Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Nuclear Disaster Drill

　　Do you know a technical term, "UPZ; Urgent Protective action planning Zone", whose concept was established by IAEA and it indicates the area within approximately a 30km radius from an atomic power plant. The government is strongly required to bolster countermeasures against nuclear disasters in UPZ.
　　My office is located within this UPZ of Ikata Atomic Power Plant and I had to attend the practice session concerning the emergency treatment for nuclear polluted people last year (link). Today, the nuclear disaster drill was carried out in a fairly wide area. As soon as news about the nuclear plant accident came to my office, all the staff members shut all the windows and ventilation fans. That's all we did, but people who lived close to the plant underwent pollution checks and were actually evacuated to even Kyushu by ferries or Navy vessels.
　　Lots of people were killed or went missing by the tsunami in the Great East Japan Earthquake, but nobody was killed by the radiation itself. The seven services of the bullet train, which were on their highest speed, stopped safely when the earthquake broke out. Japanese people have learnt much every time they suffered huge disasters after recorded history. I believe Japan's atomic power plants will be far safer by this unprecedented disaster.
　　The picture of the plant was taken by myself when I visited Okinawa in March this year.

(Vocabulary)
the Great East Japan Earthquake 東日本大震災



http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2014/01/nuclear-hazard.html

Review of the Karafuto Tour

　　Karafuto is now called Sakhalin worldwide, but it's undoubtedly Japan's territory. Japan received the southern part of Karafuto (Sakhalin in Russian) starting at a longitude of 50 degrees north and the associated islands from Russia in the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905 in the wake of the Japanese-Russo War (1904-1905). However, Russian troops invaded it in the summer of 1945, after World War II and they are even now keeping it occupied. I didn't want to show my passport to the Russian immigration officers, but I made a trip to Karafuto on Sep. 6th, the day when Karafuto became Japan's territory 110 years ago, which is the next day of the treaty.
　　There were extremely few signs for tourists nor English-speaking local people. Waitresses in the restaurant were arrogant and there was no explanation for dishes. Gagarin park, one of the main tourist attractions, used to be the Japanese garden until 1945, but there were no comments about the historical facts. The museum on Karafuto's history and culture had no English description on their displays. Various things were simply placed in the showcase. The holy Karafuto shrine was destroyed and renovated to the War-related museum. Unbelievable!
　　Karafuto is located in an isolated area seeing it from Moscow and looked deserted. I had a plan of riding my motorcycle on the soil of Karafuto, but I barely saw a motorcycle even in the capital city of Toyohara. I didn't see any repair shops and assumed that there was no motorcycle culture to enjoy motorcycle-riding itself. Motorcycles must be a means of transportation.
　　I couldn't help imagining what would have become of Karafuto if it wasn't occupied by Russia. I would never visit Karafuto at least while Russian people are dominant on the island.


（Auf Deutsch）
　　Die Südhälfte von Karafuto wurde an Japan unter dem Vertrag von Portsmouth im Jahr 1905 abgetreten. Aber Russland hat Karafuto im Jahr 1945 nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg überfallen und es ist immer noch besetzt. Es war mir sehr unangenehm, den russischen Beamten den Reisepass zeigen zu müssen, aber ich bin nach Karafuto am 6. 9. 2015 gereist. Der Vertrag von Portsmouth, nämlich Frieden mit Russland, wurde am 5. 9. 1905 geschlossen. Das heißt, die Geschichte von Karafuto als japanisches Territorium hat an diesem Tag vor 110 Jahren angebrochen.
　　Ich will meinen Eindruck und meine Meinung über die Besichtigung von Karafuto mitteilen. Es gibt nicht genügend Schilder für die Touristen. Nur wenige können Englisch sprechen. In einem Restaurant waren die Kellnerinen überheblich. Es gibt keine Erklärung zu den Speisen. Der Gagarinpark war früher ein japanischer Garten, aber es gibt kein Schild, das zu zeigen. In dem Heimatmuseum wurden verschiedene Gegenstände ausgestellt, aber ohne japanische oder englische Erklärung. Der ehemalig Karafuto Schrein ist zum Kriegmuseum geändert worden.
　　Karafuto liegt im Grenzland von Russland und ist mir kulturell rückständig erschienen. Ich hatte einen Plan, dort Motorrad zu fahren. Aber ich habe nur einmal, ein Motorrad gesehen. Ich habe kein Motorrad Geschäft in der Straße gesehen, und ich dachte, daß es keine Kultur gibt, Motorradfahren zu genießen.
　　Ich mußte mir vorstellen, wie Karafuto geworden wäre, wenn es japanisch geblieben wäre. Wahrscheinlich will ich russisches Karafuto nicht noch mal besuchen.

(Wortschatz)
Vertrag von Portsmouth　ポーツマス条約
die Hälfte  半分
j3 et4/et4 an j4 ab/treten  譲り渡す
ein/fallen  思いつく；侵攻する
der Eindruck 印象
die Meinung 意見
überheblich 傲慢な

樺太雑感

　樺太の南半分はポーツマス条約（１９０５）により、日本領となった。しかし、１９４５年夏、ソ連が侵攻し、現在も占領を続けている。パスポートを呈示して樺太に渡るのは抵抗があったが、ポーツマス条約の翌日、つまり１９０５年９月６日からちょうど１１０年目に当たる今年の９月６日に樺太へ旅行した。

　案内標識が極端に少なく、英語を喋る人が少ない。レストランでのウェイトレスの態度は傲慢で、料理のメニューもない。ガガーリン公園はかつての日本の庭園だが、それに言及した看板もなければ、英語表記さえない。観光地にはほど遠い環境だ。樺太歴史博物館にも日本語はもちろん英語表記さえない。単にいろいろなものが並べられているに過ぎない。神聖な樺太神社は戦争博物館と化していた。

　ロシアの辺境の地にあり、寂しい土地のように思えた。オートバイを持ち込んで樺太を走る計画を持っていたが、オートバイを見たのは一台だけ。修理工場のようなものも見かけず、オートバイを趣味とする文化はここにはないように見えた。

　もし日本のままだったらどうだったろうかと考えずにはいられなかった。ロシアに占領されている樺太を訪れることはもうないだろう。

Shopping Square in Toyohara

　　The last visiting site was the biggest shopping square in Toyohara. Lots of articles for daily use were sold. I dropped in at a watch shop to check the price of my favorite watch, SEIKO ASTRON, which I had been thinking of buying in Japan or another country to save on the consumption tax, but the young shop workers weren't able to communicate in English. What's going on about the education in Karafuto? When I went up the stairs, I found several Japanese people selling Hokkaido products. They were really happy to see us, the Nippon Maru passengers, and treated us to their wine and dried goods.
　　An hour's drive on the Korean-made fairly old and dilapidated bus took us to Oodomari, where the makeshift pier to the Nippon Maru was set. Looking down on the port of Oodomari and Aniwa Bay, I recalled that lots of Japanese refugees had set out for their motherland from here in August 1945. More than 1700 people on the three passenger ships torpedoed by Russian submarines were killed before reaching Hokkaido. 70 years have passed since the Russian invasion, but the Japanese people would never forget their cruelty.

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

Streets in Toyohara (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk)

　　I often got on our tour guide's case about his proficiency in Japanese. When he found something to point out from the bus, he started to talk about it. While he was choosing his words, it passed out of sight. I wasn't able to take pictures of them. Finally, I didn't know what almost all the pictures taken through the bus window were for. In the era of Japanese territory, Karafuto was inhabited by not only Japanese but also Korean people, because the Korean Peninsula, which was not what you call a colony, was a part of Japan at that time. Korean people were treated just like original Japanese in those days. Now, South Korea trades on the hostile relationship between Japan and Russia. There were national flags of Russia and South Korea on the construction site of something. There was also a monument for Korean people who wanted to go back to Korea in vain on the hill looking down on the town of Oodomari.
　　I was eager to see how Karafuto would be on this trip, but I had another purpose, which was to see what the motorcycle culture was like. When I visited South Korea in 2009, Korean people didn't have a mind to enjoy riding itself. Motorcycles for them were merely a means of transportation. Karafuto was just like South Korea in that way. I saw only one motorcycle on the street but there was no motorcycle shop as far as I saw. I might have to give up the thought of riding on Karafuto.

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

Museum

　　The place to which we were taken next was a museum, the theme of which was the history of Karafuto (Sakhalin in Russian). It was the tourist attraction which I had been eager to visit first of all. I'll write about the museum in this entry.
　　Generally, I was disappointed to see inside and outside of the museum. I wondered if the museums in communist countries were always like this. There were various items displayed indeed, but with only few Russian descriptions and without English ones. I was not able to absorb information there, and I asked the tour guide some questions, but he didn't give me proper answers. He didn't have enough vocabulary of technical fields such as natural science, rock science, archaeology, biology, and so on. I could only imagine what the articles on display meant.
　　One more surprising fact! I didn't find the description about the Japanese-Russo War (1904-05) and their invasion into Japan after World War II in the museum, though I managed to presume it by pictures or other items. A Japanese map described in Japanese showed southern Karafuto as of August 15th 1945, which was the date of Japan accepting the Potsdam Declaration, and a milestone which used to be placed on the border between the USSR and Japan, namely on the latitude of 50 degrees, were exhibited in a low-profile corner.
　　Several folk crafts of Ainu were exhibited. Those were seen also in museums in Hokkaido and so they didn't feel new to me. As I can make out the Cyrillic alphabet, I searched "Мамия" (Mamiya in English). It might be written somewhere, but I was not able to find it. A Japanese explorer, Rinzo Mamiya found the strait between Karafuto and the Eurasian Continent, which was named the "Strait of Mamiya". Karafuto seemed to me a less-developed area, at least academically

(Vocabulary)
北緯５０度以南の樺太は日本領、したがってこのブログでは日本名を使う
Karafuto (樺太)　Sakhalin サハリン
Toyohara (豊原)　Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ユジノサハリンスク
Oodomari(大泊)　Korsakov　コルサコフ
Cyrillic alphabet　キリル文字 (スラブ語民族の文字)
Eurasian Continent ユーラシア大陸

Gagarin Park

　　I reached Gagarin Park in Toyohara. The name of the park, Gagarin, is from the first-ever space traveler, Yury Gagarin. I wondered if he had come from Karafuto, but a journalist, who was a member of my tour group by chance, told me that it was probably because he was just popular among Russian people. He also told me that the statue of Gagarin also stood in Moscow and both facial expressions are fully different. I'll refer to the journalist below. After coming back home, I examined Gagarin and found his remark right.
　　By the way, I felt something Japanesque in the park. The lake in the park reminded me of my hometown, and lots of cherry trees were planted in the forest. The vegetation of the park was just like the one in Hokkaido. When I went back to the Nippon Maru, I looked it up in a photo collection in the library. This park used to be called "Toyohara Kouen (Park)" and the lake in the picture was called "Ojigaike Lake". In spring, especially in the season of the cherry blossoms, lots of people enjoy walking in the park. The park was designed and built by Japanese! Then, I found a monument by the path which seemed to have something to do with Japan and so I took its picture, but I don't know what it meant.
　　The next moment, the most astonishing event on the trip happened. I met Mr. Shigeharu Aoyama in front of the statue of Gagarin. He is a very famous polemicist in Japan. It was so sudden and unbelievable, but he was undoubtedly Mr. Aoyama. I spoke to him and chatted for some time and took pictures! He also knew the historical importance of the day, Sept 6th. He was on a private tour with his wife, but other members noticed his existence by my speaking to him. I was so sorry to disturb his vacation.
　　I found an interesting object, the dinosaur holding a box in which several dirty books were placed. I heard from the local people that it was the book-exchange box, as it were. Anyone can take books from the box. It seemed to be a nice idea, but I doubted that Toyohara City had its public library. I asked my tour guide about the dinosaur, but wasn't able to get useful information from him. The capability to guide guests from Japan was inferior, even putting it mildly.

(Vocabulary)
北緯５０度以南の樺太は日本領、したがってこのブログでは日本名を使う
Karafuto (樺太)　Sakhalin サハリン
Toyohara (豊原)　Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ユジノサハリンスク
Oodomari(大泊)　Korsakov　コルサコフ
telepolemicist テレビ番組で活発に発言する著名な論客〔television + polemicist〕
polemicist  論客

Karafuto Shrine

　　I walked up to the site where the former Karafuto Shrine had been built. I'll show you pictures of its approach and the War Museum built in the grounds in 2013. After the destruction of the Shinto Shrine, two tanks and three mortars were exhibited at the site. I wasn't able to get a handle on the Russian way of thinking.
　　If you are Japanese, did you notice that a picture showing tanks shows a very famous journalist and telepolemicist in Japan? I didn't notice him at that time, but I had an opportunity to talk with him. I'll write about it in the next entry.

Immigration

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

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

Sunrise in Aniwa Bay

　　Our ship was moving into Aniwa Bay when I went out on the deck. The first picture was shot then. This day, September 6th of 110 years ago, was the first day of Karafuto as Japanese territory. Since then, no territorial pact has been signed. It means Karafuto still belongs to Japan, but actually it is occupied by Russia even now. After Japan ceased fighting on all fronts on Aug. 15th in 1945, Russia abruptly invaded Japan, breaking the mutual non-aggression treaty and robbed Japan of several islands and lots of lives of innocent people. This fact has been concealed from most Japanese by leftists, but now most Japanese know the historical facts.
　　While I was sipping lukewarm coffee sitting on a deck chair blown by a gentle breeze, our ship cast anchor offshore of Oodomari(Korsakov in Russian). On casting, a small red shabby boat came to the Nippon Maru. I didn't know their work, but it went at once.
　　Deep in the gulf, the sea was really calm. Its surface was like a mirror. The morning walk on the deck was refreshing.

(Vocabulary)
Aniwa Bay  亜庭湾（あにわわん）、樺太の南、稚内方向に開けた湾

Constellation Viewing

　　A lecture was held by the third mate at 10 o'clock at night on the top deck. It was about constellations. About 50 participants were there. We were first told to close our eyes and keep them closed for a minute, and in the meantime all the lights on the deck were put out. The mate signalled, and I opened my eyes. I uttered some words or sigh-like sounds without thinking. I was in the midst of jet-black darkness and numerous stars were shining over me. The brightness of the moon near the horizon was a little nuisance, but I was able to see lots of stars. The story about constellations was really attractive. The mate had a detailed knowledge of the constellations, though I didn't think that Nippon Maru decided its route from the position of the stars. Stargazing might be an essential subject to become a mate.
　　I recalled something viewing the sky. On the same day 110 years ago, did people who were heading for Karafuto (Sakhalin in Russian) see the same sky? As the result of the Japanese-Russo War, Japan received the southern part of Karafuto starting at a latitude of 50 degrees north and the associated islands from Russia in the Treaty of Portsmouth signed on September 5th in 1905. This area was invaded and has been illegally occupied by Russia since 1945. I would get into the area next morning. I was on the border at that time on the Google Maps.

(Vocabulary)
constellation viewing 星座教室
navigation officer/mate 航海士
jet-black 真っ黒な, 漆黒の

Send-Off Ceremony

　　Getting on board, we rushed to the deck to say farewell to islanders who had welcomed us. I'll show you the pictures of our departure below. Some people played musical instruments, others danced the "Rishirin Ondo Dance", or shouted "See you again", or waved at us. We thought of visiting the island again. Especially, I'd like to stand on the summit of Mt. Rishirifuji and look down and around.
　　Just after the departure, we attended the briefing of the optional tour on Sakhalin, which is undoubtedly Japanese territory, but was invaded in 1945 and even now is occupied by Russia. It was regrettable that we needed our passports for landing on Sakhalin. We were offered several tours and we chose a tour which would go sightseeing to Toyohara and Oodomari.

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

Historical Importance

　　Located in the northwest of Hokkaido, Rishiri Island and Rebun Island are only 19 km apart, 40 minutes by ferry. They are often referred to collectively as a group of islands, but they have completely different characteristics. Rebun Island is known for its highland plants and is called a floating island of flowers, whereas Rishiri Island is known for its manly rough terrain.
　　I learned another thing about Rishiri Island in the lecture delivered the previous night. It had lots of recorded historical facts, which means they have been not passed down as oral traditions. Mt. Rishirifuji in the following picture looks so prominent, even from afar, that it was a landmark for smugglers who were plotting to land Japan. There are tombs of samurai who were dispatched from Honshu, the biggest island in Japan, and Hokkaido to guard the border, but who weren't able to survive their mission. Their stories will be written in another entry, but now I'll note a Canadian, Ranald MacDonald (1824-1894). He was born in Canada when it was possessed by Britain, and he tried to slip into Japan, pretending that he had been shipwrecked. However, he was taken to Nagasaki, which was the only port of contact to the outer world under the isolation policy. He was really sincere and the government didn't punish him. He started working there as a native English teacher and trained several interpreters, who would be key in the following turbulent decades.
　　Japan was founded as long as 2600 years ago. During its long history, Japan has faced various difficulties which threatened the survival of the nation. Every time Japan went through those tough situations, someone amazingly emerged at the right time and saved the country. The arrival of the black ships of Commodore Perry from the States was one of those crises for Japan, because Japan didn't have enough armament against it. In the diplomatic talks at that time, the interpreters were essential.
　　A decade before his arrival, a 14-year-old boy was lost on the Pacific Ocean in fishery work and he was rescued by an American whale catcher boat. He was taken to the States, where he grew up by the courtesy of the captain of the catcher boat. After about 10 years, he came back to Japan with lots of knowledge of English, up-to-date navigation techniques, mathematics, chemistry... the list is endless. He was really gifted with a phenomenal memory. Manjiro Nakahama was his name, and he is very famous among Japanese. He appears in the textbook about Japan's history. Naturally I knew about him, but I didn't know anything about the other interpreters. I had been wondering how they were able to learn English under the isolation policy of Japan. Japan was open only to Holland in those days, so many people were able to speak in Dutch in Nagasaki, but few had the chance to learn English.
　　When I heard of Ranald MacDonald in the lecture, I considered that Manjiro Nakahama, who wound up mastering English indirectly after a shipwreck, and the Canadian smuggler, Ranald MacDonald, who ended up teaching English in Japan to several samurai, were both saviors of Japan.

(Vocabulary)
manly  男らしい, たくましい
be passed down as an oral tradition 言い伝えとして受け継がれる
from afar  遠くから
a point of contact  窓口, 連絡先
savior 《[C]通例単数形で》 (困難・危険などから) 救ってくれる人［もの］, 救世主
Rooney was hailed as the savior of the England team. ルーニーはイングランドチームの救世主としてたたえられた．
the Savior (our Savior とも) (キリストを指して) 救い主, 救世主

The last three pictures were taken in 2001. They show me and Mt. Rishirifuji.

Wake of World War Two

　　World War Two ceased on Aug. 15th in 1945. The Japanese Government requested all the fronts to stop fighting and discard their armaments, and almost all the soldiers responded appropriately to it. However, the USSR, which is Russia at present, had already started their invasion into Japan on Aug. 9th after the atomic bombing on Hiroshima and continued their invasion after the surrender of Japan, breaching the mutual non-aggression treaty with Japan on a unilateral basis.
　　Several thousands of inhabitants on Karafuto, which is called Sakhalin in Russia, escaped from Karafuto to Otaru City, in fear of the savagery of Russians. Though the war had already been over, three non-armed passenger ships on which those people were on board, were torpedoed by Russian submarines and two of them were sunk off the coast of Rumoi City on Aug. 22nd. More than 1700 people were killed at that time. The monument for them was built in Rumoi City near the sinking point.
　　At about 4 o'clock, I went out on the deck. It was just before dawn. The ship was just passing off the coast of Rumoi City. I commemorated the victims by a moment of silence. The sea wind felt fresh. When I took a walk on the deck with a canned coffee in hand, two crew members came out of the cabin and started to sweep the floor and arm rails. They didn't work for direct service to passengers and weren't able to speak in Japanese, so I told them of the victims in English. It was new to them.
　　Just at the time, the bright sunlight came to me and a few minutes later, a half circle rainbow emerged. I realized that my sincere prayers had reached the victims.

(Vocabulary)
savagery  残忍さ, 残忍な行為;extremely cruel and violent behaviour:
北緯５０度以南の樺太は日本領、したがってこのブログでは日本名を使う
Karafuto (樺太)　Sakhalin サハリン
Toyohara (豊原)　Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ユジノサハリンスク
Oodomari(大泊)　Korsakov　コルサコフ

Kamuimisaki Cape

　　To tell the truth, I made a short stop at the cape last year when I had the trip with my motorcycle friend. I wanted to visit other places, but my wife had never seen the cape and so we visited here. This kind of view is never seen in my home, Ehime Prefecture.
　　Take a look at the third picture. According to the information panel aside, it seemed to be the ruin of the base of a radiodetector which was built in 1942. People who lived in Hokkaido have felt fear for Russian troops since long ago. Several incidents are recorded in connection with the Russian navy. The panel also says that the radio facility at the cape found the Russian fleet of Vladivostok off the coast of the cape and it triggered a serious panic on May 6th in 1904. I understood how serious people feared for Russia in those days.
　　Additionally, the coastline around the cape is known as fierce winter weather conditions and difficult terrain. On the way back to Yoichi, I held a short silence to the victims of the tunnel collapse at their memorial monument which had happened on a freezing cold day nearly 20 years ago.

(Vocabulary)
radiodetector  電波探知機

Morning Walk

　　The first picture shows Otaru Station from my room. The rain eased off in the early morning and finally stopped during my preparation for walking. I enjoyed walking in the street. Otaru City used to be the starting point of the development of Hokkaido in the Meiji Era, the 19th century, and so there are lots of historic buildings. Storage facilities along the Otaru canal are one of the best tourist attractions in the city. This area will be swarming with tourists in the daytime. I saw a patrol ship of the Japan Coast Guard, which was equipped with an automatic cannon. The patrol ships around my hometown are generally smaller and are designed for policing the illegal fishery. The automatic cannon reminded me of the city facing Russia and North Korea.
　　While walking, the sun appeared in the clouds and I was surprised to see the sun. Because Otaru City is located on the west coast of Hokkaido, I assumed that you couldn't see the rising sun from the city. It's the city where you can see the sunset. I examined the map elaborately and understood the precise location of the city.
　　Breakfast was included in the hotel fee and it was really gorgeous, though the hotel fee was not so high. Otaru was really the city of seafood as I had expected. Soon after breakfast, we left for Yoichi town by train.

Summer Vacation and Japanese LCC, Peach Aviation

　　My wife and I had a trip to Karafuto, what you call Sakhalin in Russia. I'll write about the trip in this blog bit by bit and arrange them in chronological order after the completion of a series of the trip memos. It will take a month to complete it.
　　Japan received the southern part of Sakhalin (Karafuto in Japanese) starting at a latitude of 50 degrees north and the associated islands from Russia in the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905 in the wake of the Japanese-Russo War (1904-1905).
　　Since then, Karafuto developed its infrastructure, industries and residential environment. People lived their serene lives, but Karafuto was invaded by Russia 70 years ago. Russians have been occupying the land until today. Now it is globally called Sakhalin, but there's no logical and solid basis for their territorial possession. In this blog, I'll describe the names of places on Karafuto Island with Japanese names, which had been used by Japanese residents, like Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk as Toyohara, and like Korsakov as Oodomari.
　　We had to fly to Hokkaido at first and we used Japanese LCC, Peach Aviation for the first time to Kansai Airport to make connections. This company was established a few years ago and now its profits have soared along with its popularity. That's why I chose the company though I'm a priority member of ANA(All Nippon Airways). My review about Peach Aviation will be uploaded on the way home.

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

Awa-odori Dance

　　Awa-odori Dance is one of the most popular summer events of Japan. It's held in Tokushima Prefecture, next to my prefecture, Ehime, but I've never seen it live. I've heard that the origin of the dance dates back to the late Edo period, 18th century. There are other theories, of course, but it's true that the dance came from a rather old era. To add a comment, videos or photos didn't exist in those days and so the original melodies, rhythms, and movements don't accurately come down to the present. The movement of the present Awa-odori dance was designed to encourage disappointed people after World War 2nd.
　　The Awa-odori dance has two types of movement, which are called men-type, and women-type respectively. Men never dance in the women-type way, but women are allowed to dance in the men-type way. The movement of the dance is humorous or funny, but dynamic in men, and charming in women at the same time.
　　Tokushima City, the capital city of Tokushima Prefecture, is swarming with local people and lots of sightseers during the period of the dance, from Aug 12th to 15th. The hotels are naturally fully booked. I asked the travel agency to get a room on the final night in April far in advance and enjoyed the dance with my wife and daughters. It was a lot of fun.

Hiburijima Island, My Spiritual Home

　　Our boat proceeded toward Hiburijima, the farthest island from Uwajima City, on slightly high waves. Hiburijima Island is located far out of the indented coastline and is directly hit by the rough waves from the Pacific Ocean. The bay of the island, however, is guarded from them and the surface is usually like a mirror.
　　After landing on the island, we climbed up a hill to see Sumitomo Memorial Park. It has been said for a long time that Hiburijima used to be the home of the pirate Sumitomo Fujiwara in the first half of 10th century. No evidence has been found that indicates the historical facts, but the tradition extends to the present. There's a roughly-made stone wall ruin, which must have been built by humans, and it is thought to be the ruin of the pirate's castle. I wondered why the educational board or a body like that doesn't embark on some exploration.
　　Sumitomo Memorial Park is located on the top of a small hill behind my primary school which I had attended from 7 to 9 years old. As the collateral evidence of its site of the pirate's castle, the prospect from the top was great! The scenery around the school has remarkably changed from that of 48 years ago, but the school stood in the same place.
　　Lots of trees prevented me from viewing the school itself, but I was able to see the playground. Numerous memories came up to my mind. Looking at the off-shore of the school, there were many fish farm tanks floating in the sea. Can you find two types of tanks in the pictures? Square ones are for yellowtails, sea breams, and other fish of such sizes. Circular or oval ones are for tuna up to middle sizes. Some of them will be transferred to another huge tank later. Thanks to the culture technique, the originally high-priced tuna became affordable fish.
　　I got back to the boat 10 or so minutes earlier than other members and took a short walk around my former playing sites. I felt that everything has become small and realized how long the 48 years were. I remembered that my 2-year-old brother had developed encephalitis in Hiburijima, but there was no clinic. He was immediately taken to Uwajima City by fishery boat and had a narrow escape without any after effects. He is now a known journalist.
　　Turning 9 years old, my family moved to another isolated place, Misaki Town, the western point of Shikoku. Misaki was also a deserted small fishery town. Thinking back to the old days, these two places seemingly made me start a new chapter of my life, i.e. I made up my mind to become a physician through the inconvenient and medically unsafe life in Hiburijima and Misaki. Hiburijima island and Misaki Town would be apparently called my spiritual home.

(Vocabulary)
spiritual home 　心のふるさと
collateral evidence 　傍証

Kashima Island

　　On the way to the Yusu area, which I wrote about in the last entry, the captain brought the boat up to a really tiny island to take a short rest on land for passengers who were weak due to seasickness. I'll upload a picture taken there with my daughter.
　　The time was when the Yusu area was an inaccessible corner of land though a tough ranger might be able to reach it. As of today, naturally there's a narrow, but paved road constructed. After viewing the terraced fields from the boat, we set out for another island, Kashima island.
　　Kashima island is small, and the number of inhabitants is only 100 at most, but its history can date back to 10th century. A famous pirate family dominated the area around and the island is located at a very favorable point for them. If you stand on the top of the hill, you can view all the boats from and into the harbour of Uwajima and around. They were able to choose the boat which they assaulted, judging from the height of the draft line. It is said that they prayed for their happiness and built a shrine, and the shrine has been preserved through several renovations. We also prayed for our tour and got back to our boat. Our next destination was Tojima Island in which a few hundred people live.

(Vocabulary)
The time was when 『かつては～だった』
terraced fields 段々畑
an inaccessible (corner of) land 　陸の孤島
draft line 　喫水線

Hiburijima Island

　　I wrote about small islands off the coast of Uwajima City in the last entry, and I had lived on one of those islands, Hiburijima Island, for two years from 7 to 9 years old, i.e. the golden years of childhood, surrounded by almost untouched nature. My parents were assigned as teachers of a primary school on the island at that time.
　　Let me tell you about the life on the island in those days. There was only one round-trip boat service a day between Uwajima City, and it took 2.5 hours. Newspapers were brought in the late afternoon and the shortage of water often happened. The inhabitants had to collect rainwater for their daily necessities. The boat was suspended in bad weather. Blackouts weren't rare. However, recalling those days, I was happy to live on the island in spite of various inconveniences.
　　Back to the tour, a small boat was ready for us at the port. The boat was specially designed for transportation of anglers to isolated islands or small rocks, and so the boarding site is set at the bow in order to drop and pick up the anglers wherever they want. You can see its picture below. The ship was headed to the Yusu area at first along the indented coastline. The Yusu area used to be a lonely-island-like place. The soil was poor and people managed to survive their lives by changing steep slopes into potato fields. The history of harshness is now a sightseeing resource.

(Vocabulary)
bow /bau/ (bows とも) 船首、へさき