Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Vancouver Aquarium

     We had a half day in Vancouver. As the children wanted to visit the Vancouver Aquarium, I followed them. As I have written many times, A has a strong interest in veterinary science and knows that UBC (University of British Columbia) is noted for the research of marine mammalogy. I could easily imagine what was in her mind when she was watching the exhibition and the show of white dolphins. She is aiming to enter the highest level of universiy in Japan. The research center of UBC might be within her possible reach as her second step after her graduation.

Fairmont Hotel Vancouver

     Our bus went over the Lions Gate Bridge. I like the scenery of Burrard Inlet from here too. Suddenly our bus got into the natural forest and modern buildings appeared in front of us a few minutes later. Our bus was drawn into the downtown and stopped at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.
     When I visited Vancouver for the first time, I saw this hotel on the way to Whistler. It is located along the way. One of my mentors, who was with me at that time, told me that this hotel was the most historic and gorgeous hotel in Vancouver. Having heard his words, I hoped that I could stay at least one night some day. The some day was today.
     I had an appointment to see an English teacher who was Canadian and who was correcting my entries of this blog on behalf of me. To be honest with you, I was psyching myself up for meeting him. I prepared a rough draft in the bus because I had not enough time to talk with him, but, , , , what I wanted to tell him disappeared from my mind the moment I saw him. I might have been unnecessarily tense. I could only spare a few minutes for talking with him, but it was great to meet him in the real world. Before March in 2008, these entries had been sent to Texas, in the U.S.A. and he had corrected them from Canada, Thailand or wherever he wanted to stay, and the corrected drafts had been returned to me in Japan from Texas. After I checked my mistakes, I sent these drafts to a blog server in California with pictures. All the people in the world, except for a few people, can access my blog. This system was incredible 20 years ago. Therefore I really wanted to meet him, a key person of this system.
     Writing a blog brought about many changes in my life. I'm going to write about this topic again and again later.
     The picture shows our leader (Hiroko) and A at the front desk of the hotel. A is eager to learn English. Every time Hiroko talked to foreigners, A was with her to listen to the conversation.

(Vocabulary)
psych /saɪk/
psych sb ↔ out [句動詞]
(インフォーマル) ＜相手＞をびびらせる
psych sb/yourself   up
(インフォーマル) ＜人［自分自身］＞に気合いを入れる
tense 〈状況・雰囲気などが〉 緊迫した, 張りつめた
a tense silence 張りつめた沈黙

Blackcomb Information Board

     The picture shows the information board. This board tells us if all the lifts and trails are available or not. Skiers have to check the course that they want to ski down when the weather is not clear. A didn't like it when I skied near her, but I followed her. She didn't realize the danger of the mountain in winter at all.

At The Peak Of 7th Heaven

     A (my daughter) and I, climbed up to the peak of Blackcomb mountain as we had planned yesterday, though the weather was heavily snowy. I knew how beautiful the view from there was and it was regrettable that I couldn't shoot a movie of her skiing with the fascinating background. Today was the last day in Whistler and finally the weather didn't get any better during our stay. We took it as God's words, "Come over again in the not so distant future."
     The picture was shot at the peak of Blackcomb mountain. You can see the temperature. It says -14 degrees centigrade. It would have been impossible in our hometown. Some people had frozen nasal discharge and ice on their eyebrows.

Chair Skiing

     I saw a physically challenged person enjoying chair skiing with her family members. I've never seen such people in Japan. It might be because winter sports are not so popular as in Canada. At any rate I was happy to see such a warm-hearted family here.

Like Ants Around Sweets

     When I was relieved to get a neck tube, a cluster of children came into the restaurant. They were a class from the ski school not snowboarders, judging from their boots. They seemed to be five or six years old, under school age.
     They would go straight to the food counter, I thought, but I was wrong. They rushed at the spot that I am showing you below. Not only they, but also their instructor, got together around the post that the Japanese game machine, NINTENDO DS, was set up on. I heard that this machine was very popular in the world, and it was true.

(Vocabulary)
cluster (人の) 群れ, 集団
[＋cluster of] clusters of children 子供の群れ

Ski Helmet

     In making a comparison between Canadian and Japanese ski resorts, there are a lot of differences. The usage rate of ski helmets is one of them. Ordinary skiers and snowboarders who don't take part in competitions rarely wear helmets in Japan, but you'd better put one on in Canada judging from the security.
     I took time to shop around for it, but I couldn't find the best one for me. All the shops were poorly-stocked. It was understandable, thinking about the small demand in Japan. Finally I decided to get one in Whistler and left Japan without a ski helmet and a ski cap. I wanted to shop around in Whistler, but I didn't have enough time to do so and I got a ski cap with the logo of Whistler & Blackcomb yesterday. It was terribly cold in Whistler this spring.
     A red gondola behind me will be used on the new lift connecting the peaks of Whistler mountain and Blackcomb mountain. They said this lift would open in December this year. It will be very convenient, but I'm afraid of the escalating price of lift tickets. I had wished that I could move between the two mountains quickly. It must be the effect of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Sno-Limo

     Needless to say, Japan is one of the developed countries. In other words Japan must be rich, but I sometimes feel a lack of something that makes us feel happy. I found the check-in counter of Sno-Limo that provided tours for non-skiers. Judging from their brochures, people who are physically challenged seem to enjoy the view of alpine regions. It's great and I wondered if it's also in Japan?

(Vocabulary)
challenged    努力を必要とする、（身体に）障害のある

 (KW: 身体障害 スキー そり 援助)

I Hate China #3

     The insurgency in Tibet and the surrounding areas is being reported in various media every day. The Chinese government has come under fire. I wonder if the media think of China as a normal or sane country. My opinion about China is as follows:
     Since ancient times China has created a world of its own rather than being a part of the globe. China has a different sense of values, logic and other regulations. They worship money, I mean mommonism. Their logic is that one who is deceived is wrong and cheating is not bad. Cheating is celebrated among them. Anything goes under their regulations. Therefore it's no use discussing something with them from the way of thinking in other countries. Above all I advise you to consider Chinese as aliens coming from another planet.

Poisonous dumplings were made in Japan!
The insurgency in Tibet was planned by Dalai Lama XIV! 

     From this attitude I see through their 4000 years of thinking, like no consideration, arrogance, buck-passing,,,etc.
     There is a reason that I'm writing this entry. I sometimes get e-mails from China or Chinese living out of China, asking me to spread the facts about China among Japanese people. I suppose they read the category "Current Affairs" of my blog. I'll show you some of them. If you feel scared to see bleeding, never click these or you won't get a good sleep tonight.

http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2004/12/200412130343.shtml
(venue for public executions)
http://photo.minghui.org/photo/images/persecution_evidence/E_wuju_300_1.htm
(victims of torture and rape by Chinese authorities)
http://www.tchrd.org/press/2008/pr20080318c.html
(Tibetan victims of torture and crackdown by Chinese authorities)

 

(Vocabulary)
insurgency (政府に対する) 反乱, 暴動
under fire 砲火を浴びて、攻撃の的になって、攻撃［批判・非難］を受けて、やり玉に上げられて
since ancient times  古来
create a world of one's own  独自の世界を作る
concept of values / one's sense of value  価値観
worship [他] (神など)を拝む, 崇拝する
mammonism / worship of money 拝金主義
anything goes どんなことでもまかり通る、何でもあり、制限なし、自由気まま
above all 　何よりも（まず）、とりわけ
dumpling ギョーザ
consideration [U] 思いやり, 配慮, 気遣い
[＋consideration for]
He shows no consideration for others. 彼は他人への思いやりがない．
pass the buck    責任転嫁する
venue (会議・競技などの) 会場, 開催地
venue for public executions   公開処刑場

私は中共が嫌いです　その３

　チベットやその周辺国における反政府暴動が連日報道され、中共政府は非難の的になっている。メディアは支那を正常でまともな国だと考えているのだろうか。僕の意見を書きます。　古来より、支那はみずからの世界を形成し、異なった価値観、論理、規則を持っている。その最たるものは拝金主義である。騙される方が悪いのであって、騙すことは悪くないというのが彼らの論理である。騙すことは彼らの間では賞賛され、何でもＯＫの世界である。それ故、シナ人と他の普通の国々の考え方で議論しても意味がない。まず忠告する。シナ人を地球外からやってきたエイリアンとして扱うことだ。　毒入り餃子は日本で作られた！　チベットの反政府暴動はダライラマ法王によって計画された！　すべて支那人の身勝手な主張である。 　他者に対しての思いやり、気遣いなど全くなく、傲慢で、責任転嫁、、、これが彼らの４０００年におよぶ態度である。　こう書くのには理由がある。たびたび、支那からあるいは国外にする支那人からメールが届く。日本人に事実を広めて欲しいと言う願いである。多分このブログの時事問題のカテゴリを見たのだろう。いくつかを紹介する。もし、出血が怖いような人は決してくリンクしないこと。 http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2004/12/200412130343.shtml (公開処刑場) http://photo.minghui.org/photo/images/persecution_evidence/E_wuju_300_1.htm (中共政府による拷問やレイプの被害者) http://www.tchrd.org/press/2008/pr20080318c.html(中共政府の取り締まり、拷問のチベット人被害者)

(KW: 毒入り餃子 チベット弾圧 チベット人被害者 犠牲者)

Samue (作務衣)

     These days I was wondering what the best present is for a teacher who reads and corrects my blog entries. He lives near Vancouver and I'm going to meet him for the first time. Something to eat or drink would soon disappear. Something that is difficult to get in Canada is better, I thought. I listed up many things and finally chose a pair of samue as a gift.
     Any idea about samue? If you'd like to see what it is, copy and paste this word "作務衣" into the Google search field in the right column of this blog. You can see many samues, though it would be written in Japanese.
     Originally samue was the work clothes of Japanese Zen monks, made from cotton or linen and traditionally dyed brown or indigo. Samue have been worn by monks when performing labour duties such as temples' maintenance work. In modern times they have become fashionable and popular among ordinary people as general casual wear or workwear.
     My father sometimes wears one when relaxing at home. The cooks of Japanese-style restaurants often wear one. Some writers or potters willingly dress in one. At any rate, you'd better try it if you have a chance.
     I called in at the biggest Iyo-Kasuri shop and found a nice one. Iyo-Kasuri is a very famous product of my prefecture, Ehime. http://www.city.matsuyama.ehime.jp/lang/en/products/index.html I hope this is so him.

See here. (7th picture)

(Vocabulary)
indigo  濃い藍色(あいいろ), インディゴブルー
dress [自] (特定の) 服装をする
dress casually   カジュアルな服装をする
dress in sth  ＜…＞を着ている

(KW: 作務衣 伊予絣会館 伊予かすり会館)

Busy With The Prep

     My daughter's and my skiis returned from the repair shop after getting full tune-ups. We started to pack up our stuff. My daughter will leave a little earlier than I and she will use the transportation service for her baggage from my house to Narita International Airport (near Tokyo). For this reason she has to prepare her stuff and baggage a little earlier. Her bags will be checked-in with the service company until 16th.
     And one more thing. I bought some travellers' checks for her and exchanged some money from Japanese yen to Canadian dollars. I was so surprised to know the exchange rate. The Canadian dollar is higher than the U.S. dollar. I felt sad.

Koujien, Japanese Most Popular Dictionary

     I have been using Ichitaro, a word processing software, like the wordstar in English-speaking lands. In the DOS era, Ichitaro had a large market share, but as Windows became dominant, the share was considerably taken over by Microsoft Word. However, the ability to handle Japanese sentences is better in Ichitaro than in Microsoft Word, and moreover my fingers are much more used to Ichitaro than Microsoft Word. That's why I have used Ichitaro for 20 years.
     Ichitaro has been upgraded every year lately and I upgraded it this year for the first time in 4 years. The picture shows the package of the newest version of Ichitaro.
     Ichitaro has dozens of supporting softwares and Koujien's DVD version is one of them. This dictionary is the most popular dictionary of Japanese words and has a considerably dominant market share, but to my regret it is edited by people who have been heavily influenced by Chinese communism. I've never allowed my daughters to use this dictionary, especially in looking for current affairs so as not to be brainwashed.
     Nowadays this issue is coming to the surface. I hope many Japanese people have noticed this fact.
     If you are Japanese, try to look up "日中共同宣言, the mutual declaration between Japan and China" in Koujien. You will be surprised to know how Taiwan is described in it.

(Vocabulary)
English-speaking lands    英語圏の国々
upgrade the software    ソフトウェアをバージョンアップする
the mutual declaration between Japan and China　日中共同宣言

　この２０年一太郎を使っている。指が慣れていることもあるが、日本語を扱う能力は捨てがたい。その一太郎を４年ぶりにバージョンアップした。そのパッケージを写真に示しています。
　一太郎をサポートするソフトは数十にも及ぶが、広辞苑もそのひとつ。これは日本で最も人気にある日本語辞書である。しかし、残念なことにこの辞書は中共に強く影響を受けた連中が作成しており、娘達にはこれを使わないように言っている。徳に時事問題に関しては洗脳されないようにと。
　最近になって、この問題が表面化したが、多くの日本人がこの事実に気づくことを望む。もし読者が日本人なら「日中共同宣言」を引いてみるとよい。そこで台湾がどのように表現されているか、知ると驚くことだろう。

(KW: 広辞苑 反日左翼)

Chinese Bookstore

     One of my acquaintances came back from China. He showed me dozens of pictures indicating what Chinese morals are like. I was shocked at his pictures. He posted those pictures on the Japanese social network service, mixi. If you are a member of this service, you can see them here: http://mixi.jp/view_album.pl?id=11192658
     I am showing you two of them here. Do you know where these pictures were taken? The answer is a BOOKSTORE! It's hard to believe. They never think of others. What do you think?

支那の書店にて

友人が支那から撮って帰った写真です。ミクシィにＵＰしていますが、まあご覧下さい。この傍若無人なこと。シナ人には「徳」や「公」の概念がないと言いますが、まさにその通りですね。 

 

A Funny Sign

     I found a funny sign in the castle. It says "Don't climb up this stone wall!" Everyone thinks who would try to climb up such an overhanging wall.
     To tell the truth, when I was about ten I tried. I just wanted to play cool in front of my girlfriends. I think it was foolishly reckless. As I went up to about 5 meters high, I became frozen to that level. In the end two police officers and some firefighters brought a long ladder and rescued me.
     I wondered if this sign was put there because of me. It could never happen, because my reckless behaviour was 40 years ago. I asked the guide if there are such reckless guys who climb up this wall now. To my surprise, the guide replied that a young man successfully climbed up without any climbing gear. His name is Saneyuki Akiyama. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akiyama_Saneyuki
     He is a hero from the Russo-Japanese War along with his brother, Yoshifuru Akiyama. If these two heros hadn't shown up at that time, Japan would have lost the war. As a result of the defeat in the war, the northeastern district of China and the Korean Peninsula would be occupied by Russia and also Japan. I'm really grateful to them and felt a little happy to know about his feat, because it was just like my feat.

(Vocabulary)
play cool  落ち着いて振る舞う、格好をつける、いい格好をする
feat  〔勇気ある〕手柄、功績

(KW: 秋山眞之 秋山真之 秋山好古 松山城　秋山兄弟　日露戦争　英語　石垣)

Royal Dutch Shell

     It was nice weather today. I rode my scooter for a change and I put gas in the scooter. At this time a naive idea came up after seeing the logo of Showa Shell Sekiyu, a Royal Dutch Shell related company. Is this "Shell" that "shell" which is in the phrase "She sells sea shells on the seashore." ? I investigated the history of Royal Dutch Shell on the internet and was astonished to understand the origin of this company.
     An English Jew founded the Shell Corp., the precursor of Royal Dutch Shell in YOKOHAMA in 1897 just after the Japanese-Sino War. His name was Marcus Samuel, born in London as the son of a poor ambulant vendor. He came to Yokohama in Japan in 1872 when he was 16 years old. All his funds were only 5 pounds at that time.
     He succeeded in his business that made buttons or small toys from Japanese shells and exported them to the U.K. This means the shell of "Royal Dutch Shell" is a Japanese shell. After he was very successful as a trading merchant in Japan, he worked on the exploration of oil wells in Indonesia and hit the big time.
     As I wrote at the top of this entry, he established the Shell Corp. in Yokohama-motomachi in 1897, and this company developed into the Royal Dutch Shell which later merged with the Royal Dutch Corp.
     He supported Japan in Japanese-Sino War (1894-95) in collecting and transporting of military materials and food for soldiers. When the Japanese government changed silver standard system to gold standard in 1897, he helped the government sell Japanese bonds. He was awarded a decoration by the Emperor.
     He returned to London in 1902 and became the mayor of the city. Some researchers assume that he might have supported the conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance behind the curtain.
     I'm going to read some books handling the relationship between Japanese and Jewish people and mention my opinion here.

(Vocabulary)
naive  (意見・考えなどが) 世間知らずの, 素朴な, うぶな
precursor (フォーマル) 先駆者, 前身, 原型
ambulant vendor　行商人
trading merchant　　貿易商
hit the big time 　　成功する、大当たりする
award a decoration 　　勲章を授ける
conclusion　　締結
conclude a contract (with) 　（～と）契約を締結する
the Anglo-Japanese Alliance   日英同盟
behind the curtain / on the side　　陰で

　今日は良い天気だった。気分転換にスクーターで出かけ、給油した。この時、ロイヤルダッチシェルの関連会社、昭和シェル石油のロゴを見て素朴な疑問が湧いてきた。このシェルは早口言葉になっているあのシェル(貝殻)だろうか？帰宅後、インターネットで調べてそのいわれを知り驚いた。
　日清戦争後の1897年、横浜でロイヤルダッチシェルの前身、シェル株式会社がイギリス系ユダヤ人によって設立されたのである。創立者はイギリスで貧しい行商人の息子として生まれたマーカス・サミュエルであった。1872年、16歳の時に横浜へやってきた。所持金はわずか5ポンドだった。
　彼は日本の貝殻を使ってボタンや小さなおもちゃを作りイギリスへ輸出し、成功を収めた。ロイヤルダッチシェルのシェルは日本の貝殻と言うことになる。貿易商として成功した後、彼はインドネシアでの油田開発に乗り出し、ここでも大成功を収める。1897年に横浜元町に設立された彼の会社は後にロイヤルダッチと合併し、ロイヤルダッチシェルとなった。
　彼は日清戦争では軍事物資や食料を集め、輸送して日本をサポートし、1897年日本が銀本位制から金本位制に変わったときには政府が国債を売るのを助けた。彼はこれにより天皇から勲章を授けられた。
　彼は1902年、ロンドンへ戻り、市長になった。研究者の中には日英同盟締結の裏に彼のサポートがあったと考えるものもいる。日本とユダヤの関係を扱った本を読んでみて、またここに意見を書きたいと思う。

U.S. Presidential Election

     Female or Black? Such an issue is only superficial. His or her view of the world is correct or not? Anti-Japanese or pro-Japanese? Flatterer or having an affinity for China? These are the problems.
     During the next four years, the power of the U.S. will decrease drastically, I suppose. Some huge streams that affect world history will happen, like the tragedy of the era of former President Carter, 1976-1980. President Carter was born in the atmosphere of being weary of war and acknowledgement of the decline of th U.S.
     He declared at first he would pull the U.S. Army back from South Korea and made Asian countries feel doubtful about U.S. policy. He didn't intervene in African countries when the government was overthrown in Mozambique. At last his policy resulted in the Russian invasion of Afghanistan.
     You might wonder why I remember him like this. That's because I'd met him in Kanagawa prefecture where Commodore Perry arrived in 1853. I was a university student at that time. I wanted to meet him and I attended the meeting. I remember as if it was yesterday that I couldn't understand his English due to his strong dialect.

(Vocabulary)
understanding of the world / view of the world    世界観
get weary of war  厭戦的になる
overthrow  (政府・制度など) を打倒する, 転覆させる = oust

　女性か黒人か？そんな問題は表面的なものに過ぎない。彼らの世界観が正しいのかどうか、親日的か反日的か、媚中派かどうか、これらが問題なのである。
　次の4年間、アメリカの力は劇的に減少するだろう。世界史に影響を及ぼす大きな流れが生ずるかもしれない。例えば1976年から1980年のカーター時代の悲劇のように。カーターは今のような厭戦的な空気の中で誕生し、アメリカの衰退を容認した。
　彼はまず、韓国からの撤退を宣言し、それはアジア諸国に不安感を生じさせた。モザンビーク政府が転覆したとき彼はアフリカ諸国に介入せず、ついにはソ連のアフガニスタン侵攻を許してしまった。
　なぜ、そんなことを覚えているかと思われるだろうが、実は彼に神奈川県であったことがあるのだ。この地は1853年にペリー提督が訪れた場所だ。当時まだ大学生だった僕は彼に会いたいと思って集会に参加した。彼の強い訛りのため英語が全く聞き取れなかったことを昨日のことのように覚えている。

A Friend's Death

     I received the news of the death of one of my best friends today.
     I graduated from Okayama University Medical School which has a special teaching system for students. Students were separated into like ten groups and got practical lectures at the bedside of the wards group by group. He and I were members of the same group. We were at the same place almost all the time in the campus. After graduation he chose anaestheology as his major, and I general surgery.
     When about eight years had passed after our graduation, he was working at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester in Minnesota. I was eager to see and know how surgery was in the Mayo Clinic, which is famous for its high level medical service. I wanted to compare my skill and that of surgeons of the Mayo Clinic. At that time, he did all the procedures for my joining the surgery team in the Mayo Clinic on my behalf, though I didn't have a surgeon's licence in the U.S. It was a really valuable experience and I could gain more confidence.
     I hope that his family will snap out of it as soon as possible. Life goes on and we have to move on.
     The picture was taken at a park in Rochester with his family and my colleague's wife.

(Vocabulary)
snap out of sth
1 snap out of it
(悲しみ・落胆などから) 立ち直る, 元気を出す
2 ＜空想など＞から我に返る

The Year 2007 Was Over

     The year 2007 will be over soon. Japan wasn't involved in a war or terrorism this year too. It was just lucky.
     As I came to read the internet news or find the source of news in Japanese newspapers on the internet these last 5 years, I began to worry about other countries. Many countries have their own issues. Though Japan also has many social problems, almost all Japanese people don't have any difficulty getting food, clothes, medical services and housing. I appreciate that and I hope this status will last in the next generation.

Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration

     I'd like to mention my private opinion about the Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration that was announced when the Prime Minister at the time, Jun'ichiro Koizumi, visited North Korea on Sep. 17th in 2002.
     In my humble opinion the basic philosophy of this Declaration is to make peace in the Korean Peninsula with Japan playing an active role. However I think this basic philosophy itself is completely wrong.
     No matter what condition North Korea is in, in peace or on a war footing, it doesn't matter to Japan. There's no more significant meaning than that peace is better than war for Japan.
     Why does Japan have to take part in many issues related to North Korea? It's not because we have to bring about peace in the Korean Peninsula, but because we have the abduction issue with North Korea.
     Kim Jong-il abused not only the human rights of some individuals but also the sovereignty of Japan. The North Korean National Agency took more than 100 people out of Japan who were living peacefully in the nation. If Japan can't restore them to their original home, Japan can't be accepted as a nation. I think that the Japanese administration must have a stronger attitude against other countries otherwise Japan will lose the point of its existence.

(Vocabulary)
Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration 日朝平壌宣言
humble (ほめて) 謙虚な, つつましい
a humble apology (フォーマル) 心からの謝罪
in my humble opinion (話)  卑見［私見］によれば
on a war footing   臨戦体制で
take part in　～に参加［出場］する
bring about peace   平和をもたらす
Kim Jong-il  金正日（北朝鮮の呆れた独裁者、テロリスト）
abuse (物・体など)を酷使する, 損なう
sovereignty (一国を統治する) 主権, 統治権
be keen to play an active role 積極的にかかわることに強い意欲を示す
victims of human rights violations  人権侵害の被害者
restore to original state    原状回復する
have no place in　～に存在する意味がない （社会・分野などで）受け入れられない

小泉首相が訪朝して発表した日朝平壌宣言について私見を述べたい。宣言の基本は日本が積極的に関与して朝鮮半島に平和をもたらすというものだが、この基本そのものが根本的に間違っていると思う。朝鮮半島が平和であろうが、戦時体制であろうが日本には関係ない。日本にとって戦争よりは平和の方が良いという程度である。なぜ日本が北朝鮮問題に関わらねばならないのか？それは朝鮮半島に平和をもたらすためではなく、北朝鮮との間に拉致問題があるからである。金正日は個人の人権侵害だけでなく、日本の主権も侵した。北朝鮮は１００人以上の日本人を拉致した。もし日本が原状回復できなければ日本は国として認められないであろう。日本は強い態度を示すべきであり、そうでなければその存在の意味を失うであろう。

A Korean Rider

     I had an e-mail from a Korean postgraduate student whom I met on the internet. He is planning to enjoy riding a motorcycle across Japan for three months in 2008. I have always thought of riding in South Korea for these past two years, so he is just the opposite case to me.
     However he doesn't have enough information on Japan. When is the best season for riding in Japan? This was his first question. Japan is a small country as you know, but Japan has various climates in each area. I'm going to give him as much information as he needs....in Korean. This makes me better at using the Korean language and will help me travel by myself in South Korea at the same time.
     He showed me a map of his plan. I'm happy to know that my hometown, Matsuyama City, is located just on his route. I suggested he could stay one night in my house. If he doesn't mind, I'd like to ride my scooter with him for a few hours.
     I really think that the internet is wonderful. He seems to have some friends in Japan using the social network service. I think that he has read my blog that contained my severe remarks against South Korea, but he puts forward an idea: Let's put aside the relationship between both countries and let's go together face to face as a single individual.
     It's OK and great! I'm looking forward to seeing him.

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