Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

New College

　　A married couple of a psychiatrist and a family doctor- the emeritus and emerita professor of Oxford University, who kindly assisted my daughter with her life in Oxford and her learning in Oxford University, guided us around the New College where they had spent their student days. "New" is attached to its name, but this college isn't new and has a long history. As for this college, Ten-noh devoted a full two pages to the background of its foundation. It implies the significance of the college.
　　With them, we were allowed to enter every space in the college. With my daughter's translation and my knowledge about medieval Europe, I enjoyed their guidance and the scenes of every corner of the New College.
　　I read "La Peste" - the pest - by Albert Camus last year. I wanted to know how the pandemic had been in the medieval era. I knew from the memoir of Ten-noh that the pest pandemic was the background of the foundation of the New College. This college was located at the northern end of Oxford Old City which had been surrounded by stone walls. Its wall had various devices to repel the enemy.

　娘がお世話になった名誉教授ご夫妻にご自身が在籍したニューカレッジを案内していただいた。一般には立ち入ることの出来ない場所も案内していただき有意義な時間を持てた。NEWとなっているがその歴史は古く、天皇陛下もこのカレッジを特に取りあげ、留学記の中に書かれている。
　去年だったと思うが、カミュのペストを読んだ。中世のパンデミックがどのようなものだったのか気になったので。そのペストがこのカレッジ誕生の遠因となっていたことに驚いた。このカレッジは城壁に囲まれたオックスフォードの北端に位置しており、敵を跳ね返すための攻撃用の設備が点在していた。まるでお城であった。

(Vocabulary)
emeritus 《男性の名誉職に用い，「名誉…」を意味する》
emerita 《女性の名誉職に用い，「名誉…」を意味する》

Thames Path

　　I wondered what way Ten-noh reached the pub in his 20's. It was past 7 o'clock p.m., but I walked around the pub to find the way. It didn't take much time to find the gate to the Thames Path. The gate was equipped with a shabby-looking but firm door, but I saw two joggers opening the door and getting onto the path. Anyone would be allowed to enter the path. I didn't know the necessity of the door, but when I stepped into it, I understood. The path was a part of a meadow and I saw a few cows grazing. To tell the truth, I unintentionally found the other side door after a few days and I'll write about it later.

　陛下はどのようなルートでここへ到達されたのだろう。到着後、１９時を回っていたがまだ日が高いうちに周辺を歩いた。そして見つけた。陛下が自転車で走られたであろうテムズ川沿いの小道。ここには扉があったがジョギングをする二人が何のためらいもなく扉を開けて入っていったので誰でも入れるのだろう。なぜ扉があるか？中を覗いてすぐにわかった。牛が放牧されていた。実は後日、この道の反対側の入口を見ることができた。ブラブラしていたら偶然に。後日書く。

(Vocabulary)
necessity 必要(性)
graze 〈家畜が〉生草を食べる;〈家畜〉に生草を食べさせる,〈土地〉を牧草地として使う

https://www.thetroutoxford.co.uk/#/

The Thames

　　It's the Thames that flew in front of us. If you put something on its surface, it will drift away to London. On the upstream you can see a lock gate. There seems to be several locks on the Thames and I was able to see some of them. I'll write about them later. Ten-noh wrote about several rock bridges and I'd like to visit some of them but the time was short.

　目の前に流れているのはテムズ川。ここにボート浮かべればロンドンに到達する。上流側には閘門が見える。テムズ川上流には閘門が何カ所もあるらしく、のんびりと川に沿って散策したいものだ、、、。テムズの中世の水運を研究された陛下の本には散策された石橋のことも書かれているのだが、今回は見て回る時間が無さそうだ。

https://www.thetroutoxford.co.uk/#/

The Trout Inn 2

　　The internal details of the pub were great and its atmosphere was also relaxing, but we chose an outdoor table to enjoy the scene. At first, I ordered one of the local beers of Camden pale ale, which reminded me of the scene of Chipping Campden where I drove a rental car with my second daughter five years ago. Taking a close look at the picture, however, I found the difference in spelling. This beer was brewed at Camden town in London not the Cotswolds, but it was OK. My heart was full with the fact that my wife and I were with my youngest daughter who had successfully finished all the courses of Oxford University which has long been acknowledged as No.1 in the world. I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I forgot the name of our dishes.

　室内の装飾も見事だったが風景を楽しみたいため外の席を選んだ。
　まずは地元のカムデンビール　エールタイプのビールを選択　まずはイッパイ！
このビールを選んだのは、５年前に次女とドライブしたイングランド・グロスターシャー州のコッツウォルズにある小さなマーケットタウン、チッピング・カムデンを思い出したから。良く見ると綴りが違うし、後で調べると全然関係なかった、、、(^_^;)　ロンドンのカムデンタウンで造られていた。まあ、ＯＫ。世界ナンバー１の大学を卒業した娘とここに居るだけで何も言うことなし。写真のような料理をオーダーしたのだが、料理名はサッパリ忘れてしまった。

https://www.thetroutoxford.co.uk/#/

 

The Trout Inn 1

　　I reached The Trout Inn in the end by my daughter's car. It was about 30 minutes from the city center of Oxford. I knew this pub from the memoir of Japanese Ten-noh who had studied water transport by the Thames nearly 40 years ago. He apparently came here with his guard by bicycle. Having read his memoir, I was eager to have dinner at this pub.
　　I'll show you its external appearance below. I wondered how old this building was. I should have questioned someone about that, but the waiters looked busy. A few hundreds years or more, I thought.

　娘の運転する車でついにやってきたパブ、Trout Inn。市内から３０分。天皇陛下は留学中、警護官と共に自転車でテムズ川沿いを走って立ち寄ったという。留学記を読んでいてなんとしてもここで食事をしたかった。
　まずは建物外観の写真をＵＰする。一体どれくらいの歴史があるのだろう。誰かに尋ねれば良かったのだが、店員が忙しそうで機会が無かった。数百年の歴史はありそうだ。

https://www.thetroutoxford.co.uk/#/

My Daughter

　　I saw my daughter at a bus stop of Thornhill Park&Ride. She would have gone through lots of hardship with a brave spirit in the unfamiliar country. I got an impression that she had stepped up on the next stage of life. It's a pity that she is shy and doesn't want me to upload her picture.

It was about 7 o'clock and we left our baggage at the hotel room and headed for the Trout, which I'll show you below. The Japanese Ten-noh spent 2 years here in Oxford in his 20's. His memoir was one of my travel guidebooks this time. I'm going to roam over something related to him.

My trip memo of this travel would become considerably long.

三女と再会

Thornhill Park&Ride で娘と再会した。随分としっかりした印象を受けた。イギリスで苦労してきたのだろう。逞しくなったものだ。とてもシャイで写真を載せるなと言われているのが残念。１９時を過ぎているのでホテルへ荷物を置いてすぐに天皇陛下お勧めのパブ、The Trout へ向かった。先に書いたとおり、天皇陛下は２０代の二年間、オックスフォードで自由な学生時代を送られている。彼の人生で恐らくこの二年間だけが自由な時間だったのだろうと推察する。その留学記に書かれている地名をできる限り歩いてみたいと思っている。この自分の旅行記は長くなりそうだ。

Arrival

　　Ireland and Scotland are coming within eyesight. It was about 40 minutes until the landing, but a familiar "Cup Noodle" was served. I was a little bit hungry and this service was timely. I frequently pick ANA and I'll ask ANA to prepare this type of instant noodles. Looking out of the window, I identified Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and London Eye which I visited with my second daughter five years ago. I didn't think I'd come back to the U.K. at that time. I was really happy to visit the U.K. again. My plane smoothly touched down on the soil of the U.K.

　視界にアイルランドやイギリス本土が入ってきた。到着まで４０分ほどしかないのにカップヌードルが出てきた。欲しい人だけのサービスだが。小腹の空いたときに重宝する。フライト中に出されたのは初めて。いつも使うＡＮＡにもお願いしてみよう。食べ終わって外を見るとバッキンガム宮殿、Big Benビッグベン、London Eyeが見える。5年前次女とぶらぶら歩いた界隈だ。懐かしい。飛行機はスムーズにヒースロー国際空港第5ターミナルに到着した。

Iceland

　　As my plane was approaching Iceland, the clouds broke and beautiful terrain came in my eye. I took the first picture below. After coming back to Japan, I looked for this peninsula on Google Map. This peninsula is Snæfellsnes Peninsula which is located at the northwest of Reykjavik.
　　According to a guidebook, this peninsula is rich in a diverse array of beautiful scenery; beautiful waterfalls, a vast lava plateau, beaches with cobblestone, soaring magnificent mountains like Kirkjufell and Snæfellsnes glacier at the tip of the peninsula. Under the glacier, a volcano sits. Voyage au centre de la Terre (Voyage to the center of the earth) by Jules Gabriel Verne is set in this volcano. I was able to unexpectedly see the site of one of the most famous science fiction novels.
　　In addition, I was able to look down the whole view of Reykjavik. Its pictures were blurred and I refrain uploading them here. I saw the volcanic smoke going up near Reykjavik. Was that a hot spring or a geothermal power station? Anyway I wish I could visit the country some day.

　飛行機がアイスランドにさしかかると、雲が切れて美しい土地が見えたのですぐに写真を撮った。（1枚目の写真）帰国後調べてみると、ここはレイキャビクの北西に位置するスナイフェルスネス半島(Snæfellsnes)
　ガイドブックを読むと、息を飲む様な美しい景色が続く場所で、美しい滝や、溶岩の大地、丸い小石の浜辺、キルキュフェットル（Kirkjufell）など堂々とそびえる山々、そしてスナイフェルスネス半島の端にあるスナイフェルス氷河。その氷河を冠した山の下には火山が眠っています。ここはジュール・ヴェルネの書いた地底旅行の舞台となった場所でもあります。との説明を見つけた。
　また、上空からレイキャビクの街を望むことが出来た。遠くて写真の出来は悪くてここにはあげないが、肉眼ではきれいに見えた。レイキャビクの近くで噴煙が上がっている。温泉だろうか、地熱発電だろうか、　訪れたいなあ。

(Vocabulary)
Voyage au centre de la Terre 地底旅行
Jules Gabriel Verne　ジュール・ベルヌ

Greenland

　　There was no green land on Greenland. This huge island is said to have been named "Greenland" to invite people to settle there. I deeply agreed with this idea as soon as I looked down through the window. Take a look at the following pictures. I'm sure you'll feel as I did. On the other hand, the name of Iceland which I'll pass over soon is for fighting off the newly coming people.
　　Anyway I assumed that there was nothing worthy of gazing at on the ground of Greenland and I didn't look out of the window over Greenland. When the plane was about to go out over the Atlantic Ocean, I looked down and found a few beautiful glaciers. I took some pictures to know their name later, but I couldn't identify their name on the net.
　　After coming back, I visited a few websites concerning the cryogenic science and learned that Greenland along with Antarctica are the principal research objects for scientists. I learned the technical term of "ice sheet". It apparently is distinguished from glaciers.

　デンマーク領グリーンランドに緑の場所は無かった（笑）。人の移住を促すためにこの名が付いたと言うがなるほどである。反対に次に通過するはずのアイスランドは人を寄せ付けないようにするためにアイスという名前が付けられたと聞いた。もうすぐ上空に至る。どんな大地なのか、楽しみ。
　さて、真っ白の大地に見るべきものはないと思い下を見なかった怠慢が残念、ふと下を眺めると巨大な氷河が海に流れ込んでいる雄大な景色が見えた。
　帰国後調べてみるとグリーンランドは南極大陸とともに氷床と氷河の研究のメッカだという。この氷河にも名前が付いていると思うが、よくわからなかった。

(Vocabulary)
ice sheet 氷床
cryogenic 超[極]低温(貯蔵)の.
Cryogenic Research Center 低温科学研究センター

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。

Yashima Hill

　　Utilizing the opportunity of my business trip, I dropped in at the medieval battle field of Yashima Hill. A famous battle between the then most powerful political powers and a war genius took place there in the 12th century.
　　My late father took me there in my childhood. He was a primary school teacher and told me about the old battle. I remember that I wasn't able to fully understand his words at that time, but I remember that I had felt that numerous people had lived before my time and I had realized the stream of time. Now I'm interested in history. Small talk from people around me might exercise influence on my character.
　　Few families had their own car in those days in Japan and we climbed up the hill by the cable car, but the cable car was abandoned a few decades ago due to the decrease of passengers. Family cars became common in Japan. I visited the abandoned cable car station. The cable car was there as is. I got the sense that my father and I were there with happy faces. Time goes by securely.

Bando POW Camp Ruins

　　The Bando POW Camp Ruins isn't so far from my hometown, but I've never been there. I dropped in at the ruins on the way home from my business trip. The about 1000 of POWs who were accommodated in this camp were German who had been captured in the battle in Qing dynasty in China during World War I. The camp was run from April in 1917 to March in 1920.
　　What images do you have for the PWO camp? I read several experience documents written by Japanese people who had been confined into POW camps after the Great Eastern Asian War. I often wanted to avert my eyes from their description, but the Bando POW Camp was utterly different.
　　The POWs fought Japan on the behalf of Germany, not from their personal hostility against Japan. The authorities felt sorry for the POWs and allowed them to spend leisurely and free hours without any labor. Some of the POWs started to bake bread for their fellow POWs who wanted to eat German fresh bread. Some played Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for fellow POWs and Japanese camp officers. This fact made the site the birthplace of the Ninth Symphony in Japan. They were allowed to go in for sporting and artistic activities. At present, a nearby museum with regard to the camp collects a steady stream of visitors. I've visited the museum before, but dropped in at the real ruin for the first time. Climbing up the backside hill, I found two monuments along the path, honoring German who passed away during detention. I felt sorry and paid a short silence. One of the monuments was built by the German Government.
　　I had been reading Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Emil Frankl (Holocaust survivor, Austrian psychiatrist) by chance. According to Frankl, the way a prisoner imagined the future affected his longevity. The book intends to answer the question "How was everyday life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner?" It's not easy to express my opinion precisely in English, but anyway, we've had enough of war.

(Vocabulary)
Bando POW Camp 坂東俘虜収容所
Man's Search for Meaning（邦訳：夜と霧）

The Awa Earth Pillars

　　The Awa Earth Pillars, which is called one of the three biggest scenic beauties the world over "by the local people". The other two scenic beauties are apparently the Earth pyramids of South Tyrol and the Hoodoos in Bryce Canyon National Park. Is the story of the three biggest scenic beauties true? I've long been skeptical about this story. I visited the Awa Earth Pillars for the first time and I was disappointed at the scene. Actually there was a strange terrain, but in my opinion, it can't be paralleled to the other two spots. I favorably understand the locals' passion for the Pillars, but this description isn't acceptable for me.

(Vocabulary)
scenic beauty 奇勝、名勝
bizarre 奇妙な, とっぴな
hoodoo
((米))縁起の悪い人［もの］，疫病神；不運の連続
((米西部))《地学》（浸食作用による奇形の）岩柱
((米))＝voodoo 《宗教》ブードゥー教（◇西インド諸島や米国南部の黒人に信仰されている多神教）
[動]他…を不運にする；魅惑する
skeptical 疑い深い, 懐疑的な

A Business Trip

　　To be charged with an easy task in a tiny island, I'm here in a small shabby unassuming hotel along the coast. Through the window I can see the island which I'll visit tomorrow morning. A ferry will take me to the island in only 6 minutes. The following picture shows the scene which I'm viewing. You might take this channel as a river, but actually this is the genuine sea which even connects to the U.S.A. There are so many islands in the Seto Inland Sea and those islands became hot spots for scenic photo opportunities. If I have some free time tomorrow, I'm thinking of wandering around my workplace.

Tomonoura, An Historic District

　　Japan seems to have been held as an industrialized country, and this speculation isn't wrong, but what do you make of the following pictures? These pictures were shot in a small fishery port, which is 2 hours' drive away from my house. This district is rich in historical heritage. The arrangement is like a few hundred years ago, and lots of houses can't be accessed by car.
　　This district, which is located in the middle of the Seto Inland Sea, was a shelter port for lots of trading ships in the pre-modern era which didn't have engines and relied on winds for their moving power. When the wind wasn't ideal, those ships stayed in this district until a favorable change of the wind.

Due to its local property, visits of several celebrities including people from other countries are documented. I roved around the area with my electricity-assisted bicycle, viewing the same scene which our predecessors must have seen.

(Vocabulary)
heritage Uncountable

Renovation Under Way

　　At first, take a look at the following pictures. I wondered how to describe this condition. What happened was, renovation workers covered a part of the exterior to avoid damage from their painting work. I looked up in the Japanese-English dictionary a suitable word to depict this covering work, and found "cure". As a model sentence, "cure concrete" was raised, but I doubted that "cure" didn't match in my case.
　　A Japanese word of "youjou" has two meanings; preserving concrete until it gets enough rigidity and protecting the area around the working space from damage. How about in English? Does "cure" have both meanings?
　　Anyway, my house seems to be choked. The circulation of air was stopped and my wife complained that her cooking was limited not to discharge smoke.

(Vocabulary)
discharge [他] 〈気体・液体など〉 を排出する, 放出する
discharge sth into/in sth ＜…＞を＜…＞に排出する
Raw sewage was discharged into the ocean. 下水は未処理のまま，海に放出されていた．

Kan-onji City

　　I made a business trip to Kan-onji City. The city's appeal points are Kan-onji Temple, which gave its name to the city, and the historic sand sculpture whose motif is a coin used 400 years ago. Kan-onji Temple is listed as one of the temples of the "Shikoku 88 Pilgrimage" and has a long history. The sand sculpture has been restored every year since its birth to now. It is said to have been made in 1633 as a token of gratitude to the lord of the district from commoners.
　　I roamed around the city with my electricity-assisted bicycle without any positive purpose and I was able to visit wherever I wanted. I woke up to the fact that I stood in front of a monument for the departed devoted to Japan through the past wars. I paid a short silence for them. The present peaceful Japan stands on their shoulders, of which I am strongly convinced. I hope from the bottom of my heart that all the wars on the globe will disappear.

FYI:
https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2010/09/ishite-ji-temple.html

Germany Day

　　Uchiko Town and Rothenburg in Germany have struck a sister city treaty for about 10 years. A variety of events concerning Germany take place in this town every year, but the recent COVID-19 pandemic has prevented them from planning those events for three years. After the pandemic, a German Fiesta took place today and I joined the event.
　　People from abroad centering on the German got joined and showed their traditional things to the public. The musical band performed several music of Germany and the EU, and I spent a very relaxing holiday. The kinds of German dishes and beers were the only downside of the event.
　　In my home town of Matsuyama City, the October Fest has taken place every year in recent years. I wonder if it would be held this autumn. I wish that society would return to its original situation as quickly as possible.

Short Drive

　　I'm purchasing camping gear bit by bit nowadays and I dropped in at a camping site to see how it was. The site was equipped with a communal outdoor kitchen and lavatory, but the scenery was terrible. The camping ground was surrounded by low bushes. I didn't like it. I continue to look for my best place to camp from now on.
　　On the way back, I came across a considerably old sake brewery which was full of atmosphere. I chatted with the owner for a short time. The sake brewing seemed to have been suspended due to the pandemic. People were strictly regulated not to get together for parties or events. The sales of the products of the brewery declined, but he kept lots of stocks of old sake in its storehouse and showed them to me. One of them was sitting there for 39 years. Even the owner didn't know its taste. I bought it from curiosity. What taste does it have? What's the best occasion to taste it?

(Vocabulary)
sake brewery 造り酒屋

A Tree House

　　A strange construction, which comes into sight on the way of the house visit, has been on my mind for a long time. It is located at a place which is hard to approach by car and I went to see it by my bicycle. It was a tree house which was reinforced with steel and looked nice. Anyone might be able to get in, but I didn't get permission and I observed it from outside. I wondered who built it and what vistas would be seen through the trees. I'd like to identify the owner and visit the house.

(Vocabulary)
reinforce 〈建造物・衣類など〉を補強する