Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

At Heathrow

　　We bought a stuffed bear, "Paddington" for our granddaughter at London Paddington. Then, we moved to Heathrow Airport by the Elizabeth Line. It was a direct service and very handy. We had to stop over at Munich. We used award tickets this time and stopping over at Munich was a trade-off for getting cheaper flights. We decided to enjoy the airport itself in Heathrow. After wandering around bookstores and several souvenir shops, we entered a conveyor-belt sushi bar which seemed to be run by Indians. Not only this sushi bar, but in many places, I often came across Indians or people of Indian origin. Anyway, the taste was not bad, but their prices were incredible expensive. We ate only two kinds respectively. Their tastes and cleanliness were acceptable. I recalled that my daughter, who was now in Bath working as a physician, and I felt nauseous in a sushi restaurant run by Koreans in Prince Edward Island in 2012. I'll add the link to the article. 

 

https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2012/07/japanese-cuisine-.html 

 

(Vocabulary)     

conveyor-belt [conveyer-belt] sushi bar [restaurant] 回転寿司     

 

 

 

　パディントン駅で孫にお土産の熊のぬいぐるみを買った後、エリザベスラインでヒースロー国際空港へ。直通なのでかなり便利。ヒースローからはルフトハンザでまずミュンヘンへ飛ぶ。特典航空券なので直行便で無いのは仕方ない。その代わりにラウンジや空港そのものを楽しむことにする。回転寿司屋があったので寄ってみた。味はまずまずだったが信じられないほど高い。それぞれ２品ほど食べて失礼した。味と清潔さは合格点。 カナダ東部のプリンスエドワード島で、コリアンが経営する寿司屋「竹鮨」でうんざりしたことを思い出した。その時の記事を添付する 

https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2012/07/japanese-cuisine-.html 

The Comfort Women HOAX

　　Japan had annexed Korea for 35 years from 1910 to 1945 by request from international society. Japan spent lots of capital to modernize Korea in those days. It was not what you call a colonial rule. However, Japan has been accused of its policy over Korea to this day.
　　One of their side of stories is that; Japan abducted lots of Korean women to let them work as sex slaves. Some Koreans insist that the Japanese army abducted Korean women and sent them to the war front for Japanese soldiers. It was backed by the Japanese government.
　　Several old ladies came forward as victims recently, but there is no documented evidence for them, and they request Japan compensation. Some poor parents reluctantly sold their daughters into prostitution to survive hardships in those days not only in Korea but Japan. The above ladies would be victims of the era. It was a sad fact of history.
　　On these conditions, a book which tears their arguments completely to shreds was published in the U.S. last year and I got the Japanese translation of "The Comfort Women HOAX" by J. Mark Ramseyer today.
　　The professor doesn't stand on either side of Korea and Japan. Simply from the standpoint as the bystander, his book was compiled. I hoped that Japan would be able to get rid of the pointless conflict, but a monument to accuse Japan of this issue was built on a public space of Stintino city on the island of Sardinia in Italy. There's no remedy for idiots.

(Vocabulary)
annexation (領土などの) 併合
tear one's argument completely to shreds ～の議論をズタズタに論破する
Sardinia イタリア西部サルデーニャ島
Stintino スティンティーノ市

Yellow Sand and China

　　The cherry blossom front reached my hometown and they are just about to bloom. People are prepared to go out for boisterous parties under the cherry trees, whereas some yellow sand is coming to Japan from China. The mountains in the distance look blurred. Some people with respiratory problems have to wear a facemask and glasses. Those people had better avoid parties outside exposed to the yellow sand. Almost all of the things coming from China are a nuisance.
　　China has been prohibiting the import of marine products from Japan on the grounds of the high tritium of the treated water from Fukushima, but according to the data issued the other day, the amount of tritium from normally operating atomic power plants in China far outstrips that of the after-disaster Fukushima plant. China's nothing but a nuisance.

 

Wrongful Imprisonment

　　I read a Japanese businessman's memoir about his 2279 days' wrongful imprisonment in China. According to his memoir, he was captured by the security police in a taxi which he got on in front of his hotel. He was going to head for the airport to go back to Japan, but he was taken to a secret facility for custody with his eyes masked. Then he spent a few months there without seeing sunlight. What surprised me most was that they didn't explain the reason of his custody or show any evidence. It might be the usual way of Chinese Communist Party. In this book, there was a clear and detailed description about the inhumane treatment he had received from the Chinese police. How was the grueling questioning? How was the toilet? He was released after 6 years. China arrests people without showing any reason. I can't understand why lots of people willingly go sightseeing in China. I'm sorry for people who have to go or stay in China for business. I hear that several Japanese are in custody now.
　　I checked the website of the US Department of State, and found the following description.
"Mainland China, Hong Kong & Macau 　 Level 3: Reconsider Travel"

　　As opposed to that, China was categorized into secure countries on the website of Japan's Foreign Ministry. Irresponsibleness of the Japanese government is too much to tolerate.

中国で２２７９日間拘束された日本人の記録を読んだ。日本に帰国すべく空港に向かうタクシーに乗ったらそのタクシーが当局から派遣されたものでそのまま目隠しをされ拘束施設へ連れ込まれた。その後、太陽の光を見ない生活が続く。驚くのは拘束理由がはっきりしないこと。もちろん、なんの証拠もない。

この本には、拘束されてどれほどの非人道的な扱いを受けたのか、赤裸々に書かれている。どんな取り調べだったのか。同様な環境にある他の外国人との意見交換なども興味深い。なぜ拘束されているのか、本人が理解できないまま２２７９日後に解放された。

中国は何の法的根拠も示さず、自由に人を拘束できる。このような国に進んで入国する人たちの気が知れない。仕事で行かなければならない人は本当に気の毒である。今も１０名くらいの日本人が拘束されていると聞く。

アメリカ国務省のサイトを覗くと、中国への旅行は考え直せ、とある。日本の外務省は問題なしという。外務省の無責任さが現れている。因みにこの著者、外務省に対してあまり良い印象は持っていない。当然だろうと思う。

Flight Route

　　Having a meal, looking down through the window, I was surprised. Under my eyes, there was a vast expanse of ocean. The sea of Japan couldn't be that wide. We should have flown over the southern part of the Korean Peninsula averting the threat of North Korea. I made sure where I was on the backseat screen and found that I was flying over the Pacific Ocean. The plane was headed to the east. I knew the route should be diverted avoiding the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and I assumed that the plane would have passed over or around India. I recalled a Malaysian aircraft which had been shot down flying over eastern Ukraine in 2014. I understood this eastbound route would be the most secure way to avoid Russia and Ukraine.
　　Soon after, I hit upon a good idea. I decided to take snapshots of the screen which told the location. I've never flown east of Canada and wanted to record the route and the pictures of the ground for later consideration. I didn't know much about the northern part of Canada, Greenland, and Iceland. As for Greenland, I didn't even know its capital city. As for cities of Iceland, I only knew Reykjavik because it's the city in which a historic talk between the U.S. and USSR took place. It is said to have been the commencement of the end of the Cold War. Some journalists from Japan reported its possibilities as a tourism country at that time. Several hot spas in the land literally called "ice"land....Fantastic! People in Iceland apparently started the Spirit Boat Procession just like those of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6th and 9th every year since the talk. I'm eager to visit the country just on these days some day.
　　If the plane had flown a little south, I would have been able to see the sweet scenery of Canadian mountains. I tried to change the configuration of the location map on the screen, but I couldn't find anything about British Columbia in Canada on the map. Vancouver was far away from my location at that time.

　食事をしながら下を見て驚いた。北を避けて韓国上空にさしかかっているはずが、大海原だったから。日本海がこれほど広いはずがない。前席のシートの後ろに付いているディスプレイで位置を確認すると飛行機は東へ向かっていた。ロシアとウクライナの戦争地域を避けて飛ぶとは聞いていたが、インド辺りを飛ぶのだと思っていたので東へ向かっていることを知って驚き、かつ安心した。２０１４年にマレーシア航空機が撃墜されたことを思い出した。
　位置を確認したと同時にルートを記録しておこうと考えた。カナダより東を飛んだことがなく、北部カナダ、グリーンランド、アイスランド上空を飛ぶはずだ。これらの地域をほとんど知らない。グリーンランドはその首都も知らない。アイスランドはレイキャビクだけは覚えている。東西冷戦を終わらせるレーガンとゴルバチョフの歴史的な会談が行われた場所。余り知られていないが、長崎、広島のような灯籠流しがそれぞれの原爆投下の日、８月６日と９日に行われている。知っているのはこれくらい。
　もう少し南を飛んでくれたら懐かしいウィスラーの山々を眺めることができたかもしれないのが少し残念だが、遠回りは出来ないから仕方ない。ルートマップの設定を変えながらBC州の方角を眺めて見たがバンクーバー辺りは遠すぎて見えない。

Yellow Sand

　　A yellow sand advisory was issued today. I got gloomy to hear that. I saw the disastrous scene of streets in Beijing and a highway of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In Beijing, the sky was cloudy with yellowish particles. I'm afraid that lots of people would have respiratory problems. On the Mongolian highway, some people were removing sand on the road using a shovel. The visibility on the highway seemed to be only 20 meters. I don't mind where they want to go, but I'd like them to stop troubling other countries. I understand that they don't have the tradition to plant trees for the coming generations. It's a really pitiful thing.

(Vocabulary)
advisory （主に米）〚[名]の後で〛（危険に関する）勧告, 警告, （気象の）注意報; 状況報告.
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (China) 内モンゴル自治区
visibility 視界

Chinese and Japanese

　　It seems to be difficult to tell Chinese from Japanese for people from western countries, but most Japanese can tell with a high probability. Both Chinese and Japanese are the yellow races, live in the cultural sphere in which Chinese characters are used, take rice as a staple food, and partly have the spirit of Confucianism. However, excluding the above, both peoples have nothing in common.
　　"The two countries are separated by only a narrow strip of water." This phrase is a dry boilerplate to insist that China and Japan are kind of relatives or good friends. The way of thinking or behaving of both peoples are far distant like finally reaching, after turning around the globe to the opposite direction, about 40,000 km.
　　The above is my personal sensation acquired from the various recent news items from China.

(Vocabulary)
cultural sphere 文化圏
Confucianism 儒教
have nothing in common 共通点がない
a narrow strip of water ／a narrow strait 一衣帯水

 

Gaoxiong and Its Name's Origin

　　I've been to Taiwan twice, but the area which I walked around was limited to the northern district. I will visit several cities in the south some day.
　　I'll write about the big city of Gaoxiong in southern Taiwan first. This city is now one of the principal cities in Taiwan, but it was only a tiny fishery village when Japan received it from the Qing dynasty of China in 1895. Its name was something which had the meaning of "beat the dog" at that time. The Japanese government viewed the name as an unpalatable fixture of its culture and changed its name into Gaoxiong, which was cited from the historic place of Kyoto and they took it into consideration that its pronunciation in their local language didn't change that much on the flip side. The port of this city used to be a crucial naval base of the Japanese Imperial Navy and now it has the same function as the Taiwanese Navy's base.
　　Japan ruled not only Taiwan, but also Korea and the islands of Micronesia for about 30 to 50 years, but Japan's governance was far different from that of general colonies. Japan spent a significant amount of money on those countries as well as Japan built various infrastructures, provided education to local people and improved hygiene. Given the name of Gaoxiong City, you'll know Japan's policy. Let me give you some examples: Lake Victoria, Port Elizabeth, Rhodesia, the Philippines,,. These were named by the ruler or like that, ignoring the local people.
　　When Japan was founded in 660 B.C., the 1st Ten-noh declared his policy, among which he wished for the well-being of all people on the globe. An idea flashed across my mind. Problems of refugees might be a kind of punitive justice to the former suzerains. Refugees are heading to the countries where their relatives live or they can communicate with their languages.

(Vocabulary)
Qing tʃɪŋ dynasty 清朝（１６４４－１９１２）
punitive justice 因果応報
suzerain 宗主国

A Cloven Foot

　　This word is used as a derogatory term for Japanese in Korea. The mainstream media and sophisticated people in South Korea don't use this word any more, but this derogatory term is often used in the North. Anyway, this term seems to be derived from the Japanese culture of using "Geta" or "Setta", a Japanese style of clog, which has a cord to fix the foot. This cord runs between the big toe and the second toe. This means, the toe is divided into two parts; a big toe and others. Yes, it's the cloven foot.
　　One thing, the use of "Geta" seems to be good for the health. When you put the "Geta" on, you will come to walk in a proper posture heedlessly applying your weight on both big toes. You'd not suffer from ingrown toe nails by this. Your feet will get dry and this leads to protection from athlete's foot. Most chefs of Japanese traditional cuisine put "Geta" on willingly.
　　Take a look at the following picture. It shows my new walking shoes. It looks like rubber-soled socks which are used by construction workers and farmers. I had to prepare special socks for the shoes, but the shoes are really good.

(Vocabulary)
cleave
1 [他](文) (工具で) 〈材木・岩石など〉 を裂く, 割る
2 [他](フォーマル) 〈社会など〉 を分裂させる, 引き裂く
3 [他](文) 〈水・空気など〉 を切って進む
4 [自] 裂ける, 割れる
[動] (cleaved または clove /klouv/ または cleft /kleft/cleaved または cloven /klóuven/ または cleft)
derogatory term 差別用語
derogatory 〈言葉・人などが〉 侮辱的な, けなすような, 軽蔑(けいべつ)的な
clog /klɑg || klɔg/ [名] 《[C]通例複数形で》 クロッグ (足の甲の部分が革で覆われた木製サンダル)
rubber‐soled socks 地下足袋
apply 体重をかける
in proper posture 正しい姿勢で

WHITE RUST

　　I've been in serious trouble about white rust on the aluminium window-frame of my car. I tried to remove it in various ways, but in vain. Recently I found the cause of the rust. Most Japanese car makers adopt stainless steel for the window frames, but on the other hand, European and American manufacturers adopt aluminium. My car, which was produced in the U.S., is also equipped with aluminium window frames and they are easily stained with white rust.
　　I've been wondering why European and American car manufacturers use aluminium for the window frames. I hear that such a white rust phenomenon doesn't happen in the EU and the U.S., so they continue to utilize aluminium for the window frames.
　　I knew its cause from my acquaintance today. Its culprit was yellow sand from China. Actually yellow sand would not exist in the EU and the U.S. The yellow sand generates alkaline rain and this rain seemingly brings white rust on the aluminium window frames. My repulsion against China, which doesn't stop its environmental destruction, was intensified greatly.

(Vocabulary)
I hear .... 聞けば、、、
culprit (問題・難局の) 原因, 元凶; 犯人, 罪人, (不正な行為の) 張本人
repulsion 《[U], a/the ~》(書き言葉) 嫌悪感;[同意] disgust, revulsion

Plague 2020

　　I read a nonfiction book about the pandemic of the Wuhan virus which had been published just a year ago. I've read five or six nonfiction books by the same journalist before and I believe in his ability of collecting accurate information. The process from the sparse appearance of the virus in Wuhan to June in 2020 was documented precisely and I learned much from the book.
　　Turning back all the history from the bird's view, I noticed several points which I didn't understand in real time. When Wuhan was locked out, the Japanese Government didn't mind the issue. The prevalence of the virus was underestimated in Japan. What who said then is documented in the book. I learned that the Japanese health and labor ministry was unable to control the risk.

(Vocabulary)
sparse まばらな, 少ない, 〈髪が〉 薄い
precisely 正確に, ちょうど

Huge Landslide in Atami

　　This year's rainy season is lasting longer than in usual years in Japan. My hometown has few natural disasters in its nature of the locality, but some areas in Japan get flooded almost yearly. Atami City near Tokyo got huge landslides the other day and several dozen people were killed or are still missing. Atami City is one of the famous tourist spots in Japan. People in the city have already got damages from the pandemic and furthermore they got this disaster.
　　There is a massive solar power plant near the trigger point of the landslides. People started to say the plant had something to do with the landslides. The solar panels are from China and would be produced by the slave labor of the Uighur. The governor of the prefecture to which Atami City belongs has long been questioned if he receives something from China. He approved the construction plan of the solar power plant and the landslides started from the side of the plant.
　　The landslides are said to be a "man-made" accident now. The mainstream media don't report the issue, but the examination into the cause of the landslides has just started. The mainstream media keeps quiet about this issue. They seem to have lost their values.

(Vocabulary)
nature of the locality 　土地柄

 

Tokyo Olympics

　　Do you know about what you call the lost 1940 Tokyo Olympics? This year falls on the 2600th year from the foundation of Japan. Japan seemed to have been in the midst of joy, but in vain. The reason why this Olympics was withdrawn was the conflict against China. China launched their first-ever atomic bomb experiment on the opening day of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Then the Wuhan virus this time. I have no words to express the cruelty of the Chinese Communist Party, thinking of what they are doing to the Tibetans, Mongolians, Uighur people, and other minority groups.
　　I hope the 2020 Tokyo Olympics would be held this year even in the condition of the restricted version. I'm dreaming that people of the future will assess it like it was the start of the rebirth of the new world.

 

Yellow Sand

　　Do you know a troublesome phenomenon, Yellow Sand, which is often seen in Spring in Japan and maybe South Korea. The fine particles flung up from the desert in the west of Peking streak from the west of Peking across the Korean Peninsula to Japan. It's nothing but an annoyance.
　　The yellow sand not only stains cars, but also damages their air intake system. My car is fortunately an electric car and doesn't need the air, but cars which are driven by gasoline would need more careful maintenance after the drive than usual. What's worse, it harms human health. My throat felt harsh now though I wore a mask all day. Nothing good comes from China.

 

LINE Issue

　　Do you know "LINE", the most popular SNS in Japan. This risky SNS has finally been brought in dispute.
　　When I got to know about "LINE" a few years ago, I looked for the information on LINE on the net and found the fact that its server was placed in South Korea. Japan's Personal Information Protection Law is in effect only in Japan. That is to say, the LINE-users' personal information are surely stolen by South Korea. Since I found the fact, I've warned people around me, but most people were indifferent to my advice. Under the threat of the Wuhan virus infection, the Matsuyama Century Lions Club, to which I belong, has held online meetings using "LINE" for the recent several months, but I didn't want to use "LINE" and have been absent.
　　The Japanese Government banned the use of "LINE" in government agencies. It's very natural, but the decision was too late. I knew from the prime minister that the maintenance of the LINE's server was done by China. What a lax risk management it is!
　　Today, I found an interesting news item on the net. It says that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) banned governmental and military personnel from driving Tesla Cars in the premises of their offices. I assumed that it must be due to the battery's firing accident which happened the other day, but according to the reporter, the CCP is concerned over built-in 9 cameras (8:outside 1:inside) and sound recording functions of all Tesla Cars. The CEO of the Tesla Company denied the collection of those data, but the CCP might have suspected that the U.S. would do the same thing as the CCP do.

(Vocabulary)
Personal Information Protection Law 個人情報保護法
lax〈態度・規制などが〉 甘い, 手ぬるい, 緩い
be lax in (doing) something ＜…＞（すること）に対して手ぬるい

数年前、ＬＩＮＥの情報を探すと、サーバーが韓国に置かれていることがわかった。個人情報保護法は日本国内にしか適応されない。ということは個人情報が韓国政府に抜き取られてしまうということになる。そのときから周囲にＬＩＮＥは危険だと話してきた。ほとんどの人は僕の警告に無関心だった。武漢ウイルス感染を恐れ所属するライオンズクラブはＬＩＮＥを使ってオンラインミーティングをしてきた。僕はどうしてもＬＩＮＥを使う気になれず、ずっと欠席状態。
昨日、菅総理が政府機関でのＬＩＮＥの使用を禁止すると発表をした。これでやっと周囲にもわかってもらえる。その際に知ったのだが、韓国のサーバーのメンテはなんとＣＣＰが行っている。なんという危機管理の甘さよ。
そして今日、興味深いニュースを見つけた。ＣＣＰが政府関係者、軍関係者にテスラ社に乗ることを禁止したという。先日のバッテリー発火事故のためかと思いきや、記者によると、テスラについているカメラ９台（８台は外、１台は中）と録音機能が問題になっているのだろうという。自分たちがＬＩＮＥを使って情報を集めているからアメリカを同じことをしていると考えたのだろうか?

The U.S. and China Talks in Alaska

　　The talks between the U.S. and China were held on March 18th in Alaska. The authorities allowed the media to stay in the room during the talks and commoners like me were able to see the talk. I saw the scene via Youtube or something and was surprised in many ways. Their words were unexpectedly not polite and even violent. The U.S. official raised the issue of human rights and the China side rebutted it pointing out the BLM issue.
　　If I were the U.S. Secretary, Blinken, I would have said, "It's in the U.S. that a black, who you referred to, can be the president. Feel vexed? So, let a Tibetan, Mongolian, or Uighur be a president of the Communist Party. Can you?"
　　I got relieved to know the stance of the U.S. Government against China. I assumed that the Biden regime would lift the sanctions which former President Trump imposed. The policy against China wouldn't change at least for now.

 

Silent Invasion

　　My friend gave me a book written in English, which is shown below. The title of this book is "Silent Invasion". Its Japanese edition has already been published and I was going to read it, but using this present as an opportunity, I decided to read this book. I'm reading "Into The Wild" now, and will read it after that book.
　　The first words which came into my eye immediately when I looked at the contents were "Dyeing Australia Red". If you know about this book for the first time, you would be able to imagine the content. Arrogance, totalitarianism, militarism, and infringement of human rights of China have long been criticized and now even pro-China countries like Germany and Australia came to change their attitude altogether.
　　I thumbed through its preface and the author wrote about the Australian torch relay associated with 2008 Beijing Olympics. There seemed to happen a disturbance or a riot caused by Chinese students. Apparently it's the same situation as Nagano city in central Japan. Mainstream medias in Japan concealed the incident and most Japanese don't know about it even now.
　　Around when I started writing this blog, I often picked up topics about politics and foreign affairs. It was to let ordinary people not only in Japan but across the globe know the facts. Now, however, they can reach the primary information by the development of the internet technology. The mainstream medias became unable to lie to people. It's wonderful.

(Vocabulary)
本の目次のページにはふつう単に contents と書く. なお, content と単数形にすれば本の「内容」になる
disturbance 騒ぎ, 暴動 , 騒動, 騒乱; （平静･正常な進行を）乱すこと

China's Act of Spite Against Taiwan

　　I heard about the recent trouble in Taiwan's agricultural industry. The destination of export of Taiwan's pineapples had been mainly China for a long time, but the Chinese government began to harass Taiwan. This news spread across Japan immediately.
　　Taiwan reached their big helping hand to Japan 10 years ago when the enormous earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan. Japanese people never forget a favor offered by others. Ordinary people in Japan moved to express their gratitude and started to buy pineapples produced in Taiwan. Some importers responded in concert with this movement and the amount of import of pineapples from Taiwan increased to 2.3 times compared with last year. Moreover it seems to expand.
　　I looked for them at a few supermarkets near my neighborhood, but I didn't find any, so I bought the processed pineapples of pineapple cakes, which is shown below, via Amazon. I like this cake originally and bought several packages. I brought some of them to my office and my daughter. Hang in there, Taiwan!

(Vocabulary)
spite [U] 悪意, 恨み= harassment 嫌がらせ
out of spite (for spite とも) 悪意［恨み］から, 腹いせに

After COVID-19

　　After the present virus crisis, I have lots of plans. Being trapped in Japan and under strict movement restriction, I'm slightly irritated. One of my plans is a cruising tour by the Diamond Princess in July. I'd like to visit Aomori prefecture, the northernmost prefecture in Honshu, to watch the "Nebuta-matsuri" festival, which is listed as one of the biggest summer festivals in Japan. Then the ship will head for Vladivostok, which used to be an important military port and other than Russians were prohibited from visiting there before.
　　I checked the cruising route of the Diamond Princess and immediately applied for the tour with my wife. We picked the lowest priced room. Those rooms are reserved fairly early. That's why we reserved the room early. The cruise will start in the end of July. I can't wait to walk on the streets of Vladivostok.
　　By the way, Vladivostok used to be included in Chinese territory until 1860. It is acceptable if the Chinese Communist Party insist on their control over Vladivostok now, but they don't whereas they insist on groundless territorial sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands. Is it because they are scared of Russia? Anyway, are there remains in Vladivostok showing Chinese sovereignty over the city until 1860.

 

ウイルスが消えたら

武漢ウイルス禍が終われば、、、と計画していることは多々有る。個人的には夏には終わるだろうと、そしてクルーズは比較的気楽に参加できるのではないかと期待している。実はもう７月のクルーズに申し込み済み。前々からみたかった青森県のねぶた祭、そしてロシアのウラジオストクまで回るクルーズ。ウラジオストクは少し前まで外国人は立ち入れなかった軍港の町。ルートを確認してすぐに一番安い部屋を申し込んだ。安い部屋から埋まっていくので。

ウラジオストクは本来なら支那が我が領土であると主張しても理解できる土地だが、ロシアが怖いのだろう、何も言わない。何の根拠もないのに我が国の尖閣諸島を自国の領土と言い張るのに。ウラジオストクにかつて支那の領土だったという痕跡はあるのだろうか。これからガイドブックを購入し勉強したいと思っている。

Hado Cape and the Japan-Korea Tunnel

　　I was able to view the small islands and the Genkai-nada Sea in the distance from the Nagoya Castle Remains, but I went to the seacoast, Hado Cape additionally. Did Hideyoshi come there, the very end of Kyushu, and look toward the continent? It was only an undersea observatory that was man made in the scene from the tip of the cape. I was happy to know that I saw the same scene as in the era of Hideyoshi. How did Hideyoshi imagine the world over the sea?
　　The next visiting site was the controversial exploratory drilling spot for the Japan-Korea Tunnel. When I heard of the plan of tunnel-drilling between Japan and Korea for the first time, maybe 4-5 years ago, I assumed it to be fake news, but it actually existed near the Nagoya Castle Remains. Moreover the drilling site was in the midst of the positions of military commanders serving under Hideyoshi. I wonder who of the commanders imagined that the tunnel from there to the Korean Peninsula would be planned 400 years after their fight? Roughly overlooking the history of Japan, it was the times of restricted trade with China and Korea when Japan had spent really happy times. And so, I think that this tunnel is unnecessary and even inauspicious. To my delight, simply, this project seemed to be stranded.

波戸岬と日韓トンネル

名護屋城跡から遠くの島々を見渡せたのだが、地域の最北端に寄ってみた。波戸岬だ。秀吉もここから大陸の方角を眺めただろうか。周りに人工物は一つだけ。海中の様子を眺めることのできる海中塔だけだ。秀吉の時代と同じ景色を見ているのだと思うと嬉しくなった。海の向こうの様子を秀吉はどのように想像しただろうか。

次に訪れたのが日韓トンネルの調査が行われている場所。初めて聞いたときフェイクニュースだと思ったが、実際に存在していた。この場所は名護屋城跡のすぐそば、周りは秀吉配下の武将たちの陣地が密集していた場所。この武将たちの中で誰が、４００年後にこの地から朝鮮半島へ向けてトンネルが掘られるような計画が持ち上がるなどと想像したろうか。歴史を見れば、日本が平和だった時代は例外なく、大陸との交易に制限を掛けていた時代。なので、このようなトンネルは無用だと思う。ただ、嬉しいことにこの調査、活発に進んでいるような様子はなかった。