Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Kauai island tour

　　I'd like to visit all the Hawaiian islands open to the public in the not so distant future and started with Kauai Island. We joined a Kauai island tour with some of our friends. A chartered van picked us up at our condominium at 5 o'clock am. After picking other customers up, we were taken to Daniel K Inoue International Airport which was renamed two, three years ago from Honolulu International Airport after the name of a war hero. As you can imagine from the surname,he was a Japanese American. Japanese who had settled in the U.S. had to go through hardships, but gradually came to be valued in the long run. I'm going to write about their life in this trip memo later. The destination of other guests in the same van was Hawaii Island and it was our group only to head for Kauai island by Hawaiian Airlines. This was my Hawaiian Airlines debut and the following picture shows the Airline's check-in counter.
　　On the way to the boarding gate, there was a monument apparently honoring Japanese American soldiers. I was really sorry that I didn't have enough time to elaborately read its descriptions.

いずれ、ハワイ諸島のうち旅行者に開放されている島全てを巡りたいと思っているが、まずはカウアイ島から。友人たちとツアーに参加した。朝５時過ぎにツアー会社のバスが迎えに来た。いくつかのホテルに立ち寄り客をピックアップしてホノルル空港へ。この空港は最近ダニエル・Ｋ・イノウエ空港と改称された。ハワイ出身の英雄の名にちなむ。名前からわかるように日系２世である。ハワイに移住した日本人は辛い生活を強いられるが、努力を重ね、評価されるようになる。ハワイの日系人の歴史についてこの日の最後の方の記事で書くつもり。ピックアップされた他の客は皆ハワイ島で、カウアイ島へ向かうのは我々だけだった。写真は初めて乗るハワイアン航空の隣の島へ向かうグループ客用カウンター。

搭乗口前の途中に日系２世の軍人のモニュメントがあった。ゆっくりと見ている時間は無かったが、彼らの活躍を讃えるためのものだろうと思われた。

Guests to our condominium

　　Today is 9th. My friends who gathered last night went to Pearl Harbor for sightseeing and were supposed to drop by my condo in the afternoon. A friend who acted separately visited us and we went out for shopping for the afternoon party. Just a simple shopping in a strange city is also one of the amusements of overseas travel. We found several stuff whose names we didn't know, and we didn't understand how to eat some of them. Two women in the following pictures were struggling to cook party dishes with unfamiliar food. They are preparing raw sausages, which they assumed to be pre-heated at the supermarket, but they found them raw after unpacking. They were thinking how to cook them. They were apparently good chefs and all the dishes were delicious including the sausages. It was really regrettable. After the party, we went out for a walk to Waikiki beach. A hula performance was being held in a public space in front of the beach. I was fascinated by the elegant dances.

　　 　




　

高所恐怖症の僕はいつも壁際(^_^;)
https://theta360.com/s/bclnEtNHFa2qdiflQtTZleq0W
ホノルルの我が家へ来てくれた友人たち、まずはラナイ（バルコニー）からの景色を楽しんでいます。
https://theta360.com/s/nsZk8RJv5CNebZNi8MpGYLNIG

昨日の仲間のほとんどは９日、パールハーバー観光へ行き、帰りに我が家へ寄るという。昼前にメンバーの一人がやってきて、一緒に買い物に行った。昼からのパーティー準備。海外で普通のスーパーマーケットに寄って買物をするのもまた楽しい。珍しいものを見つけたり、これはどう使うのだろうかと考えたり。写真の中で調理しているのは生のソーセージ。買ってみたら生だった。で、どうやって中まで熱を通すか二人で思案中。幸いうまくいって料理はどれも美味しかった。その後、みんなでワイキキ方面へ散歩に出た。お祭り期間中で、広場という広場では何らかのイベントがあり、ワイキキビーチ前ではフラショー。優雅な踊りにしばし見とれた。

 

Lahaina Noon

　　Do you know the natural phenomenon called "Lahaina Noon"? It's observed in the area between the south and north Tropics, and the status that the sun is located accurately right over or at the zenith. The following picture was shot on the way to the Tesla dealer. The shadow of palm trees was really small. The sun was over my head. Someone who was shooting this scene told me about Lahaina Noon. FYI, the spring lahaina noon was at 12:29 May 27th this year.

(Vocabulary)
tropic (Tropic とも) 回帰線
the Tropic of Cancer/Capricorn 北/南回帰線
zenith (成功・人生などの) 頂点, 絶頂; (専門) 天頂 (天球上で太陽・月が達する最高点)

ラハイナ・ヌーン（英語: Lahaina Noon）という用語をご存じですか？太陽が真上から射す状態を言い、南北回帰線の間の地域で見られるものだとか。写真はワイキキで下車して戻る途中に撮ったもの。影が異様に少ない。太陽が真上。同じように写真を撮っていた方から、ラハイナ・ヌーンという言葉をこのとき聞きました。今年の春のホノルルでのラハイナ・ヌーンは５月２７日（月）12時29分だったとのこと。

 

Tesla

　　I change clothes at least three times a day. Just being outside, I perspire heavily. I jump into the sea or pools at that time. I brought two swimming trunks, but didn't have enough. The washing machine works often. My wife was busy cleaning the room up and drying laundry, as several friends would visit us in the afternoon. As for me, I covertly visited the car dealer of Tesla. My wife is afraid of my buying the tesla car. I walked along Kalakaua Street, the main street in Waikiki, and stopped by the tesla shop to see and say hello to the salesperson whom I had met last year as we knew each other. I asked him to test drive the newest tesla car, model 3 on 12th.

こちらでは一日に３回くらい着替える。外を歩くとすぐに汗をかくし、すぐ目の前が海なので、またプールもあり、涼むために水に入る。海パンは２枚持って来ているが、足りないくらい。この日はカミさんは部屋の片付けに洗濯。午後、来客があるので忙しい。僕は一人でカミさんには内緒の秘密の行動、、、テスラのディーラー訪問だ。ワイキキの街中を散策しながらテスラの店に向かった。そして、顔見知りのセールスマンに１２日の試乗を予約。

Social Gathering

　　Japan has its original calendar and era names, such as Showa, Heisei, Reiwa, and so on. I was born in 1958, and this year falls on Showa 33th. People who were born in this year have been gathering for about fifteen years and holding a party four times a year, on March 3rd, June 6th, September 9th and December 12th. The coincidence of the number of the month and day is derived from the 33th of Showa. I joined this group 5 years ago, or so. In relation to the school year, people who were born in between April 1958 and March 1959 belong to the group.
　　It seemed that a special party in Hawaii had been planned a decade ago, which would commemorate the turning 60 of all the members. The d-day was set on June 6th in 2019 after all the members would turn 60. The age 60 originally means the starting of the living on a pension in Japan, but 60-year-old people are generally vigorous enough to continue to work. Most members weren't able to get day-offs contrary to expectations and it was only 10 people or so that were able to join the party. Today is the d-day. It should be June 6th, but it was changed to Saturday, 8th to make it easier to join the party from Japan.
　　The venue was a restaurant called Kai Market adjacent to the beach in the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. When I entered the hotel, I found a signboard welcoming a company trip from our hometown. It was the Ehime branch of Toyota and apparently the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the branch. Admiring the leading company's employees' trip, we headed for the restaurant. The sky was blue and it was only a step to the brilliant sea. There were so many kinds of dishes and I was busy enjoying them and forgot to take pictures. All the participants ate a lot,drank a lot, and some danced the hula. Most people were supposed to visit Pearl Harbor on the next day and then come to my condo, so we stopped by a supermarket on the way back and prepared beverages for tomorrow's party.

(Vocabulary)
venue (会議・競技などの) 会場, 開催地

What 60-year means in Japan:
https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2012/10/reunion.html

　

Shot by my whole-sky camera:
https://theta360.com/s/psywobrJ9n70qspevD0iRBFey
https://theta360.com/s/sH96xe45JNR4SF8gTMws5GZSS
https://theta360.com/s/bPhLoTivXY98axAQLWWyTy9ey

日本には独特の年号がある。それで言うと、僕の生まれは昭和３３年。この３３年生まれの同年の集まりがあって、毎年３月３日、６月６日、９月９日、１２月１２日に集まっている。

全員が節目の６０歳（多くは年金生活に入る）を迎えた記念にハワイ旅行をしようという計画が１０年くらい前からあったらしい。６０歳というのは一般的に年金生活に入る年齢なのだが、実際６０歳になってみると、定年後も働いている人が多く、参加は１０名あまりの少人数となってしまった。そのそのパーティーが今日。本来なら６月６日なのだが、日本から参加しやすいように少しずらし、６月８日の土曜日に開催することになった。

場所はシェラトンワイキキホテルのビーチに接しているカイ・マーケットというレストラン。ホテルの入口で地元愛媛に関する看板を見かけた。トヨタの愛媛支店の慰安旅行のようだ。５０周年とある。一流メーカーは違うなと感心しながらレストランへ向かった。天気は快晴、ビーチが目の前に見える。いろいろな料理があったのだが、、、、食べることに忙しく、写真撮影を忘れた、、、皆、大いに飲み、食べ、中にはフラダンスの愛好家がいて、ステージのプロと一緒に踊ったり、、、翌日は大部分はパールハーバー観光に向かうことになった。また夕方からは我が家で食事会をすることとなり、とりあえず、帰りに飲み物だけは揃えた。

Title Transfer

　　One night's good sleep removed the jet lag from me. After a short walk, we went on to the Hilton Customers Service for some legal procedure. My wife and I are now registered as the owners of my condominium, but we transferred the title to three daughters and I as up to 4 people can be registered. In case anything should happen to me, my three daughters are automatically able to succeed the condominium without further procedure. If you want to use the condominium not including any owner, you need some more procedure other than the owner's permission. The Hilton side might be prohibiting the sublease. Anyway, now, every daughter has become able to use the condominium with their acquaintances.
　　In these procedure, the signatures of my daughters were required. I meant to write it for the youngest daughter who lives in Oxford, but the signatures must have been strictly their own. I wondered who would assure it. She apparently has to visit the U.S. embassy in London to get the certificate. It was a great lesson for me who am unfamiliar with such legal procedure. I wrote my signatures on several papers without consideration, obeying the judicial scrivener's words just like as I had signed contracts about my house and its loan. Were they OK?
　　My wife looked so tired with only these procedure, and wanted to stay in the condo and sleep. It seemed that she hadn't yet recovered from jet lag, so I went downtown alone to see how Chinatown was on the weekend. Today is Saturday and most offices were closed. Few people were seen in the streets. I felt uneasy in the streets and didn't get off the trolley. The picture shows the street on which my condominium fronts.

(Vocabulary)
title to sth 　(法) ＜不動産・土地など＞の所有権
transfer the title to sb　 名義を書き替える
write 《a letter》 for sb 　代筆する

コンドミニアムの相続手続き
　
一夜明けて、時差ぼけから回復。軽く散歩の後、ヒルトンの顧客サービスへ所有するコンドミニアムの相続手続きへ。所有者として４人まで登録できるので、紹介された司法書士を通じて娘三人と僕の４人で登録。これで僕に何かあっても自動的に娘三人の共同所有となる。娘のうち誰でも、友人を連れてコンドミニアムを利用することが出来ることになった。オーナー不在で利用するには面倒な手続きが必要なのですが、これは又貸しなど、商用目的での利用を防止するためかもしれません。
　
娘三人の自署が必要というのは理解できるのですが、代筆は認められず。この手続きの際に驚いたこと。三女がオックスフォードに住んでいます。書類を郵送してサインをして返送するだけかと思ったら、この娘本人のサインであるという証明が必要らしく、その証明はロンドンのアメリカ大使館でもらわなければならないそうで、こういう分野に疎い自分には大変勉強になりました。家のローンを借りるときと同様、何枚ものサインが必要でした。言われるままにサインをしましたが、大丈夫かな(^_^;)
　
カミさんはこれだけで疲れたのか、昼寝をしたいというので（快適なベッドなので気持ちは分かりますが）僕は、その間にトロリーでダウンタウン観光。今日は土曜日でオフィスは閉まっていて、チャイナタウンは閑散としていた。少し怖い感じがあってトロリーを降りて歩きたいとは思わなかった。写真はコンドミニアムの前の道路。今日も快晴です。

Fireworks

　　I went out for a walk. So many people waiting for the fireworks on the beach, I wanted to put myself in the lively space. A hula dancing show was being held over the live music at the poolside on the way. I expected a heavy crush and didn't bring my tripod, so all the shooting was done hand-held. The pictures were not so bad for hand-held shooting in the dark circumstances. I swam for ten minutes or so on the way home to cool myself. The last two pictures were shot from my condo. The beer time viewing this scenery was the ultimate happiness.

軽く呑んだ後、花火見物へ。部屋からも見えるのだが、喧噪が好きでわざわざ出かけた。と言っても徒歩５分。途中のプールサイドではフラダンスショー。三脚なしで雑踏からの撮影。画質が悪いのは仕方ない。生バンドの演奏を聴きながらプールで少し涼んで帰宅。夜景を眺めながらのビールはまた格別。

Night Meal

　　I got back with beers and something to nibble with them, and some night meal. I'll upload the pictures from my condo I was viewing over a beer. I admire the U.S. President Donald Trump, but his hotel, the Trump Tower was a nuisance for me, because it hides the view of Diamond Head from us.

ビールとつまみを買って部屋に帰った。バルコニーからの景色をＵＰする。気になるのが、ダイヤモンドヘッドがその頂上しか見えないこと。トランプは嫌いじゃ無いが、トランプタワーは邪魔だ！

What I thought from the Ceremony

　　Who are the four men who are handed big leis from people, I wondered. If you are interested in Japan, you must have been alive to the resemblance between them and sumo wrestlers in Japan. Sumo wrestlers are often called on the occasions of Shinto ceremonies, because sumo is tightly connected with Shinto. These four men might be such people and Kamehameha I might be treated as their God or something.
　　Around the time when Hawaii was annexed into the U.S., the Japanese Imperial Navy was the strongest in the world along with its ally, Great Britain. Just a single Japanese naval vessel being there, the U.S. navy was
frozen. In such times, Kalakaua, the 7th Hawaiian King, wanted to become a relative of the Japanese Imperial Household by his niece's marriage, but in vain. He is said to manage to protect the independence of his Dynasty by the solid connection with Japan, but I assumed that it might not be the single reason. In my view, Kalakaua had a natural affinity for Japan, because Japan and Hawaii seemed to have something in common culturally or
from the folkloric perspective. Viewing the maybe-sacred men or listening to the local melodies, I imagined the era of the end of 19th century.

(Vocabulary)
folkloric    民間伝承の, 民間に伝わる

日本に親しみをもつ方なら、この４人の男達の姿が相撲の力士達に似ていることにすぐ気がつくでしょう。
ハワイがアメリカに併合された頃、日本の海軍力はイギリスと同等の世界最強レベルでした。我が国の軍艦がそこに居るだけでアメリカは黙り込んだ時代です。１９世紀末、アメリカに怯えるハワイ王朝は自らの独立を護るべく、日本の皇室との婚姻関係を希望した事実があります。この力士風の姿を見ると、カラカウア王が日本に接近したのは、単にハワイを護りたかっただけではなく、民俗学的、文化的に見て、日本とハワイには共通する何かがあったような気がします。レイ・ドレーピング・セレモニーが神事かどうかはわかりませんが、日本では神事に力士が参加することは多いです。そのようなことを考えながら人々の歌を聴いていました。

Lei Draping Ceremony

　　When I ran in front of Kamehameha I's statue in the Honolulu Half Marathon last year, I heard of the Lei Draping Ceremony held in the Kamehameha week, and I became eager to see the ceremony. On our arrival day, I was sleepy due to jet lag, but I dropped in at the statue to see it. The ceremony was already going on.
　　Several groups stepped forward toward the statue with a huge lei and handed it to the assistants who were dressed in almost naked, but maybe sacred costumes. I didn't learn what their costumes meant, but their costumes and that of Sumo wrestlers were alike. I presumed that they might be specially elected to do religious services as Japanese sumo is weaved into the history of Shinto,Japanese traditional religion or ethics. Every group danced or sang, or both of them in front of the statue. I heard some songs of other than English. It might be the ancient Hawaiian song. They would praise the king. Leis were raised and hung using the hook-and-ladder truck. I was gazing at beautiful Hawaiian folks' costumes and their elegant dances.

(Vocabulary)
hook-and-ladder truck 　はしご車

去年、ホノルルハーフマラソンでダウンタウンを走ったときに、カメハメハ大王像の前を通過した。大王像近くのエイドで６月に行われるレイ・ドレーピング・セレモニーについて聞いてから、実際に見てみたかった。ハワイへ到着した日、少々眠いが我慢してやって来た。式は既に始まっていた。
 
見ていると、いくつもの団体が順に大王像の前に出て、巨大なレイを数名の若者に渡していた。彼らの風体は恐らく古代ハワイアンの衣装なのだろう。各団体は踊りや歌を披露していたが、英語では無い歌も多かった。おそらくは大王を讃える歌なのだろう。巨大なレイははしご車を使って大王に掛けられていた。ネイティブハワイアンの美しい民族衣装にみとれた。

Sad Monument

　　This is the third visit to Hawaii for us. We had two reasons to choose this week for our visit. One is, June 11th is said to be the birthday of Kamehameha I, who consolidated the Hawaiian Dynasty, and lots of festivals and events are scheduled on every island. In other words, this week is the liveliest season in all of the Hawaii islands. The other is,,,,, I'll write about it later. Anyway, I headed for Kamehameha I's statue, where I stopped by for some time during last year's half marathon.
　　While walking, I came across a sad story. The war memorials of the Korean and Vietnam Wars. If FDR hadn't wanted to wage the war against Japan, the present Chinese Communists' Country wouldn't exist now and the conflicts between South and North also wouldn't have happened. I thought that lots of young men were dispatched to war from Hawaii. I paid tribute to them for a short time.

我々にとって３回目のハワイ。この時期に来たのは二つの理由がある。６月１１日がハワイ王朝を統一したカメハメハ大王の誕生日とされ、ハワイ全島が盛り上がる一週間だから。二つ目の理由は後に挙げる。で、一人でトロリーでカメハメハ大王の銅像へ向かった。去年の春、ホノルルハーフマラソンの途中で立ち寄った場所。
トロリーを降りて歩いていると、悲しい歴史に出会った。朝鮮戦争とベトナム戦争で亡くなった若者たちを悼む慰霊碑だ。ＦＤＲが日本との戦争を希望しなければ、恐らく今の中共は存在しないし、南北間の争いも無かったろうに。ハワイから出征した若者が多かったのだろう。しばし黙祷！

Wandering in Hilton Hawaiian Village

　　A short but gorgeous firework display is held every Friday night at Hilton Hawaiian Village, and today is Friday. Leaving my wife in the room, I wandered in the village to get some information on the firework display. While wandering, I took some pictures.
　　By the way, trolleys are inevitable for sightseers in Honolulu. Several companies are operating trolleys, and I've been wondering about one of them, Waikiki Trolley, since my first visit to Honolulu. That is, Waikiki Trolley is mostly crowded and almost all the passengers are from western countries, almost no Japanese! I knew that sightseers from Japan have at least five options of trolleys. Famed travel companies and airline companies are operating trolleys, but sightseers from the mainland have only one, Waikiki Trolley. They can buy the tickets of the Japan-side trolleys, but they might book them before the departure in the mainland. I picked Lealea Trolley operated by Japan's travel company, HIS. Fortunately, HIS set up its new trolley station at the first floor of my condominium! It's very handy for us.

今日は金曜日。ヒルトンハワイアンビレッジでは毎金曜日、盛大な花火が打ち上げられる。わずか５分だが、毎週行われている。開始時刻の確認と打ち上げ場所の確認にビレッジ内をしばしうろつく。このときに撮ったハワイらしい写真を２枚ＵＰする。
ここでハワイの観光客誰もが利用するトロリーについて書いておく。ワイキキトロリーという２階建てバスのトロリーが運行されていて、乗っているのは外国人ばかり。（とはいえ、ここはハワイなので、自分が外国人なのだが。）どこでチケットを売っているのかなと思っていたのだが、アメリカ本土からの観光客にとってトロリーの選択種はワイキキトロリーしかないようだ。日本側には、いくつもある。ＡＮＡもこの春から会員向けに無料バスを走らせ始めた。僕が使うのは、ＨＩＳのレアレアトロリー。なんとこの春からコンドミニアムの１階に付けてくれるようになっていた。何という幸運！

 

My Condominium

　　The following picture shows my condominium. I brought a wide angle lens this time and was able to shoot this picture. Don't you think, it's beautiful? Then I used my whole sky camera inside the room. I'll upload below. Our today's task was not to sleep, i.e., the recovery from the jet lag. We left our luggage at the Bell Desk and went out to Ala Moana Center to have lunch. After lunch at Japan Village Walk run by a Japanese company, I was going to go and see downtown, but my wife wanted to sleep, so we went back. I happened to see an amphibious bus on the way. Lots of tour buses come to this point, just in front of Ilikai Hotel. Honolulu is surely, I believe, one of the best resorts in the world.

To HGVC members: FYI Room #3507(penthouse)

Main bed room 　Guest bed room 　Living room 　Dining room 　Main bath room 　Main bath room 2 　Guest bath room 　Kitchen 　Balcony 　Balcony 2 　

写真は宿泊するコンドミニアム。今回は一眼レフカメラには広角レンズを付けてきた。なので去年までは撮れなかったこんな写真が撮れた。室内は全天カメラで撮影。次に、眠気をごまかすためにトロリーでアラモアナセンターへ向かった。Japan Village Walk（白木屋が経営)でランチ。ここからダウンタウン方面へ向かう予定だったが、カミさんは眠くてたまらないというのでいったんコンドミニアムへ戻る。途中で水陸両用車の観光ツアーを見かけた。ハワイにはこれでもかと言わんばかりの無数のツアーがある。間違いなく、世界でも指折りのリゾートだ。

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport

　　This airport is operated 24 hours a day, and is naturally a big hub airport, but it's rather shabby. It was hard work to walk 20 minutes after disembarkation. Especially the sudden change of circumstances from the air-conditioned cabin to under the shower of tropical ultraviolet rays was really harsh. While walking, I shot a picture of Flying Honu.

ダニエル・Ｋ・イノウエ国際空港

２４時間運用のハブ空港なのに、ぼろい。降りてからかなりの距離を歩かされるのが辛い。特に冷房の効いていた機内から突然南国の太陽の下に出されるのだからたまらない。フラフラと歩きながら乗ってきた飛行機が遠くに見えたので１枚撮影。

Airbus A380 Flying Honu

　　When it comes to the flight to Honolulu from my hometown of Matsuyama city, Haneda International Airport is more convenient than Narita International Airport. As there is a direct flight from my hometown to Haneda, we are free from the complication from luggage until the arrival in Honolulu after the check-in of our luggage in Matsuyama. We don't need to carry our luggage when changing planes at Haneda. However, we chose Narita. You'd want to ask me why. The reason is that I wanted to get on the Airbus A380, which was newly and firstly as Japanese Airlines installed in May into the Narita-Honolulu route. From the boarding waiting area I was able to see its cute coloring. Its nickname is Flying Honu, which means a green turtle in Hawaiian and has been long believed to be the happiness-inviting deity among native Hawaiians.
　　A380 has the structure of the full-length double-deck and it is the biggest passenger plane in the world. I was so interested in the aircraft itself. Passengers get into the plane through one of two doors which was set at the upper and lower deck.

抄訳：
便利な羽田からの出発ではなく、成田空港を選んだのはＡＮＡに導入されたばかりのエアバスＡ３８０型機に乗りたかったから。搭乗待合から外を見るとその可愛い顔が見えた。愛らしいカラーリングが見事だ。乗客は１階と２階とそれぞれに繋がっている２つの通路から搭乗する。

Departure

　　I'll fly to Hawaii for the first time in a year today! The departure flight is from Narita, not Haneda this time. After wandering in the duty-free shopping area I visited the ANA lounge. The first picture was shot in the entrance of the lounge. It's the Boeing 787 with the coloring of Star Wars related stuff. Taking a close look, several signatures were written on it. I found Harrison Ford's on the right engine. Some subscribers ask me to attach the Japanese translation when the entry is about trips, so I upload the entry with it for some time from now.

抄訳：
やっとこの日が来ました。１年ぶりにハワイへ飛びます。今回は羽田経由でなく成田空港から。成田空港は久しぶりです。免税店を少しブラブラして、ＡＮＡラウンジへ。最初の写真はラウンジの入口にあったボーイング７８７、スターウォーズ塗装。関係者のサインが書き込まれていました。右エンジンにはハンソロ（ハリソン・フォード）のサインが書き込まれています。旅行記事には和訳を付けて欲しいと頼まれているので、今回の記事からしばらく和訳を付けます。

Athletic Meeting

　　Athletic meetings in schools in Japan have been one of the seasonal events in autumn, but they came to be held in spring lately as some autumnal festivals and other events often fall on each other. Additionally, pupils prepare the meeting from summer and heat strokes are also a concern.
　　Spring is the commencement season in Japan, so the first grade pupils of the elementary school were kindergarten kids only a month ago. It's fun to see such tiny kids run on the ground. I sometimes wondered if they are running or rolling?
　　I viewed the meeting in the adjacent elementary school from the roof of my office. Today is Sunday and my office is closed. I have to stay in my office for inpatients, but all the patients are in stable condition. I really love such a peaceful day.

Genkai shuraku

　　A Japanese word of "Genkai shuraku" means an extremely depopulated village with most inhabitants being senior citizens, who don't have transportation. I looked for a suitable English word in my dictionary, but wasn't able to find it. Marginal settlements, or deserted village? Anyway, most Genkai shuraku used to be prosperous.
　　Young people who once went out of these villages for higher education tend to stay in bigger cities after graduation. Consequently, such small villages came to face with the depopulation problem and their local culture and traditions brought to the brink of extinction.
　　My wife and I drove my car in one of these villages today to visit my wife's friend's tomb. Her original village was also on the way to disappearance.

Spring

　　A pleasant season has come to my home town. I went out for a walk and took pictures around, being tempted by the brilliant sunshine. Seeing such pictures, I can't believe that there are still wars or armed conflicts somewhere on the globe.

Walking in the Park

　　My house is located near the biggest nature park in my hometown. The sky was brilliant today and I went out for a walk in the park. The tree of my city is camellia and more than a hundred camellias are planted in an area in the park, which is called "Camellia Land". Wandering in the park, I felt that spring was surely coming to my city.