Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Poster Exhibition

　　I've been a member of the Matsuyama Chuo Lions Club since last year. I was present at the regular meeting at noon today. The picture shows the conference room and the poster exhibition which was held there. Each poster was drawn by the students of several junior high schools to encourage people to build a peaceful world. A variey of ideas were woven in every poster and it made me happy. On the other hand, an abhorrent exhibition came to my notice. Look at this link or this entry. These posters were also drawn by Korean junior high school students. What will become of them receiving such an absurd education?
　　Anyway, the club members had to choose three posters which they liked the most. The three drawers who got the highest points will be given an award from the club. I chose three posters which adopted the issue of air pollution, described the scene of shaking hands among several nationalities and depicted a fairy tale land.

(Vocabulary)
abhorrent   嫌悪感を起こさせる
come to sb's notice  (フォーマル)(事実・問題などが)＜人＞の知るところとなる
This never came to my notice (= I never knew about this).
nationality [C] 民族
fairy tale   おとぎ話

(Vocabulary from comments)
hatred  [C,U] 憎しみ, 憎悪
fallacy  [C] (多くの人が信じ込んでいる) 誤った考え, 誤信
denigrate 〈人〉 を中傷する, けなす
denigration  中傷

ghoti and eleven

　　The topic would annoy you. The former word is from George Bernard Shaw and the latter is from my English teacher in my high school days. Both words were used to show how illogical English pronunciation was.
　　The word "eleven" has three "e"s. The pronunciation is [i] [e] [u] respectively. The teacher emphasized that you had to learn the spelling, pronunciation and meaning of every single English word respectively. Japanese syllabic symbols are associated with pronunciation on a one-to-one basis. It's the reason why the teacher emphasised the difference between the spelling and pronunciation in English.
　　By the way, can you imagine the meaning of "ghoti" by Mr. Shaw. "Gh" is pronounced "f" in the word "rough". "O" is likewise "i" in the word "women". "Ti" is "sh" in the word "nation". Finally, "ghoti" is "fish". Mr. Shaw intended to explain the absurdity of the spelling of English words.
　　I'm learning German now. In German, I don't have to memorize the pronunciation of each and every word. You can talk correctly just by seeing the spelling in German. It's great, though I'm not going to judge the comparative merits and demerits of English and German. It goes for Korean and Mandarin Chinese too, which I started to learn the other day. It's very interesting to me to know the features of various languages.

(Vocabulary)
comparative merits and demerits of A and B  AとBの優劣

Two Things I Started

　　I found a flyer in the newspaper, which advertised a seasonal discount of a health club near my house. It looked like a plan to get new customers. I have it in mind to enjoy skiing in Whistler next March after four years and my wife is gaining excessive weight. We decided to join the club instantly and applied last night. I'll do at least an every-other-day workout in the club. After my dog, Mocha, passed away, I felt somewhat depressed and apparently I am short of fundamental exercise, because I stopped walking. Every path around my house reminds me of Mocha and people along the walking circuit spoke to me about him. It bothered me and I stopped taking a walk. So, it might be a favor from Mocha to find this flyer in the paper, though I might read too much into it.
　　Another thing is the learning of Mandarin Chinese. Viewing the news on the internet, ordinary Chinese people are gaining more and more the right to speak out against the present brutal totalitarian regime, which should collapse in the not so distant future. I want to watch the historical turning point more directly. I missed visiting Hong Kong in 1997 and Berlin in 1989 and it's a bother to look up in the dictionary every time I come across Chinese names of people and places in documents written in English. I will dare to start learning Chinese in September.

(Vocabulary)
workout   トレーニング, 運動
have it in mind to  ～するつもりだ
somewhat  いくらか, 若干
somewhat of a sth  ちょっとした＜…＞
The news was somewhat of a surprise to me. そのニュースにはちょっと驚いた．
circuit  一周, 一回り, 巡回
read too much  考えすぎ
speak; to publicly speak in protest about sth, especially when protesting could be dangerous: [+about/against] Five students who had spoken out against the regime were arrested.
dare (to) do sth  ＜…＞する度胸がある, 思い切って＜…＞する

(Vocabulary from comments)
plasticity  (専門) 可塑性
drive  [U] 意欲, 気迫, やる気
do sth at the drop of a hat  すぐに＜…＞する
feat  偉業, 離れ業(わざ)

Entry Refused

　　Three Diet members were refused entry to South Korea along with a specialist on the territorial issue. They flew to Seoul, but had to return to Japan on the same day. Their purpose was to visit Ulleung-do Island which is located at the east of the Korean Peninsula in the Sea of Japan. It is also known as the nearest site to Takeshima Island which South Korea insists it has sovereignty over. As I wrote in this blog repeatedly, they have no persuasive evidence on their sovereignty. They have only distorted things that they call evidence. The Korean Government promotes Ulleung-do as the starting point for the sightseeing of Takeshima Island. The Japanese group just wanted to see how things were in Ulleung-do.
　　One thing, there is Tokdo Museum in Ulleung-do. (Tokdo is the Korean name of Takeshima Island.) Almost all of the items in the museum were already shot and shown to us Japanese and their distortion is apparent in Japan. There would be lots more things that the Korean Government didn't want to be seen. The monument in front of the museum reads "Tsushima Island is ours." It's incredible, but it might be natural for Korean people.
　　On the other hand, South Korean Diet members came to Shimane Prefecture in Japan to which Takeshima Island belongs. They burned Japan's national flag and made a fuss there though the Japanese group just intended to see around the island peacefully.
　　By the way, what's the legal basis to reject the entry of the Japanese Diet members? It seems like the adoption of a law against terrorists. They were taken as terrorists. Unbelievable! The relationship between Japan and Korea is just like between adults and kids. Japan has the issue left over for a long time, but we never increase their arrogance.
　　Koreans used to be slaves of the China for several centuries. Japan beat China and forced it to acknowledge the independence of Korea in 1895. Korea could become independent because of Japan. However, Korea was hopelessly undeveloped and Japan annexed Korea to protect the Korean people under unavoidable circumstances. It originated from the desire of most Korean people and lots of countries at that time. The above is historical fact, but the Koreans don't show any gratitude to Japan. That's why I feel the Koreans to be childish.

(Vocabulary)
Ulleung-do  鬱陵島 うつりょうとう
persuasive〈主張・証拠などが〉 説得力のある, 納得できる
make a fuss  騒ぎたてる, 不平を言う
increase 増長させる
legal basis  法的根拠
under unavoidable circumstances  仕方なく

Diplomacy of Japan and Arrogance of Anglo-Saxons

　　I've really been worrying about the diplomacy of Japan recently. I wonder if the DPJ, the present ruling party of Japan, can make diplomatic efforts to resolve various issues between foreign countries. Russian high officials have repeatedly visited the northern territory of Japan to intensify their illegal occupation. South Korea is still occupying Takeshima island, which has been a traditional Japanese territory. China also still shows an interest in Senkaku Islands. Moreover the Japanese Government doesn't take any actual measures to expel them from Japanese territory.
　　By the way, how about the U.S.? Though lots of Japanese feel friendly toward the U.S. looking at their aid for the affected people in eastern Japan, is the U.S. really called a friend of Japan?
　　The US toy store, Toys'R'Us, came to my hometown years ago. My daughters were little at that time. That's why they were happy. However, some toy stores had to close their shops for that. In the last 10 years, most insurance companies in Japan were merged into U.S. companies. Japan Post Service was broken into three private companies and now the money of Japan is flowing out toward the U.S. These moves were from orders from the U.S. and this fact came to be known across Japan now.
　　I'd like to add one thing; I'm not accusing the U.S. The U.S. Government is just pursuing the interests of Americans. It's natural. The Japanese Government is so stupid that the U.S. can do anything they want.
　　Now, I have a few questions looking at the U.S. from another angle. How does the U.S. manage to change the rules of international society for its own convenience? What's the reason for it to force Muslims to adopt democracy? Is democracy the best system? Isn't it too arrogant? Anglo-Saxons aren't a majority in the world.
　　I presume that the U.S. believes that its own culture and policy is the best in the world, but if the American people believe that, but they are helpless idiots. They should calm down and think carefully about the world's cultural heritage. How much do they have? The ruins of the native Americans, the Statue of Liberty, which was gifted from France, the imitation of the Palladian style building. In other words, they have nothing original which they can be proud of.
　　I hope Japanese politicians would be proud of our own culture. To my regret, most of them are still brainwashed by the post-war policy of the U.S. and the Communist International. I wish Japan would be such a nation that could fight the evils of the world openly and squarely with the promise of a good conscience.

 

(Vocabulary)
openly and squarely / with the promise of a good conscience  正々堂々と

Towel Museum

　　Do you know the brand name, Imabari, which is also the name of the city near my home town. Imabari City is well known as the city of towels and a number of citizens are involved in the production of the towels. Recently an incident made this city more popular as follows: when the towel companies tried to open their shops in China on a conjoined basis, the trademark of the Imabari brand was already registered in China. The towels under the false Imabari brand were naturally far from the genuine ones. Imabari City officially accused the false company of fraudulent use of their trademark, but China didn't listen. This incident was carved in the Japanese mind as one of the symbols of China.
　　My family had a guest today and showed him the Towel Museum in Imabari City. Towels were actually being weaved in the museum and the visitors could see how the towels were made. In the exhibition hall, the Moomins were featured. There were lots of towels and I'll show you some of them. Do the Chinese know such beautiful artwork produced from a piece of cloth that you use for drying your skin.

(Vocabulary)
on a conjoined basis  共同で
conjoin…を結合させる, 連合させる
be conjoined with sth  ＜…＞と結合している
fraudulent use 盗用
fraudulent 詐欺（行為）の, 不正の
The Moomins

 
 
 

Friend or Enemy?

A month has passed since the unprecedented huge earthquake and tsunami devastated the eastern part of Japan. I wrote about the resilience of Japan in the past entry; I'm writing about the current picture of Japan in my eyes this time.
The affected people are showing undaunted exertion. Each and every person does what he/she can/should do. The tsunami deprived them of their loved ones, houses, possessions and bread and butter. Fishermen lost their boats, farms for sea products and seafood processing factories. Various kinds of rubble on the bottom of the coast curb the use of the ports. 78% of the rice fields along the coast were damaged by seawater. What's more, in some areas, seawater is still on the fields, because of the ground sinking. Little kids lost their books and stationery. Most of their kindergardens and schools were also damaged. In such helpless conditions, the assistance of the U.S. was really, really, helpful and I'm grateful. I will never forget their friendship and Tomodachi Operation. I'll hand it down in posterity.
Next, I'd like to talk about the nuclear crisis in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Station. I read several reports written in English, German and Korean. I was very disappointed with them. It's not the nuclear power generation but the unbelievably terrible tsunami that is responsible for this accident. Lots of European people apparently insist on abandoning the nuclear plant, not improving the security of the plant. The nuclear explosion occurred in Chernobyl, but the nuclear fission reaction was shut off a second after the earthquake in Fukushima. I'm not sure, but this looks like a way higher technique. Additionally, no one died in this crisis.
There's an amazing fact that wasn't broadcast overseas. Just when the earthquake broke out, 27 Shinkansen bullet trains were in service in the affected area. Several of them were at their top speed, over 300km/h. Guess what became of those trains. None of them derailed. No passengers were injured. Can you believe it? The earthquake state, California's Governor, Mr. Schwarzenegger, would have to choose Japanese technology for California's super-express train project.
Now, I'll write about the aid from overseas. Lots of countries operated warm-hearted relief efforts for Japan. I'd like to pick four countries, such as Israel, Taiwan, China and South Korea in this entry.
Several Japanese media, like NHK, Asahi Newspaper and Mainichi Newspaper are known for their biased coverage. They didn't want to cover the aid by Israel and Taiwan on one hand, and willingly report the aid by China and Korea. Why?
In the Greater East Asian War, Japan had a military pact with Germany which persecuted the Jews, but Japan rescued lots of Jews and helped them to move to the U.S. against the policy of Nazi Germany. It is a historical fact. The central figure of this plan was Mr. Hideki Tojo, who was accused and hanged as one of the war criminals in the Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals. This fact is very inconvenient for some liberal groups. Though the Israel team stayed in the affected area and continued its efforts even after the nuclear crisis, the above-mentioned media didn't report them. However, lots of Japanese could know of their devotion via the internet.
In Taiwan, ordinary people raised relief funds and the total of the fund got over that of the U.S. This fund was raised by not the company, or some welfare groups, but private ordinary people! I was moved. However, this fact wasn't reported in Japan and Prime Minister Kan didn't show any gratitude to Taiwan, so voluntary people raised money for advertisement in the Taiwanese newspaper. Their target was 2,400,000 yen, but the donation reached 20,000,000 yen. I'd like Taiwanese to know our feelings of gratitude.
The second largest GDP country, China, sent only 13 people for rescue, but apparently they only took lots of pictures and didn't work so hard. They were thought to be kind of spies or they would sell pictures to the Chinese media privately.
When Japanese authorities announced a Japanese textbook of history, the South Korean people stopped raising money against it. They were the people which I had expected. No matter what textbook Japan adopts, it is an internal affair. I realized their narrow-mindedness.
In such difficult times, Japan was being threatening by some countries. Russia frequently dispatched scout planes and fighter jets along the border and Japan had to scramble fighter jets while the Japan Self Defence Force was performing rescue tasks. China is also threatening the coast guards around the Senkaku Islands. South Korea is building a new military facility on Takeshima Island which is Japanese territory.
The Japanese genetically hate disputes. The Japanese tend to prefer an apology and concessions rather than a dispute, but there are limits. The above-mentioned stupid three countries seem to be trying our patience. They should know that they are playing a tragic adventure.
Even though the media are foolish, people can get the exact information from the net. I think Japan will change by getting rid of the influence of the GHQ and McArthur.

(Vocabulary)
picture 《常に単数形で》 状況, 情勢
the big/bigger/wider picture   全体像, 大局
It's important not to lose sight of the big picture. 全体像を見失わないことが大切である．
Give me the picture of Japan in your eyes. あなたが見た日本の様子を教えてください。
undaunted  (困難などに対して) くじけない, ひるまない
exertion   a lot of physical or mental effort
bread and butter 生活の糧
be damaged by seawater 塩害を受ける
ground sinking 地盤沈下
nuclear fission reaction  核分裂反応
biased coverage 偏向報道
internal affair / matter of internal politics  内政問題
narrow-minded 心の狭い, 偏狭な, 狭量な
narrow-mindedness  偏狭, 狭量
scout plane 偵察機
give way 譲歩する
concession 譲歩

Sprit of Japan

I'm writing about the spirit of Japan in reply to Mr/Ms YL's comment in my entry of "Resilience".
Japan was attacked by propaganda from China and Korea after the Greater East Asian War. Some people held out against them, but the Japanese Government did not take protective measures against them. They were desperately useless. Consequently lots of Japanese were brainwashed and came to think that Japan used to be an evil nation. I believe that all the Japanese will stand up against those critics when it is required.
Modesty or to be humble is a virtue for the Japanese. The DNA of the Japanese always tries to avoid conflict with others. The result of this virtue is the Russian unlawful occupation of the Kuril Islands and the southern half of Karafuto (Sakhalin in Russian). South Korea's unlawful occupation of Takeshima is the same. China is taking advantage of the Japanese virtue.
If you want to know Japan and the Japanese, read "Bushido: The Soul of Japan" written by Inazo Nitobe. It is written in English. I wrote some entries about Inazo Nitobe before. Additionally, I want you to access the website of the Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact. Lastly I'll show you the links to the society and my entries concerning Inazo Nitobe.

http://www.sdh-fact.com/

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/07/a-new-acquainta.html
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/03/nitobe-memorial.html
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/01/ski-schedule.html
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2007/08/taking-a-walk-i.html

(Vocabulary)
hold out against 対抗する
take advantage of people's misfortunes 人の不幸につけ込む

(From comments)
proletariat ［無産］階級, プロレタリアート [同意] working-class
See the 3rd comment of this entry! Very useful and highly suggestive!
manifest (感情・態度など)を表明する
be manifested in/through sth ＜…＞に［を通じて］はっきりと表れる
manifest itself（問題・症状などが) 現れる, 目に見えてくる
on a silver tray　　See the 3rd comment of this entry!
stature 評価
of stature  評価されている
the masses 《複数扱い》 一般大衆, 庶民
denominator 分母
lowest common denominator
(けなして) (万人にとっての) 共通項 (専門) 最小公分母
[同意] least common denominator(米)
lightweight (けなして) 取るに足らぬ人, 小者,軽薄な人,根性なし
class 一流の
demagogue 扇動政治家
demagogy (demagoguery とも) [名] [U]（民衆）扇動
demagogic  [形]扇動的な
statecraft 政治的活動, 政治的手腕
a school of thought  (ある集団の共有する) 考え方, 見解
There are two main schools of thought on the subject. その問題については2つの主流となる見解がある．
discredit
[他] …の信用［威信］を傷つける
《[他]通例受け身形で》 〈理論・報告など〉 の信憑(しんぴょう)性を失わせる
a discredited theory 信憑性を失った理論
venture an opinion 思い切って［あえて］意見を言う
in medical/scientific/advertising parlance 医学［科学，広告業界］用語で
in common/popular/ordinary parlance 平易な言葉で言えば
Joe Six-pack, the Great Unwashed    See the 3rd comment.

 

Miscellaneous Thought about 2010

　　The most remarkable characteristics of the year 2010 in Japan was the change in the way of thinking about China. The ratio of Japanese people who feel friendly about China went down from 70% to 20%, according to the leading newspaper's opinion poll. People of integrity have already known about the cruelty of China, but now, ordinary Japanese people are afraid of the recent huge armament of China. As the news originating from China increased, people began to recognize the real China. As for me, I know the spiritual nature of Chinese people. I visited Vancouver about 20 years ago for the first time. Since then, I've been there every 2-3 years. I directly feel the worsening of the security and the atmosphere in Richmond, just to the south of the Vancouver International Airport, where lots of Chinese people settled. Canadian people who had originally lived there couldn't stand it. I heard some of those had escaped from Richmond. That's also the case in Ikebukuro in Tokyo. Chinese people never follow the local rules and never join in the neighborhood community. They don't care about others. The other day, a Chinese fishing boat, which was considered to belong to the military, invaded Japan and hit a patrol boat of the Japan Coast Guard on purpose. Besides that, stupid high officials hid the videotape recording of the violence of the Chinese boat from Japanese citizens. Lots of politicians are thought to be brainwashed by China. A democracy campaigner from China who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace is still in prison. Chinese common sense is by far different from ours. Most Japanese people know the real China. The current administration, I think, is stupid, but the people are never idiotic. I hope the government will be disbanded soon.
　　For my family, every daughter went up to their next step. All the members kept fit. My parents and Mocha are the same. Nothing bad happened to my family and it should be celebrated. I hope that the coming new year will be a brilliant year for all people on the globe.

(Vocabulary)
characteristic 《[C]通例複数形で》特質, 特性, 特徴
opinion poll [research / survey] 世論調査
spiritual nature 精神性
democracy campaigner 民主活動家
current administration 現政権
disband  [自]〈軍隊・組織などが〉解散する; [他] …を解散させる

Polarized Coverage

　　I think that subscribers to my blog are casually getting information from English-based media on a daily basis. It's natural that they would burst into applause at the success of the Japanese Asteroid Explorer HAYABUSA. As far as I know, the success was unprecedented and was reported in a variety of media. However, almost all of the Japanese media were silent. Why?

　　I could see the live fire streak from the HAYABUSA capsule produced by the re-entry into the atmosphere via the internet. It was aired from the desert of Australia. It was beautiful. HAYABUSA left the earth on May 9th in 2003 and came back on June 13th after 7 years, overcoming various difficulties for the 6 billions km's journey. It's also a fact that indicates the high level of Japanese space science.

　　Do you know about the poor failure in launching a rocket in South Korea a few weeks ago? Apparently the Japanese media refrained from reporting the success of Japan, considering the South Korean people's feelings. Such consideration is nonsense.

　　Why don't the Japanese media report facts that are inconvenient to the Koreas and China?

• (Vocabulary)
  
• polarized/biased 偏向した
  
• coverage（ニュースなどの）報道 
  
• asteroid explorer HAYABUSA　小惑星探査機はやぶさ
  
• on a daily / day-to-day / routine basis  日常的に 
  
• make its re-entry into the atmosphere  大気圏に再突入する

Wako, 倭寇

     Piracy started in 13th century on the Japan Sea. China and the two Koreas call the pirates Wako, which means the Japanese assault. In other words, they insist that the pirates consisted of Japanese people. I'd like to make reasonable and theoretical remarks.

     Some Japanese people started piracy in 13th century to take their properties back from China and Korea. Japanese traders were frequently cheated by their customers and suffered damages. They got bent out of shape and easily resorted to the act of piracy without deep consideration. However it's the case only in the early period of "Wako" and most members of "Wako" were Chinese, who were made out to be Japanese. Japanese students are now taught that Wako was the crime of Japanese people. It is also part of the distorted history, which was made up by China and the two Koreas. I'd like to advise young Japanese people not to use the expression, "Japanese Pirates".

     By the way, I wondered if there was the same example in the world, and looked for it on the internet and found a few interesting facts.

     In the 17th, 18th and the first half of 19th century, American pirates carried out scores of raids on the Caribbean coast of Spanish territory. They were called "buccaneers". Their money stimulated and activated the economy in America (British American states and Commonwealths before independence), and their activities were useful for the resistance against Spanish forces at the same time.

     When the William & Mary College was on the verge of closure, it was the boss of the buccaneers who donated big money and rebuilt the college. This college is the alma mater of the U.S. third President, Thomas Jefferson and also one of the most prestigious univiersities in the U.S. It has a longer history than Yale University. The buccaneers were undertaking the same role as Captain Drake in England. Captain Drake is a hero in England, but in the U.S. the buccaneers are hidden away. We only know it as the name of a football team, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

     When you have a talk with Americans and the topic becomes Wako, you should say something like this: You are very lucky, because Caribbean people are mild and quiet. They never accuse Americans of piracy. Japanese people have been accused of innocent alleged piracy for a long time. It's a born burden to be located next to China and Korea which have massive inferiority complexes.

(Vocabulary)
piracy (CD・コンピュータソフトなどの) 海賊版作成, 海賊行為 (船を襲撃する) 海賊行為
copyright/patent piracy  著作権［特許］侵害
get bent out of shape  不機嫌になる、へそを曲げる、怒る
resort to sth      (やむなく) ＜手段＞に頼る, 訴える
be made out to be a Japanese  日本人に扮する
raid  (不意の) 襲撃, 急襲 (+on/against)
buccaneer　海賊　= pirate
British American states and commonwealths 英国領アメリカ諸州 〔ほとんどの州はstateだが、一部の州はcommonwealthなので。〕
be on the verge of (doing) sth   ＜…＞の［＜…＞する］寸前である
sb's alma mater  ＜人＞の母校, 出身校

Korean Security against Fire

     Seven Japanese were killed, one seriously injured and two injured by the bursting fire at a live shooting range in Pusan, South Korea on Nov. 14th. Was this disaster reported in the world? Different from South Korea that has the conscription system, most people in Japan have not only never touched the real gun but have also never seen it. Therefore, the firing ranges are attractive to some of them. The victims were good friends and classmates of a junior high school in Kyushu. They seemed to visit Pusan for a two-day and one-night trip from Kyushu, which was three-hours' distance from Pusan by the high-speed boat. I was very sorry to see their families on TV. They were just enjoying the Korean trip.

     I wondered how the security was against fires in Korea. Are there some official rules against fires? I've been to Soeul once and I felt something uneasy at that time. One of the famous tourists' attractions, Namdaemun market also gave me a sense of unease. In the market, I'd never seen any fire hydrants in the streets. The paths in the market were too narrow for the fireengines to get into the market. I didn't notice any emergency exits in the long subterranean shopping mall that connected my hotel and the nearest subway station though my hotel was the biggest or second-biggest modern hotel in Seoul. The number of the tourists from Japan will get lower for a certain period of time.

(Vocabulary)
live firing range  実弾射撃場
Pusan (釜山) 南朝鮮の第２の都市
conscription / conscription system / military-draft system  徴兵制
conscript 〈人〉 を徴兵する = draft(米)   〈人〉を説得して参加させる= recruit
overnight domestic trip 一泊二日の国内旅行
unease  不安, 心配
a sense/feeling of unease   不安な気持ち
She felt a growing sense of unease. 彼女は不安な気持ちがつのってくるのを感じた．
Namdaemun market  南大門市場
fire hydrant (FH) / fire plug  消火栓
subterranean shopping mall / underground shopping district 地下商店街

Demonstration

     I joined a demonstration againt NHK today. It's the first time that I've attended such a social activity. Needless to say, NHK is the National Broadcasting Company of Japan. Despite the fact that NHK is run by Japanese public viewing fees, lots of their programs are distorted to comply with the Chinese Communists' Party's wishes. I had been putting up with them for a long time, but finally I lost my temper after watching the program that was aired this April, which went against the feelings of Taiwanese. Taiwan is the only state to love Japan in the world. Japan should never betray Taiwan again. The Chinese communists are longing to break up the good relationship between Taiwan and Japan, and send their agents into the NHK. This program must be what they had done. The composition of the program was elaborately built, and uninformed people would be easily deceived and believe the content. I'd have liked to make people awake to the delusive programs of NHK.

     On the other hand, more than ten thousand people, including me, filed a lawsuit against NHK in July. This is the biggest lawsuit in the history of Japan, but NHK hadn't aired this news until a few weeks ago. Also on this point, NHK can't be called an honest media outlet.

 

(Vocabulary)

despite the fact that  …にもかかわらず

public viewing fees  視聴料

get out of temper  堪忍袋の緒が切れる

meet someone's views /  in complying with someone's wishes （人）の意向に沿う

comply with something  ＜法律・規則など＞に従う, ＜要求＞に応じる

go against the feelings of  気持ちを逆なでする

elaborately  精緻(せいち)に, 凝って; 入念に, 綿密に

deceive  [他](人を)だます, 欺く

deceive sb into doing sth  ＜人＞をだまして＜…＞させる

delusive  偽りの, まやかしの

Tibetan Children's Villages

     NHK is a famous broadcasting station in Japan. It is supported by the TV reception fees of people in japan, whereas some of NHK's top officials are brainwashed by Chinese Communists and various facts have been emerging one after another lately. NHK has been supporting Chinese policies and I dislike the station, but I was surprised to watch a program of NHK today. The program was about Tibetan Children's Villages. China is struggling to remove the Tibetan culture from the earth, but their culture will never perish.

(Vocabulary)
TV [television] reception fees  受信料
emerge  (物陰などから) 現れる, 出てくる
perish  (文) 突然死する, 非業の死を遂げる; (フォーマル)(ゴム・皮・木材などが)劣化する, 腐食［腐敗］する, (食べ物が)腐敗する; (文)(活動・制度などが) 消滅する, 崩壊する

Chinese Communist Propaganda

     The other day, I got a comment from an English native speaker who maybe came from the U.S. and is working as an assistant language teacher in Japan. I exchanged some messages with him and was so surprised to know the fact that Chinese propaganda prevails in the world. You can read his opinion here. (link) I'd like to rebut his opinions one by one. I hope that he'll accept the facts that I'll present.
     He insists that Japanese forces had committed massacres in Indonesia. Japan actually fought military actions on the land of Indonesia, but they never fought against Indonesia. They were just struggling to eliminate the Dutch from Indonesia, who had ruled and exploited them for 300 years. You know, Indonesia was one of the Dutch colonies. If Indonesia was an independent country, Japan could have had a good relationship with them and bought natural resources from them. Japan was really short of them. There might be some small offenses committed by Japan because all the Japanese soldiers weren't gentle and modest and besides it was during World War Two, but I think that most intellectual Indonesians would agree with me. In the war, a considerable number of Japanese soldiers got to love Indonesia and the Indonesian people and they really wanted the independence of Indonesia, not for the benefit of Japan but from the bottom of their hearts. When Japan lost the war, the Japanese soldiers hid their weapons from the alliance forces and stayed there, ignoring the return order of Japan. They were afraid that the Dutch forces would come back to Indonesia and start exploiting Indonesians again. They helped Indonesians establish their own forces and taught the use of their modern weapons to the people in Indonesia. Most of those Japanese soldiers died or went missing in the battles for the independence of Indonesia and have been commemorated every year in the national graveyard, Taman Makam Pahlawan Kalibata, where only nationally acknowledged heros are permitted to sleep eternally. Would this be possible if Japan had committed a massacre in Indonesia?
     Does the history textbook of an American boy tell this fact? Does he know about Ahlone Camp in Burma? He insists that Japan also commited a massacre in Burma. It was just propaganda from the alliance forces to hide inconvenient historical facts in the Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals. I'm going to write about this cruel Ahlone Camp later.

(Vocabulary)
rebut (フォーマル)(意見・批判など) に反駁(はんばく)する, 反論する
exploit (けなして)(人・労働力など) を私的目的に利用する, 食いものにする, 搾取する
offense [C] 罪, 違反, 犯罪(行為）
considerable 相当な, かなりの
a considerable amount/number of sth  かなりの量［数］の＜…＞
Ahlone Camp  アーロン収容所
Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals 東京裁判

Japan and Other Asian Countries, Sep. 11th (2)

     Historically speaking, what's the distinct difference between Japan and other Asian countries? There might be many ways of thinking, but I think of whether the nation had been ruled by superpowers or not. Thailand is also a country that has no history of being governed by another country, but this nation was just allowed to exist as a buffer between the British and French colonies.
     Japan had enjoyed a striking level of prosperity in the Edo era (1603-1867). Japan developed its own culture. People lived in an unbelievably safe society. The development of modern society had never been obstructed in spite of repeated disasters like famines, earthquakes, plagues and volcanic eruptions. In this era, people acquired high level of morality and literacy.
     In 1868 the tycoon, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, peacefully returned his political power to the Emperor. Do you know any other peaceful revolution in the world? The capital city, Edo, remained intact during this revolution, which was the restoration of Imperial power. It was really lucky for the development of Japan. Japan started building their national military system at that time against overwhelming superpowers, which were filled with ambition to occupy and rule Japan. Finally, Japan got to beat Qing (China) 30 years later and defeated Russia 10 years after the victory against Qing.
     Eventually, Japan acquired two colonies, Taiwan and Korea. Japan committed a huge amount of capital to the project that would make them develop to the same level as Japan. Japan's policy on the colonies was to raise the level of their civilizations while that of the superpowers was just to exploit them. In 1945, the school enrollment rate of Taiwan was 95%. They had been ruled by Japan for 50 years, whereas in Indonesia, which had been dominated for 300 years by Holland, the literacy rate was only 2%. Japan had encouraged the people in Taiwan and Korea to learn. The highest level of education was equally given to anyone, no matter where he or she came from.
     Japan was forced to wage wars against the U.S. and started the Greater East Asian War to eliminate the superpowers from Asian countries. Japan lost the war, but the initial purpose was fulfiled.
     Getting back to the last entry, a few days after the 9.11 terror attack, the then U.S. President Bush declared war against the terrorist groups and its sponsors, implying that the mastermind was the al-Qaeda network. He compared the terror attack to Japan's raid on Pearl Harbour. He continued, "We can give freedom to Islamic nations. We did it to Japan half a century ago." He thought that the Japanese people were the same as the people who had been educated only to read and memorize the Koran. This eposode tells us that his mentality is terrible and horrible. He should have learnt world history more seriously.

(Vocabulary)
enjoy a striking level of prosperity  特筆すべき繁栄を謳歌する
literacy 読み書き(能力), 識字
literacy rate  識字率
be filled with ambition 野望に燃えている
Qing  清
exploit (けなして) (人・労働力など)を私的目的に利用する, 食いものにする, 搾取する
(school) enrollment ratio [rate] / percentage of school attendance  就学率
fulfill (夢・目的など) を実現する, 果たす
mastermind  首謀者
al-Qaeda network  アルカイーダ
Koran  コーラン

A Textbook of Japanese History

     Japanese people have the virtue of modesty. Silence is better than eloquence for Japanese people and is the principle of ordinary Japanese people. After World War Two, the U.S. took advantage of this modesty and brainwashed Japanese people into believing that Japan used to be an evil country. Besides, Chinese and Korean operatives illegally slipped into Japan and are continuing to destroy the spiritual backbone of Japan like the Japanese culture, history and mentality.
     The picture shows the history textbook. It's a non-biased one. I think it's neutral and has nothing wrong with it. To my surprise, South Korea started to make complaints against Japan on the day that this textbook was presented to the public. I wondered when they checked its content. I think they accuse Japan just for the accusing itself. Anyway, we have been educated using textbooks that were authored by leftists. Consequently we have been brainwashed, of course, including me. As for me, I was lucky to find that I was controlled by leftists and could get out of their control. This new textbook in the picture was acknowledged as one of the formal textbooks. This textbook will make Japanese people awake who are now under the spell of Douglas MacArthur.
     However important modesty is to Japanese people, there are limitations. We started to express our own opinions to the world and also started to want to have nuclear weapons. At the L'Aquila Summit, our Prime Minister, Aso, declared stoutly against the Russian President, Medvedev, that there wouldn't be any partnership between Japan and Russia if they don't return our northern islands.
     The U.S. announced that the Senkaku islands belonged to Japan, though China insisted that the islands were their land. Besides, the U.S. forced China to get hard on North Korea in order to avoid the possession of nuclear weapons. The U.S., knowing well enough the potential of Japan, wouldn't want Japan to have the button of the absolute weapon.

(Vocabulary)
Virtue of modesty  謙遜の美徳
eloquence  雄弁さ
principle  [C,U] 行動規範, 信条, 主義
He has no principles at all.  彼には信条のかけらもない．
take advantage of people's kindness  人の好意につけ込む
brainwash somebody into doing something
＜人＞を洗脳して＜…＞させる
(espionage) agent / operative  工作員
illegally slip into country  不法入国する
have limitations  限界がある
L'Aquila  【地名】ラクイラ〔イタリア〕
Medvedev メドベージェフ
stoutly  断固として, 頑強に
be under the spell of  ～の呪いをかけられる
leftist  左翼［左派］の人

(KW: 自由社　日本人の歴史教科書　新しい歴史教科書　捏造　偏向　東京裁判史観)

Mitarai Area

     We got to Oosaki-shimojima island, passing over three bridges from Okamurajima island, just like a grasshopper jumps between islands. The direction for Kure City was right, but we turned left and dropped in at the Mitarai Area. It's because this district was a historic place. I was ashamed for not knowing this place. This site was very small and tiny on a trivial island, but the location had been ideal for mariners for a long time. When a fierce storm passes, the inside of this area was secure. I think you can imagine that from the first picture. So, Korean envoies had used this place as a stopping point on the way to Edo (former Tokyo in 1600-1868). There remains some Korea-related stuff here. The second picture is of the light house that was built in the 17th century. The monument in the third picture says that the whole area is a national preserved area. Naturally, there was a licensed quarter and more than 100 prostitutes for mariners or travelers. The fourth picture is of the biggest house of profession, which was closed from the damage. The posts and beams seemed to be distorted and need to be repaired. Besides, there were so many nostalgic artifacts for Japanese, and that stuff would be fun for foreigners.

For reference: http://kumo.typepad.jp/wadachi/tobishima.html

(Vocabulary)
envoy  使節　公使
stopping point  中継地
licensed quarter  遊郭
prostitute  遊女
house of profession [delight, enjoyment]  house of prostitutionの婉曲表現
post-and-beam construction  柱と梁の構造
artifact  (人工）遺物

(KW: とびしま海道　大崎下島　平羅島　中の島　岡村島　御手洗　朝鮮通信使) 

Reversed Inferiority Complex (日本人には英語より、まず日本語)

     I was born and grew up in a rural area in Ehime Prefecture. It was rare to see people from the West in my childhood. When I saw them from time to time, they were objects of envy no matter what people they were. They were bigger than Japanese and could speak English. It was the only and strong enough reason that I admired them. I don't think of anything special seeing foreign people now, but my childhood was like that.
     I feel that the worshipping of foreign countries that I had conceived since my childhood might have been a reversed inferiority complex against foreign countries.
     Cultural background where "looks not typical of the Japanese" is a compliment; the conditions in which adopted words are flooding noted newspapers, magazines and conversations among both ordinary people and intelligent people; the fact that Japan has been kept under the control of China and South Korea due to the issue of Yasukuni Shrine, in spite of this issue being literally domestic; these are incredibly dishonorable and absurd.
     What on earth did this lack of confidence come from? I speculate that the honest longing and awe for western civilization, technology, customs and manners that had flown into Japan since the Meiji Restoration might have been implanted into our deep psyche.
     Or, the negative campaign and distortion against Japan's history after the Sino-Japanese War that had been intentionally conducted by the Allied Occupation forces and some Japanese people after the last war, might still remain in Japanese people's mind.
     Whatever, any Japanese people hearing about such an inferiority complex can never beat the continent's collective psyche that feels superiority against other countries, which is domestically-oriented and is indifferent to their own catch-22 situation or arrogance.
     During the cold war, as long as Japan was under the big tree named the U.S. with overwhelming nuclear deterrence, it was secure and safe. However, the cold war came to an end. The power of this ally has already started to crack now. At the same time, the unbalance of power was generated in the Far East and Japan which came to face the two ominous superpowers such as Russia and China, and North Korea which dismisses the U.S. with its brinkmanship diplomacy by itself.
     Then, what should we Japanese do? You might guess that I'll conclude this article with saying "Let's learn English!", but the answer is NO! Ordinary English speaking people can't negotiate with these tough neighbors. English is only a means of communication and isn't the content itself. The content is more important than using skilled English.
     The scenery in those good old days, the nostalgic tunes, the gentle people, the beautiful sound of the mother tongue, the unforgettable tastes of local cuisine, the real history that isn't distorted,,,; We should find our identity in these things and become confident. I suppose there is a key to restoring lost confidence in these things.

(Vocabulary)
reversed inferiority complex   引け目の裏返し
become an object of envy   羨望の的になる
worshipping of foreign countries   外国礼賛
conceive  考え・計画などを思いつく, 考え出す, 心に抱く
looks not typical of the Japanese   日本人離れした容姿
adopted words / exotic words / imported words   外来語
dishonor   不名誉
absurdity   不条理
deep psyche   深層心理
honest longing and awe   素直な憬れと畏怖
the Meiji Restoration   明治維新
negative campaign and distortion   中傷宣伝と歪曲
Sino-Japanese War  日清戦争
the Allied Occupation forces  進駐軍
continent's collective psyche   大陸の人々が共有している精神
domestically-oriented  自国中心主義の
nuclear deterrence  核抑止力
start to crack 　かげりが見え始める
ominous  不吉な、不気味な
brinkmanship diplomacy  瀬戸際外交
in those good old days  懐かしいあの頃は

劣等感

　愛媛県の小さな田舎町に育ったためか、子供時代には外国人を見ることはほとんど無かったが、それでも時々出会ったときには彼等は羨望の的であった。彼等は総じて立派な体格で、何より英語を話す。それだけなのだが、尊敬に値したのである。子供時代はそんな風であった。今になって思えば、子供時代から抱き続けたそういった外国礼賛は外国に対する引け目の裏返しではなかったかと思う。

　「日本人離れした容姿」という言葉が褒め言葉となるような文化、新聞、雑誌、人々の会話の中に氾濫する外来語、純粋に内政問題であるにもかかわらず靖国問題で中国、韓国のいいなりになっている事実、これらは信じられないくらい不名誉で不条理なことである。

　いったいこの自信の欠落はどこから来たのか。明治維新以降、日本に流れ込んできた西洋の文明、テクノロジー、習慣や作法に対する素直な憧れと畏怖が我々の深層心理に埋め込まれてしまっているのではないだろうか。あるいは、大東亜戦争後、進駐軍と一部の日本人によって意図的に行われてきた日清戦争以後の日本の歴史に対する中傷宣伝と歪曲が日本人の心に今なお残っているのかもしれない。

　いずれにせよ、このような引け目を感じていては、外国に優越を感じ自国中心を当然とし、しかも自身の抱える矛盾や横柄には無頓着な大陸系民族と対等に勝負することはできないだろう。

　冷戦中はアメリカという圧倒的な核抑止力を持った国の庇護の元にいさえすれば日本は安全だった。しかし、冷戦は終わり、この同盟国は音をたてて衰退し始めている。それと同時に極東での力の不均衡が生じ、ロシアや中国といった不気味な二つの国、アメリカをも翻弄する北の瀬戸際外交に独自に対応しなければならなくなっている。

　それでは、我々日本人はどうすればよいのだろうか。英語を勉強すればいいのか。そうではない。単に英語をしゃべるだけではこのように手強い隣人達と対等に交渉することはできないのだ。英語は単にコミュニケーションの手段であって、英語の技術そのものより話す内容が大切なのである。数日前に成田に立ち寄ってインタビューに答えていたダライ・ラマ師の英語を聞いていてそう思った。

　幼い頃に見た母国の山河、懐かしい調べ、優しい人たち、母国語の美しい響き、郷土料理の忘れられない味、歪曲されていない本当の歴史、、、これらのなかに日本人のアイデンティティを見つけ、自信を持つこと。失われつつある自信を取り戻す鍵はここにあると思うのだ。

Last Note of this Trip

     We enjoyed this trip to our hearts' content. I was glad to spend a few days with my daughter. The plane for Matsuyama was being prepared for take-off in the first picture. The second picture was of the meal in the plane. It was not good, but it's ok because I had many good memories of this trip. Through this trip, I began to feel friendly for South Korea. I will visit the country again and again. Next time,,,, I would maybe choose Jeju Island.
     By the way, look at the third picture. It was of the display in the cabin. Dokdo was displayed on it. I couldn't help laughing at it. As I wrote about this small island or rocks several times before, I won't repeat it here. However, it will take more and more time for Korean to grow up. If you want to read it, click the archives for "Korea" and search "takeshima". You'll find nine entries about that.
     When I switched on my cellular phone in Matsuyama Airport, I received an e-mail from my daughter with the last picture attached. I bought her an iPOD in a duty free shop in Incheon Airport. She told me that the manual for it was written in Korean. It was a nice punch line at the end of the trip.