Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Ryukyu Dynasty

　　After the sunset, we visited the illuminated Shuri Castle, which had been the seat of power during the period of the Ryukyu Dynasty. The last picture was shot in a traditional restaurant in which we had dinner. The local musicians of cojaco and her friends were playing various Okinawan music and they were full of hospitality and really nice.

(Vocabulary)
Ryukyu Dynasty　 琉球王朝

At Fishery Market

　　The pictures show a fishery market in downtown where we visited first after our arrival in Naha, the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture. As we expected, we found a few dozen kinds of fish and seafood, some of which were of flashy colors or rather larger than those I see in my everyday life. I didn't really want to have them, but just tried some of them. We had several fishes cut to slices, sashimi in Japanese, and had a big shrimp roasted. The roasted shrimp was good, but the sashimi was terrible. I was sure that the flesh of the sashimi was fresh, but the taste wasn't so good. Those who are used to eating fish and seafood captured in Seto Inland Sea would feel like me.

Enjoy Preparation (Japanese Spirit 2)

Joel Robuchon continued:
Customers have an expensive dinner in a stiff and formal way. He had never been satisfied with his own restaurant. He wanted to open the type of restaurant in which he could enjoy cooking and chatting with his customers.
　　He got inspired after seeing a sushi restaurant around 15 years ago in Tokyo. He was taken there by his Japanese friend who was also a food critic by trade. A chef was preparing fishes just in front of him and he was surprised to notice that there was no uncomfortable fishy smell and the chef's working space was kept considerably clean. Enjoying the conversation with customers, the chef served his own prepared dishes to them. Everything was new to Mr. Robuchon and every time he visited Japan, he had dinner there. Cooking ingredients and the chef's skills were exposed to customers. Japanese food preparation involves good cutting skills and watching them must have been fun to customers. Before customers, he changes even the cutting method to prevent blood, scales, or other unfavorable stuff from scattering towards his customers. It would be the key to counters that customers and chefs could chat at ease face to face.
　　His first visit to Japan was in 1976. He seems to have been overwhelmed by its overall cleanliness at that time. Knowing the harsh training of Japanese chefs and their respect to their own occupation, he felt happy.
　　How did the counter come into existence in Japan? I'll write about it in another entry.

http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/13-reasons-why-i-fell-in-love-with-japan/
(Vocabulary)
stiff and formal  堅苦しい, よそよそしく形式ばった
Japanese food preparation involves good cutting skills. 日本料理の調理には高度な包丁さばきが必要です。
at ease リラックスして, 安心して, 打ち解けて

Counter In Japanese Restaurant (Japanese Spirit 1)

　　Bar counters where alcoholic beverages are served are found worldwide, while ones where you can eat dishes are seen only in Japan. Outside Japan, dishes are prepared in another room dubbed a kitchen and brought to the customers. You can find them in hamburger shops such as McDonald's and Tim Hortons, but it is designed as a place just for passing food items to the guests. The guests frequently take seats at the counters facing the walls or outside through windows, so it should be acceptable that the guests could eat hamburgers facing the staff members of the shops, but that case is extremely rare or non-existant. Considering why, you could feel the Japanese way of thinking. To tell the truth, it's not until seeing the TV interview with French chef, Joel Robuchon, who has been frequently referred to as the best chef in 20th century, that I found the Japanese spirit in the counters of Japanese restaurants.
　　I'll sum up his story from now. He closed his three-star restaurant in Paris in 1996 and opened a new restaurant, in Roppongi, one of the busiest areas in Tokyo in 2003. He introduced the counter style into his FRENCH restaurant. In the interview, he talked about his intention. I thought he might know Japanese spirits better than I. I will also show you the URL of his restaurant, which has an English page. You can see inside his restaurant. I'll be sure to drop in at his counter style restaurant on my next visit to Tokyo.

(Vocabulary)
sum sth up （＜…＞の）要点を述べる,（＜…＞を）要約する

Cycling and Taiwan

　　One of my friends proposed a wonderful plan for people who went skiing together in Whistler last March to get together and enjoy cycling along the Shimanami cycling path connecting Shikoku and Honshu, the smallest and biggest islands of the four main islands of Japan. It was great and the day of action was set for Nov. 3rd.
　　We rented our bikes at the Shikoku side of the path. I have my own bike, but I rented one. When one of us got exhausted, we could return the bikes at the nearest rental point and get back by bus or something. That's why we utilized the rental system of the bikes.
　　This cycling path is well known for the beautiful scenery of the Seto Inland Sea. The first picture shows a poster of the path put up on the wall of a rest house. Did you notice that it's written in Taiwan style Chinese? I recalled that Taiwan was the home of Giant Manufacturing. I suppose that cycling would be popular in Taiwan too.
　　I searched for famous places for cycling sites in Taiwan and found RiYueTan (日月潭), which has a circular path around the lake. It looked really nice and I became eager to visit there.
　　Another picture is of an outdoor tea ceremony which was held in the grounds of Kosanji Temple on the way. It was an accidental invitation and I got nervous, but enjoyed it.

(Vocabulary from comments)
put sth forward ＜提案・論拠など＞を提出する, 述べる, ＜計画・意見など＞を提案する, ＜学説など＞を提唱する=propose
The committee is meeting to discuss suggestions put forward by members. 委員が提出した提案を話し合うために委員会が開かれている．

Edible Chrysanthemum and Water

　　A parcel from an acquaintance arrived today. What the first picture shows were the contents. They were edible chrysanthemums and I've never seen that kind of chrysanthemum until today. They originated from Yamagata prefecture, which is located in the northern part of Honshu which is the biggest island of the Japanese archipelago. My acquaintance privately obtained their seeds and raised them by himself. They seems to be a highly appreciated expensive ingredient in Japanese cuisine. My wife prepared them following the way he suggested. Its crispy texture and aroma were great. Japanese cuisine must be emphasized with it.
　　Japan is a small country, but has a variety of climates due to its longitudinal shape from the subpolar to the subtropical region. Moreover, Japan has an abundant supply of water nationwide. The success of the cultivation of this kind of chrysanthemum would be attributed to the diversity of climate and abundant clean water.
　　Talking of water, when I joined an event which was held by the joint association of Japanese sake breweries around my hometown on October 5th, the bottles shown in the next picture were served at first. They were bottled water which had been used for producing sake in respective breweries. Producing nice sake absolutely requires clean water. Those bottles of water were the pride of each brewer. I am really thankful that Japan is rich in water.

Air Canada(AC) Lounge and Business Seat

　　It was the first time I had stepped into an international flight lounge run by airline companies. I had used the ANA(Japan-based Airline) lounge for domestic flights once, but that AC lounge was far above it. Over having light meals and alcoholic drinks, I enjoyed a TV program of the London Olympic Games. I spent about three hours there, wondering if the flight was delayed further, and I must have been seriously drunk. I had to kill an hour even after boarding. During torrential rain, all the services like fueling up, loading up and supplying food and amenities were suspended on all flights, which was why I had to spend an additional hour before taking off. Some canned beers and snacks were served during this time. When the plane moved to cruising from ascending, I saw how the seat worked and was surprised to see it become perfectly flat. I told an attendant not to wake me up even at dinner time, and slept. Perhaps with the efficacy of alcohol, I had a good sleep and when I woke up, dinner was served. It was a really luxurious experience.
　　When I arrived at Narita, I was really full of energy, so I successfully got through the baggage claim, customs, and passport control as I had intended, and received a hotel coupon and 3000 yen for supper from Air Canada. Together with the last trip, the total of three hotel coupons and five meal coupons were offered from Air Canda this year.

The Ontario Parliament

　　At the end of the trip, I visited the Ontario Parliament. This Romanesque building was standing in the Queen's Park and was built in 1893 according to my travel guide. Its brown wall was very beautiful in harmony with the surrounding greenery. In spite of its location downtown, I found several squirrels in the park, which would imply the ecological sensibility of Canadian people. I'd like to have seen inside the building, but to my regret, it was late for the official sightseeing tour. I found the statue of John A. MacDonald in the park too. It was because I came across him again that I wrote "too". I remembered I had seen his statue also in Charlottetown. According to the description beside that statue, I knew he had been the first Prime Minister of Canada.
　　I had supper at a Mediterranean restaurant near my hotel because I hadn't had Mediterranean cuisine before, so I just tried it. The cuisine in the poster put up on the window facing the street looked really nice, but I was sorry to have chosen the restaurant. It might be acceptable for local people. However, I didn't like it.
　　Coming back to my hotel, checking the weather report on T.V., I packed my possessions up. The next day's weather would be fine and I fell asleep with ease.

(Vocabulary)
Romanesque  ロマネスク様式の
greenery 青葉, 緑の草木
ecological sensibility  環境意識の鋭さ
put up a poster  ポスターをはる
with ease  容易に, 簡単に, たやすく

Poor Parental Feeling

　　The first thing that caused my concern when I got up in the morning was about my daughter, who had spent a night in an unfamiliar house. I had already planned to visit Toronto Islands, but I decided to stop by her school to see if she could get to the school by herself.
　　I bought a one-day free ticket for transportation including subway, streetcars and buses. This single ticket allowed me to utilize all these transport means alike. It was very helpful that I didn't have to worry about fares. I could get on and off them wherever I wanted.
　　As I wanted to look at her school and see its locale, I arrived rather early and took a walk around the area in which my daughter would spend a month. As a result, I felt a sense of security. I dropped in at a Tim Hortons near her school to have breakfast. This franchise is seldom seen in Japan, or perhaps there aren't any in Japan, I thought, so I took a snap of my breakfast.
　　The school requested that students should check in the school between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. on the first day. However, she didn't show up at 8:00 a.m. I was afraid that she had lost her way to the school, and was concerned for some time, but finally she appeared at 8:25 a.m.

(Vocabulary)
parental feeling/tenderness  親心
locale [C](フォーマル) 場所, (事件・事故などの) 現場; (小説・映画などの) 舞台, 背景（地）=setting
a sense/feeling of security  安心感

(Vocabulary from comments)
for better or (for) worse  良くも悪くも; (結婚の誓いの言葉で用いて) 生涯いついかなる時も
Tim Hortons はカナダと米国のごく一部（？）にだけあるようです。スタバのような店です。

Lonely Supper

　　I would stay two nights in Toronto. My hotel was the Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Center, which was located in the heart of the city and was really convenient for visitors like me. I was alone and lonely. I wondered what my daughter was doing in her homestay accommodation. Anyway, I decided to eat some kind of convenience meal and went to the nearest restaurant across the street. It was a Sushi restaurant and I remembered a fake Japanese restaurant in Charlottetown, but this sushi restaurant was located in downtown Toronto and I believed it must be nice. A waitress served me, who wore a kimono in the wrong way and couldn't communicate in Japanese. She was born in Japan and brought up in South Korea. To my further surprise, there was a counter and it was designed for customers to enjoy chatting with sushi chefs face to face. Sushi bars with such counters are extremely rare outside Japan. I sat at the counter at first. A single customer is usually introduced to a counter seat in Japan, but I was shown to a table seat for four persons. The sushi chef didn't emit even only one Japanese word and the waitress told me that their rice was imported from Japan, but I didn't think so. My tongue was better than they expected.
　　I would write about what the counter in Japanese restaurants means in another entry. I'm sure you would be surprised to know that.

(Vocabulary)
eat some kind of convenience meal  何がしかの簡単な食事を取る
serve [他]〈店員が〉〈客〉に応対する
There was only one girl serving customers. 客の応対をしていたのは女の子の店員1人だけだった．

I'd like you to read this article.
http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/13-reasons-why-i-fell-in-love-with-japan/

Peculiar Restaurant

　　We chose a peculiar restaurant named "Rainforest Cafe" for dinner, which was located on the busiest street, Clifton Hill. The inside was designed to simulate the rain forest. Several mechanical animals such as gorillas, birds and elephants moved around us and even the roar of thunder, squalls and animals often echoed through the hall. Can you detect a gorilla in the first picture?
　　After dinner, while we walked to our hotel, we found an array of concrete blocks with steel wires connected. They were anchors of the tightrope which I showed in the previous entry. I'm scared of heights and I found it unbelievable that a human being walked on the rope set at such a high place.
　　Coming back to our room, I found a small lamp on the phone blinking. It was the sign of a message left on voice mail. My daughter checked it. It was from the transport service company, informing us of the delay of the next day's shuttle bus to Toronto. Because the company knew our flight schedule, they thought the delay didn't mean a lot. However, it was too one-sided. I unconditionally had to obey their modified schedule and changed the sightseeing plan on the next day. If we had received a refund, we could have changed the shuttle bus into the train as the means of transportation to Toronto. Finally, we killed the early hours uselessly on the next morning.

(Vocabulary)
echo through/around sth  ＜場所＞に響き渡る, こだまする
The sound of thunder echoed all around the valley.  雷鳴は谷じゅうに響き渡った．
drop/weigh anchor  錨を下ろす/錨を上げる
be scared of sb/sth  ＜…＞を怖がる
She's scared of spiders. 彼女はクモを怖がる．
I find it unbelievable that  …とはとても信じがたい
blink〈ライトなどが〉点滅する
mean a lot (to somebody)（＜人＞にとって）とても重要である
one-sided〈試合・会話などが〉一方的な;〈関係などが〉一方的な, 不公平な
a one-sided contest  一方的な勝負

Wandering in Charlottetown 2

　　I wrote about a folk house in the previous entry. When it comes to Canadian houses, I have some pictures I'd like you to see. The first picture reminded me of a phrase in the Japanese translation from Anne of Green Gables. When Anne got a job teaching high school, she rented a room, a part of which jutted out. I couldn't imagine what it was like, but I believed that what was written in the novel must have been this roundly projected structure the moment I saw this house.
　　I'll show you additional beautiful houses. Judging from the sign saying "Museum and Heritage BEACONSFIELD HISTORIC HOUSE 1877" in the second picture, the houses around here might be for display only and no one actually lived in the houses. However, I really wanted to see inside ordinary people's houses. I wonder if I'll stay in a B & B the next overseas trip.
　　By the way, do you know "Tim Hortons"? I didn't know its name until visiting Prince Edward Island. It is apparently  a chain of coffee shops just like Starbucks and it looked like there was a majority on the island. I tried dropping in. I couldn't exactly tell the difference from Starbucks', but I felt it was a little stronger. I heard several people say "Double, double!" in a shop. What's that? It seemed to mean two milks and two sugars. Later I repeated the same order in Toronto, but they didn't understand me.

(Vocabulary)
teach school/college  (米) 学校［大学］で教える
My dad taught school in New York.  父はニューヨークの学校で教えていた．
jut (jut out とも)突き出る, 張り出す
jut out/into/from   外へ［…の中へ，…から］突き出る
jut sth out ＜唇・あごなど＞を突き出す
project from/over/through sth ＜…＞から［の上に，を通って］突き出る [同意] protrude
try doing sth 試しに＜…＞してみる
Try walking to work instead of driving.  車で行かないで会社まで歩いてみたら．
chain [C] チェーン（店）, 系列網
a chain of sth  ＜…＞のチェーン
a hotel/restaurant/retail chain  ホテル［レストラン，小売］チェーン

Guided Tour 3 (North Rustico)

　　Lunch was one of the regional specialties, "lobster," at a small fishery village of North Rustico. The restaurant was friendly and seemed to be run by local fishermen's housewives. The fishing season of North Rustico's offshore area was only May and June, and would start in August on the opposite side of the island. It meant we visited there between both fishing seasons, but our lobsters were kept alive in a tank until our arrival. It was delicious. I doubted if that happens anywhere in Japan.
　　After lunch, we took a walk around the restaurant, just behind which was the seashore. I found a hut there with a signboard saying "Deep Sea Fishing". "Deep Sea" reminded me of the sea layer where weird creatures live. I wondered what would be their target? I walked toward a cluster of people, who at least didn't look fishermen. Several leisure fishing boats were moored there. The fishing rods were common and their target would be common fish living 50 meters under the sea at the very most.
　　By the way, what do you think they are in the last picture, which was shot at the same place. They were the traps for catching lobsters. Fishermen place them on the sea bottom where lobsters live and wait for lobsters coming in. I examined one and understand how it works. It was wonderful and was elaborately made.

(Vocabulary)
a local/regional specialty  地元[地方]の特産品
at (the) most  最大で(も), せいぜい
It'll take 20 minutes at the most. かかってもせいぜい20分だろう．
at the very most  どんなに多くても, せいぜい

Japanese Cuisine ?

　　We were going to watch a musical, Anne of Green Gables, in the evening and had dinner a little earlier at a Japanese restaurant. We wanted to eat rice though it was only 2 days after leaving Japan! The name of the restaurant was "TA-KE SUSHI", the window of which I'll show you later. "TA-KE" means bamboo in English. Sitting at a table, disposable chopsticks were set on it in advance. See the second picture showing them. A Japanese phrase meaning "welcome" was written on the paper bag of the chopsticks. If you were Japanese, you would feel something was strange. We felt the same way.
　　The next picture is the menu. I ordered a "French Kiss Roll" out of mere curiosity, though I couldn't imagine what it was like. A few minutes later, the dishes in the next picture were served, though we didn't order them and I knew that the restaurant was run by Korean people. It was the Korean way. The last picture was the dishes we ordered. Something on the near side was the "French Kiss Roll", which I had ordered. The far side one was my daughter's order. I don't remember its name. Their taste was terrible. Was that Japanese cuisine? Far from it! I feel so sorry for those who eat something here, believing that they are eating Japanese cuisine. We left most of them.
　　For some Canadian Sushi Bar's honor's sake, I will add some comments. I have three recommended sushi restaurants in and around Vancouver; Sachi Sushi in Whistler, Sushi Bar Musashi at the end of downtown Vancouver, near Stanley Park and Kamei royale near Fairmont Hotel Vancouver (http://www.kameiroyale.com/contact-kamei-royale.html). These restaurants serve genuine Japanese cuisine. Some kinds of dishes are better than the original Japanese ones. I think that Vancouver is rich in fresh seafood. So, I expected Canadian domestic sushi imbued with a Canadian chefs' innovation here, but I felt let down by the above dishes. Finally we ended up grabbing a light meal at a supermarket.

(Vocabulary)
let sb ↔ down 《通例受け身形で》＜人＞を失望させる, がっかりさせる, の期待を裏切る
feel let down (by sb/sth) （＜…＞に）失望する, がっかりさせられる

(Vocabulary from comments)
quite a few かなり多くの

Hungry

　　I woke up around 2 o'clock after midnight. I had kept motionless with my eyes closed for some time, but I couldn't sleep. I resigned myself to the influence of jet lag and got out of bed. I wondered what I should do. Besides, I felt awfully hungry, but there was nothing to eat apart from the leftover cookies from our in-flight meals. Reading a travel guide book, watching TV using my headphones, packing my suitcase,,,; when I was doing these to kill the time, my daughter woke up and got angry at me saying "be quiet!" Actually, she was right. The hands on the face of the clock on the wall seemed to be at a standstill.
　　Finally, it got past 6 o'clock. I went out to foray, and got something like a sandwich, the name of which I didn't remember. I just chose it in the showcase. Its taste was terrible, though they say, "Hunger finds no fault with the cookery." The picture is it!
　　One more thing, it was my first visit to Toronto and I found that almost all the signboards were written in two languages, English and French. Fliers found in the airport were also written in both languages. In Vancouver, I didn't notice this. The number of people who use French in everyday life would be larger than that in Vancouver.
　　Anyway, it would be troublesome to prepare two versions of everything.

Narita International Airport

　　It was a wildly hot day. As we took a rather long walk around the Tokyo Skytree and Naritasan-Shinshoji Temple, we  perspired and really wanted to have a shower before departure. We expected that there would be several shower rooms in the airport and we were glad to find them on the plan of the airport. As soon as we received our luggage from the transport company at the airport, which we had sent from our home two days before, we checked in our luggage. The shower rooms weren't wide and were rather shabby, but it was really comfortable to clean my body before being confined into a small seat for around 12 hours.
　　I almost forgot. I had to write about the wireless router which I rented at the airport. I heavily rely on the map of the smartphone in Japan when traveling in an unfamiliar area, so I was going to use it in Canada, too. The router which I rented was supposed to work across Canada. I'll write about it later.
　　The plane which we got on board was a Boeing 777 and relatively clean inside. I had a rough impression that Air Canada wasn't clean from my several experiences of being on board an Airbus A330 between Vancouver and Japan. It was not true, however, this time. The picture shows the in-flight meal between dinner and breakfast. The combination of a cup of noodles and sandwiches was great.

(Vocabulary)
check in one's baggage  搭乗手続きをして荷物を預ける

Trip of Atlantic Canada

　　My daughter has been eager to stay abroad and learn English during her summer vacation since her admission to university. She earned enough money tutoring some high school students or working in a restaurant as a waitress. The destination which she chose was Toronto. It's because there were fewer Japanese in Toronto rather than on the West Coast or western Canada such as Vancouver. She was going to fly into Toronto by herself at first, but her grandfather was afraid that she might be involved in some accidents on the way and told me to take her to her homestay destination. This is the commencement of this trip.
　　I chose Air Canada AC002 which would start at 5:20 PM every day from Narita International Airport. To reach the airport from my hometown, you have to travel to Tokyo International Airport firstly, and next travel to Narita International Airport by bus or train. It takes about one hour. Even if we left about noon, we could make it on time, but we set out for Tokyo International Airport on the first flight in the morning to spend half a day in Tokyo.
　　My eldest daughter, who lives in Tokyo, welcomed us at the airport. We dropped in at the Tokyo Skytree, which is the 634 meter-high broadcasting tower and was completed this spring. Then we visited Naritasan-Shinshoji Temple to get charms to protect daughters from everything bad.
　　The picture shows our lunch, broiled eels on rice, which is the speciality around Naritasan-Shinshoji Temple.

(Vocabulary)
make it on time  （乗り物などの時間に）間に合う
broiled eels on rice  うな重

(Vocabulary from comments)
feel bad 恥ずかしく思う, 残念［気の毒］に思う, 申し訳なく思う
feel bad about
I feel bad about not helping you. 手伝ってあげられなくてごめんなさい．
feel bad for
I felt bad for him. 彼がかわいそうだと思った．

Barbecue in Hirota Village

　　Someone from my SNS friends came up with a nice plan to enjoy a barbecue in the mountainous village near my hometown. Two designated drivers couldn't drink alcohol, but I spent really nice hours there. It was in the rainy season, but it didn't rain though the sun didn't appear.

White Beer

　　Do you know white beer? I didn't know about it. The picture is of the white beer (Weissbier in German). In the same way as there is white and red wine, does beer have such a kind? This beer was also from my second daughter. It seems to be made from wheat. I drank it last February, but I saw it on a German educational TV program. That's why I posted the picture.

(Vocabulary from comments)
fond
《[名]の前不可》
be fond of sb; grow fond of sb; be fond of (doing) sth
be not very/overly fond of something  ＜…＞があまり好きではない
《[名]の前でのみ》 (言葉・表情などが) 愛情のこもった, 優しい
a fond farewell  愛情のこもった別れの言葉 = affectionate
《[名]の前でのみ》 (人が) 優しい, 情愛の深い
[成句]
a fond hope/belief(フォーマル)  (非現実的な) 甘い望み［考え］
in the fond hope/belief that  …という甘い望み［考え］を抱いて
fond memories  懐かしい思い出
be fond of doing sth  ＜…＞ばかりしている
He is very fond of giving out advice. 彼は人に意見ばかりしている．

(Vocabulary from comments 2)
be staffed by sb〈組織・部署は〉＜人＞がスタッフである
The store is staffed by volunteers. その店のスタッフはボランティアだ．
hiatus (交渉・仕事などの) 中断, 休止
on hiatus (米) 中断して =break

Sake Lovers' Meeting

　　My Lions Club sometimes holds unique parties. Today's was the gathering for the members who love Japanese sake. The owner of a long-established sake brewery belongs to my club and he offered his best products and other company's sake were also served. I enjoyed chatting with friends over a variety of wonderful sake, though I got rather drunk.

(Vocabulary)
established shop / long-established business  老舗