Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

The Perch

　　I visited "The Perch", which Ten-noh picked up in his memoir 30 years ago, with my wife and daughter. There were some willow trees in its garden and I asked a waiter how old those trees were. He told us that the trees were said to be 700 years old and the pub was 800 years old, though the pub itself caught fire three times in its life and had been rebuilt accordingly. I was amazed at its long history. The pub seemed to be renovated lately and they should stay at the same site in the next 800 years. Amazing resolution! As soon as I got into the pub, I found a poem on the wall, at the bottom of which the signature of Samuel Johnson was written. I knew his name only and the poem was new to me. It was a little hard to understand promptly for me, and I took its picture just for future reference. At that time, a waiter gave me their napkin on which the poem was printed. Now, I fully understood its full sentence and I'll add its Japanese translation and the picture of the napkin at the bottom of this entry. I agree with his thought from the bottom of my heart.
　　I've almost forgotten to refer to today's dinner. I ordered the dish of mackerel and the suggested white wine and local beer. We ate raw salmon at a Japanese restaurant called "Edamame" in the downtown of Oxford for lunch, and it was really nice. Surprisingly for me, the U.K. can apparently get fresh sea food. My only experience of European sea food is in Freiburg in Germany. People in Oxford might be angry if I compare the U.K. surrounded by sea with inland Freiburg. This mackerel was also delicious and went well with the wine. The U.K. is surrounded by the sea and the salmon is imported from nearby Norway to Japan and so, my tongue is quite at home with Norwegian salmon. There's no way that sea food in the U.K. tastes bad.
　　By the way, it's very hot and muggy this season in Japan, but in Oxford, it was a little chilly. A comfortable breeze made me feel happy like being on top of the world. I wondered how many people had spent their joyful hours here for these 800 years. The words of Samuel Johnson penetrated deeper into me.

(Vocabulary)
just for future reference 後学のために
mackerel サバ
inland 内陸の
at home 慣れている

Edamame　枝豆
https://www.edamame.co.uk/home

人間が考え出したものの中で、いい居酒屋や旅籠ほど幸福を生み出せるものはあるまい。
　　　　　　　　　　　　　サミュエル・ジョンソン(18世紀イギリスの文豪)

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　天皇陛下が良かったと書かれているパブ、Perchへ娘も一緒にやってきた。ウェイターに尋ねると目の前の木の年齢は７００年程度と言われているとのこと。店は８００年くらいでその間に数回火事になり立て直しているとのこと。その伝統に驚く。最近改装して次の800年もここで頑張るという。店に入ると壁に文豪サミュエル・ジョンソンの言葉が書かれていた。意味はすぐにはつかめず、後で調べようと思ってメモ代わりに写真を撮ろうとすると、ウエイターからその詩が印刷されているナプキンをもらった。難解な文ではあったが、日本語の翻訳も書いておく。まさに同感。

　書き忘れるところだった。今日の夕食はサバ料理にワインと地ビール。昼には「えだまめ」という日本料理店でサーモンの刺身を食べたが、新鮮で美味しかった。意外だったがイギリスは新鮮な魚が手に入るようだ。僕のヨーロッパの経験はあとはドイツのフライブルクなので、内陸の街フライブルクと比較してはオックスフォードの住人に叱られるかもしれない。周りは海だし、サーモンは日本にもノルウェー産が輸入されている。イギリスのサーモンがまずいわけはない。

　それはともかく、日本だとこの時期、蒸し蒸しとした不快な気候だがここではむしろ肌寒いくらいの心地よい風が吹いている。最高の気分。800年前から一体どれほどの人たちがここでくつろいだのだろうか。サミュエル・ジョンソンの言葉が心に染み入る。

Christ Church College

　　After giving them a parting wave, we headed for Christ Church College, which was one of the tourist destinations in Oxford. The main purpose of my wife might be visiting a gift shop associated with "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" , which was written by a professor in Christ Church College.
　　Be that as it may, it was past admission hours, but by my daughter showing her Id card, we were allowed to enter the college. Some tourists were staring at us jealously. I admired my daughter's present status and felt proud of her.
　　We walked along the tour course and entered the hall where the students have meals. When I entered this hall last time, its majesty surprised me and it deprived me of my carefulness, just overwhelmed me in other words, so I looked at the interior details this time. I saw lots of painted portraits. I was able to identify one of them as the portrait of John Locke. He seemed to have belonged to this college. Knowing that, I asked my daughter why she didn't choose Christ Church not Pembroke College. She answered that most students of this college were posh and she didn't like such an atmosphere. I understood her feelings, as she had always been modest in Japan. The memoir of Ten-noh helped me understand her college life in Oxford at the same time.
　　When I entered the hall, the prep for dinner had just started. It was the reason the sightseers were stopped from entering. The tables on the raised platform were called the "high table" and teachers and postgraduates are designated to be seated there. My daughter had been seated at the high table a few times to adjust the number of members at the high table.

(Vocabulary)
Be that as it may それはともかく、
majesty [U] 雄大さ, 壮麗さ

　New Collegeのあと、クライストチャーチコレッジを観光した。近くにある「不思議の国のアリス」ゆかりの店に行きたいとカミさんが言うもので、クライストチャーチの方がついでかも。
　それはともかく、観光客の受入時刻は過ぎていたが、受付で娘が自分のＩＤカードを提示すると何の問題もなく通してくれた。時間切れで入られない人たちの羨望のまなざしが印象的だった。娘の成長を有り難く思い、また誇らしく感じた。
　まずはホールへ向かった。学生たちが食事を取る場所である。前回訪問時にはその荘厳さに圧倒され注意力を失い、ただただ驚いただけだった。今回は掲げられている絵画に注目した。そしてジョン・ロックの肖像画を見つけた。このコレッジで暮らしていたという。
　娘にこのコレッジを選べば良かったのにと話すと、ここの学生はposhな人が多くて自分には合っていないとのこと。今回は陛下の留学記のお陰で大学のシステムが少しわかっているのでいろいろと得ることが多い。
　ちょうど学生達の食事の準備が始まったところだった。そのために一般観光客は入場不可となったのだろう。一段高いところにあるテーブルがハイテーブルと呼ばれ、教官クラスが着席する。一部大学院生も人数調整の必要からテーブルに呼ばれるそうだが、なんと娘も座ったことがあるという。凄い経験だなと我が娘ながらその成長に驚く。

The Trout Inn 2

　　The internal details of the pub were great and its atmosphere was also relaxing, but we chose an outdoor table to enjoy the scene. At first, I ordered one of the local beers of Camden pale ale, which reminded me of the scene of Chipping Campden where I drove a rental car with my second daughter five years ago. Taking a close look at the picture, however, I found the difference in spelling. This beer was brewed at Camden town in London not the Cotswolds, but it was OK. My heart was full with the fact that my wife and I were with my youngest daughter who had successfully finished all the courses of Oxford University which has long been acknowledged as No.1 in the world. I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I forgot the name of our dishes.

　室内の装飾も見事だったが風景を楽しみたいため外の席を選んだ。
　まずは地元のカムデンビール　エールタイプのビールを選択　まずはイッパイ！
このビールを選んだのは、５年前に次女とドライブしたイングランド・グロスターシャー州のコッツウォルズにある小さなマーケットタウン、チッピング・カムデンを思い出したから。良く見ると綴りが違うし、後で調べると全然関係なかった、、、(^_^;)　ロンドンのカムデンタウンで造られていた。まあ、ＯＫ。世界ナンバー１の大学を卒業した娘とここに居るだけで何も言うことなし。写真のような料理をオーダーしたのだが、料理名はサッパリ忘れてしまった。

https://www.thetroutoxford.co.uk/#/

 

The Trout Inn 1

　　I reached The Trout Inn in the end by my daughter's car. It was about 30 minutes from the city center of Oxford. I knew this pub from the memoir of Japanese Ten-noh who had studied water transport by the Thames nearly 40 years ago. He apparently came here with his guard by bicycle. Having read his memoir, I was eager to have dinner at this pub.
　　I'll show you its external appearance below. I wondered how old this building was. I should have questioned someone about that, but the waiters looked busy. A few hundreds years or more, I thought.

　娘の運転する車でついにやってきたパブ、Trout Inn。市内から３０分。天皇陛下は留学中、警護官と共に自転車でテムズ川沿いを走って立ち寄ったという。留学記を読んでいてなんとしてもここで食事をしたかった。
　まずは建物外観の写真をＵＰする。一体どれくらいの歴史があるのだろう。誰かに尋ねれば良かったのだが、店員が忙しそうで機会が無かった。数百年の歴史はありそうだ。

https://www.thetroutoxford.co.uk/#/

My Daughter

　　I saw my daughter at a bus stop of Thornhill Park&Ride. She would have gone through lots of hardship with a brave spirit in the unfamiliar country. I got an impression that she had stepped up on the next stage of life. It's a pity that she is shy and doesn't want me to upload her picture.

It was about 7 o'clock and we left our baggage at the hotel room and headed for the Trout, which I'll show you below. The Japanese Ten-noh spent 2 years here in Oxford in his 20's. His memoir was one of my travel guidebooks this time. I'm going to roam over something related to him.

My trip memo of this travel would become considerably long.

三女と再会

Thornhill Park&Ride で娘と再会した。随分としっかりした印象を受けた。イギリスで苦労してきたのだろう。逞しくなったものだ。とてもシャイで写真を載せるなと言われているのが残念。１９時を過ぎているのでホテルへ荷物を置いてすぐに天皇陛下お勧めのパブ、The Trout へ向かった。先に書いたとおり、天皇陛下は２０代の二年間、オックスフォードで自由な学生時代を送られている。彼の人生で恐らくこの二年間だけが自由な時間だったのだろうと推察する。その留学記に書かれている地名をできる限り歩いてみたいと思っている。この自分の旅行記は長くなりそうだ。

Arrival

　　Ireland and Scotland are coming within eyesight. It was about 40 minutes until the landing, but a familiar "Cup Noodle" was served. I was a little bit hungry and this service was timely. I frequently pick ANA and I'll ask ANA to prepare this type of instant noodles. Looking out of the window, I identified Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and London Eye which I visited with my second daughter five years ago. I didn't think I'd come back to the U.K. at that time. I was really happy to visit the U.K. again. My plane smoothly touched down on the soil of the U.K.

　視界にアイルランドやイギリス本土が入ってきた。到着まで４０分ほどしかないのにカップヌードルが出てきた。欲しい人だけのサービスだが。小腹の空いたときに重宝する。フライト中に出されたのは初めて。いつも使うＡＮＡにもお願いしてみよう。食べ終わって外を見るとバッキンガム宮殿、Big Benビッグベン、London Eyeが見える。5年前次女とぶらぶら歩いた界隈だ。懐かしい。飛行機はスムーズにヒースロー国際空港第5ターミナルに到着した。

Second Meal

　　The second meal was served. I'd already changed the time of my watch to that of the U.K. at take-off, but I didn't know whether this was lunch or supper.
Anyway, I had to continue to fly at least eight hours more and ordered another kind of red wine. My choice was boiled chicken in chili sauce and my wife chose Udon noodles as shown in the following pictures. I tasted the Udon. Its taste was tailored for the western style.
　　My seat was an economy seat and cramped, but the flight was smooth and comfortable. I was going to the U.K. traveling more than halfway round the earth.

　二食目が配られた。これはランチなのか夕食なのか、良くわからない。時計は出発時にイギリス夏時間に設定しているが。家内は焼きうどん、僕はチキンのチリソース煮をチョイス。まだ８時間は乗っていないといけない。違った種類の赤ワインをオーダー。ちなみにうどんは西洋風。これはこれでおいしかった。
　エコノミーシートは狭いが、ほとんど揺れない快適なフライト。地球を一気に半周以上回ってイギリスに向かっている。

British Airways

　　My wife and I started an overseas trip after an interval of three years. I chose British Airways this time for the first time. There was no specific reason for the choice, but I just wanted to pay respect to the U.K.
　　One of the amusements during the flight was every meal. After taking-off, we were served drinks and I asked for a red wine, which will be shown below. We toasted to have fun staying in the U.K. For the meal I asked for chicken.

Germany Day

　　Uchiko Town and Rothenburg in Germany have struck a sister city treaty for about 10 years. A variety of events concerning Germany take place in this town every year, but the recent COVID-19 pandemic has prevented them from planning those events for three years. After the pandemic, a German Fiesta took place today and I joined the event.
　　People from abroad centering on the German got joined and showed their traditional things to the public. The musical band performed several music of Germany and the EU, and I spent a very relaxing holiday. The kinds of German dishes and beers were the only downside of the event.
　　In my home town of Matsuyama City, the October Fest has taken place every year in recent years. I wonder if it would be held this autumn. I wish that society would return to its original situation as quickly as possible.

Short Drive

　　I'm purchasing camping gear bit by bit nowadays and I dropped in at a camping site to see how it was. The site was equipped with a communal outdoor kitchen and lavatory, but the scenery was terrible. The camping ground was surrounded by low bushes. I didn't like it. I continue to look for my best place to camp from now on.
　　On the way back, I came across a considerably old sake brewery which was full of atmosphere. I chatted with the owner for a short time. The sake brewing seemed to have been suspended due to the pandemic. People were strictly regulated not to get together for parties or events. The sales of the products of the brewery declined, but he kept lots of stocks of old sake in its storehouse and showed them to me. One of them was sitting there for 39 years. Even the owner didn't know its taste. I bought it from curiosity. What taste does it have? What's the best occasion to taste it?

(Vocabulary)
sake brewery 造り酒屋

Wine Party

　　My friends got together at my house. After the wine tasting, we had a blast. We exchanged personal updates with each other. One of us will turn 60 soon. The age of 60 is considered as a milepost of life in Japan. We toasted for his birthday two weeks in advance.

Robotic Server

　　Ozu city is located in the south of my hometown, whose population is only 40,000. I was working in the city until 6 years ago and I was invited to join a party there.
　　The party was held in a small izakaya, Japanese style bar, in downtown. Sitting at the table, a waitress handed us a slip with a QR code printed on it. Scanning the QR code, the menu appeared on the screen and we had only to tap on the pictures of dishes to order. The bill was automatically calculated and we were able to check it anytime. I understood that this method would save the modification and printing costs of the menu.
　　And one more thing, some of our orders were served by a robot. If I were in Tokyo or big cities, this could be, but I was in a small rural city. I wondered if it was due to the lack of workers.

Owakudani Vent

　　Our waiting time for a gondola was very short. The gondola commanding a fine view of mountains, crater lakes around Mt. Fuji and some vents spewing water vapor was one of the highlights of our Hakone tour. As the gondola went up, the water vapor came up in front of my eyes. Just after passing the peak, the scenery changed completely from the green hillside to the bare wild surface of the mountain. At the same time, I felt the smell of the volcanic gas. Looking down, there were a few personnel working. I presumed that they were from the official authorities and monitored the activity of the volcanic activity. Under their strict management, you can enjoy sightseeing there.
　　We got off at Owakudani station and took a walk around, but it was considerably cold for autumn clothes. We took refuge in the station building and got this site's institution of black eggs, which were produced by the heat of water vapor from the natural vent. These kind of eggs are seen in Beppu in Kyushu, but their eggs are white. I didn't know why eggs there were colored black. Anyway the material of popular black eggs are ordinary eggs and the energy is free as it's from natural vapor. Most tourists get them. The business must be lucrative, with 5 eggs for 500 yen(3 US.dollars). Its taste should be naturally the same as ordinary boiled eggs, but due to the cold air, it was very nice for us.

Black Eggs

　　Take a look at the picture at the bottom.
　　It might make your skin crawl, but four black things in the picture are simply smoked eggs which I got at a convenience store in the Hakone area. Naturally, you can eat them. I think such black eggs sell only in Hakone. This item is produced by smoking them in a factory, but it's an imitation of black eggs made by the use of natural resources in Hakone. To tell the truth, I mistakenly got them as original ones, but they were ordinary smoked eggs. I'll show you genuine black eggs of a noted product in another entry.
　　And, as for taste, I didn't like it. I prefer normal boiled eggs.

Supercharger Gotenba

　　Tesla's supercharger at Gotenba is sited in the parking lot of a renowned coffee shop chain. We'd like to take a rest in the shop, but the charge of my car would be done within 20 minutes. As soon as the charge finished, I'm supposed to move my car out of the charging spot for the next car. We gave up visiting the shop and stayed in the car viewing YouTube video. We were going into the mountainous area and charged a little more electricity than usual.
　　This city is home to "Toraya", one of the famous sweets companies in Japan. I stopped at its factory-and-shop complex to please my wife who has a weakness for sweets and we enjoyed mutually different sweets to be able to taste two kinds of sweets. The taste was really nice.
　　I ordered Kuzukiri, which is called arrowroot starch noodles or Kudzu starch noodles in English. I picked one topped with kuromitsu, dark honey.

(Vocabulary)
have a weakness for ～には目がない
arrowroot starch noodles or Kudzu starch noodles　葛切り

Hitsumabushi

　　After leaving Otsu city, we arrived at Hamamatsu at a stretch without a rest. Thanks to the superb driving assistance by the Tesla's artificial intelligence, the driving was fun and comfortable. Hamamatsu is well-known as an eel farming area, and we dropped in at a famous eel restaurant along the highway.
　　We ordered "Hitsumabushi", which is a traditional dish of this area of rice topped with grilled eel, soy-based sauce, and spices such as Japanese pepper. "Hitsumabushi" is a portmanteau word which consists of "Ohitsu", the rice tub and "mabusu", the way you put the grilled pieces of eel, wasabi and Japanese pepper on the rice. It was the first time to have the traditional Hitsumabushi. A waitress gave us a short lecture how to enjoy them.
　　She advised us to eat Hitsumabushi divided into four times. At first we scooped out a quarter of the eel and rice into the empty bowl. Then we ate them without any spices enjoying plain but delicious eel. Next, you can enjoy them with several spices and toppings. Lastly, you pour dashi - soup stock in English - onto the rice and eel. This was indescribably tasty. During our gorgeous lunch, my car was also charged.
　　This highway is relatively newly built and various novel ideas are seen. One of following pictures show an electric bulletin board showing the number of vacancies.

(Vocabulary)
at a stretch without a rest 途中で休まず一気に
at a stretch 連続で, 続けて
Doctors are forced to work 36 hours at a stretch. 医師は36時間連続で働かなければならない．
Japanese pepper 山椒

Sauries

　　Sauries are common in Japan as a seasonal fish of autumn. I'm afraid its catch has been decreasing in recent years, but the price has kept relatively low. Sauries have been eaten since long ago and have been the food for commoners.
　　I'll tell you about a funny story descended from the Edo period. Sauries were thought to be food for ordinary people. One day, a shogun, a feudal lord, secretly went out for an inspection of the city. He was always concerned about how people's daily lives were. During the inspection, he found a cloud of smoke from a house with an appetizing smell and then he saw a saury for the first time. The shogun wanted to try one.
　　His subordinates were upset to hear that he wanted to eat one, because sauries were believed to be fish for lowly people. The taste, however, seemed to be supreme for him and he was so delighted. The place where he enjoyed it was "Meguro". After this happened, the shogun began to often say, "Meguro is the best place to eat sauries," though Meguro didn't have the sea in its area.
　　Even now, Meguro district in Tokyo hosts a "Sauries Festival" and offers lots of grilled sauries to citizens for free. This event apparently serves for accelerating the tourism business. The misunderstanding by the lord led to a big event now. What does he think about the "sauries festival"?
　　By the way, I grilled some sauries in my garden this evening. The weather was great for outside eating.

(Vocabulary)
saury 〘魚〙サンマ(科の魚)
catch [C] (魚の) 捕獲量, 漁獲物
lowly 身分［地位］の低い, 下層階級の

TYPHOON IS COMING

　　A typhoon is coming. The authorities alerted citizens to brace against it. It seems to be the biggest class typhoon ever. It was 60 years ago that the number of typhoon victims soared up to 5000! The magnitude of this coming typhoon is comparable to it. I hope that it will veer off from my hometown, but it's coming in the direction of my hometown. I stored food and water for two days. I charged my smartphone, mobile battery and my EV. In such cases, a portable power station of high capacity would be helpful, but I don't have it yet. I wish that the damage would be minimum.

(Vocabulary)
portable power station ポータブル電源

LIGHTLY ROASTED BONITO

　　I came to the adjacent Kochi Prefecture on business. The speciality of the prefecture is lightly roasted bonito. As I hit a restaurant next to my hotel and took my seat at the counter, the chef just started to grill bonito for other customers. He used a straw-fired power to aromatize bonito. Seeing the chef's maneuver, I became unable to reject my feeling and ordered one. It was great.

(Vocabulary)
lightly roasted bonito カツオのたたき
aromatize　～に芳香を付ける

Grill

　　My house was built 19 years ago, whose design was elaborately created by professionals. It's expansive, but keeps highly airtight on the other hand. The efficacy of air-conditioning is highly taken into consideration in its design. My wife hasn't allowed us to have a barbecue inside the house for these 19 years. She dislikes that the wall is stained by greasy smoke. Even in the cold winter, we had to stay outside if we wanted to roast meat and vegetables, or she cooks them in the kitchen equipped with a ventilating fan.
　　The other day, I happened to get a flyer on which a grill was introduced. It read that this grill doesn't generate any smoke and smell. The grill was delivered today. Its catchphrase was correct, but if you use it longer than usual, it emits a small level of smell and a certain ventilation is desirable.
　　It's wonderful to slightly toast slices of baguette with some cheese on the dining room table and have them with a glass of wine. I'll challenge the cheese fondue next time!