Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

departure

　　My youngest daughter is studying in Oxford as a visiting scholar. My second daughter and I were asked to take her possessions to her dormitory. It was hard work for two to carry four suitcases. Three old pairs of shoes: She's going to wear them out in the U.K. A Yukata, an informal cotton kimono and a set of tea-things: She might want to show her formalized manners of the tea-ceremony in front of her colleagues.

今回は留学中の娘にいろいろと荷物を届ける必要があり同行する次女と合わせてスーツケース４個。結構大変でした。履きつぶして捨てるつもりでしょう。靴３足とか、浴衣とか、お点前を披露するつもりなのか茶器など、、、、

 

Replacement of Projecter

　　I replaced my projector today in spite of it working well. I installed it fifteen years ago when my house was built. The recorder which I set in the newly built house was a video recorder. It was replaced with a DVD recorder several years later. Then now, it broke down and it was replaced with a Blu-ray recorder. Its connection with other appliances became digital. The 15-year-old projector wasn't able to take digital connections and it meant its end of use.
　　The following pictures show how the replacement was done. The person dispatched from the maker was the person who had set the former projector 15 years ago. Thereby, he knew the back side of the ceiling and walls. It was very handy. The replacement work was successfully done.

壊れていないのにプロジェクターの交換をすることになった。１５年前に買ったものだが、ブルーレイレコーダーやらアンプやら軒並みデジタル化され、アナログ接続しかできないプロジェクターが使えなくなったため。残念だが仕方ない。近所の電気屋に頼むと来てくれた技術者は１５年前にも来てくれた人だった。天井裏や、壁の中を知っている人だったので話は早い。

Matsuyama Freiburg Friendship Meeting

　The sister city treaty between my hometown of Matsuyama City and Freiburg City in Germany turns 30 years. As one of the memorial events, the Freiburgers visited Matsuyama City and the Matsuyama side held a reception party for them. The following pictures were taken at that time. The two men who are holding each other's hands in the center of one of the pictures are the mayors of each city. The model house under their hands was the model of the city office of Freiburg. The rice-pounding entertainment excited all the people there. Next year, if I could take a week's leave, I'd like to join the tour to Freiburg.

　
愛媛県松山市とドイツのフライブルク市は今年で姉妹都市提携３０周年を迎える。それを記念してフライブルク市民団が松山市を訪問した。写真はその歓迎会で撮られたもの。来年には松山市からフライブルク市へ向けて市民訪問団が結成されることになっている。写真では二人の市長が手を繋いでいるが、その下にある模型はフライブルク市庁舎である。余興が盛り上がって大変楽しい歓迎会となった。

Freiburger Domsingknaben

　　Freiburger Domsingknaben, which is listed as one of the prestigious boys choirs in Germany, visited Japan for their concert tour, and their concert was held in my hometown, Matsuyama City, along with other big cities. Then, a member of the choir stayed with us and most other members apparently wanted to stay at ordinary households.
　　Their hometown of Freiburg, which I had visited a few times, is the sister city of Matsuyama City. We spent a few happy days with him, but their concert was postponed for a day because of a typhoon and someone in a family, which welcomed a choir member, was unable to join the concert due to the postponement. The choir member who was staying with that family hastily planned to hold a mini-concert in the home for a family member who would be absent from the concert. Some families and choir members got together at the house at nearly 9 o'clock. They made an excuse that there weren't sopranos, but their chorus was great and a lot of fun. We enjoyed chatting until late at night.
　　The concert which was held on the next day was really nice. Their chorus in Japanese was also great. The last picture was shot just after the concert with several members of the choir. Our last words were "See you again in Freiburg!"

  

 
抄訳：

ドイツにおける名門少年合唱団のひとつに数えられるフライブブルグ大聖堂合唱団が来日し、１ヶ月にわたるジャパンツアーの途中、松山でも公演があった。その団員の一人が我が家へホームステイした。

ドイツ語や英語でコミュニケーションをして楽しい数日間を過ごしたのだが、実は予定していた公演が台風のため一日ズレてしまい、ある家庭では参加できない人が出来てしまった。それではあまりにも残念、可哀想ということで、そのご家庭にホームステイ中の団員が計画して、急遽集まりミニコンサートをすることになった。ソプラノがいないので十分ではないですがと言われながらも見事なコーラスに圧倒された。数メートルの距離で歌ってもらえる生のコーラスは素晴らしいものだった。

この翌日が本番だった。公演の後、ステージ前に集まって一緒に撮ってもらった写真もＵＰする。今度はフライブルクで会いましょうと挨拶して別れた。最後の写真はドイツ大使館から借用しました。

Water Supply

　　As I went to a nearby branch of the municipal library to return the books which I had borrowed before the flood damage, I found a bill on the entrance door which said that the branch would be closed for some time for the restoration of the other branches and the main library. On the parking lot, the water delivery by the army was being done. Several inhabitants were gathering around the supply truck. The water supply system was influenced by the influx of contaminated water into the water purifying plant and it seems we have to wait for its recovery for a week or so.

Torrential Rain

　　Japan is told to be a natural disaster-rich country, but my hometown has been exceptionally free from big disasters until now. People don't mind so much the weather alarm if issued by the meteorological agency, but I was really surprised with the continuing torrential rain these couple of days. The agency had warned us about the massive rain which comes only once or less in a century, but I didn't take it seriously.
　　The heavy rain started on July 5th. I was in my office on the night of July 6th and was to be on duty until the evening of the 7th, but my boss advised me to leave earlier as several pieces of news about landslides near my office came in. Several routes to my home were closed one after another, and the last one is shown below. I was barely able to reach home on this route, but about a few hours after I passed, this route was also closed due to the imminent danger of landslides.

Repairing the Television

　　The television in my house went dead abruptly. I don't watch TV much in my daily life, and it should have been a tiny problem. In this period, however, the situation was different. The soccer World Cup was just being held in Russia. The breakdown of the television made it unable to watch the soccer games for some time. It was really regrettable.
　　I called the maintenance division of the nearby electronics retail store. It took more than an hour to identify the reason of the breakdown. It seemed that the replacement of the screen was inevitable, what's more, I had to wait for the delivery of its replacement part for a week at the maximum, though the repair fee was free of charge, as the breakdown had happened during the term of the guarantee.
　　Today, the part was delivered to the store and immediately two maintenance persons brought it to my house in the evening. The following pictures show the procedure of the replacement. I'm a man of curiosity and I'd never seen inside the TV. It was fun to see them transfer the small parts from my TV to the new one.

USS Arizona Memorial

　　The first two pictures show the entire view of the USS Arizona Memorial. The sunken Battleship Arizona was left on the shallow bottom of Pearl Harbor. The memorial was built on that Arizona. The 3rd picture shows a map which indicates the positions of the navy vessels moored around Ford island in the center of Pearl Harbor on the day of the Japanese attack. One of the red-painted ships on the map, USS (United States Ship)Arizona, was today's first destination. The harbor was still a military port and several navy vessels were moored. The 4th was shot just before the arrival and shows the entrance of the memorial. The fifth is the ruin of the turret with the backdrop for the bridge connecting the land and Ford island. I found an oil membrane coming up from the ship. The next two pictures were shot at the inside of the memorial. The names of the departed by the attack were inscribed on the wall. Additionally, it's incredible for Japanese that lots of soldiers were still trapped in the ship and left there.
　　I recalled a miserable accident. A fishery training boat from my prefecture, Ehime, whose name was "Ehime Maru", collided with a surfacing US atomic submarine and sank to the 500 meter's depth off the coast of Honolulu in February in 2001. A few weeks later, the ship was lifted up to a few dozen meters' depth and several bodies and their possessions were recovered out of the ship by the divers. All the work was done by the U.S. with their fund, because the U.S. attributed all the responsibility to itself. I heard that the salvage work was really hard due to the piled-up sludge, and when the divers found the marriage ring of a victim, all Japan was surprised and thankful for the elaborate work of the divers. Thinking of the U.S.'s high salvage technology at the Memorial, I wondered why the U.S. hadn't recovered the bodies from the Arizona since 1941. Is that from the difference of both countries' cultures.
　　When I write this article in June, a certain patient saw me being perfectly timed. He was a central figure of the accident handling. I asked him lots of questions. A Hawaii-based Buddhist priest mediated between Ehime Prefectural Fishery School and the U.S. Navy. He repeatedly explained the religious idea of Buddhism to the U.S. officials with infinite patience.
　　The pictures on and after 8th were taken from the shuttle boat on the way back. One of them is Battleship Missouri from the right front, which I visited later. Another one shows the USS Arizona Memorial, and the next two show the submarine, USS Bowfin, and the last one shows the anchor of USS Arizona.

(Vocabulary)
turret (戦艦・戦車などの) 回転［旋回］砲塔
sludge (下水などにたまった) 汚泥, へどろ

Ehime Maru:
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2017/05/ehime-maru-the-fishery-training-boat.html

 １枚目の写真は沈んでいる戦艦アリゾナとその上に建てられている慰霊碑の模型で、３枚目が真珠湾攻撃時の、真珠湾に浮かぶフォード島の周辺に停泊していた艦船の位置を示している。この写真で赤く表示されている沈没した戦艦の一隻、アリゾナへこれから船で向かう。この港は今でも軍港で有り、周辺には軍艦が何隻も並んでいた。４枚目の写真は到着直前に撮ったもの。１枚目の模型と比べると位置がわかる。５枚目は砲塔の残骸。後方には陸とフォード島を繋ぐ橋が見える。また、すぐ手前をじっとみると、７７年前の油が浮かんできていた。次の２枚は慰霊碑の中の様子。日本の真珠湾攻撃により命を落とした軍人の名前が刻まれている。戦艦アリゾナの内部には回収されていない数多くの遺体が残されているという。日本だったら考えられない。

このとき、ある事故を思い出した。２００１年２月、ホノルル沖で漁業実習船えひめ丸が、浮上してきた原子力潜水艦に衝突され沈没するという痛ましい事故。このとき船は５００メートルの海底に沈んだ。後にこの船を海面下数十メートルまで釣り上げ、ダイバーにより内部の探索が行われ、船内に残されていた遺体と遺品を回収した。事故の全ての責任はアメリカにあり、費用は全てアメリカ側の支出だった。スラッジが８０センチメートルも積もっており、捜索は困難を極めたと聞いている。ならば、浅瀬に着底している戦艦アリゾナの内部から遺体を回収することなど造作もないこと。アリゾナの内部の兵士を放置する一方で、えひめ丸の内部に残された遺体の捜索をしたことが不思議に思えてきた。なぜ遺体の回収しないのか？文化の違いと言うことだろうか。

この記事を書いていた６月上旬、信じられないほどのタイミングで、当時のことをよく知る関係者が当院を受診。彼に根掘り葉掘り尋ねた。ハワイ在住の仏教のお坊さんが仲立ちをして、仏教では供養のために遺体や遺品が必要なことをアメリカ側に繰り返し伝え、説得してくれた結果だという。慰霊碑を建てる場所、掃除などの管理をしてくれるボランティア団体をつのるなど苦労があったようだ。彼からいろいろな話を聞けたのだが、また機会があれば後に書く。

８枚目からは帰りの船上から撮った写真で、戦艦ミズーリを正面から捉えている。アリゾナ記念館遠景と次の２枚はこの後訪れる潜水艦ボウフィン号。最後の写真はアリゾナから回収された碇。

Byodoin Hoo-oh-do

　　Your surprising face comes to my mind. You might utter, "Aren't you in Hawaii?" This is Byodoin Hoo-oh-do, which had been built in 1968 in Hawaii on the 100th anniversary of the 1st Japanese immigrants' arrival. The magnitude was regrettably a third or fourth of the original one, but its atmosphere was as great as that of Japan. The original Byodoin Hoo-oh-do is a Buddhist temple which doesn't belong to any Buddhism sect. That on Oahu island, what's more, doesn't take any specific religious dogma, getting out of Buddhism. Byodoin Hoo-oh-do was designed and built so that all the Japanese on Oahu island could think of their original land of Japan by seeing it, no matter what religion they believe. There was the Shinji-ike pond in the grounds, in which gorgeous carps were kept. The ponds called Shinji-ike are found in several places in Japan. "Shinji" is a kanji character which stands for heart or soul and "ike" means pond. The shape of this pond was modelled after the kanji character, Shinji. I think that this pond might be for calming yourselves before the Temple.
　　Just before the arrival at Byodoin, I found several graveyards separated by their religion. Among them, there was a small graveyard, in which Japanese style tombstones were arranged. All of them were made of black granite and directed toward Japan. I couldn't help thinking of Japanese people who had been born in Japan, moved to Hawaii, and became the soil of Oahu island. What lives had they spent? Anyway, I chatted with other foreign tourists in an adjacent gift shop. I was asked if Byodoin was famous in Japan. I thought it a silly question, but politely answered as follows: It has 1000 years of history and is listed on the World Heritage Sites. They told me that they're interested in Japanese history, and so I added that the first-ever Seppuku - committing suicide by cutting open the abdomen - was done in Byodoin. I hoped that it was not wrong.

(Vocabulary)
granite 花崗(かこう)岩, 御影(みかげ)石

https://www.byodoin.or.jp/en/

平等院鳳凰堂
　
写真を見て『あれ、ハワイを旅行中ではなかったの？』とびっくりされる方もいらっしゃるでしょう。これはハワイにある平等院鳳凰堂。明治維新の年に渡航した第一次日本人移民の１００年記念として、１９６８年に建てられた。規模はさすがに実物の数分の一だが、美しさは実物に劣らない。鳳凰堂は仏教の特定の宗派には属していないが、この考えをさらに拡げて、ハワイに住む日本人が、信仰する宗教の垣根を越えて故国日本に思いを馳せることが出来るよう、無宗教を旨として創られている。庭には立派な鯉が泳ぐ心字池も。
　
ここへ到達する直前には黒い石で作られた日本式のお墓が並ぶ一角があった。全てのお墓は同じ方向を向いており、その先は日本だという。奥津城タイプもあった。日本に生まれ、ハワイに移住し、ハワイの土となる、、、どんな感じなのだろうと考えずにはいられなかった。売店の叔母さんや他の外国人旅行者との雑談で、鳳凰堂は日本でも有名かと馬鹿な質問をしてくるので、１０００年の歴史を持つ世界遺産だと教えた。日本の文化や歴史に興味があるというので、切腹が初めて行われたのが平等院鳳凰堂だと教えてあげると横にいた日本人も驚いていた。間違っていなければ良いが、、、、(^_^;)

Honolulu Half-Marathon 8 (Diamond Head)

　　The first picture shows the 9 mile point. The distance from the start was displayed in the unit of kilometer and mile. This indication in miles stirred a delightful emotion that I was actually running an overseas marathon. The black tent in the next picture was a first-aid station, and the staff members looked bored. Then, a wonderful idea crossed my mind and I wondered if I should ask them for some help, like a taping, a massage, or a cold spray, but I didn't. However, I regretted a little not chatting with them about the conditions concerning medicine in Hawaii. The next picture shows the delivery from the aid. At a glance I assumed that it was "Gyousen-Ame" candy. I was hooked by the Hawaiian "Gyousen-Ame", but it was Vaseline. I didn't know how to use it, but it was lucky I found out it was vaseline before I put it into my mouth.
　　Let me explain "Gyousen-Ame". It is a kind of glutinous starch syrup, and can date back to 1000 years ago. The material is malt only. Water was added to the malt and the mixture is simmered without the addition of sugar. It has a nostalgic and plain sweetness.
　　The route was uphill to KCC (Kapi'olani Community College) and most runners were walking there. The vacant parking lot had been used for KCC Farmers' Market yesterday. Then the route was downhill for a short distance and it continued to the most agonizing section, which ran around Diamond Head in a clockwise direction. Almost all the runners were walking in the 6th picture. When I took this picture, I was on the opposite side of the road and was admiring the view of the horizon, which I was never able to see in my home town. The last picture shows the old fort of the U.S. Army. I had been there last year with my daughter. If the weather would become clear during my stay in Hawaii, I'd like to climb up again.

(Vocabulary)
glutinous starch syrup 水飴
malt 麦芽、モルト

最初の写真は左折し、登り始めたところ。ほとんど歩いている。距離表示がマイルで表示されていて、改めて海外で走っているのだなあと実感した。救護所のスタッフは主に女性。閑そうだしちょっと寄ってお世話になってみようかとも思ったが、やめた。後で考えると少しここで休憩しておしゃべりも良かったなと後悔。次は救護所で配られていたもの。ハワイで『ぎょうせん飴』！と思って飛びついたのだが、、、食べ物では無いと言う。ワセリンとのこと。どのように使うのだろう？ま、とにかく口に入れずに良かった。(^_^;)　

ぎょうせん飴というのは、水あめの一種で約1千年の歴史がある。麦芽を原料に水を加えて煮詰め、砂糖を一切使わない。素朴な甘みがある。

ＫＣＣファーマーズマーケットまで登り、一旦下るもダイヤモンドヘッドを時計方向に再び登る。６枚目は最もきついと言われる坂道。ほぼ全員が歩いている。この写真を撮ったのは道の反対側からで、ここで僕は展望台からハワイ南方の海を見て感動中。マラソンと言うより観光ラン。最後の写真は陸軍の砲台跡を下から眺めて撮ったもの。

Spring is coming!

　　It was an unclouded blue sky today. The annual garden plant market has been running since a week ago in the nearby park, which was so crowded and lively with lots of people. The cherry tree was 50% bloomed. I decided to jog for about 10km around the park for the Honolulu Half Marathon 2 weeks ahead. You can usually see Gogoshima island which is located off the coast of Matsuyama City from the park when it's clear skies, but the island could not be seen in the haze.
　　As soon as I began running, I felt something different from usual with me. I had a fit of coughing at about the 1 km point, and wheezing started. I stopped running and walked in the park. Lots of kids were swarming on the play equipment.
　　I have no history of bronchial asthma and so I was surprised to hear my own wheeze. I checked today's weather condition online, and found a warning for a high level of PM2.5, though the level of the yellow sand from China wasn't so high. I presumed that the above symptoms would be from PM2.5 and/or pollen. I'm going to take some medicines to relieve the symptoms.

Light Fixtures

　　An elementary school is adjacent to my office. The kids' cheerful voices are always energetic and nice to me, other staff members, and inpatients. Today is Saturday and the school is closed, but it was noisy. Looking down from the ward, a large-scale construction was underway. It looked like they were building several light fixtures for night school activities. In my neighborhood, an elementary school will close at the end of March due to the decrease of pupils. Kids in that school will be schooled at this elementary school adjacent to my office. This school will be more lively, but the decrease of population will lead to the decline of Japan. Is there anything that can be done about it?

(Vocabulary)
fixture 《[C]通例複数形で》(室内などの) 据え付け品, 建具

照明設備設置工事

土曜日はとなりの小学校は休みのはずだが騒がしい。病棟の窓から見下ろすと大がかりな工事が始まっていた。どうやら夜間、運動場を照らすための照明装置が設置されるようだ。このあたり、子供の減少によりこの春にまた一つ小学校が閉校となり隣の学校へ統合された。隣の学校は賑やかになるが、人口の減少は国力の衰退に繋がる。なんとかならないものかと思う。

International Students In Matsuyama

　　As a part of volunteer activities of Matsuyama Century Lions Club, we held a friendship gathering inviting about 40 overseas students who live in the city of Matsuyama. Their nationalities were, though I don't exactly remember, about ten kinds, and varied from a country in Africa to Barbados. I was grateful for their choice, I mean, they picked my hometown among lots of cities in Japan.
　　In an orchard whose owner is a member of the club, the participants enjoyed harvesting sweet potatoes, persimmons, oranges, etc, and baking pizza, okonomiyaki savory pancakes, etc. The hardest part of cooking okonomiyaki savoury pancakes is flipping them over with spatulas. Some weren't good at it, but it was fun to see them mis-flipping. I didn't get permissions to upload their pictures, but it would be no problem to show you pictures below. People wearing a yellow jacket are the members of the club. I was happy to have the chance to talk with international students about their countries and their daily life in Matsuyama.
　　There is no Muslim around me and I don't fully see their way of life. My knowledge about them is only obtained from books or literature. I heard that "Mirin", one of the essential seasonings in Japanese traditional dishes, doesn't go well with their religious life. I was surprised to hear that. I can't put up with the fact that religion interferes with personal food preferences. I wondered that they didn't feel ill at ease. I understood that it's the way of their lives. It was the day when I learned much.

１２月９日　留学生との交流会

松山センチュリーライオンズクラブの奉仕活動の一環で愛媛県松山市に住んでいる外国からの留学生の交流イベントを開催した。正確な数を覚えてはいないのだが、７～８カ国から４０名くらいの留学生が集まった。小さな田舎町によくこれだけの人が来てくれたなあと感謝。

会員の所有する果樹園で皆で芋、みかん、柿などの収穫体験、ピザを焼いたり、お好み焼きなどを作ったり、丸一日楽しんだ。参加者に許可は得ていないのだが、多分大丈夫だと思うので何枚か写真をＵＰする。黄色のジャケットを着ている人がライオンズクラブの仲間です。各国からの留学生と話すといろいろな話を聞けて楽しい。それぞれのお国の様子や松山で学んでいることを聞けた。

自分の周りにムスリムがいないから彼らの習慣についてあまり知らない。日本料理に欠かせない「みりん」がムスリムには都合が悪いと聞いた。調味料の成分にまで宗教的なものを持ち込まねばならないなんて、僕には耐えられない。彼らの習慣と言ってしまえばそれまでだが、窮屈には感じないのだろうか？　いろいろなことを勉強した一日だった。

Hijikawa Arashi Again

　　I went up to the observatory again to shoot the phenomenon. Other amateur photographers were waiting for the coming scene more than an hour before I reached the observatory. I admired their tolerance against coldness. However, the temperature didn't fall below zero. No "Arashi", no picture. I was sorry not to take a single picture there, so I took a picture of the monitor post for radioactivity. My town is located within 20 km from the Ikata Nuclear Plant.

Hijikawa Arashi

　　A natural phenomenon called "Hijikawa Arashi" is one of the winter features in the town of my office. It appears only on specific occasions. That is, when in a clear sky and the temperature falls below zero. It's produced by the distinctive terrain.
　　The weather forecast told that the weather would be suitable for the generation of "Hijikawa Arashi" last night, and I got up earlier this morning and climbed up to the "Arashi" observatory. If the weather met the condition, I would have seen the phenomenon, but temperature was a little over zero, though I felt freezing. I decided to try again.

Autumn Festival

　　The annual autumn festival was held for three days in my hometown. It might be the counterpart of Thanksgiving in western countries. The guardian deity of the town usually stays in the shrine, but the deity makes the neighborhood tour during the festival riding on the Mikoshi, the portable shrine. He moves to the portable shrine from his home and drops in at newly-built houses, newcomers' houses, and several places set for prayer. The bearers of the portable shrine have to work from early morning to late at night. My daughter went our in the early morning for taking care of them, mainly for their meals. I'd like to join them, but I wasn't able to leave my office. The picture was shot at the nearest prayer site from my house. Look at the picture. They are setting the offerings to the deity before the priest's prayer.

お祭り

今年もお祭りのシーズンがやって来た。西洋の収穫祭に当たるだろうか。通常は神社の中に鎮座する町の守り神がこのときだけは神輿に乗り移り町内を巡る。新築の家、新しく町内へ転入してきた人たちの家、また町内のあちこちで立ち止まり、住民のために神主が祝詞を上げる。神輿の担ぎ手は早朝から深夜まで忙しい。娘はその方々の食事の世話などに早朝から出かけたが僕は勤務のためそうはいかない。こういうイベントには参加しなければつまらないのだが。写真は我が家の近くでの神事の風景。

National Athletic Meet in Ehime

　　The National Athletic Meet, which had started in 1946 to encourage people living on the heavily devastated land and has been held across Japan every year since then, is now being held in my home, Ehime prefecture.
　　Prefectures take their turn to be in charge of hosting. Ehime prefecture hosts the event for the first time in 64 years. The last National Athletic Meet in Ehime was hosted by four prefectures including Ehime. In the wake of the war, even in the shortage of principal necessities like food, clothes and houses, it would have been difficult for my prefecture to shoulder all the costs alone.
　　Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress visited Ehime two days ago to attend the ceremony and were supposed to be back in today's afternoon, so I was on standby on the roadside to send them off since two hours before the estimated time of their passing to get a position in the front line of the crowd. Directly looking at them, I waved my national flag. I set my camera at the height of my chest and shot pictures without aiming. That's why some pictures were oblique. They were so refined. His Majesty the Emperor was seated to the back of the driver and was half-rising from his seat and gently waving his hand at us. I wasn't able to help praying for the happiness of the Imperial Household, which is linked to Japanese mythology, and the 125th His Majesty the Emperor.

(Vocabulary)
the National Athletic Meet　国体（国民体育大会）
Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress　天皇皇后両陛下

愛媛国体

１９４６年から開催されている国民体育大会が今年は我がふるさと愛媛県で開催されている。戦後の荒廃した国土で国民を元気づけるために始まった大会だが、現在では各県単位で持ち回りで開催されている。愛媛県で開催されるのはなんと６４年ぶり。前回は四国の４県合同で行われた。戦後間もない頃で食糧難の時代、一県だけで開催するのは困難だったのだろう。

またこの国体は天皇皇后両陛下が出席される３つのイベントの一つで、今回の大会に合わせて愛媛県を行幸された。一目、そのお姿を見たく思い、通行される道路脇に２時間前から待機した。写真は胸の高さにカメラを構えて、ファインダーを覗かずに取ったもの。そのため少し傾いている。

上品なお姿だった。運転席の後ろに座られている天皇陛下は中腰になられてこちらに手を振ってくださった。神話に連なる皇室、第１２５代天皇陛下、そのご健康を祈らずにはいられなかった。

A Barbecue Party

　　I belong to the Matsuyama Century Lions Club, which was established on the 100th anniversary year since the first Lions Club was founded in Chicago. We have regular meetings twice a month in a meeting room of a hotel, but today, a special meeting was held inviting our family members at a marina run by a member of the club. I joined it with my second daughter. All the preparation was done within the members and we enjoyed a gorgeous barbecue party after the meeting on the beach side. I didn't get permission to upload pictures and added a mosaic effect to some pictures.

松山センチュリーライオンズクラブに所属している。月に２回の例会を行っているが、今日は家族を招いてのバーベキュー。メンバーの一人が経営するマリーナで行われた。僕は次女を誘い出席。準備は全て会員の手作りでとても楽しい会になった。写真を何枚か載せる。了解を取っていないので一部モザイクを掛けます。

Huge Disaster in Kyushu

　　A huge disaster broke out in Kyushu, which is one of the main islands in Japan. It was due to a heavy torrential rain for the record books. 34 people were killed and 7 missing at present. As you know, Japan is a small country, but different places only 100km away from each other sometimes have different climates. The devastated area is only 200km from my hometown, but my hometown is suffering from a water shortage. Judging from the broadcasted pictures, it will take such a long period for damaged areas to recover. I sent a small amount of donation and am going to divert part of my residential tax to the areas worst affected using the new tax-paying system, about which I wrote here(link).

Destroyer Inazuma

　　The destroyer Inazuma was open to the public today. I visited the container yard of my hometown where it was moored to see its inside. Naturally, though, the area I was able to enter was limited. There were lots of kids on the deck. I don't remember that such events were held when I was a little kid, but the kids born in the 50s, 60s, and 70s like me would have less opportunities than today's kids have.
　　Japan's Self Defense Force(JSDF) formerly seemed to be disliked from people's war-weariness. It's ideal, for sure, for all the weapons to disappear on the globe, but it would be impossible at present. So, the JSDF is the Guardian God of Japan and should be looked up to. They are devoting their life to the protection of our country. The navy servicemen and servicewomen were shining on the elaborately polished military vessel.

護衛艦いなづまの一般公開を見てきた。小さな子供もたくさんいたが、僕が小さい頃、このようなイベントは数多くやっていたのだろうか。自衛隊はどちらかというと好かれていない存在だったような気がする。世界中から武器が一斉に消えてしまうのが理想だがそのようなことはあり得ない以上、自衛隊は日本の守り神であり、頼もしい存在だ。自分の生命を賭けて国を守る軍人という仕事、もっと尊敬されて良い。きれいに磨かれた船の上で軍人たちの笑顔が光っていた。