Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

End-summer Party

　　The super moon has been a popular topic of conversation today and the head of my hospital held an end-summer party on the roof terrace on Sep. 12th, but some clusters of cloud interfered with moon-viewing. The moon in this time of the year is the most beautiful of all the year round and it was too bad not to be able to see the moon. However, the dishes were good and abundant. I, along with my colleagues, spent a really relaxing time in the breeze of autumn. It was such a nice time that I couldn't believe that there were so many conflict regions on the globe. The pictures shows the buffet table on which dishes were placed and my first portion.

To My Hometown

　　After I arrived at Osaka International Airport, I had to ride to my hometown for about 6 hours, but I had another plan to visit my friends in Kobe, with whom I had visited Canada in 2012 for skiing. I'd like to visit Whistler again next March after 3 years' interval. It was the meeting for that. The plan isn't yet fixed, but if my friends will go, I'm going to join them.
　　I arrived at my home at 21:00 hours. I was thankful to get back home without any accidents. I got e-mails from two friends with whom I went, saying that they also were back.
　　I'll show you two flags and some comical certificates in the pictures. When I visited Hokkaido in 2001 and stopped by a Hokuren filling station, their flags were out of stock. It's the flag in the first picture that an attendant gave me at that time, saying that if I didn't mind, it was one of the last year's. So, I added "+1" to the year number, 2000. The small slip of paper reads "It certifies that you filled your tank in the NORTHERNMOST service station." Take a look at the second picture next. The flag in the picture was given in 2006 and the small slip certifies that I ate SEA LION meat in the small island of Rebun.
　　By the way, I'm vaguely thinking of the next plan. How about Karafuto, Sakhalin in English. I heard the paths in Sakhalin are mostly bad and have bumps all over. Should I replace my scooter with an off-road type motorcycle? Or shall I rent one somewhere? At present, I'll visit Sakhalin in 3 years. I was going to visit South Korea several years ago, and I learned the Korean language. Now I can understand basic conversation required in usual sightseeing, like greetings, for shopping, for the transportation system, and so on. However, Russian appears to be fairly difficult. What shall I do?

　飛行機は伊丹に着いた。大阪からは６時間かけて愛媛に戻るが、神戸に寄り道。来春のカナダツアーについてスキー仲間と相談する。もし彼らが行くなら一緒に行こうと思う。３年前に成田に降りることができず、エアカナダからのプレゼントのソウルツアーをした仲間だ。そして２１時頃自宅に着いた。事故もなく楽しい旅だった。

　以下に写真を呈示する。２００１年のツーリングでホクレンの旗が在庫切れでその前の旗をもらった。なので＋１と追加記入している。小さな紙切れは日本最北端の給油所で給油したという証明書。土地柄か、このような証明書があちこちで配布される。今回も知床の先端を見たという証明書をもらった。２枚目は２００６年の旗。礼文島でトド肉を食べたという証明書を付けている。
　さて、次の計画である。今のところ、３年先くらいの樺太ツーリングを考えている。道が悪いらしいのでオフ車で行かなければならない。買い換えるか、レンタルするか、さらに挨拶程度のロシア語を勉強していくか。

　これでツーリング記はおわりです。長い間お付きあいくださりありがとうございました。

Simukappu Village

　　After lunch in Rokugounomori, I entered Shimukappu Village, and the sky got darker. I believed that I would be sure to be caught in the heavy rain sooner rather than later. I parked my scooter at a rest place, "Michinoeki Shizen Taikan Shimukappu". There were about 20 riders other than us, who were changing their jackets into rain jackets and wrapping their possessions in nylon bags. I also did so and restarted. Crossing the Hidakatouge Pass, the torrential rain started and I wasn't able to take pictures until my hotel this day. I arrived at today's hotel in Chitose City wet to the skin.

　空の色が暗くなってきた。占冠村の道の駅では雨準備にとりかかるライダー数名を見た。覚悟して２３７号線を下るようだ。日高峠を越えてからの雨は尋常では無かった。実は、この後の写真がないのだ。いかに酷い雨だったか想像できよう。びしょ濡れで最後のホテル、新千歳クラウンプラザホテルに到着。この夜は我々のためだけに店を開けてくれた日本料理店で豪華な夕食だったが、写真写りが悪いので一枚だけ酒の写真をＵｐ。

Shari, Abashiri

　　It wasn't raining in the morning on Aug. 9th! I was so happy to see the blue sky even though partially, but I started with a rain jacket on in case of sudden rain. I got on my motorcycle at Shiretoko Hotel and rode off to Koshimizu Natural Park through Shari town viewing the Sea of Okhotsk on the right and the mountains on the left on the way. The season of full bloom in the park was June and July, so I couldn't see the best scene of the park.
　　I stopped at a crab shop next, which was run by the fisherman's family. Since I had dropped in at the shop 17 years ago, I've sometimes ordered crabs online from my hometown. My name is fairly rare in Japan, and the owner remembered my name. I sent crabs to my acquaintances from there. There's a custom of giving a present in summer, called Chugen, and I sent them from the shop.
　　The last picture was shot in front of a motorcycle shop in Abashiri City. It was my third time to visit the shop. One of my members had a tiny problem with his motorcycle and visited it for some maintenance work. The owner didn't remember me, but I recalled what had happened on the previous two tourings. They are nice memories.

　８月９日の朝、雨が降っていない！が、念のためカッパで出発。ウトロの宿からすいている道を快走し、小清水原生花園に着く。花の時期には少し遅れた。しばらく散策。次に立ち寄ったのがカニの店。９７年に着たときに立ち寄って以来、カニを度々注文しているので名前は覚えていてくれた。ここから花咲ガニを中元としてお世話になっている方々に送る。そして、なぜか網走方面に来るたびに寄ることになってしまうバイク屋。メンテを依頼して再出発。

Shiretokomisaki Cape

　　The topic, Shiretokomisaki Cape, is located on the tip of the peninsula with the same name, which pokes out of Hokkaido to the east. The end of the peninsula, about 1/3rd of it, is off-limits. Ordinary people are stringently prohibited from stepping in the area for the conservation of nature. The area is also the highest concentration field of brown bears.
　　I have been eager to visit the cape since long ago. However, if you walk to the cape, you have to get permission from the authorities and need a veteran guide. It takes time and cumbersome procedures. I decided to utilize a sightseeing ship, though I wouldn't be able to land on the cape.
　　We had reserved the tickets of the ship in advance and it was supposed to cast off at 10 o'clock. We left our hotel at 8 o'clock and headed for Utoro, the port from which the ship would start.
　　The first picture shows the route from Shari to Utoro. The sky wasn't clear, but it didn't rain at that time. The next one shows our sightseeing ship, Aurora 2. Our expected voyage time was 3 hours and 15 minutes, and so the first thing we did on-board was a toast with the special beer which we could only purchase on-board. Three hours were thought to be enough to become sober.

(Vocabulary)
cumbersome 〈手続き・やり方などが〉 面倒な, 煩わしい;〈物が〉（重くて）扱いにくい, 運びにくい; 〈発言・表現などが〉長ったらしい, わかりにくい, 込み入った
cast off  綱を解いて出航する; ＜人＞を見捨てる, 追い出す, ＜…＞を放棄する, 捨てる

　知床岬観光船を予約していました。１０時発でしたので川湯温泉を８時過ぎに出て車の殆ど走っていない道を快走。道路の写真は別にアルバムにまとめて整理するつもり。船はモーターボートのチャーターから小型観光船、このオーロラまでいろいろな種類がありました。この船はトイレ、売店など整っており、最も安価で、揺れが少ないことで選びました。ただ岸に近寄ることができないのが欠点でした。３時間あまりの航海なので船に乗ってすぐに船内限定ビールで乾杯！

Folk Dance of Ainu Descendant

　　After a nice dinner, we went out for a walk in the used-to-be-busy street of the Kawayu Onsen Spa. I had been there 17 years ago and the center of the town was swarming with tourists at that time, but today the number of people on the street even in such a high season was a half or a quarter of former times. I was sad to see how the town was. Several Ainu descendants were performing their traditional dance and musical instruments on the makeshift stage. We enjoyed them for a while.
　　Ainu people had once lived in Hokkaido and the northern part of Honshu, the largest island of Japan, and now have been completely absorbed in Japanese people. When two peoples lived closely, one of which had their own letters and the other didn't, the latter would become a part of the former. It's the inevitable rule of history. Several Japanese researchers of linguistics left a series of achievements written in Japanese about the language of Ainu. However, their accurate pronunciation had already evaporated in years. Today, their words are retained only in the names of lots of places, lakes, mountains, rivers and so on in Hokkaido.
　　I had visited an Ainu cuisine restaurant in Tokyo once. They surely used ingredients which I could imagine that Ainu people would have used, but all the cuisine was seasoned by soy sauce, oily dressing materials or flavouring, even mayonnaise, which didn't exist in the world of Ainu. Their culture is rapidly disappearing.

(Vocabulary from comments)
resurrect〈昔のことなど〉 を復活させる;《通例受け身形で》 〈死者〉 をよみがえらせる
He has been trying to resurrect his political career. 彼は政治家としてもう一度花を咲かせようとしている．

　ホテルで夕食後、川湯温泉の中心温泉街を散策。寂れように驚く。１７年前はかなり賑やかだったのに。広場ではアイヌ民族の血を引く人たちが伝統芸能を披露していた。北海道、東北のアイヌは日本人と同化し、樺太や沿海州のアイヌたちはロシアなどに同化した。文字を持たない民族と持つ民族が国境を接した場合、文字を持たない民族が消えるのは歴史の必然。とはいえ、この文化がなくなるのは惜しい。最後の写真は前の日に余市のニッカ蒸留所で買い求めたウィスキーとつまみ。愛媛からはるばるやってきた弟子屈町で旅情に浸る。

Obihiro City

　　We were supposed to get together with another motorcycle freak in Obihiro, which is 250km east of Yoichi today. The new member was to fly into Hokkaido in the same way as us. I found a variety of interesting goods in the gift shop of the distillery, but I didn't have time to examine and pick them up. I wished I could have stayed a night in Yoichi, and I would have visited another museum concerning space and astronomy. Anyway, we left for Obihiro in the rain. We passed through Otaru City, one of the historic cities in Hokkaido without our feet setting on soil.
　　We got on the expressway at Otaru City and headed for Obihiro City. To tell the truth, I don't like riding on the expressway, because motorcycle riding on it requires more attention than driving cars due to its high speed. However, there was no other way to save time. The weather became worse, and thick fog started to cloud the shield of my helmet. We had to take a rest at least once an hour.
　　No sooner had we arrived at the hotel than another friend came to us. He must have ridden faster than us. After taking our possessions to each room, we set out for dinner in the downtown of Obihiro City. The downtown was so boisterous and it made us cheerful even in the rain.

(Vocabulary from comments)
obnoxious
1 〈人・発言などが〉 ひどく不愉快な, 鼻持ちならない
2 〈においが〉 とても臭い

Nikka Whisky Yoichi Distillery

　　Yoichi town is a small town in the west of Otaru City, but it's famous for being the hometown of Mr. Mamoru Mouri, the first Japan-native astronaut, and also for the home of Nikka Whisky Co., Ltd. The company opens part of its distillery up to the public. I really wanted to see inside of the distillery.
　　The founder, Mr. Taketsuru, spent years in Scotland to learn how to make whisky. After mastering the art of producing distilled alcoholic beverages, he came back to Japan and started his career at the predecessor of Suntory Co., Ltd. Several years later, he established his own company in Yoichi at 40 years old, whose climate was just like that of Scotland and it was the reason why he had chosen Yoichi as the home of his factory.
　　I learned the procedure of making whisky walking along the tour route in the exhibition hall. I was able to try all kinds of their products, but I had to ride my motorcycle later. It was very regrettable not to be able to taste the fresh whiskies and/or brandies straight from the distillery.
　　By the way, another motorcycle freak would join us today in Obihiro City. We had to leave for the designated hotel right now. There was historic Otaru City near there, but we had just passed through the city.

(Vocabulary)
art 《常に単数形で》技術, 熟練
the art of (doing) sth ＜…＞（すること）の技術
Television is ruining the art of conversation. テレビのせいで会話が乱れている．
be quite an art  高度な技術を必要とする
Writing advertisements is quite an art. 広告を書くのは高度な技術を要する．
predecessor prédəsèsə(r) || prí-/  前任者; 前身, 前作, 旧型 [反意]  successor
sth's predecessor ＜…＞の旧型
The new model has a more powerful engine than its predecessor. 新型モデルには旧型より強力なエンジンが搭載されている．

http://www.nikka.com/eng/distilleries/

　余市にあるニッカウヰスキー余市蒸留酒製造所へ寄った。以前から一度は来て見たかった場所だ。創業者の竹鶴氏はスコットランドに学び、ここで蒸留酒造りを始めた。余市の気候がスコットランドに似ていたため、ここで創業したという。製造工程の説明、蒸留所の歴史、創始者にまつわる歴史、、、多くの知識を得た。試飲コーナーが充実していたが、運転があるため飲めず残念だった。

Kamui Misaki Cape (神威岬)

　　We dropped in at Kamui Misaki Cape, one of the tourist attractions of Shakotan Peninsula. The lighthouse on its tip was lit in 1888 and has been working until now. It is the fifth oldest lighthouse in existence in Hokkaido. The whole of Kamui Misaki Cape is known by its spectacular terrain. It has long been said in a legend that women must not go to its tip, or something horrible would happen. However, the legend is the legend. Anyone can walk to the very tip of the land now. You might think that the gate in the picture looks like a torii, shrine gate and you are right. The entrance of the path to the lighthouse seemed to be designed with the legend in mind.
　　By the way, whatever you say, the specialty of Shakotan Peninsula is sea urchins. I was going to eat it there, but the popular and single restaurant at the cape was so crowded and I had to give up eating it there because today's schedule was extremely tight. There were other sightseeing spots and we had to ride more than 400km today. It was not difficult to appreciate how bad the situation had become due to the detour in the morning.
　　After coming back to the parking lot from the lighthouse, I immediately headed for Shakotan Misaki Cape.

(Vocabulary)
appreciate …を認識する, 理解する, (困難を)察知する
appreciate how/why  どれだけ［なぜ］…かを認識する
It is difficult to appreciate how bad the situation has become. 状況がどれだけ悪化したのかを認識するのは難しい．

　神威岬と呼ばれる岬はオホーツク側にもあるが、ここは積丹半島の神威岬、日本海側に突き出ている岬だ。道の駅オスコイかもえないを出て切り立った壁に沿う道路を走り到着した。最後の縦長の写真は岬の先端から陸地側を眺めたもので、良く見ると結構危険な場所に遊歩道が付けられている。岬の入り口には鳥居のような門がある。昔、この地は女人禁制だったという。楽しみにしていたウニはパスせざるを得なかった。朝の通行止めによる迂回で１時間以上時間のロスがあっただめだ。今日はなんとしても帯広までは行かなければならないため涙を呑んで食堂前を通り過ぎた。

Morning Spa

　　The brightness of outside woke me on Aug. 6th. We were so battered from the rain on the previous day that even the pale light of early morning was a blessing without rain. The first two pictures were shot from our room. Our inn was located in the deep forest and its scenery was absolutely fantastic. It was the time when nocturnal fairies of the forest went back home.
　　The next picture was shot at the outdoor bath. You might feel it curious that I have a smartphone in my left hand in the picture, but it's for the remote control of the camera. I was able to use the functioin of self-timer, but I had to be back to the original position rapidly in 15 seconds, and if I did so the surface of the tub wouldn't become calm in such a short time. As you can see in the picture, it was a really relaxing time. As I'm a city kind of person, I'd taken to the time in such an inn in a big way.
　　Following the morning spa, the breakfast was served, which was prepared using local organic products and wild vegetables. Do you notice an egg on the plate? It's called Onsen-tamago, boiled in the source of the hot spring. It is often seen in Japanese hot spa resorts.
　　The weather wasn't perfect today, but it was good enough for the tourists who had been plagued all day yesterday by heavy rain.

(Vocabulary)
pale　〈光が〉薄暗い, ほのかな
the pale light of early morning 早朝の薄明
take to … ～が好きになる、～になじむ
wild vegetable 山菜

　柄にもなく、ちょっと詩的に書いた文章です。朝の光で目が覚めました。前日、大雨警報の中を走った身には飛び上がるほど嬉しい朝靄（もや）です。雨は降っていません。宿は森の中にあるので静かで、最初の２枚は窓からの風景です。起き抜けにすぐ温泉でのんびり。スマホを持っているのはリモート撮影のためです。スマホとデジカメが繋がるので便利です。セルフタイマーも使えますが、浴槽の縁にカメラを置いているので構図を決めがたく、スマホの画面にカメラの画面が表示されるのはとても便利です。１０秒ほどで浴槽の中を走って元の位置に戻ると水面が荒れてしまいますし、スマホの遠隔操作は便利でした。決してとなりの女風呂を撮影しようなどと考えているわけではありませんからね。朝食は地元の食材、山菜、温泉卵。朝食も運ばれてきました。宿泊料は８０００円くらいだったかな。布団を敷いてもらい、片付けてもらい、そして食事をわざわざ運んでもらい、申し訳ない感じです。さて、今日はツーリング行程中もっとも長く走る日です。４００ｋｍ以上走るので早々に出発です。

Koikawa Onsen Ryokan Inn （鯉川温泉旅館）

　　When we arrived at our inn, the rain ironically became gentle. Tonight's inn was established 115 years ago and is one of the oldest in the Niseko area . Niseko is endowed with nature and is now getting more and more tourists from all over the world, especially in winter.
　　The first thing we did in our inn was to bathe in the old and historic hot spring. We went straight to the spa after carrying our possessions to our room. Luckily, there was no one with us. I took two pictures of inside and outside of the spa and I'll show you below. The hot spring was really comfortable even in the rain.
　　Generally speaking, guests eat in their own rooms in the traditional style of a Japanese inn. At cheaper inns, however, instead of the traditional style of having meals brought to your room, guests eat in restaurants, such as a sushi bar and teppanyaki restaurant. We presumed that all the guests would be gathered in the eating room, because the lodging expense wasn't so high, but our dinner was served in our room. I was so surprised.
　　Wandering in the inn, I found that the inn was designed in the old fashioned style and it had no bigger room for meeting for dinner. It might be the reason of the unusual service in the guests rooms. Not to mention it, the dinner was great and we went to the spa again in the dark.

(Vocabulary)
endowed with sth ＜才能・美貌(びぼう)など＞に恵まれて
no one with us  我々以外には誰もいない

ついたら雨が小降りになった。なんと皮肉な。(^_^;) ここは鯉川温泉旅館という築後１１５年の古い温泉宿。旅装を解いてすぐに温泉へ直行。１１５年の歴史を物語るような温泉成分がこびりついた風呂。湯量はたっぷりで湧き出るがままの掛け流し。雨の中の露天風呂での写真をＵｐ！食事は部屋に運ばれてきた。高級な旅館ではないのだが、皆が集まって食事を摂るようなスペースがないからだろう。名前に惹かれて秘湯ビールを買ったが、秋田県産だった。秋田県は秘湯と呼ぶにふさわしい温泉がたくさんあるからまあ許そう。愛媛で作ったりしたらお笑いだが。

The Instant Ramen Museum

　　I made a side trip to the Instant Ramen Museum next. I presume that you've eaten instant noodles, which are called Ramen in Japan. It's hard to imagine that we could live without instant noodles now. In the case of huge disasters, instant noodles are unquestionably one of the most important emergency foods. Anyway, who invented instant noodles and where? This question came up to me when I found this museum on a map seeking for places to kill time before my flight. The first picture shows the appearance of the museum and the statue of the person who invented instant noodles. He was a Taiwan-native Japanese, Momofuku Ando, the founder of Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd.
　　In the museum, a small wooden hut was exhibited. It was the reconstruction of the instant noodles laboratory. I stepped into it and saw old cooking utensils, some of which reminded me of my childhood. On the other side of the wall, numerous packages of the company's-made noodles were presented as you see in the following pictures.
　　The entrance was swarming with kids, who were going to create their own cup noodles. It was one of the events for kids. They were able to design the package as they liked and choose the ingredients. More than 50 teams of parents and kids were trying to make their cup noodles from the flour. It might be a good lesson for kids and would make them feel the joy of invention.

(Vocabulary)
make a side trip 立ち寄る

インスタントラーメン発明記念館にて。インスタントラーメンを発明した日清食品創業者。台湾出身の日本人がインスタントラーメンを開発実験を繰り返した小屋の展示、オリジナルのカップヌードルを作るイベント、、、創業者が大切にしていた勲章、タイムに偉人として取り上げられた記事、などいろいろ展示されてもおり、楽しめた。親子連れでごった返していた。

Summer Vacation

　　My summer vacation has just started! I was going to visit Palau this summer with my wife, but her schedule is too tight to do so, and I decided to go riding in Hokkaido. Riding motorcycles in Hokkaido is very popular due to its comfortable climate and vast, beautiful scenery. ANA, All Nippon Airways, sells a package tour to ferry passengers with their motorcycles from Osaka to Hokkaido, so I reserved a place on the tour.
　　My hometown and Osaka were formerly connected by ferry, but the failure of the former DPJ Administration lead to the abolition of the service. I'm so angry with their foolish policies, even now. I had to go to Saijo City - it took an hour - to use the ferry service to Osaka.
　　The ferry leaves Saijo City at 22:30 hours and arrives at Osaka Nanko Ferry Terminal at 6:00 hours the next day. Passengers are allowed to get on board two and a half hours before the departure, so I parked my scooter at the designated area on the ferry a little past 20:00 hours and went straight to the spa! This ferry was newly built and its spa was very nice. The first picture shows my bedtime snack: jakoten, a kind of fish sausage, which is a local specialty of Ehime Prefecture and, naturally, some beer!
　　The ANA asked me to bring my scooter to the cargo terminal at Osaka International Airport before noon tomorrow, and so I'll be able to enjoy sightseeing until then.

(Vocabulary)
ferry  (船・車・飛行機で) …を運ぶ, 輸送する

　今年の夏休み、去年からパラオへ行こうと計画していたのですが、家内の都合が付かず延期し、北海道ツーリングとなりました。ラリーの仲間二人と北海道を巡ります。ＡＮＡスカイツーリングを利用するのですが、出発が大阪なのでフェリーを利用します。以前は松山から関西への直行フェリーがあったのですが、民主党の高速道路無料化で航路が廃止されてしまいました。ところが、今は有料になっています。フェリーは戻ってきません。民主党憎しと思う理由の一つがこのフェリー廃止です。フェリーよりも車を使わせるよう誘導することは、鳩ポッポが宣言した温室ガスの抑制目標に反するのですが。ポリシーの存在しない政権でした。

　出港２時間前には乗船し、スクーターを所定の場所に駐めて、風呂とビールを楽しんでいます。風呂は船の中とは思えないほどの湯量で、十分に熱く、気に入っています。つまみはじゃこ天。地元では「てんぶら」と呼ぶこのじゃこ天ですが、英語では何と呼べば正確に伝わるのだろう？今度ネイティブを捕まえて尋ねて見ます。

Cycle Ride

　　Where are you reading this entry? I think most subscribers are accessing from outside of Japan. So, let me talk about the principal islands of Japan first. Japan is an archipelago consisting of four bigger islands and several thousand other smaller islands. The four bigger islands' names are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu from north to south. These islands are connected by tunnels and/or bridges. Shikoku, where I live, is linked to Honshu by three routes. Each route has several bridges with distinctive scenery.
　　I'm going to write about one of these three routes, Shimanami Kaido Route, which is the highway connecting Imabari City in Shikoku and Onomichi City in Honshu. It has 11 bridges equipped with bicycle paths. Local governments of Shikoku and Honshu are struggling to make the route better known in the world.
　　Today, a cycle ride meeting sponsored by Imabari City was held and I attended it with my friends. We chose an intermediate category of a 40km-long route out of three, i.e., 100km, 40km and 10km. It was not so hard for us and we enjoyed the scenery of the seaside.
　　At the 35km point, on the way back, a good aroma attracted us. It was from a barbeque joint, which was located at the seaside. We couldn't resist taking a rest there. The barbeque was great, but after drinking a canned beer, the remainder of the ride was hard.

Minshuku, Guest House

　　I have utilized various accommodation facilities in foreign countries; hotels, condominiums, B&Bs;, dormitories and so on. Likewise in Japan, there are several styles. The inn which we had chosen today was "Minshuku Tanabe", that is, Mr. Tanabes' house. "Minshuku" is a form of accommodations, which is nearly a folk's house. The lodging expense of this type of accommodation is lower than average hotels.
　　Japanese lodging facilities, including minshuku, are strictly regulated by the government with respect to the security of the customers. The buildings have to pass the inspections concerning fire prevention measures and earthquake countermeasures. Additionally, they have to do evacuation drills regularly. The sanitary management is also inevitable.
　　The inn is located in the deserted mountainous region and the cuisine served to us was produced around the inn. It wasn't flashy, but gorgeous for people in urban areas. Moreover the inn had its exclusive source of hot spring and it was one of the reasons why we chose this inn. We fully enjoyed the hot spring.
　　Though in May, the darkness comes early in the mountainous area. After the long shadows of surrounding mountains above us cast a thick, black darkness on every object near us, the best amusement after dinner was walking outside under the feeble lighting by numerous stars, listening to the sound of water in the small stream, wild animals and leaves' rustling. I couldn't see any animals or insects, but there surely lived lots of creatures.
　　Coming back to the inn and after bathing in the hot spring, another party started.

Site of Legend

　　The fortune-telling pond of Yaegaki Shrine, which I wrote about in the last entry, is located deep amid the trees with quiet dignity. Shrines are dedicated to the deities of Shinto, Japan's ancient religion. We felt purified there and headed for the center of the Chugoku region. Here, call to mind the map of Japan. The largest island of Japan is called Honshu and the western part from Osaka in Honshu is the Chugoku region, which consists of the prefectures of Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Shimane and Tottori. Several noted legends are left around this region and tonight's inn is just in the center of the Chugoku region.
　　By the way, Japan is one of the most industrial countries, but the area we visited was an isolated and rural place. Naturally, no pollution around. The young people in the villages started raising grapes for wines several years ago here, harnessing the rich soil and ideal sunshine for grapes. They finally hit the big time. We dropped in at their winery to see how it was going. Tasting a variety of wines was great fun, though it was very sad for drivers.

(Vocabulary)
call to mind 思い浮かべる
hit the big time 成功する

Mellow Out Party (ほろ酔い会）

　　The title of this entry is the term coined by me to describe the regular meeting that is held quarterly in the Matsuyama Chuo Lions Club to which I belong. Can you figure out the characteristics of the meeting from my translation?
　　It's a party to enjoy Japanese sake along with seasonal dishes, which go well with sake. Japan has four distinctive seasons and each season has a considerable amount of unique foods. Likewise, huge kinds of Japanese sake are produced across the country by the grace of pure water.
　　I live in Shikoku, which is the 4th biggest island of Japan, and there are more than 80 sake breweries in Shikoku. The hosts of the most recent party collected 28 representative sakes from 28 sake breweries. The scent and taste of some of those sake attracted me and I'll show you some below. Those dishes and sake were very nice and I unthinkingly drank too much. I lost my memory after leaving the party and getting on a tram, and I found myself in my bed the next morning on the receiving end of an icy stare from my wife.
　　By the way, I found a phrase "as drunk as an owl" in my dictionary. It seems to indicate "heavily drunken", so "Mellow Out Party" might be better if it was modified to "Owl Party", at least in my case.

(Vocabulary)
Mellow Out Party  ほろ酔い会　（注記：筆者による造語）
mellow (out) (酒などを飲んで) くつろぐ, いい気分になる
mellow sb out …をいい気分にさせる, くつろがせる
coin 〈新語など〉を作り出す; 〈貨幣〉を鋳造する
the disk jockey who coined the term "rock 'n' roll"  「ロックンロール」という新語を作り出したディスクジョッキー
quarterly 　年４回, 四半期ごとに
by the grace of God　神の恵みによって
on the receiving end （攻撃・非難などの）的になって

Mandarin Chinese

　　When I visited Vancouver last time, which was two years ago, the departure of my flight from Vancouver was delayed and moreover the plane couldn't land in Japan due to a furious wind. I was supposed to arrive at Narita International Airport, but the plane couldn't land, not only in Narita but in any other airport in Japan. My plane had to stop over in Seoul and I was stranded there for a day.
　　Back to the track, I dropped in at a Chinese restaurant for lunch, which was located in Chinatown in Vancouver before departure. Lots of the same Kanji characters are used in Japan and China, but to my regret, I couldn't confidently understand the name of the dishes on the menu, though it was written using Kanji characters. I've heard most Chinese people in Vancouver came from Hong Kong and so the language on the menu might be Cantonese. However, I silently decided to start learning Mandarin at that time and two years have passed since then.
　　Today, I finished a 2-year curriculum of Mandarin Chinese in a nearby private school. My present Chinese level is only that of fundamental beginners, but I'll continue to learn it. Next time I'll visit the same restaurant, and I'm going to order what I want to eat IN CHINESE! I can manage to read Chinese news websites with the help of dictionaries and I'm very pleased with the sense of attainment of a basic understanding of Chinese.

Rain Forest

　　Japan is rich in hot springs and this tiny island also has several. We went to the farthest south of the island to use a footbath, which was run by local government and was free. While I soaked my feet in the hot water under the subtropical strong sunshine looking over the horizon, sweat came out of my body.
　　Next, we took a walk in the midst of the rain forest. A waterfall behind which we could step was the main feature of this area. It was comfortable for a heated body. I came across a ruined shrine on the way, whose approach was so steep that my wife didn't climb up for fear of losing her balance. Though it was simply constructed only by round stones, its stability was amazing. Japan is an earthquake country!
　　We took a type of hotel called minshuku, which provides room and board at low prices, and has a good reputation, due to the warm family hospitality provided. I asked for local cuisine for dinner in advance and "shima sushi" was served for the first dinner. In shima sushi, not the raw fish but marinated pieces of fish were topped on the handful shaped rice. Their color didn't work up an appetite, but they were really delicious.

(Vocabulary)
marinate ~ in a mixture of …を混ぜ合わせたものに～を漬け込む
give sb an appetite  ＜人＞の食欲を刺激する
work up an appetite  食欲をわかせる

A Few More Days

　　In the days leading up to the Ehime Marathon, I'm taking care of myself not to catch a cold with some kinds of Japanese herbal medicine. I've trained to complete the marathon for the past year. I don't want to give up through trivial things such as a cold. Nearly 9,000 runners are supposed to join the marathon, which might be called a local festival. Lots of sponsor companies offer their product or funds. Various kinds of oranges, which are one of the best specialties in Ehime, buns, bananas, strawberries, tomatoes and other food supplies will be placed along the route for runners. Additionally, I'm going to take some special meals designed for effective calorie-supply, which are shown below.

(Vocabulary)
lead up to sth 〈期間が〉 ＜…＞の直前に迫る
trivial 　些細(ささい)な
a trivial matter 取るに足りない問題
a trivial sum of money 雀の涙ほどの金額
bun [C] バンズ (小さな丸形のパン)