Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Tsuta Onsen Hot Spa

　　We arrived at Tsuta Onsen Hot Spa. It might not be known worldwide, but it dates back nearly 1000 years. People who had enjoyed the hot spa as a measure of therapy were documented at least in 1147. Their English website is here(link), though it's not in as much detail as the Japanese one.
　　When we reached the spa, it was getting dark. I decided to take pictures around the spa tomorrow, and rushed to the spa, called "Senkyo no yu". The picture of the spa is here(link), so I'll upload the ceiling of the spa.
　　According to the booklet of the spa, lots of varied figures in politics, the financial world, show business, and literature seemed to visit the spa. Most successive prime ministers also enjoyed staying deep in the forest. The owner built a new separate building recently, which is modernized with handy facilities, but our room was a traditional room  upstairs from the main entrance. The room next to the entrance was the room in which Showa Tennoh had stayed for a while to take a rest after the bath. This room is open to the public and you can relax in a conventional Japanese living room.
　　Today is the 24th birthday of our youngest daughter, who will start her career as a medical doctor on April 1st. We have now  finished our parental care, and toasted our fulfillment.

　蔦温泉に到着した。国際的にはあまり有名ではないかも知れないが、１２世紀には小さな温泉小屋があったと記録に残っているので、１０００年近い歴史のある温泉である。

　薄暗くなり始めていたので温泉周辺の写真は翌日撮ることにして、まずは温泉。温泉の名前は泉響の湯。井上靖の言葉から名付けたという。温泉の写真は下記のウェブサイトにあるので、温泉の天井部分の写真を載せておく。

蔦温泉のウェブサイト紹介
http://tsutaonsen.com/

　宿の記録を読むと、政財界、芸能界、文筆家など多彩な人々が立ち寄っている。例えば総理経験者のほとんどがプライベートで立ち寄っている。最近新しい建物が出来たのだが、我々が泊まった部屋は一番古い建物。玄関の２階部分に当たる。その玄関横には昭和天皇が休憩された部屋もある。現在は入浴後の休憩室として使われており、誰でも利用できる。
　
　この日は三女の２４回目の誕生日。この春から医師として働き始める。子育てを終えたお祝いということで少し贅沢な酒を飲む。

Mashumaru, the Historical Museum of "Seikan Renrakusen"

　　Time was when there was no undersea tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaido. People and freight were transported along with trains by ferries run by the Japan National Railways (JNR). The transport amount of people dipped after peaking in the early 70s losing out to air. The cargo and passenger boats, "Seikan Renrakusen", connecting Honshu and Hokkaido had closed its 80 years of history passing the torch to the undersea tunnel, inside of which Shinkansen bullet train runs at present. One of the boats "Mashumaru" is linked to the land and is used as a museum. I visited it.
　　As I reached the museum, a dozen buses came in the parking lot. A nightmare erupted. The buses put the passengers out like vomiting poisonous food. I was afraid that they would come into the museum, but their destination was "Hakodate Asaichi", a kind of local market. The visitors of the museum, the former "Mashumaru," were several. The train's deck was closed, which I wanted to see the most, but I felt the good old days. I got a toy in the souvenir shop in the boat which I'll show you in the following picture. It's one of the boats, "Taisetumaru". I heard that 6 ferries had been operated continuously 24/7.
　　We also visited Hakodate Asaichi, but it was full of so many noisy ill-mannered tourists. We bought and sent some specialties of Hakodate to my parents, and got away from there.

(Vocabulary)
dip after peaking in（売り上げなどが）＿月をピークに落ち込む
pass the torch（後継者などに）バトンを渡す

　北海道と本州を結ぶトンネルが無かった頃、人、貨物は列車ごと船で運ばれていた。１９７０年代前半をピークに旅客輸送は飛行機に奪われ、１９８８年ついに輸送の主役を青函トンネルにバトンタッチして青函連絡船は８０年の歴史の幕を閉じた。そのうちの一隻、摩周丸が海岸に固定されて博物館となっているので訪ねてみた。
　港へ着くとまだ９時前だというのにバスが続々とやってくる。昨夜の悪夢が甦ってきた。思った通り支那人達だった。毒を吐くように乗客を降ろしたバスは約２０台。ただ彼らが向かう先は函館朝市！摩周丸の中は静かでマニアが数名いただけだった。船内では列車の格納される場所を見たかったのだが、立ち入り禁止。残念だが仕方なし。お土産にチョロＱを買った。緑色が好きなので大雪丸を選んだ。
　次いでいった函館朝市は大混雑。写真を撮るなどできない。商品の多くが生ものなのでさすがに支那までは持ち帰りにくいのだろう。その場で食べる人が多いような気がした。

Night in Hakodate

　　The standard nocturnal tourists' destination in Hakodate is Mt. Hakodateyama, from which you can enjoy the beautiful night view of Hakodate City. I moved to the base station of the cable car by a street car and lined up for the embarkation into a car. Just after my arrival at the station, sightseeing buses gathered one after another. The passengers were almost all Chinese! I was annoyed by their ear-piercing voices. My car was packed with noisy Chinese. About 90% of the passengers in my car, which can accommodate 125 people, were Chinese. When the door was open, they rushed toward the window. I was fortunately able to stand by the window, but some Chinese shouldered me aside and occupied space before me interfering with my sight. I got sick of their behaviour and fuss.
　　The view from the top of Mr. Hakodateyama was wonderful, but I couldn't help wishing that they had not been there. So crowded, so noisy! Some were smoking wherever they liked even without ash trays. After staying for only 10 minutes or so, I went down the mountain earlier than I had planned, avoiding a long wait for a cable car, even though it took 30 minutes to get a car. Then I took a short walk near the harbor.
　We ate local specialties for dinner at a small pub next to the hotel. Nothing beats raw squid in Hakodate, which is called "sashimi" in Japan.

(Vocabulary)
ear-piercing  耳をつんざくような, かん高い
Nothing beats a walk in the wilderness. ～って最高！

　函館観光の夜の定番と言えば、函館山からの夜景。ということでロープウェイ乗り場まで市電で移動して乗車を待つ列に並んだのだが、その直後から観光バスが続々と到着し、降りてきたのは支那人たち。そのやかましさに閉口。１２５人乗りのキャビンの中は９割程度が支那人。窓際を占めようと支那人が殺到し、僕はたまたま窓際に立てたが後ろから割り込まれた。気分が悪くなった。
　夜景は素晴らしかったが、大混雑。大騒ぎ。下りは３０分ほど並んで待った。時間が無いことを悔やみつつ港周辺を散歩して、夕食はもちろん地酒に『イカ』！うまかった！ホテルの横の居酒屋に予約もせず飛び込みだったが粋の良い女将が手際よく生きているイカをさばいてくれた。値段は憶えていないが安かった。
　函館は落ち着ける良い街だ。見落としている観光地はまだまだ多い。季節を変えてまた立ち寄りたい！

Sapporo

　　I drove my car from Tomakomai, which my ferryboat had reached, to Sapporo City, in which my daughter will start to work as a trainee resident and pursue her career in the medical scene. I took her stuff to her new apartment and toasted her alone with a good glass of Japanese sake and specialities of Sapporo. I wanted to walk around, but it was too late to do so. I would pick my wife up at her apartment in the following morning and start to drive down south to my hometown. The following picture shows a sashimi raw fish of "Hokke", which is one of the specialities of Hokkaido.

　フェリーの着いた苫小牧から一時間ほどのドライブで札幌に着いた。街を歩きたいがもう２２時近い。娘がこの地で４月から医師として働く。娘に持ってきた荷物を届け、１人で嬉しい酒を飲む。写真はホッケの刺身。ふるさと愛媛では新鮮なホッケの刺身は珍しい。

Travel Cooker

　　A friend of mine linked to me on Facebook is working for Japanese people in the U.N. I'm writing about him and his mates exactly in another article, and now I'll tell you about his new gadget.
　　He stays in Geneve and complains of the food being costly. I've been to Basel, though only for a day, and can understand his way of thinking. After due consideration how to save money on food, he bought a travel cooker. Reading his review on the cooker and seeing its picture, I found it attractive and decided to buy the same one. It was only 2700 yen (25 U.S. dollars) and compact. It must be definitely designed for traveling.
　　I tried to cook an instant ramen and boiled eggs with it, and the result was wonderful. It's very handy and will be useful on overseas trips.

Instant Ramen

　　I've been on duty since yesterday throughout the night. I was called a few times from the ward and feel a lack of sleep now. Anyway, the picture shows my breakfast today, an instant ramen featuring kelp harvested on Rishiri Island, which I visited last September on the way to Karafuto by cruise ship, the Nippon Maru. I was welcomed by local people and it's why I chose it among many kinds of instant ramens on the market's shelves.
　　Instant noodles were invented by a Taiwanese Japanese. His creativity has remarkably changed the world, I think. The handiness of instant noodles is essential to the lives of people today. In case of emergencies, its usefulness stands out. As for me, I always keep several kinds of instant noodles in my locker.

Today's Breakfast

　　The picture shows a breakfast served in a 24/7 fast food restaurant this morning. It looks simple, but keeps the right nutritional balance at the minimal cost, though you might not value such fast food Japanese dishes. Not to mention it, but it's very unusual to have breakfast in such a restaurant. My wife actually, was out at my usual breakfast time.
　　My wife drove my youngest daughter to her university early in the morning. She was going to adjacent Takamatsu City by bus with all her classmates to take the national examination for medical practitioners. While eating breakfast, I recalled the days when I had undergone the exam about 30 years ago.

Breakfast

　　Some of my acquaintances don't have breakfast. Some of them tell me that they do not have enough time to eat breakfast. As I see it, if that's the only reason for not having breakfast, they have only to get up a bit earlier. I wonder if they can work with their full strength without breakfast.
　　I sometimes can't eat lunch thanks to my work, but human beings need to have something before starting their work, don't they? As I take on long operations, my concentration wouldn't continue throughout if I don't have breakfast.
　　It might be unsolicited advice, but I often tell my subordinates to have breakfast. If it is not raining, I go for a short jog and take a shower in the morning before breakfast. That helps get the old juices flowing, and makes me feel ready to take on anything the day may throw at me. The following picture was from the net. It shows a typical Japanese breakfast.

New Year's visit to a temple

　　At the instant when the year turns new my family stays home together and exchanges new year's greetings and then goes to bed. Though it has been an untold rule, I was invited to the New Year's midnight visit to a temple and a party after the visit. My wife didn't want to visit a temple at midnight, so I joined them alone. It comes naturally to even ordinary Japanese people to visit a shrine or temple at the beginning of the new year. However, I've never visited them at midnight.
　　I couldn't even anticipate what's going to happen in a temple at midnight. The temple which we visited was Yasakaji Temple, the 47th temple of Shikoku 88 Pilgrimage. At about 23:30 hours the Buddhist priests started to blow conch shells. I'm not sure, but it must have a certain religious importance. Then the visitors started to toll the bell, which should be originally tolled 107 times within a passing year and one more in a new year, but the priests seemed to allow all the visitors to toll the bell. I also tolled the bell once and prayed for the happiness of people all over the world in the main building of the temple.
　　After the New Year's visit, we had a party. One of us was a professional pianist, who played for us, "When You Wish Upon a Star", and the host was a stickler for serving high quality wines to guests. He was also a good cook. We enjoyed chatting, nice live piano music, nice dishes and wines. The picture shows a Louis Roederer crystal champagne 2006, which was served first.

(Vocabulary)
除夜の鐘を英辞郎で調べると
the bells on New Year's Eve
とあったが、これだけでは伝わらないだろうなあ
conch shell　ホラ貝
ホラ貝を吹くって、、、blow or play?

YCE (Youth Camp Exchange)

　　YCE is one of the activities of the International Lions Club, which aims to initiate young people to experience another country's culture. They stay in an unfamiliar country and live communally with foreign people. Then, consequently, they will learn to respect the difference between each other. My youngest daughter was dispatched to the Netherlands two years ago by the YCE program, and I felt her personal growth when she came back.
　　I'm not sure about the details, but the YCE headquarters of the International Lions Club sounded the headquarters of Shikoku out in November about the possibility of welcoming two high school students from Malaysia. FYI, Shikoku is the fourth biggest island of Japan, and its population is 4,14 million. After consideration, Matsuyama Chuo and Matsuyama Minami Lions Club were set as the host club for them. Two students were supposed to spend two weeks in Kyushu and then move to Ehime Prefecture in Shikoku and stay there for two weeks. Thus, a Malaysian high schoolgirl was to stay in my house for a week. My wife was worried about food, wondering if she was a Muslim or not. According to her short profile from the headquarters, she was Catholic. We were all relieved at the news.
　　They flew into Matsuyama City on Dec. 13th and their welcome party was held on the next day. Pictures show their self-introduction and the funny performance of Mochitsuki, rice-cake pounding. I hope their stay in Japan will be a great experience for them.

(Vocabulary)
sound sb/sth ↔ out ＜人・組織など＞の考えを探る［聞き出す］, に打診する, ＜考えなど＞を探る
sound sb ↔ out about/on sth ＜…＞について＜人・組織など＞の考えを探る［聞き出す］

YCE (Japanese　日本語のサイト)
http://www.lionsclubs.org/JA/our-work/youth-programs/youth-camp-and-exchange/

Peanuts

　　My office is located in a small fishery-farming town. Most of the patients who consult me are engaged in these primary industries. Some of them bring a gift to me, expressing their thanks. Their gift is various vegetables or seafood like sweet potatoes, cucumbers, oranges, fishes, and so on. A patient gave me peanuts which will be shown below. She raised and roasted them. They were warm when I received them. As you see them, they look not so good, but the taste was great.
　　While I'm on the subject of peanuts which a patient gave me today, I recalled my childhood. My maternal late grandmother often roasted peanuts which she cultivated herself for her grandchildren. It's the story of about a half century ago. The smile of my grandmother came to my mind with the lingering rustic taste of peanuts.

Expensive Eggplants

　　I wrote about my first-ever cultivation before here(link). I was told that the egg plants were easy to raise, but it was not so easy. I bought a bug killer for plants and fertilizer. I think I made an effort to cultivate, but the shape of the harvest was fairly different from ones sold on the shelves of vegetable shops. I'll show you it below. I'll try some cultivation next season again. The cork in the middle of the picture is for the estimation of the size. The price of two egg plants is about 15 US$ (for a bug killer and fertilizer). Incredible!

Exercise on the Deck

　　I had a good sleep on the last night of this trip and got up refreshed at shortly after 5 o'clock in the morning. We were supposed to arrive in Otaru at about 10 o'clock and finish our cruise tour there. After having straightened our room, I went out on the roof deck with a cup of coffee. It was a clear sky and a nice ocean view! The light exercise session was just about to start and I joined in. Stretching and walking on the deck blown by a salt breeze was really comfortable. It became a good appetizer at the same time. I ate breakfast twice or more than usual.
　　I had another travel plan in Hokkaido for two more days after disembarkation and so I packed our possessions which we wouldn't need any more into the suitcase and it was to be sent to my home. I got sad to think of us leaving the Nippon Maru. We met new acquaintances and began to chat frankly with crew members. I decided to join a fan club of the Nippon Maru, the "Dolphins' Club," to get the information of the ship. I'll show you the scene of Otaru City from the deck and today's bulletin below.
　　After the cruise we stayed in Hokkaido for two days for some reason. I'll write about a surprise in the next entry on the way home.

　 　 　

The Last Night

　　The last night came. The happy time passes so rapidly. We enjoyed the dinner, the cocktail party thrown by the captain, and the Russian folk music concert. It was our first cruise ship experience and we became perfectly hooked on it. We'd like to join another cruise trip even on foreign ships.

(Vocabulary)
北緯５０度以南の樺太は日本領、したがってこのブログでは日本名を使う
Karafuto (樺太)　Sakhalin サハリン
Toyohara (豊原)　Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ユジノサハリンスク
Oodomari(大泊)　Korsakov　コルサコフ

Lunch in Karafuto

　　We were taken to a decent hotel in Toyohara (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in Russian). My wife is a good cook and had a keen interest in Russian cuisine, since we decided to join the cruise tour to Karafuto several months ago. The dishes which we ate were as follows: ,,,,, I'd like to list them and their details, but I didn't know their names, because there was neither a menu nor a dish description by the waitresses. Even if they were not able to speak English or Japanese, they should say something, even a few words, like greetings, with smiles on their faces. What they did was just place the dishes on the table without words nor expression. Their rude attitude reminded me that we were in a socialistic state, Russia. I took pictures for later examination, and I'll show you below. After lunch, I dropped in at a souvenir shop in the hotel lobby, but nothing attracted me.

(Vocabulary)
北緯５０度以南の樺太は日本領、したがってこのブログでは日本名を使う
Karafuto (樺太)　Sakhalin サハリン
Toyohara (豊原)　Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ユジノサハリンスク
Oodomari(大泊)　Korsakov　コルサコフ

Immigration

　　The restaurant would be open soon, but I was staying on the deck to see how the tender boat would be ready for us. I saw some crew members working in the cabin of the boat, but the boat was still kept tied to the ship. Another group of crew members started to set the accommodation ladder for something.
　　At that time, another dirty boat arrived at the Nippon Maru. Russian Immigration Officers! We would not be allowed to land on Oodomari until they finished their work. "Work hard and finish in a hurry! Petty officials! Rosuke!, which is an insulting epithet of Russian" , I muttered to myself, seeing them getting on board. Their boat went back real quick. It would take time to examine all the passengers' passports. I gave up seeing the preparation of the tender boat and headed for the restaurant.
　　After I ate a set of Japanese style breakfast, I ate a western style one. I was really hungry.

(Vocabulary)
insulting epithet 侮蔑的なあだ名
epithet /épəθèt/ (人・物の特徴を表す) レッテル, あだ名
a racial epithet  人種差別的な言葉
mutter:  to speak in a low voice, especially because you are annoyed about something, or you do not want people to hear you

Dinner

　　Today's dinner was genuine Japanese cuisine. I was surprised to be able to have such a dinner on the ship. Lots of my friends wanted to see how was life on the cruise ship and so I'll upload some pictures of bulletin paper "Port & Starboard" and the menu of the night snack. We finished the embarkation procedure at Kutsugata port and so were able to get something in the shop without the consumption tax. The last three pictures showed me enjoying a tax-free whisky and the local fermented food of mackerel.

(Vocabulary)
Okhotsk atka mackerel ホッケ

Otatomari Lake and Mt. Rishirifuji

　　We didn't have enough time and were able to drop in only at Otatomari Lake, one of the tourist attractions on Rishiri island. The view of Mt. Rishirifuji from the lake was wonderful. "Shiroi Koibito", which means literally "white friends", is the most well-known cookie coated with white chocolate in Hokkaido and the picture printed on its package was the scene of Mt. Rishirifuji from the lake. It meant that the scenery which we were seeing was one of the representative views of Hokkaido. We'd like to stay longer there in the serene atmosphere, if possible.
　　Coming back to the port, local specialties were served on the pier for free. Sea urchin soup, and roasted scallops were distinctively great. In the cabin, two small packages of dried kelp were placed. A comical character on the package was called "Rishirin", which is used for the promotion of local products and local tourism.
　　For your information, my home of Ehime Prefecture has a character called "Mikyan". It was designed from the primary product of mandarin orange just like "Rishirin" was produced from kelp.

Rebun Island

　　Our bus started for another port "Oshidomari" on Rishiri Island, which was connected to Kafuka port on Rebun Island by ferry. I had expected to see the full image of Mt. Rishirifuji on the ferry boat, but its summit was obstructed by a dense cloud.
　　On Rebun Island, we just went to the north end of the island, but fortunately, we were able to see Kaiba Island, which is called Moneron Island in Russia, and is one of the  islands associated with Karafuto Island. It seemed that it's only on a few days a year that you are able to see it with the naked eye. We were really lucky. Most of the scenic places were located on the west coast of the island, but there's no roads for buses. We didn't have enough time to walk around. We had to pass them, and it was regrettable. I'd like to visit the island again to enjoy wandering in the wilderness.
　　We came back to the port and took a lunch break. The menu was a bowl of rice topped with raw sea urchin just after harvesting without the addition of preserving agents. It was really great. Sea urchin is usually processed with sodium bicarbonate to keep its shape for distribution. However, when eating on Rebun Island, no need for the addition of any agents!

(Vocabulary)
sodium bicarbonate 重曹

Breakfast & Kutsugata Port

　　After viewing the magnificent Mt. Rishirifuji for a while, we went to the restaurant for breakfast. Mt. Rishirifuji is the iconic mountain of the island, whose shape resembles that of Mt. Fuji and the word "fuji" is contained in its name. The altitude is 1721 meters and it's not actually so high, but it rises from sea level, which makes the mountain look more noble.
　　By the way, the breakfast was great as you can imagine. We could choose one from Japanese style and Western style dishes, but you could eat both, if you wanted to. I asked for a set of Japanese style breakfast at first, and after that, I ate dishes and desserts from the buffet tables to my heart's content. As I woke up so early, I was really hungry.
　　The port where Nippon Maru was tied up was Kutsugata on the west side of the island. The passengers were welcomed by the local people. My wife and I got off the ship and got on the bus for the optional tour.
　　We attended a lecture about Rishiri and Rebun Islands delivered by a nature guide on the previous night. After the lecture, I wanted to see around Rishiri Island only due to the limitation of time, but my wife had never been to both islands, so I joined the tour for going around both islands, though the moving by ferry between both islands takes about 2 hours.

(Vocabulary)
get it all tied up 停泊する