Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Necktie

　　I don't usually wear neckties even in my office. While commuting, I wear everyday clothes. As soon as I arrive at my office, I change my clothes to my white coat or surgical gown, so I don't need so many neckties.
　　Today, I had to attend an important meeting and looked for a suitable one in my closet. The one I found and will show you below was new to me. I didn't remember where or when I got it. Anyway, someone might have presented it to me on some special occasion. I tried to put it on. When I asked my wife for her advice, she found a weird word on it. Takeshima island, which has been illegally occupied by South Korea, was described by its Korean name. I immediately pulled this necktie off and threw it away. I got angry at South Korea.
　　Most Japanese media don't want to report the inconvenient truth of both Koreas and China, but now even ordinary people can get the truth online. Lots of Japanese people know the fact that Korean people distort their history. They damage lots of books and maps in public libraries worldwide. They insist that the Sea of Japan should be called "East Sea", though they don't appeal to China for the modification from Yellow Sea to "West Sea". I can read Korean a little, and the more I know about Koreas, the more I hate them.

ネクタイ

日頃ネクタイをしない。通勤はほぼ普段着で、職場に入るとすぐに白衣に着替える。ところが今日はライオンズクラブの会合があり、久しぶりにネクタイを着けることになった。誰かにもらったものだと思うが着けたことのないネクタイをクローゼットの中に見つけて着けてみた。家内がじっと書かれている地図を見て大変な事実を発見した。南朝鮮が不法占拠している島の名前が朝鮮読みになっていたのだ。すぐにこのネクタイを外し、捨てた。いったい朝鮮人ども、どこまで腐っているんだ。
　
日本のメディアの多くはシナ、朝鮮の不都合な真実を報道したがらないが、今では普通の日本人がネットで正しい情報を得ている。朝鮮人たちが世界中で公立の図書館などで本や地図を毀損していることを知っている。彼らは日本海を「東海」と呼べと言うが、ならばシナ様に黄海を「西海」と呼べとなぜ言わない？日本を馬鹿にしているのか？少しだけ朝鮮語を読めるのだが、知れば知るほど嫌になる国だ。＞朝鮮
　
黄海北道・黄海南道という北朝鮮の地名から黄海と名付けられたのでは？と思われる方へ：
　
ＷＩＫＩからの引用ですが、黄海道（ファンヘド、こうかいどう）は、李氏朝鮮の行政区分朝鮮八道の一つ。主要都市である黄州と海州から頭文字を取って命名された。黄海に面していた故の名称ではない。高麗時代は「西海道」と呼ばれていた。現在の北朝鮮の行政区分、黄海北道・黄海南道に相当する。なので、日本海を東海と呼べと主張する奴らが筋の通った連中なら、黄海を西海と呼ぶよう主張するはずなのです。

Memorial Day

　　December 8th came around. This is the day when Japan launched what you call a surprise attack against the U.S. Navy in Pearl Harbor in 1941. It's actually, however, the day when Japan was trapped to be forced to start the war by the U.S. If you want to know about the details, I recommend you read "Freedom Betrayed": Herbert Hoover's Secret History of the Second World War and Its Aftermath. Anyway, the war between Japan and the U.S. had already started in Mainland China at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The then U.S. President, FDR, had sent up-to-date fighter planes and excellent American pilots to assist the Chinese People's Party though it was obviously a breach of international laws. The troops which he had sent were called the "Flying Tigers".
　　Leaving the evil of FDR aside, the air attack is prominent in Pearl Harbor, but there were several young soldiers who performed suicide attacks in the ocean against vessels trying to get away from the harbor. They were praised after death and their monument was built at their training site, Mitsukue in Ehime, which is an hour away from my office. Today, their memorial service was held in front of their monument. I attended it in the freezing wind. The meeting was really solemn.

１２月８日　慰霊の日

今年も１２月８日がやって来た。これは日本が真珠湾へ奇襲攻撃を掛けたとされる日である。実際はルーズベルトの仕掛けた罠にはまってしまった日である。日本とアメリカの間の戦争は既に始まっていた。アメリカは自国の飛行機とパイロットをシナへ送り、日本と戦争をしていたのである。その部隊の名前はフライングタイガーと呼ばれる。

その話は置く。話を真珠湾攻撃へ戻す。真珠湾攻撃の際に航空攻撃ばかりが目立つが実は、真珠湾から逃げ出してきた艦船を攻撃するために湾口で待っていた部隊がある。彼らは自らの命と引き替えに攻撃を仕掛け、そして散った。彼らはその後軍神として祀られた。彼らが攻撃の練習をした場所で今日、彼らの慰霊祭があり出席した。寒風吹きすさぶ中、神職の祝詞（のりと）が唱えられ、出席者が玉串を供えた。

Trip to Onomichi City

　　I drove my car to take my wife to Onomichi City, which is three hours away by car from my home. The city is not so far, but I don't go there if not for a special occasion. Today, her alumni party was scheduled at noon in the city. Starting in the morning was perfectly reachable, but I left yesterday, as I wanted to have a drink with a person who lives in Onomichi City. As we started after my work, we arrived in the city around 9 o'clock in the evening. Then, though I had not enough time, I enjoyed chatting with him over some alcohol and he treated me. I felt so sorry. I have to return a favor.
　　Today, until noon, we were in Tomonoura, which we'd been to a couple of times. It has a distinctive history and is visited by lots of tourists every year. This time we moved to Sensuijima island for the first time, which floats just in front of Tomonoura. The shuttle boat between the island and our side was designed and named after "Iroha Maru", which sank off the coast of Tomonoura in the late Edo period. It's known as the ship of Rhoma Sakamoto, who worked as one of the driving powers to shape a new era, Meiji. A flock of red-jacketed people got on the boat in exchange with us. They were members of a local Rotary Club planning to do some volunteer work cleaning.

カミさんの同窓会が尾道で開催されるため運転手を務めた。尾道はうちから３時間ほどの距離で、高速道路で簡単に行ける街だが、何か用がない限り行くことはない。同窓会は昼からだから朝自宅を出ても十分間に合うのだが、一杯飲みたい相手がいてわざわざ前日の夜出発。仕事を終えてからの出発で到着は２１時頃。それからなつかしい飲み会となった。すべておごってもらい申し訳なかった。

で、今日は昼までは鞆の浦観光。何度か来たことがあり、歴史的にも興味の尽きない街だが、今回初めて仙酔島へ渡ってみた。この地は幕末に活躍した坂本龍馬に縁があり、彼の記念館もある。写真の船は仙酔島への渡し船だが、異様な形は彼の船「いろは丸」にちなんでいる。島から戻ってきて折り返す船に乗る赤いジャケットの一団は地元のロータリークラブ。島の清掃ボランティアに向かうらしい。

Wat Phra Kaeo and Grand Palace

　　The former king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, passed away on Oct. 13th in 2016 and was cremated on Oct. 26th in 2017. He was so popular among his people and they had been mourning for him over a year. Then the Thai government declared on Oct. 29th that the mourning period ended.
　　My friend, who lived in Thailand, told us about the king's cremation and its related ceremonies, which was a big surprise to me. That was; The Thai government built the cremation facility only for the king during the mourning period at the cost of 16,000,000 USD and the total expense of the funeral ceremony of the king was 96,000,000 USD. Additionally, the high-profile facility would be pulled down after the ceremony. I wondered why the government didn't preserve that as one of the tourist spots. Anyway the facility would be open to the public before its demolition from Nov. 2nd to 30th., and lots of people, not only Thai, but also international tourists, were eager to see the cremation facility during this period of time. That is to say, we chanced to be in Bangkok at the perfect timing. Plus the Loy Krathong the previous night. I recognized the reason why there were so many people around.
　　People around us were willing to visit the cremation facility, which was to disappear soon. My friend, who was able to speak Thai, got to the entrance to check the waiting time and it was about 6 hours. Immediately we gave up the sightseeing of this area. We asked a Tuktuk driver to run his three-wheeler around the Wat Phra Kaeo and Grand Palace, and it was our sightseeing. Seeing our disappointment, my friend took us to a nearby famous brand shop of NARAYA, a chain of bag shops. My wife got a casual bag at a reasonable price. It's used in her everyday life.

ワット・プラケオと王宮

日本ではプミポン国王と通称されるBhumibol Adulyadej国王が２０１６年１０月１３日に崩御され、２０１７年１０月２６日に荼毘に付された。国民に大変な人気のあった国王でタイ国民は１年間の喪に服していたが、タイ政府は１０月２９日を以て服喪期間が終了したことを宣言。

友人から説明を受けて驚いたのだが、この間にタイ政府は王宮前広場に約１０ヶ月の期間と１７億円を掛けて火葬のためだけの施設を建設。１０２億円をかけた仮葬の儀が終わるとこの仮葬施設は解体するのだそうだ。そして解体前に１１月２日から３０日まで火葬施設を一般公開するとのこと。我々は実に絶妙なタイミングでバンコクに来たことになる。さらに昨夜はロイクラトン（Loy Krathong）祭りが重なった。人が多いはずだ。

もう２度と見る機会のないこの施設を見るために人々が集まっていたのだった。友人が王宮の入り口まで確認に行ってくれたのだが、中へ入って施設を見るとなると６時間くらいは待たねばならないとのこと。即、諦めた。トゥクトゥクで王宮と火葬施設の周りを回ってもらい、外からその風景をちらっと見て観光を終えた。バンコクはまた訪問せねばならない。しょんぼりしていると友人がNaRaYaという店に連れて行ってくれた。お手軽な価格でカミさんは手提げバッグを購入。帰国後、大切に使っている。

 

Bang Pa-In Palace

　　I came by Bang Pa-In Palace on the way back to Bangkok. At my first glance, I figured out its magnitude and rented a golf cart. According to the explanation of the tour guide: This palace was built in 1637 by the 24th king of the Ayutthaya Dynasty, and was utilized as the retreat for a long line of kings to spend the hot summer. After the collapse of the Dynasty by the invasion of Burma, it was left deserted for a long time, but the palace was renovated and redecorated as it appears today by the two kings of the Chakri Dynasty, the present dynasty.
　　There were several buildings, like the shining building flavoured with Thai culture in the center area of the pond, a Chinese-like house, and a series of Renaissance buildings. I didn't have enough time to enter those buildings and just saw them from outside. Additionally, the garden was really peaceful and beautiful. I knew that the garden wasn't Japanese, but was that a Thai garden? Then I climbed up the tower in the middle of the palace and viewed around. The whole world around was flat as far as I could see.

バン・パイン宮殿

アユタヤからの帰途、バン・パイン宮殿に立ち寄った。一見して広そうだったので躊躇なくカートを利用した。ガイドの説明に寄れば、１６３７年、アユタヤ王朝２４代目のプラサート・トォン王が建てた宮殿で、歴代の国王たちが夏を過ごす別荘として利用されていた。１７６７年のビルマ軍攻略以降、しばらく放置されていたが、チャクリ王朝（現王朝）のラーマ４世と５世によって、現在のように再興された。

離宮には、いくつかの建物があった。湖の中央には華やかな光を放つタイ風建築建物。他にも中国風建築やルネッサンス風の建物などがあったが、全て見るには十分な時間がなかった。また緑が美しい庭園も素晴らしかった。これはタイ風の庭園なのかな？中央にあるタワーに登ると周辺が見渡せた。見渡す限り山を認めず。

 

Nagamasa Yamada

　　I studied a Japanese, Nagamasa Yamada, through several websites. Present Thai people don't seem to think highly of him, though he is evaluated on Japan's side. In the Japanese history textbook, he is generally supposed to have devoted his life to friendly diplomatic ties with Thailand. Anyway, though I wondered why the Japanese-targetted tour didn't include the ruin of the Japanese Village on its route, the reason might be in his unpopularity. The following picture is cited from the website of the Thailand Tourism Bureau.
　　By the way, I unintentionally recalled Hoi An in Vietnam. This historic city also has a Japanese village which was formed a couple of hundred years ago. I started to think of Vietnam as the next Asian destination.

(Vocaburary)
Hoi An　ホイアン

山田長政のこと

山田長政について、いろいろ調べてみると、現代のタイ人からは山田長政はあまり良く思われていないらしい。日本側では日本とタイの友好に尽力したことになっているのだが。日本人をターゲットとしたツアーで１６世紀には数千人が住んでいた日本人町の跡がコースに入っていないのが不思議だったのだが、原因はその辺にあるのかも知れない。（と勝手に思った。）最後の写真はタイ政府観光局のウェブサイトから引用したもの。ところで、ふとベトナムのホイアンを思い出した。ここにも日本人が大勢住んでいて日本人町が出来たと聞いている。次の東南アジア旅行はベトナムにするかな～

Wat Phra Mahathat

　　Wat Phra Mahathat is the ruins of a Buddhist temple, which is known by the head of the Buddha tangled up in the tree roots. The stone head would be cut off and rolled around a young tree when Burma invaded Thailand and it would have gotten caught in roots as the tree aged. Wat Phra Mahathat is one of the historically important temples about whose construction time two hypotheses exist. The towers of the temple are said to have been shining in a golden color, but now they had fallen into ruin through the war against Burma. There sadly remain the tree roots twined around the stone Buddha head, Buddhas without their heads, collapsing brick walls, and the bleached basis of the prayer hall at present. At the renovation in 1956, a huge historic estate was found and housed in Chao Sam Phraya National Museum. You can see lots of golden Buddhas, and valuable jewelry there. When I heard about the museum, I wanted to visit it, but it was not included on my tour route. This is my humble opinion, but can we not say that we wouldn't have been able to imagine the prosperity of the Ayutthaya Dynasty through only those ruins. It's really regrettable that I wasn't able to drop in at Chao Sam Phraya National Museum.
　　A Japanese, Nagamasa Yamada, moved to Ayutthaya in the early 17th century. The average Japanese high school students know him through their history class. He had lived in Ayutthaya and died there involved in a war. I had assumed that there must be some traces of his life in Ayutthaya. I saw a traffic sign which read "Japanese Village". I asked the tour guide if we could go by there. She told me that there were no traces of Japanese. The tour guide didn't show me a cheerful face about Nagamasa Yamada. I decided to study his life after coming back to Japan.

(Vocabulary)
The church had fallen into ruin. 教会はすっかり荒れ果てていた．
Chao Sam Phraya National Museum チャオ・サン・プラヤー国立博物館

ワット・マハータート

ワット・マハータートは仏教寺院の廃墟。木の根で覆われた仏頭で知られる。破壊された仏像の頭が木の根の近くに転がり、長い年月を掛けて根が絡まったものなのだろう。この寺院は建築時期に諸説ある１３世紀の重要な寺院の一つ。かつては塔の頂上が黄金に輝いていたとされるこの寺院もビルマ軍の侵略により廃墟と化し、今は木の根の間に埋め込まれた仏像の頭や、頭部がない仏像、崩れ落ちたレンガの壁や礼拝堂の土台が残るのみとなっていた。１９５６年の修復の際、塔の跡から数々の黄金仏や宝飾品などが発見され、これらは現在チャオ・サン・プラヤー国立博物館に展示されているらしい。そう聞いて是非とも訪問したくなったが、ツアーコースには含まれておらず残念だった。勝手な思い込みかもしれないが、このような廃墟群を見るだけではアユタヤの栄華を理解できないのではないだろうか。博物館へ立ち寄りたかったな。

１７世紀初頭にタイに渡った山田長政という日本人がいる。アユタヤに住んでいた。アユタヤには彼が暮らした跡が少しは残っているのだろうと思っていた。ツアーバスからJapanese Villageの道路標識も見た。寄ってもらえないかとガイドに尋ねると日本人町の跡は残っていないという。ガイドは山田長政についてあまり良い顔をしなかった。帰国後に調べてみようと思った。

Wat Pra Srisanpet

　　Our tour guide next took us to an elephant riding site, but we had to wait too long. So we first visited Wat Pra Srisanpet to save time, leaving it until later. The Thai word of "Wat" seemed to mean "temple", but Wat Pra Srisanpet had already lost its function as a temple and was just the ruin of a former temple. Wat Pra Srisanpet was built in 1491 and used to have a 16 meters-high golden Buddha. You would imagine the prosperity of the nation, the Ayutthaya Dynasty, but the Dynasty was invaded by Burma in 1765 and that put an end to its 400 years of history. At that time, lots of buildings and statues were destroyed. There remains only three Buddhist towers now. Though I figured the destruction of Buddha or other spiritual statues out after the description, I felt deep sorrow at the first sight of that destruction. Historic structures were decaying, leaning, being bleached, and would seemingly be a pile of rubble in the future. While walking with such a thought in my mind, I found a few people repairing the ruin. What I felt from their work, was just anxiety. They didn't look professional. One more thing that I was surprised at. I was able to climb up the stairs of this precious ruin, though if anything bad happened to me, such as collapse, it was naturally my fault. Anyway I brought the scene to mind which those ruins would have seen long ago.

ワット・プラ・シーサンペット

ガイドは次に象乗り体験に連れて行ってくれたが、待ち時間が長いため、先にアユタヤ歴史公園内にあるワット・プラ・シーサンペットへ寄った。ワットというのは寺院という意味らしいが、この場所は寺院としての機能は無く、遺跡になっている。ここは１４９１年に建立された王室守護寺院。かつては１６ｍの黄金仏があったらしいが、アユタヤ王朝は１７６５年から２年の間、侵攻してきたビルマと戦争になり、敗れて王朝は約４００年の歴史に幕を降ろす。陥落の際、この辺りは仏像を含め、破壊され、現在はアユタヤ朝中期に建立された３基の仏塔のみが残っている。ワット・プラ・シーサンペットはタイ王国を代表する遺跡のひとつであり、観光地であると思うのだが、その痛ましい姿に驚いた。傾き、朽ちつつある建造物、破壊された仏像群、このままではいけないだろうと思いつつ歩いていると、修復している現場に出くわした。修復風景を見て感じたのは、どこまで本来の姿に近く修復できるのかと言うこと、作業員たちがこの道のプロには見えなかったから。もう一つ驚いたこと、自己責任ではあるものの、この貴重な遺跡に近づき触り、登ることも出来たこと。少し高いところに立ち、積み上げられたレンガの数々が見てきた様子をしばし思い浮かべた。

Wat Yai Chai Mongkon

　　The tour guide was a Thai woman, whose Japanese skills were so-so. Being briefed about Thai history, cultural background, and current topics on the way, our minivan headed to the north, i.e. the historic City of Ayutthaya, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The first place we visited was Wat Yai Chai Mongkon, which had been built in 1351. Then adjacent facilities had been built one after another for the following couple of centuries. I was really sorry that I was not able to fully understand the words of the tour guide for the lack of knowledge of Thai history. The walls of the buildings were partly heavily damaged. I thought that it was a matter of time before the buildings would collapse. There were even few pamphlets for historic items. I wanted to tell the authorities to prepare English leaflets, or if possible, Japanese leaflets about them. I wished that I had more information on their historic buildings.
　　The first picture was shot by my friend, when I viewed the scenery from the walkway on the main tower of the temple. As I heard before, there was no mountain around. Wat Yai Chai Mongkon was located on the small flat island in the river, and the altitude difference from Bangkok was apparently only a few meters. It seemed natural to me that the area had been easily flooded.

ワット・ヤイ・チャイ・モンコン

ツアーの案内はタイ人女性。タイの歴史、文化、時事問題などの説明を聞きながら車で北上。まず訪問したのはワット・ヤイ・チャイ・モンコン。寺院は１３５１年に建立され、周囲に次々と塔が建てられたらしい。ガイドの説明を全て理解するだけのタイの歴史についての基礎知識に欠けていたことが残念。建築物の壁などの損壊が激しく修復しなければいけないと思う。このまま朽ちていくのはなんとも惜しい。それと観光客向けの英語の説明があまりに少ない。日本語を用意しろとまでは言わないが、英語での説明がもう少しあればなと思った。

１枚目の写真は塔の上から周囲を眺めているところを友人が撮ったもの。話には聞いていたが周りに山は無く、簡単に洪水に襲われる地形が理解できた。海岸からここまで高度差はほんの数メートルらしい。

National Athletic Meet in Ehime

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

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

愛媛国体

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

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

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

Monument to the loyal dead

　　How do you start your day? What I do, for example, is pour myself a cup of coffee and take 10 minutes or so to go over my "to-do" list for the day. It helps me to not waste time and to avoid forgetting what I have to do. Anyway, as I had to arrive at my office an hour earlier than usual today, I went out before daylight.
　　As I had enough time on the way, I dropped in at a monument for the crew members of a submarine in the period of the Great East Asian War. It stands in a graveyard to which a narrow path leads. There are some people walking on the path in the daytime and you can't reach the graveyard by car, but there was no one in this time slot. When a submarine is attacked and sunk, its time and place seems to be unknown and no one can survive. When they can't keep in touch with the submarine for a long time, they will think that the submarine would be sunk somewhere and sometime. I prayed with my hands together in front of the monument.
　　The prayer at the start of the day was both my late grandfathers' daily work. They prayed for the happiness of the families to the ancestors. I found that starting a day with a prayer was really refreshing.

一日の始まりを皆さんはどう迎えますか。例えば、僕の場合は、自分でコーヒーを一杯入れてから１０分ほど掛けて、その日の『やること』リストをじっくり点検する。これにより時間の浪費や忘れ物を防止できる。今朝は訳あってまだ暗いうちに出勤となった。

通勤途中、少し時間があったので大東亜戦争時代の潜水艦乗組員の忠魂碑に立ち寄った。狭い道の先にあるので、人通りのある日中は車で近づくことが出来ないがこの時刻だとさすがに歩行者はいなかった。潜水艦が沈没するとき、その場所も時刻も不明となる。生存者は一人もいない。潜水艦としばらく連絡が取れないからどこかで撃沈されたのだろうと考えるのだそうだ。出勤前のひととき、静かに手を合わせた。

一日の始めに神仏に手を合わせるという行為、亡くなった両祖父がやっていた。ご先祖に一日の安泰を祈っていた。祈りから一日を始めるのは実に清々しいものだと気がついた。

 

Toi Goldmine

　　Japan used to be one of the most gold-productive countries. Sado goldmine is very famous and one of the tourist spots in Japan. It was the only goldmine in Japan as far as I had known, but the second one existed in the Izu Peninsula. That's today's destination, Toi goldmine, around which a hot spa town was formed. When I was planning this trip, I knew the goldmine and found time to stay at the goldmine ruin park for some time. A part of an underground tunnel was used as an amusement walkway, along which the old atmosphere was brought back. In the times of poor ventilation, lighting, and transportation methods, their labor would have been unthinkably hard work. In the adjacent museum, I saw the Guinness-listed worldwide biggest gold bar, whose price was 1,239,000,000 yen, or US$ 11,000,000 by the rate of Aug. 28th. After the museum tour, I put up at a traditional Japanese-style hotel, Ryokan in Japanese. We enjoyed great local seafood with local sake.
　　When I took a walk along the seaside before dinner, I saw a ferry heading out for Shimizu port. I was going to get on it the next morning. I prayed for clear weather for the next day, because if the weather was nice, I would be able to see the beautiful magnificent view of Mt. Fuji from the ocean.

　

土肥金山
　
日本はかつて世界でも指折りの金の産出国だった。有名なのは佐渡島の金山であるが、伊豆半島にも金山が存在し、その産出規模は佐渡島に次ぐ量であった。この旅行を計画するときにそのことを知り、是非とも鉱山跡へ寄ってみようと思った。鉱山は一部開放され観光客が内部を歩けるようになっていた。換気装置も照明も不十分な時代、劣悪な環境の中での労働だったことが容易に想像できた。土肥金山跡は坑道跡を利用したテーマパークのようになっており、ギネス認定世界最大の金の延べ棒が展示されていて直接触れることも出来た。ここでしばらく遊んだ後、今日の宿はかなり古風な日本旅館。地元で獲れた海の幸をいただいた。夕食前に海岸を散歩すると翌朝乗る予定のフェリーが出港していった。この船は土肥港から清水港へ向けて駿河湾を横断する。もし、快晴で波が穏やかだったら富士山の美しい姿を撮影できるはず。

Shimoda City

　　Shimoda City might not be known so well internationally, but it is famous in Japan for its magnitude due to its location, distinctive terrain, and its historical background. From the 17th century, it had developed as a relay port between Osaka and Edo, which is now Tokyo. The port was highly indented and the ships were able to avoid strong winds even in storms and contrarily ships were also able to wait for their favorable wind there. The city was so extravagant that such a song was written; "Don't stay long in Shimoda, because your wallet will be empty". In the late Edo period, Shimoda along with Hakodate was opened to overseas trade as the first international port of Japan. Therefore, there are several historical sites remaining in and around Shimoda City.
　　The coastline was almost intact and was what it had been in those days. I recognized that it must have been an ideal port for rest and shelter. The first U.S. consulate in Japan was placed in Shimoda City. Various episodes of the first USA consul general, Townsend Harris, have been handed down up till the present. Additionally, Shimoda City was the place where lots of young Japanese people of promise gathered, who were worrying about the future of Japan in the midst of harsh interference from overseas. I took a short walk along the coastline, viewing the same scenery which they would have seen.

(Aug. 28th)

伊豆旅行記：　下田市にて感慨に浸る

下田市はおそらく海外には名が知られていないだろうと思うが、日本では街の規模の割に知られた街である。それはこの街の位置、独特の地形、そしてその歴史にある。江戸時代には江戸と大坂（今の東京と大阪）の間の海運の中継地として風待ち港として栄え、下田には長居をするな、財布が空になると唄に詠われたほど栄えた。江戸末期には日本で最初に開港された。海外からの船が多く到着するようになり、江戸末期から明治初期にかけての歴史遺産が多数残されている。実は数日滞在して見て回りたかったのだが、ほんの数時間の滞在でこの街を出た。
　
ペリーがやって来た時代と海岸線には変化がなく、嵐を避けるには絶好の港だと実感した。またアメリカの領事館が初めて設置された場所でもあり、着任したタウンゼント・ハリス領事にまつわるエピソードも残っている。またこの地は押し寄せる海外からの軍事力に怯え、日本を何とかせねばならないと考えた若者たちが集った街でもある。彼らが見たであろう海岸線を眺めながらしばらく散歩した。

Shuzenji Onsen Spa

　　Next to Nirayama, I visited Shuzenji Onsen Spa. There are numerous spas in the volcano country of Japan, and Shuzenji is one of the well-known ones. A Nobel Prize for literature laureate, Yasunari Kawabata, loved and stayed there to write his novels. I have for long wanted to visit the spa and see its famous symbol of Tokko-no-Yu Spa, which dates back 1200 years. I strolled in the busiest street and dropped in at the Shuzenji temple after which the spa is named. The tomb of Yoriie Minamoto, one of the famous feudal lords in 12th century, was nearby, but I passed it due to the shortness of time. I was a little sorry, but I'll visit there again and stay for a night.

(Vocabulary)
Tokko-no-Yu Spa 独鈷の湯(弘法大師にまつわる温泉）

修善寺温泉

韮山を出て次に向かったのは修善寺温泉。日本には無数の温泉地があるが、ここは有名な温泉の一つ。ノーベル賞作家の川端康成もここで小説を書いている。前々から一度立ち寄りたかった。有名な独鈷の湯を見てきた。弘法大師が温泉を噴出させたという言い伝えが残っている。修善寺温泉発祥の温泉で、１２００年あまりの歴史があり、伊豆半島最古のものと言われている。温泉街を散策し、町の名前にもなっている修善寺に立ち寄ったが、源頼家の墓には急いでいたので寄らず。少し残念。昼飯はそば。次に来たときは必ずここに宿泊して夜の街を散策したい。

 

Nirayama Reverberatory Furnace

　　About 260 years of the period from the start of the 17th century to the middle of the 19th century is called the "Edo era" in Japan. During the era apart from the last several years, Japan had never been invaded or attacked by foreign forces and had seen a rapid and remarkable progress in cultural, artistic and some other aspects. Consequently, the art of battle wasn't necessary and the products of arms were only small weapons like swords or matchlock guns. In other words, Japan was sleeping in this period without knowing of the religious wars like the Thirty Years' War and the French Wars of Religion nor superpowers' battles seeking for colonies. In the middle of the 19th century, however, several foreign military ships came to show up around Japan, typified by Commodore Perry's fleet from the U.S.. Their ships were armed with cannons.
　　The officials of "Bakufu", the then Japanese government, were surprised being confronted with the cannons on Perry's fleet, because they were up-to-date at that time. As for me, I was surprised at the fact that the officials did know about that kind of cannon even in the less informative era. Anyway, what if Japan was attacked with those cannons? Japan started to build forts on the coastlines. Daiba, which is now one of the tourist spots in Tokyo, used to be a fort for the protecton of Edo, which we now call Tokyo.
　　By the way, where did the cannons come from? The next destination, Nirayama Reverberatory Furnace, is just the place where Japan's first-ever cannons were made. The range of those cannons was reportedly only 3km, while that of the foreign ones was 11km. If a military conflict had happened, the result would have spoken for itself, but the presence of those even inferior cannons would work for avoiding military confrontation. To my and maybe your surprise, this furnace was built not by the government but personally. A local official and his son, who were worried about the circumstances, did the research on the foreign furnaces and built their original furnace in Nirayama. Their work must have been a daunting task and was narrowly in time for the arrival of foreign powers.
　　As I often wrote in this blog, when Japan was in distress, someone surely and timely showed up in its history. These Mr. Egawa and his son, who completed Nirayama Reverberatory Furnace, would be one example. A volunteer guide perfectly fulfilled her task. Her answers to my several detailed questions were totally informative. Nirayama Reverberatory Furnace was listed on the World Cultural Heritage Site in July in 2015.

(Vocabulary)
Nirayama Reverberatory Furnace　韮山反射炉：　静岡県伊豆の国市にある反射炉跡。日本で唯一現存する実用反射炉であり、国の史跡に指定されている。平成27年7月、韮山反射炉を含む「明治日本の産業革命遺産」が世界文化遺産に登録された。
matchlock 火縄銃
French Wars of Religion　ユグノー戦争
Commodore Perry ペリー  Matthew Calbraith Perry 1794-1858　１８５３年黒船で浦賀に来航し, 日本に開国を求めた米国の提督； 通称 Commodore Perry》.
be confronted with　～をつきつけられる、を見せられる
a daunting task/prospect/challenge　気の遠くなるような作業／見通し／試練

１７世紀の初めから１９世紀半ばまで約２６０年間は江戸時代と呼ばれる。この時代、外からの侵略はなく、文化、芸術などの著しい発展があった。当然ながら戦うための技術は必要無く、武器の生産は小規模な物に限られていた。ところが、である。１９世紀になると、１８５３年のアメリカ海軍軍人ペリーの来航に代表される海外からの船が続々とやってきて交易を求めてきた。彼らの船には戦うための大砲が装備されていた。

幕府の役人たちはペリーの乗る軍艦を見て驚いた。当時の最先端の大砲が備え付けられていたからである。その大砲が世界最先端のものだと知っていたことにも驚くが、これを使って攻撃されたら日本はどうしただろうか？急ぎ日本は防御陣地を建設した。現在、東京の観光地の一つになっている台場は砲台を設置するために埋め立てられた場所である。

ではその大砲はどうしたか？その大砲が鋳造された融解炉、韮山反射炉が次の目的地である。ここで鋳造された日本初の大砲の射程距離は３ｋｍほど。対するペリーの軍艦の大砲は１１ｋｍ。戦えば勝敗は目に見えていたのだが、見かけだけでも日本に大砲があったことは戦争回避のために役立ったのではないだろうか。そしてこの反射炉は驚いたことに個人が作り上げたもので、日本を取り巻く状況を憂えた幕末期の代官とその子２代で完成させたものである。

このブログ内で度々書いてきたことだが、日本が危機にあるとき、かならずそれを救う人物が実にタイムリーに歴史上に登場する。この韮山反射炉を完成させた江川某親子もまたその一例だと思う。ボランティアの女性の案内で、その構造、歴史をしっかりと勉強させていただいた。韮山反射炉は２０１５年７月世界文化遺産に登録された。

Ose Shrine, a mysterious pond and Juniperus chinensis

　　On the way to the tip of Ose Cape, I saw lots of people preparing for diving. I'm not familiar with scuba diving, but just seeing diving gear was fun. The pond was in the midst of the wood of "Byakusin", Juniperus chinensis in the scientific name, and had a mysterious vibe. It was surrounded by the sea, but the water in it was surely fresh. Several turtles, aquatic birds and lots of carps lived in the pond. This pond was located in the grounds of Ose Shrine and there were a few historic ruins around. Taisho Tennoh, the Emperor between 1911 and 1925, seemed to visit the shrine, as I found an anniversary monument of his visit. It was enjoyable to walk in the forest of funny-shaped trees.

(Vocabulary)
Juniperus chinensis（学名）イブキ（伊吹）、ヒノキ科ビャクシン属の常緑高木。別名ビャクシン（柏槇）
aquatic《通例[名]の前で》(動植物が) 水生の, 水中にすむ;水上の, 水中の

 

大瀬崎神社、神秘の池、ビャクシン樹林

海岸を歩いて大瀬崎の先端部、目的の池に向かうと途中、ダイビングの準備をしている大勢の人たちを見かけた。取りあえず目的の池に向かったが、この池は大瀬神社の境内に有り、神秘的な雰囲気を持っている。周りは海だが確かに池の中は淡水だ。亀、水鳥、鯉を認めた。
周辺にはかつての有力者の家などの史跡があった。また大正天皇もこの神社へ参拝されたらしい。気軽に訪れたのだが、由緒ある場所のようだった。また、この池はビャクシン樹林に囲まれている。奇妙な形をした樹林の中の散歩は楽しかった。

Former Residence of the Former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi

　　We chose the former residence of the former prime minister Nobusuke Kishi located in Gotenba City among the options we found at the information counter in the service area. Mr. Nobusuke Kishi was the most honorable prime minister to me. I didn't know that he had spent his closing years in Gotenba. Japan's first-ever express highway was built half a century ago, and the required time between Gotenba and Tokyo was shortened to only 90 minutes. Additionally, he apparently liked its climate. The following two pictures are of the pamphlet I received at the entrance. I'll show you some of the impressive parts of his residence.
　　There was nothing extravagant about the entrance, and I felt it had a refined appearance. Following the instructions, we saw his study first. My wife entered the room first and uttered an exclamation of surprise. I quickly understood why she had reacted that way. The furniture layout around the desk resembled that of my study extremely closely. The window in front of me in my study is set to the right out of the way of the sunbeam so that the setting sunbeam does not directly reach my eyes. The window of his study was similar. His desk was L-shaped, which was built from the right front to the left side as you see in the following picture. My desk is connected to the back side and U-shaped, and three times as wide as his' in order to place two computer screens on it, but the fundamental design concept was just the same. In my study, the bookshelves on the wall run from floor to ceiling. At the height of my waist on the bookshelves is a wide rack (depth 30cm and width 300cm) for various items, and this design was just like Mr. Kishi's bookshelves. I was so astonished that his 50-year old study was just like mine.
　　You see me on a chair in a following picture. The chair was Mr. Kishi's favorite one and he liked viewing his garden sitting on the chair. I was allowed to sit on it, and it was great. The elaborate design, which I wasn't safely able to assume was carved out 50 years ago, was seen everywhere in the residence. The connecting part between the living room and the garden, the device for opening the wall even in the rainy day and the protection system against the cold were fairly similar to my house. It's almost as if the designer of my house has seen this house, I thought.
　　The lighting on the wall of the living room was the concealed so that the light might not come into the eyes directly. That must have been a novelty 50 years ago. The kitchen was similar too. The house and garden were nice, and you would have been able to enjoy all the seasons in the year.

P.S.
The hardest part of this composition was to find the word "run" in my dictionary. I feel difficulty in such short words like "get", "take", "hold", "put", and so on.

 

２０１７年　夏休みの記録：　御殿場市、東山旧岸邸にて驚いた件

サービスエリアで観光情報を探し、御殿場市の東山旧岸邸を訪問することにした。岸信介と言えば歴代総理の中で僕が最も尊敬する総理大臣だが、御殿場市で晩年を過ごしたことをこの日まで全く知らなかった。高速道路が開通し、東京まで１時間ほどの距離だったことや御殿場市の気候が気に入っていたらしい。最初の２枚の写真は受付でもらったパンフレット。印象に残った部分の写真をＵＰしていく。

玄関にはけばけばしさはなく、いたって簡素。順路に従って歩いてまず驚いたのが彼の書斎。先に入ったカミさんが驚きの声を上げた。何事かと覗いてみると、デスク周りの配置が僕の書斎に酷似していた。僕の書斎には目に西日が当たらぬようにと窓を太陽からずらして設置しているのだが、この部屋の窓の位置も同様に作られている。机は右前方から左へＬ字型の机。背中側にも机が続き、目の前にパソコンを置くために僕の机の方が面積は３倍くらい大きいが、基本的な設計は同じ。天井から床まで続く本棚の配置も全く同じ。ちょっと本などを置いておくために腰の高さに作り付けの台を本棚に設置しているのだが、これも同じ。自分の部屋だからと凝って便利さを追求して設計したが５０年前の岸元総理の書斎と似ていることに本当に驚いた。

次の写真で座っている椅子は岸元総理が晩年気に入っていた椅子で、これに座って庭を眺めるのが楽しみだったらしい。座らせていただいた。至るところ５０年前の設計とは思えぬほど凝った作りになっているのだが、リビングから庭に出られる構造も我が家にそっくり。雨が降っても戸を開放できるようになっている点まで我が家と同じ。積水ハウスのデザイナーはここに来たことが有るのではと思ったほど。

拙宅は玄関やトイレの壁の照明が目に入らぬようにと間接照明になっているだが、リビングの壁には全く同じ型の照明が採用されていた。５０年前だと斬新な設計だっただろうと容易に推測できた。キッチンも今風で、５０年前だと随分便利だっただろうと思う。家だけでなく、庭も素敵な庭で、春夏秋冬いつでも楽しめるよう、また雪が降っても楽しめるよう、いろいろな工夫があった。

Ehime Maru, the fishery training boat

　　My daughter reached her limit of putting up with keeping her eyes open due to jet lag. After our village tour, she fell asleep and I went out for a walk alone. I had a place which I was eager to visit since a long time ago. I got on the bus for 5 minutes and out in front of a big park. Then a 15 minute walk took me to the spot, the Ehime Maru Memorial.
　　The home port of the Ehime Maru is Uwajima City, in which I lived in my childhood. Especially on Hiburijima island off the coast of Uwajima City, I spent numerous unforgettable days, and I wrote about the island several times in this blog. (Link 1, 2, 3, 4)
　　The Ehime Maru was the fishery training boat for high school students and collided with a surfacing U.S. submarine off the coast of Honolulu in 2001. There was no fault at all on the Ehime Maru's side. Omitting details, reaching out for the victims and their bereaved families and building their monument by the U.S. government deepened the connection between Ehime Prefecture, in which Uwajima City belongs, and the State of Hawaii. Consequently, both government tied a friendship relation in 2003, followed by between Uwajima City and Honolulu City in 2004. I hoped that the spirits of the nine departed by the accident will be consoled a little with this.

(FYI)
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2015/07/hiburijima-island-my-spiritual-home.html
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2015/07/hiburijima-island.html
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2015/07/ehime-maru.html
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2015/03/on-the-way-to-okinawa-1.html

 娘の眠気がここでついに限界らしく、僕は一人で散歩に出た。行きたかった場所がある。えひめ丸乗組員の慰霊である。ダウンタウンへ向かうトロリーバスに乗って５分、広い公園の前で降りた。そこから歩くこと１５分、慰霊碑の前に着いた。

えひめ丸の母港は宇和島市。僕は子供の頃住んでいたことがある。宇和島市沖に浮かぶ日振島は忘れられない想い出がたくさんある心のふるさとだ。このブログでもこの小さな島について何度か書いた。（LINK 1,2,3,4)

えひめ丸は２００１年浮上してきたアメリカ海軍潜水艦と衝突し沈没した。えひめ丸側に過失は全くなかった。詳しい経過は省くが、事故後の被害者支援や慰霊碑建立などで関係が深まった愛媛県とハワイ州は２００３年、ホノルル市と宇和島市は２００４年にそれぞれ姉妹提携。犠牲者はこれにより少しは浮かばれるのではなかろうか。

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2015/07/hiburijima-island-my-spiritual-home.html
楽しい懐かしい想い出の詰まった精神的故郷、日振島の風景

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2015/07/hiburijima-island.html
写真は日振島とは関係ありません。当時如何に不便な島だったかということを実例を挙げて説明。

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2015/07/ehime-maru.html
えひめ丸の現在の姿

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2015/03/on-the-way-to-okinawa-1.html
沖縄へ向かったときに撮影した日振島全景

Hawaii

　　Japan is now in the midst of the holiday season called "Golden Week". I got 5 days off from May 3rd to 7th and am going to Hawaii with my wife and my eldest daughter. I'm thinking to spend a relaxing vacation in Honolulu, like jogging along the route of the Honolulu Marathon, which I'd like to join in the not so distant future, or wandering along the coastline and in downtown, or cooking something with local ingredients, because we'll stay at a condominium equipped with kitchen utensils.
　　In 2001, the fisheries training vessel Ehime Maru, whose home port is Uwajima City, where I had spent time in my little kid days, collided with a careless U.S. submarine off the coast of Honolulu. Several high school students and teachers were killed at that time. The bodies of some of them haven't yet been recovered. I'd like to offer flowers or something from their home town to mourn their death in front of their monument. I'm going to also visit the USS Arizona Memorial for the same purpose. I had been eager to see Pearl Harbor since long ago, but I was afraid that some Americans would look triumphant against Japanese tourists at such memorial places. However, the situation around the evaluation of the war has drastically changed. If someone criticizes Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, I can easily rebut them.
　　Top secret items or the truth about what had happened during and around the Great East Asian War have been uncovered one after another. "Mirror for Americans: JAPAN", which was prohibited to publish for several years after the war by Douglas MacArthur, is already known after the publication of its Japanese translation. "Freedom Betrayed", the book written by the former US President Hoover Herbert is the same. Lots of people now know who wanted to wage the war and who tried to avoid the war. Carrying "Freedom Betrayed", I'm visiting the Memorial and paying tribute to the victims trapped in the battleship.

日本はゴールデンウィークと呼ばれる休暇シーズンに入る。５月３日から７日まで休暇が取れたのでハワイへ行くことにした。ホノルルでのんびり過ごすつもり。いつか参加したいホノルルマラソンのコースをジョグしたり、海岸をブラブラしたり、コンドミニアムに滞在するのでハワイの食材で何か料理をしてみたい。

２００１年、愛媛丸という漁業実習船がハワイ沖で潜水艦と衝突して沈んだ。教師や生徒が亡くなっている。母港は宇和島市。僕が子供時代を過ごした街だ。その愛媛丸犠牲者慰霊碑にも花を手向けたいと思っている。また、戦艦アリゾナ記念館にも訪れるつもり。ここへ行くと、アメリカ人がしたり顔で日本人に厳しい態度を取るのではないかとこれまで訪問する気にはなれなかったのだが、今は違う。何か言ってきたら１０倍にして反論してやる。

大東亜戦争に関する新事実がどんどん出てきている。今や、あの戦争を望んだのは誰なのか、誰が始めたのか、こういった問題には答えが出ている。Mirror for Americans: JAPANだけではない。元アメリカ大統領が書いたFreedom Betrayedもある。堂々と訪問し、今も戦艦内部に残されている亡くなった方々に手を合わせるつもりだ。今書いているマラッカ海峡クルージング記の後で、ハワイ旅行記も書く。

What I Thought Seeing Posters in the Restroom

　　I don't like heights, so I felt relieved climbing down from the Sans Skypark, but I was taken to the Singapore Flyer next, which was known to be one of the highest ferris wheels worldwide.
　　The 1st picture shows the entrance of the Singapore Flyer. A woman in it was our tour guide. She talked with us in Japanese, but with local people in English or Mandarin. As I wasn't able to distinguish the conversation between her and the bus driver at all, I asked her. That was Hokkien. She sounded like she was able to use Cantonese too. I was taken by complete surprise. She would guide Cantonese people. She must be one of the top tour guides in Singapore. I can give her a well-deserved pat on the back.
　　The 2nd picture shows the Marina Bay Sands Hotel from the Singapore Flyer. I was scared only to recall that I had been at the edge of there shortly before. The next two pictures were shot at the restroom in the entrance hall of the Singapore Flyer. It must be for a campaign to save water.
　　According to our guide, most of the water in Singapore was imported from Malaysia. The gravel to extend the land was bought or robbed from other countries. It sometimes led to even the disappearance of tiny islets. I felt some fragility in Singapore's infrastructures, whose land can't support the people. I'm not sure, but the army drills in Taiwan.
　　While we are on the subject of Singapore, let me digress a bit and tell you a short story about Hong Kong. When Hong Kong was handed back to China, the UK wasn't required to return Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. They were obliged to return the New Territory Area only. However, the UK restored the Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island along with the New Territory Area. It is said that the then Prime Minister Thatcher had been threatened with not supplying water from the mainland to the Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island by the then Chinese Communist Leader, Deng Xiao Ping. He promised that China would adopt two different policies between their mainland and the newly-returned area for the coming 50 years then, but the promise is now going to be scrapped. The Singapore Flyer would run on electricity, which must be imported. Reflecting vaguely on various things, the prosperity of Singapore began to seem a house built on sand.
　　Back to the track, the streets in Singapore were clean without litter, but Japan is the same. However, as for public toilets, both countries were completely different. Japanese toilets are second to none.

(Vocabulary)
Hokkien　福建語　閩南語
Cantonese　広東語
Deng Xiao Ping 鄧小平
a house built on sand 砂上の楼閣

マラッカ海峡クルージング記：　シンガポールのトイレで考えたこと
　
実は高所恐怖症のためSans Skyparkから降りてホッとしたのだが、すぐにまた観覧車に乗るという。世界でも有数の高さらしい。Sans Skyparkから見えていたので嫌だなと思っていたのだが。
　
最初の写真は観覧車、Singapore Flyerへの入り口。立っている女性はガイド。我々に対しては日本語で話すが、現地の人とは英語やシナ語で話していた。バスの運転手との会話は全く聞き取れなかったので尋ねると、福建語だという。バスの運転手は福建語しか話せないという。このガイドの語学力には驚いた。広東語も使えると言うから香港からの観光客も案内するのだろう。おそらくはトップクラスのガイドだろう。
　
２枚目の写真はSingapore Flyerから撮影したMarina Bay Sands Hotel。あの上に立っていたのかと思うだけで怖かった。Singapore Flyerから降りてトイレに寄った。そこで次の２枚のポスターを見つけた。水を節約しようという啓蒙ポスターのようだ。ガイドに寄れば水はほとんどマレーシアからの輸入。国土を拡げるために使っている土砂はインドネシアなどから買ったり、無断で奪ったり、、、小さな島がなくなってしまうほど。水や食糧を自給できない国の脆さを感じた。この国の陸軍は確か台湾で訓練をさせてもらっていたはず。
　
香港の歴史を思い出した。香港返還時、あまり詳しく報道されていないが、イギリスは香港島と九竜半島の返還義務はなかった。返還義務のあったのは新界地区のみ。香港島と九竜半島を返還することになったのは水を供給しないなどと鄧小平に脅され、向こう５０年の一国二制度という彼の言葉を信用したサッチャーが結果的には騙された形だ。Singapore Flyerは間違いなく電気で動いているのだろう。この電気も結局は輸入。いろいろと考えているうちにシンガポールの繁栄が砂上の楼閣に思えてきた。
　
街並みが美しいと評判のシンガポール、確かにごみが落ちていないが、これは日本も同様。ただトイレは違った。日本のトイレに勝るトイレは世界中探してもないと思う。