspevD0iRBFey
https://theta360.com/s/sH96xe45JNR4SF8gTMws5GZSS
https://theta360.com/s/bPhLoTivXY98axAQLWWyTy9ey

日本には独特の年号がある。それで言うと、僕の生まれは昭和３３年。この３３年生まれの同年の集まりがあって、毎年３月３日、６月６日、９月９日、１２月１２日に集まっている。

全員が節目の６０歳（多くは年金生活に入る）を迎えた記念にハワイ旅行をしようという計画が１０年くらい前からあったらしい。６０歳というのは一般的に年金生活に入る年齢なのだが、実際６０歳になってみると、定年後も働いている人が多く、参加は１０名あまりの少人数となってしまった。そのそのパーティーが今日。本来なら６月６日なのだが、日本から参加しやすいように少しずらし、６月８日の土曜日に開催することになった。

場所はシェラトンワイキキホテルのビーチに接しているカイ・マーケットというレストラン。ホテルの入口で地元愛媛に関する看板を見かけた。トヨタの愛媛支店の慰安旅行のようだ。５０周年とある。一流メーカーは違うなと感心しながらレストランへ向かった。天気は快晴、ビーチが目の前に見える。いろいろな料理があったのだが、、、、食べることに忙しく、写真撮影を忘れた、、、皆、大いに飲み、食べ、中にはフラダンスの愛好家がいて、ステージのプロと一緒に踊ったり、、、翌日は大部分はパールハーバー観光に向かうことになった。また夕方からは我が家で食事会をすることとなり、とりあえず、帰りに飲み物だけは揃えた。

Title Transfer

　　One night's good sleep removed the jet lag from me. After a short walk, we went on to the Hilton Customers Service for some legal procedure. My wife and I are now registered as the owners of my condominium, but we transferred the title to three daughters and I as up to 4 people can be registered. In case anything should happen to me, my three daughters are automatically able to succeed the condominium without further procedure. If you want to use the condominium not including any owner, you need some more procedure other than the owner's permission. The Hilton side might be prohibiting the sublease. Anyway, now, every daughter has become able to use the condominium with their acquaintances.
　　In these procedure, the signatures of my daughters were required. I meant to write it for the youngest daughter who lives in Oxford, but the signatures must have been strictly their own. I wondered who would assure it. She apparently has to visit the U.S. embassy in London to get the certificate. It was a great lesson for me who am unfamiliar with such legal procedure. I wrote my signatures on several papers without consideration, obeying the judicial scrivener's words just like as I had signed contracts about my house and its loan. Were they OK?
　　My wife looked so tired with only these procedure, and wanted to stay in the condo and sleep. It seemed that she hadn't yet recovered from jet lag, so I went downtown alone to see how Chinatown was on the weekend. Today is Saturday and most offices were closed. Few people were seen in the streets. I felt uneasy in the streets and didn't get off the trolley. The picture shows the street on which my condominium fronts.

(Vocabulary)
title to sth 　(法) ＜不動産・土地など＞の所有権
transfer the title to sb　 名義を書き替える
write 《a letter》 for sb 　代筆する

コンドミニアムの相続手続き
　
一夜明けて、時差ぼけから回復。軽く散歩の後、ヒルトンの顧客サービスへ所有するコンドミニアムの相続手続きへ。所有者として４人まで登録できるので、紹介された司法書士を通じて娘三人と僕の４人で登録。これで僕に何かあっても自動的に娘三人の共同所有となる。娘のうち誰でも、友人を連れてコンドミニアムを利用することが出来ることになった。オーナー不在で利用するには面倒な手続きが必要なのですが、これは又貸しなど、商用目的での利用を防止するためかもしれません。
　
娘三人の自署が必要というのは理解できるのですが、代筆は認められず。この手続きの際に驚いたこと。三女がオックスフォードに住んでいます。書類を郵送してサインをして返送するだけかと思ったら、この娘本人のサインであるという証明が必要らしく、その証明はロンドンのアメリカ大使館でもらわなければならないそうで、こういう分野に疎い自分には大変勉強になりました。家のローンを借りるときと同様、何枚ものサインが必要でした。言われるままにサインをしましたが、大丈夫かな(^_^;)
　
カミさんはこれだけで疲れたのか、昼寝をしたいというので（快適なベッドなので気持ちは分かりますが）僕は、その間にトロリーでダウンタウン観光。今日は土曜日でオフィスは閉まっていて、チャイナタウンは閑散としていた。少し怖い感じがあってトロリーを降りて歩きたいとは思わなかった。写真はコンドミニアムの前の道路。今日も快晴です。

Athletic Meeting

　　Athletic meetings in schools in Japan have been one of the seasonal events in autumn, but they came to be held in spring lately as some autumnal festivals and other events often fall on each other. Additionally, pupils prepare the meeting from summer and heat strokes are also a concern.
　　Spring is the commencement season in Japan, so the first grade pupils of the elementary school were kindergarten kids only a month ago. It's fun to see such tiny kids run on the ground. I sometimes wondered if they are running or rolling?
　　I viewed the meeting in the adjacent elementary school from the roof of my office. Today is Sunday and my office is closed. I have to stay in my office for inpatients, but all the patients are in stable condition. I really love such a peaceful day.

Nursing Parents

　　My parents got weak since last summer and were unable to live in their house by themselves. My father has no specific illness and just grew old and feeble. He is bedridden now in a nursing facility. He is sometimes clearly conscious, but most of the time absentminded or drowsy. He speaks almost nothing. My mother suffers from severe senile dementia. She has fundamental strength, but she goes out once, she can't get back by herself. She is now under the care of professional care-workers in another caring facility. Unfortunately they can't live in the same facility because of the difference of their nursing level. Every time an event happened in the passed six months, I had to take steps to make my parents secure. My free time for my hobbies, including learning languages, was compromised but it's inevitable.
　　I've seen such patients in my life as a general surgeon, but now, I know that I didn't fully understand the real agony of their families. Nursing elderly parents is really hard work. Fortunately, my parents left enough money for their lives, and I was able to put their care into the hands of caring professions. If they lived in my house with us, we wouldn't be able to make a trip, or even go out freely. I learned through my parents that I should prepare for the end of my life not to stand in the way of our daughters' lives.

Spring

　　A pleasant season has come to my home town. I went out for a walk and took pictures around, being tempted by the brilliant sunshine. Seeing such pictures, I can't believe that there are still wars or armed conflicts somewhere on the globe.

Bicycle Race

　　Bicycle races are naturally a kind of sport, but at the same time, it's recognized as a gamble. I like wandering on my bicycle, but I'm not interested in cycling competitions as a method of gambling at all. I'm such a person, but I ended up visiting the bicycle racetrack today.
　　I learned for the first time that the cycling competitions' organizer was obliged to assign doctors like a general or orthopedic surgeon at the medical office in the racetrack when the competition is held. If there is no surgeon, no competition is allowed by the regulation of the association of the bicycle competition.
　　The organizer is Matsuyama City and they struggled to find a surgeon for the past several days because the due surgeon suddenly got under the weather. My second daughter works at the city office and she was asked to ask me to work at the racetrack today. Fortunately, today was free and I attended. I've never been to a cycling racetrack and it was fun to see the back side of the competition.

Tasting

　　How do you select wines when you buy one in a liquor store? Most people will see its label and price, but it's not easy to know if a wine of your choice is really good to your tongue. My way is to buy one after trying it. A tasting was held today by a wine importer, Weinhaus Gerhardt K.K., and I joined in. My salesperson's talk or advice is always really fun and I've bought wines from him for these past 5 years. I bought 24 bottles this time for the next 6 months. When I came to buy wines from him, I bought 6 bottles for 6 months, and it was enough, but when I bought 12 bottles the next year, those disappeared in 6 months, then I bought 18 bottles for the next 6 months. Those also disappeared in 6 months, so I bought 24 this time. It's only on some special occasions that I drink these wines, but my stock of wines ended up to be known to my friends, who look like hyenas (grin). That's why my purchase volume increased.

Walking in the Park

　　My house is located near the biggest nature park in my hometown. The sky was brilliant today and I went out for a walk in the park. The tree of my city is camellia and more than a hundred camellias are planted in an area in the park, which is called "Camellia Land". Wandering in the park, I felt that spring was surely coming to my city.

Theft of Garbage

　　What had happened? The pictures show the scene just in front of my house. I've lived here for about 16 years, and more than two police cars never came at the same time. However, I found four police cars today and a dozen policemen just in front of my house. Murder? Shooting? I was shocked, but it was simple theft of "garbage". Today was a collection day of paper garbage like newspapers, books, cardboard, and so on, which would be taken to recycling plants. Those plants pay some money to the city for those paper garbage. The thieves seemed to aim to snatch them, but were arrested. I wondered how much money they wanted to earn from garbage. Anyway, four police cars and a dozen policemen for such a trifle incident,,,,how peaceful my hometown is!

Influenza

　　The eradication therapy of Helicobacter pylori with me started at the end of last year, and after a course of medication, I got infected with influenza, like adding insult to injury. While I was on medication for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori, I had refrained from alcohol. Telling my family that the intake of alcohol might be short for body sterilization, I was mockingly laughed at.
　　Consequently, I was taken in lenient confinement for five days. It's officially decided that you must not go to work for at least three days after the decline of the fever. It's for the protection of others from the infection of influenza.
　　I made my bed in my study and the toilet on the second floor was designated as my own for this period of time. I asked my daughter to bring a cup of tea, and the door opened silently in a few minutes and her hand only with a cup sneaked in and out leaving the cup alone as shown below. The next picture shows my breakfast placed on the floor. I felt as if I became an inmate. I had been sadly treated as a kind of dirt for some time.

年末からピロリ菌の除菌療法が始まった。そのためアルコールは控えていたが、それが終わると今度はインフルエンザに罹患。踏んだり蹴ったり。アルコールを控えていて身体の消毒が足りなかったのかも、、、と家族に訴えると呆れられてしまった。(^_^;)
で、自宅軟禁の生活が５日間続いた。解熱して体調が戻ってから３日間は職場に出てはいけないという規定がある。この期間は他に感染させてしまう危険があるからだ。書斎にふとんを敷き、お茶や食事は写真のように運ばれてくる。お茶などは娘の手首までがドアの隙間から部屋に入り、写真のように湯飲みを置いていくのだ。２ヶ所あるトイレのうち書斎から近い方が自分専用となった。とにかく、汚物扱いの５日間だった。

Peace Oven

　　I'm going to write about an oven which had sat unused for about 16 years in the storage room. I don't know the name of this type of oven which is designed to be used on the gas cooker and looked for its description on the visual search. Is "peace oven" ok?
　　Now, when I had my house built, a new modular kitchen was installed and the former oven had gone into the storage room in the end. Then, it had been sitting unused there for 16 years and we decided to discard it, but before that, my wife tried to use it on the outdoor stove which was made of a useless steel wheel. I'll show you below the way how it was used.
　　The conclusion was, the oven got the lifetime extension! She baked pizzas with it. As it's used outdoors, we didn't mind the smoke and the smell, which are usually a nuisance indoors. The outcome was beyond our expectation. Outdoor cooked pizzas were added to our home party menu.

Wandering with My Camera

　　I'm learning the shooting technique from professional photographers now. Naturally, I'm not going to become a professional photographer, but I'd just like to take nice pictures as one of my hobbies. The theme of the lecture which I'm taking now is how to use the standard lens. My camera is APS-C and 30mm lens is supposed to be the standard. I went out for a walk around Matsuyama Castle to take pictures, which is one of the principal tourist spots in my hometown.
　　There are several ways to the top of the castle: by gondolas, lifts and just walking. I climbed up from the back side of the castle where there usually are few tourists. I'll show you the pictures below. As I'm understanding the mechanism of cameras, my shooting seems to be changing for the better.

A Social Gathering

　　My Lions Club, Matsuyama Century Lions Club, held a social gathering, inviting international students and sojourners in Matsuyama City. They enjoyed picking a few kinds of fruits in a member's orchard, pounding rice cakes and climbing up a small hill. I was surprised to know the variety of the countries of the visitors. I got several findings from conversations with them. I met a student from Zambia, formerly Rhodesia, who had attended the gathering last year. What I had known about Zambia was just its famous tourist spot of Victoria Falls. That was all shamefully, but I got information about the southern part of Africa from him. Today was very fruitful for me and would be so for all the participants. This gathering will be planned next year. If you are interested in the meeting, feel free to contact me.

(Vocabulary)
social gathering　交流会、懇親会
sojourner　滞在者

Shimanami International Cycling

　　The Inland Sea between Shikoku and Honshu, which are two of the four main islands of Japan, is called Setonaikai Inland Sea, and you can cross the sea over three routes. "Shimanami" which appears in this entry's title is one of those three routes. Several bridges connect several islands and its scenery is beyond description. Every bridge has cyclists' paths and lots of cycle-lovers ride this route.
　　"Shimanami International Cycling" is the biggest cycling event held on this route every two years. All the traffic except bicycles are banned on this day, and the highway is open to cyclists only. However, you aren't always allowed to join the event, as there are so many applicants for the cycling. I drew the good luck this year.
　　By the way, there was a brutal incident which deprived me of strength, though it was my fault. I had to remove the front wheel from my bicycle for packing it into the transportation box. When I attached the wheel to my bicycle before the start, my work wasn't perfect and the rim of the wheel was rubbing all the way against the brake rubber until the first mechanic's aid. I wasn't able to ride at the usual speed and my position went back, but I was able to get nice pictures without other participants as you see in the 7th picture.

(Vocabulary)
brutal チョー最悪(スラング)

Squirrels in St. James park

　　We got up early today too. We had so much to do today. Westminster Abbey was still left to be visited, though our return flight was scheduled that afternoon. Though, however, my daughter insisted that we would drop in at St. James Park on the way to the Abbey. She wanted to take pictures of squirrels up close. She was chasing squirrels in the park with her smartphone in one hand and cashew nuts in the other hand. She was just like a 3, 4-year old kid. It was a funny scene to me.

今日も早起き。そしてホテルで昨日と同じメニューの朝食。今日はウェストミンスター寺院に行く予定なのだが、娘のたっての希望でセントジェームス公園へ。目的はリスを手なずけて写真を撮ること。片手にカメラ、片手に昨日のカシューナッツを持って、リスを追いかけ回していた。

Bibury

　　The pictures of a tiny village of the Cotswolds, Bibury, would be surely on the pages of the travel guidebooks handling the U.K.. The following pictures which I had taken show you the symbolic sites of the village. The rain was continuing, but this village was also well-matched with the rain. My daughter in a tiny plastic raincoat, leaving her umbrella folded, was walking lightly. If the Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head by B.J.Thomas was being played, she would have started dancing. You'll know "Time flies" or "Time and tide wait for no man", but the flow of the time in Bibury looked slow to me. I found a trout farm nearby and I wondered what the principal industry was. The water and air was really clean. I wished I could have stayed at the Swan Hotel just in front of us even for a few days. The trout steak seemed to be very famous and popular.
　　Take a look at the third picture in which my daughter was shot in a prim and proper manner. The barn-like house behind her was used even now. We didn't look into the house, but happened to see a person watching the T.V. inside. How long ago was the house built? The last picture is the Swan Hotel. Don't you feel its long historic background?

　
バイブリーはおそらくイギリスを扱った全ての旅行ガイドブックに載っている場所。ここを外すわけにはいかない。雨が降っているけれど、ここもまた雨の似合う村ではないだろうか。娘は傘を差さず、合羽を着て身軽に歩き回っている。B.J.Thomasの『雨にぬれても』がかかれば踊り出しそうだった。時間がゆっくりと流れている、そんな気のする街だった。すぐそばにはマスの養殖場があったが、この村の主な産業は何なのだろう。時間さえあれば一泊してゆっくりと散策したい気分に駆られた。目の前にはスワン・ホテル！スモークトラウトが美味しいらしい。娘がすまして写っている３枚目の写真の家には人が住んでいた。覗いたわけではないが、中にテレビを見ている人が見えた。ここで生活しているんだ！いったい何年前に建てられた家なのだろう。