Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Rainy Night

　　　I'm writing this entry on the night of Mar. 6th. in my office. It's raining outside. I hear the sound of raindrops. Some people don't like rainy days, but I like them. The sound of raindrops, if it's mild, has an effect of soothing my mind. A cup of coffee, a few pieces of chocolate and good books make me happy and nourish my way of thinking. The weather forecast apologeticically says, "Tomorrow will be rainy, though it's Sunday," but it's ok for me. I'll enjoy reading books all day here.

(Vocabulary)
nourish
(人・動植物)に栄養を与える
(文) (感情・考え・信念など)をはぐくむ, 強固にする
apologetically すまなそうに, 言い訳めいて

TOYOTA Under Fire

　　　I recalled the scene of the Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals after seeing the public hearing over Toyota. I mean the scene of the high-handed Joseph Berry Keenan who irreverently accused Japanese top officials of waging the Great East Asian War.
　　　Japan couldn't avoid the war, no matter how much effort it had made to do so. In other words, once the U.S. had decided to attack a country, they would resort to endless procedural machinations and be sure to wage war against it. It is a common maneuver of theirs. You might remember Saddam Hussein in Iraq or Noriega in Panama. Mr. Toyoda Akio might be Mr. Tojo Hideki in the Tokyo Tribunal.
　　　The president of the U.S.-based affiliate was behaving like he was irresponsible and only under the contol of the head office in Japan. He looked like Puyi, the last Emperor of China ,in court during the Tokyo Tribunal. The appeal of the victim lady smelled of the footlights, just like the old women who shed tears to get money from Japan, claiming the groundless story that they were forced to become comfort women of the Japanese Army.
　　　The testimony of this lady was incredible on many points. When the gear is in the neutral position, does the car accelerate? Both the reverse gear and the parking brake are designed not to work when the car is running at high speed. Moreover she seemed to be able to call her husband in such extreme panic in the uncontrolled car, which was moving at a speed of 100 miles per hour. The present owner of this car got this car from her after 3000 miles and now the meter indicated 30000 miles and he/she hadn't experienced the same incident until now. If I were her, I would never have sold this car to others because this car is too dangerous, like a weapon. I doubt her sincerity. Did the incident that she claimed really happen? I think that they should establish an independent committee consisting of specialists from other countries like Germany, France, England, etc. The committee would tell us who is correct between TOYOTA and the victim lady.
　　　The questions from Congress were low-level and lacked dignity, just like Keenan's in the Tokyo Tribunal. They were a little gentle with Mr. Toyoda, but looked like a lynch mob when they beat him up on the technical points of view, the field which Mr. Toyoda was not well versed in.
　　　In the incredible American society of product liability, if the driver insists that the cause of the accident is attributed to the defect of the car, he'll win, even though he isn't right. That is to say, car manufacturers always have these weak points.
　　　The relationship between the U.S. and Japan is on the brink of disaster due to the impolite anti-U.S. policy of Mr. Ozawa Ichiro and Mr. Hatoyama Yukio. If I tell you that this Toyota issue is simply revenge by the U.S., what do you think?
　　　It is the easiest way of getting huge votes for professional politicians to beat big foreign companies. I suspect that the U.S. government got tired of Japan's present policy, and they wanted to avenge it on Toyota, the Japanese industrial symbol as there were no such issues while Japan was on a pro-U.S. policy. It looks like a common maneuver of the U.S.
　　　Japan bashing for the sake of the mid-term election seems to be the same situation as the commencement of the Great East Asian War, which Franklin Delano Roosevelt wanted.
　　　Is the Justice of the U.S. common and eternal on the globe? I believe that Japan must become independent of the U.S. as soon as possible.

Note: Japanese names are rendered surname first in accordance with customs in Japan.

(Vocabulary)
tribunal [C] (特定の問題の裁定を行う) 裁判所, 法廷, 裁定委員会
hearing / public hearing  公聴会
high-handed  高圧的な, 独断的な
hubris  (フォーマル) 傲慢(ごうまん), 不遜(ふそん)
irreverence  非礼, 不敬
irreverent  非礼な, 不敬な
resort to endless procedural machinations  際限のない策謀に訴える
machinations 《複数扱い》(フォーマル)  陰謀, 策謀
common maneuver / formula  （問題解決などの）常套手段
maneuver
1 [C] (技術を要する) 操作, 操縦, （一連の）動作
2 [C] 駆け引き, 策略
a political/legal maneuver   政治的な［法律上の］駆け引き
affiliate 支社, 支店, 系列会社, 子会社
Puyi  溥儀
smell of the footlights 芝居じみている
smell of something ＜…＞のにおいがする
shed tears (over sb/sth)(特に文)  （＜…＞のために）涙を流す
groundless  根拠のない, いわれのない
lynch （アメリカの判事 W. Lynch1742～1820の名に由来）法によらない私的制裁。私刑。
be (well) versed in sth ＜…＞に精通［熟達］している
independent committee　第三者委員会
product liability  製造物責任
brink  (悪いことなどの) 瀬戸際, 寸前
on/at the brink of sth  ＜…＞の寸前［瀬戸際］で, に瀕(ひん)して
His presidency was on the brink of disaster.  彼の大統領体制は崩壊寸前だった．
professional politician  政治屋
be tired of one's current job 今の仕事に嫌気がさす
outrageous 法外な, とんでもない, 常軌を逸した
outrageous prices  法外な値段
avenge (文) …の復讐(ふくしゅう)をする
midterm election　中間選挙
--------------------------------------------------------
　一昨日の公聴会の模様を一部テレビで見た。東京裁判を思い出した。倣岸不遜のキーナンが暴言を吐いて被告達を叩くあれである。あの戦争は日本がどのように和平工作をしても不可避だった。つまりアメリカが一旦この国を叩こうと決意したならばあらゆる策謀で戦争に持ち込み叩き潰すのがアメリカの常套手段であるからだ。イラクのフセインしかり、パナマのノリエガ潰ししかりである。豊田章男は東條英機か？

　現地アメリカ人社長の答弁もまるで自分が責任ないように、全て東京のコントロールだと話していた。まるで東京裁判での満州の溥儀皇帝のごとく。被害者の女性の糾弾ときたら、ありもしない慰安婦で金目当ての婆さんどもが泣き芝居で騒いでいるのと重ね合わされるほど芝居染みていた。時速１６０キロで走る車の中、パニック状態で電話できているし、ニュートラルで加速するとか、バックギアに入らないとか（当たり前だ）、サイドブレーキがきかないとか（当たり前だ）、理解できない内容のコメントだった。しかもこの車を他人に売っている。買った人が危険だとは思わなかったのだろうか。彼女には誠実さがないのだろうか。買った人が死ぬかもしれないと思わなかったのだろうか。実はそんな事実はなかったのだと思わざるを得ない。議員も程度の低い質問、揚げ足取りなどまるで品性も品格もない、あの東京裁判のキーナンのようである。トヨタ社長に対しては若干穏やかであったが、技術面で攻め立てるなど、リンチの様相が強い。

　こういう車の性能など、あとでケチをつけることは簡単であり、運転者が事故を起こした際、車のせいだと言えば、アメリカの非常識とも言える極端なプロダクトライアビリティの社会では消費者がインチキでも必ず勝利するのである。つまり車のメーカーはいつもかかる弱点を抱えていると言って良い。

　日米関係は小沢一郎や鳩山由紀夫の礼節なき反米外交により戦後最大の危機を迎えている。そんな中今回の事件はアメリカの意趣返しと見るのは穿ちすぎであろうか？

　政治屋は票を取るために外国大企業いじめがてっとり早い。政府にとっても、日本は普天間でけしからん、ついては日本の象徴であるトヨタを狙い撃ちしリベンジを図る、まさにアメリカのいつものやり方である。実際小泉より麻生までの長期間、その親米属国路線の間日本車の不買運動その他一切のアメリカ側よりのイチャモンは無かった。

　中間選挙のために日本を叩く、まさにあのルーズベルトの戦争である日米開戦と同じ様相を帯びてきた。アメリカの正義は世界の正義だとでも思っているのだろうか？

Diary Broken

I've been keeping a diary for 20 years. What I did every day or various notes have been written in it. I bought something, I replaced the light bulb in the kitchen, I went somewhere, these daily activities are recorded in it. When I can't recall something, this diary is helpful.  In other words this diary is a kind of memorandum.
Today, while I ignored the warning of a low battery in my PC, HP200LX, it suddenly froze and the data for about 10 months after the last backup was destroyed. I hopefully thought that it would work a little longer. I was so sorry.

(Vocabulary)
light bulb  電球
memorandum book 備忘録

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2006/01/hp200lx.html

Recalling The Kobe Earthquake in 1995

     Serious chaos seems to be still continuing in Haiti, according to the Japanese medical aid team. A group who had plotted to take a few dozen kids out of Haiti, were reportedly arrested at the border. They were alleged to be trafficers of kids. The situation is out of my imagination. Why can't the authorities give enough food to people who are starving, and accommodation to people who lost their houses?

     This catastrophe reminded me of the quake that hit Kobe City 15 years ago. Due to the poor control of the then authorities, the casualties rose up to 50,000. The toll topped 6,000. I belonged to the surgical department of the university hospital at that time and the rescue team was organized in a day in the university, and I was one of the rescue staff. I got into the devastated area on the second day, and saw people behave bravely, concealing their real feelings. They were totally staying organized while waiting for food, necessities and medical consultations. No assaults, no looting, co-operation and mutual assistance; these were the principles of the afflicted people.

     Some Japanese critics insist that this difference must come from racial characteristics, but I don't agree with their opinion. Look at Barbados. The people of this country are descendants of black people who were unreasonably captured and taken there from African countries just like the Haitians. What's the difference between Haiti and Barbados?

(Vocabulary)

traffic  密売買

trafficker  （悪徳）商人、〔麻薬などの〕密売人、人身売買業者

traffic  trafficked, trafficking

[他] 〈麻薬・兵器など〉 を密売買する

[自] 密売買する traffic in sth  ＜…＞を密売買する

He was arrested for trafficking in drugs.  彼は麻薬の密売で逮捕された．

stay organized  秩序が保たれている

bravely  気丈に

afflicted people  被災者

Barbados  バルバドス

Smudge

     In the last entry, "Covering Up Gray", I wrote about concealing gray. Then I said that I couldn't find a suitable word for the Japanese word "bokasu", which means "become unclear like unfocused pictures". My English teacher made a suggestion, "How about smudge?" I didn't know this word and looked it up in my dictionary. It says; 1: if ink, writing etc smudges, or if you smudge it, it becomes dirty and unclear because it has been touched or rubbed; 2: to make a dirty mark on a surface; Conclusively both meanings have dirty images. However, "bokasu" has a good meaning as well as a bad one. "Bokasu gray" means suppressing the glitter of gray, not dyeing or changing the color of hair and consequently gray diminishes contrast and becomes less conspicuous. I think this is just like lowering the resolution of the computer screen.

(Vocabulary)

conclusively  　疑う余地もなく, 明確に

resolution 　（スクリーンなどの） 解像度

Covering Up Gray

     It's really hard for me to express scenes of daily life in English. If you could use some technical terms, it would become easier. Technical terms usually respond to another language's technical ones one by one. It means an easier translation.

     The barber at the barbershop which I wrote about in the last entry advised me to dye my hair, because I have lots of gray for my age. To be honest, I had tried it once about 10 years ago when my gray didn't look so highly visible yet. At that time, my hair became really black and looked unnatural, so I rejected his proposal without hesitation this time. However, he continued to say that he wasn't going to conceal my gray, but make it less conspicuous. Just as when a drop of water falls on a water-color painting, or raindrops get letters on an envelope wet, the color of hair would become ambiguous. The verb "bokasu" in Japanese is perfect in describing this situation, but I couldn't find a suitable word in my dictionary.

     Anyway, I decided to try "bokasu". It required an additional 40 minutes and I was deadly bored, but the remark of my wife was favorable. I'm wondering if I'd have my hair treated the samy way next time.

(Vocabulary)

Covering Up Gray  白髪ぼかし

look highly visible  目立つ

conspicuous  目立つ, 人目をひく

water-color painting  水彩画

Two Barbershops

     I've been going to the same barbershop for more than 30 years, and the shop is run by a married couple. They are congenitally deaf and thereby couldn't speak with a normal voice. As I've been a regular customer of theirs, I can distinguish just a few of their words, but they usually work silently without essential questions. As for me, I say, "Just as usual". It's all that I say to them". It's absolutely calm except for the noise of the TV in the shop. I drop in at the shop after night duty, and like to have my hair cut while having a nap. They cut my hair, wash my head and give me a massage of my neck and shoulder. It's very comfortable and I often fall asleep.

     By the way, my father, who is a retired elementary school teacher, told me that one of his old pupils had opened his barbershop near my house and he told me to go to his shop sometimes, so I went to his barbershop today. His barbershop was modern and comfortable, but he was very talkative. I wished that I could have a nap. He wants to get lots of customers and his talkativeness might be his effort to get his business on track. I decided to go to both alternatively.

(Vocabulary)

get one's business on track  事業を軌道に乗せる

A Happy New Year!

     I've been so busy these last couple of months. It was on Dec. 14th that I wrote the last entry. I had something to write about in this period, but didn't have enough time. I could just jot down stuff for topics that I met in my daily life. I'm going to write the entries going back and rearrange them later.

(Vocabulary)

jot down  急いでメモを取る

going back  遡って

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

Something Will Change?

     Do you know the American soldier, Joe O'Donnell? I know him via a documentary program. He was dispatched by the U.S. to Nagasaki City in the immediate aftermath of the Greater East Asian War. His job was to take pictures of the city two weeks after the atomic bombing. On arriving in the city, he was astonished to see the effect of the atomic bomb. He fulfilled his job. He shot lots of pictures and reported it to the U.S., but at the same time he stored many pictures as his own. He might have been shocked to see the victim city. He didn't show his pictures to his family at all. He packed and put them away deep into the attic.

     When many years had passed since the war, he decided to make his pictures public. Most Americans didn't want to know and see them, and he was criticized for doing it. His wife left him and his family came apart. Most Americans don't seem to want to accept their cruel deeds.

     How do the U.S. handle the historical fact of the atomic bombing and the following cruel massacre of innocent people. They have to stand in front of the judge whose name is history. How did they conclude their acts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

     I found an interesting article and will show you it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/for-veterans-day-the-grea_b_353270.html

(Vocabulary)
pack away　（物を箱などに）しまい込む
put away  しまい込む
attic  屋根裏部屋

Electrically-Assisted Bicycle

     I went to the municipal library after lunch today. This public library accepts orders by e-mail too, so I sent an e-mail and asked for some books a few days ago, and I got an e-mail from the library today, saying that all were ready.

     It was about three or four kilometers from my office, and I could walk there, but it was in the lunch break and I didn't have enough time, so I used a bicycle, which was electrically-assisted and which any one of the staff members could use. This was my first experience of this type of bicycle.

     There were no hills between my office and the library. The effect of assistance seemed to remarkably appear on the hills, but I felt it sufficiently even on the flat course. The first pedalling was incredibly light. The bicycle accelerated easily and smoothly.

     Looking for information on the internet, a considerable number of people seemed to use this kind of bicycle for commuting in big cities like Tokyo. They don't need to have parking lots in the center of the city. They can elude the heavy trafic jams. Riding bicycles is good for their health. My commuting distance is only 6 km, but I usually use my scooter. I'm thinking of changing my means of transportation.

(Vocabulary)

a considerable amount/number of sth   かなりの量［数］の＜…＞

  

The Sorting of Projects

     The present hottest topic in Japan is the sorting of national projects by the Domestic Party of Japan (DPJ), which had been the perpetual opposition party, and just attained power last August. The DPJ had done nothing but go against everything that the ruling party would do since it had been born. I think that the DPJ, just now in the regime, is in a state of confusion. They might want to show off their work, but I don't agree with their opinions. They are cutting the budgets of many projects that had been scheduled by the former regime, and it made me uneasy. Their thoughtless sorting is shrinking the GDP and it is leading to a stagnant economy. On the other hand, the government will throw 5 billion dollars away to Karzai, the President of Afghanistan, who is also known as the dealer of illegal drugs. Unbelievable!

     I naturally hope that the Afghans will have peace as soon as possible, but is it possible to rule this country with the western notion of democracy? The people in this country repeated and continued to fight for more than 3000 years. Alexander, the Persian Empire, the Mongols, the Mughal Empire, the British Empire and lastly Russia retreated, giving up the occupation of this land. Who can govern this country? The five billion dollars from Japan would be of no use.

(Vocabulary)
Sorting of Projects  事業仕分け
perennial / perpetual opposition party  万年野党
perennial  (問題・争いなどが) 絶え間なく生じる, 慢性的な, (人気などが) 根強い; 〈植物が〉多年生の
perpetual = constant
attain 〈目標など〉を達成する,〈地位など〉を獲得する,〈水準など〉に達する; 〈ある規模・速度など〉に到達する
state of confusion  右往左往状態
show off (けなして) 能力［業績，持ち物］をひけらかす, いいところを見せようとする, 見えを張る
thoughtless  (けなして) 思いやりのない, 不親切な; 軽率な, 思慮のない
An accident may result from their thoughtless actions. 軽率な行為が事故につながるかもしれない．
stagnant 〈水・空気などが〉 よどんだ, よどんで臭い; 〈景気・市場などが〉 停滞した, 低迷した, 伸び悩んでいる
a stagnant economy  停滞経済
the Persian Empire  ペルシア帝国
the Mughal Empire  ムガール帝国

Conscience Stall

     If you wander around the countryside of Japan, you'll find tiny huts or small tables with shelves along the roadside, where fresh vegetables, fruits and folk arts are placed with a small can. Anyone who wants them can take them after paying. You might think that it's common everywhere, but there isn't any salesperson there. Can you believe it? The shoppers voluntarily throw the money into the can and get the stuff. It's the easiest way for people to get fresh crops from farmers. I'll show you some pictures of those no-manned stalls which my friend sent to me. When I was a little child, everyone followed the rule and there was no theft of merchandise, but now some people's conscience got rotten and some took vegetables without paying. The signs in the pictures are saying, "Be honest!", "No theft!" or something similar. I got sad to see these pictures. The conscience of Japanese people is disappearing.

     For a few decades after World War Two,  moral education has been made light of by the authorities. I suspect that the above is the result of this wrong policy. I think that the government has to improve moral teaching. The number of cruel crimes in Japan is getting high these days. I think that this is also the effect of poor ethical education.

(Vocabulary)
conscience 　良心, 道義心
on your conscience   気に病んで, 気がとがめて
Could you live with that on your conscience?  そのことを気に病んだままでいられるんですか．
a guilty conscience  やましく思うこと, 良心の呵責(かしゃく)
a clear conscience  やましさがないこと, 良心のとがめのないこと
a matter of conscience  良心の問題
a social conscience  社会的道徳心
by/on/along the roadside  道路わきに, 道端に
folk art  民芸品
bill  ちらし, びら, 張り紙
ethical education / moral instruction / moral teaching  道徳教育
make light of  （物・人を）軽視する

    

The Book of Virtues

     Japan was beaten by the U.S. in World War Two. Then, the U.S. feared that Japan would get strong again, and took various measures to keep Japan feeble. One of their measures was to imprint the masochistic view of history on the Japanese mind. It was a kind of brainwashing. However, luckily, lots of Japanese are recovering from this awful way of thinking. Another way was to make a bonfire of huge amounts of books that were inconvenient to them. The Allies did the same thing as the Nazi that they intensely accused of the same thing. Moreover, they distorted the history of Japan, and deprived the Japanese people of "Kyouiku Chokugo", the Imperial message on Education. The Allies insisted that this message would foment militarism and banned the learning it. Most Japanese have been told that the Imperial message on Education was evil. Actually, I had believed it.

     The other day, I attended the lecture of Mr. Tamogami, the former chief of staff. In the lecture, he said that the Imperial message on Education was translated into many languages except Korean and Chinese, and now it is used for the education of virtue in many countries including the U.S. It was amazing. I got it today, and read only a little bit. I'll report on the book later in this blog. The picture is of the book.

(Vocabulary)
feeble  (高齢・病気などで) 体の弱った, ひ弱な
a feeble old man  体の弱った老人
imprint sth on sb's mind/memory/brain   ＜…＞を＜人＞の心［記憶，脳裏］に刻み込む
masochistic view of history  自虐史観
make a bonfire of  ～を焼き捨てる
bonfire  (祝賀の) 大かがり火, (ごみを焼く) たき火
Allies  (特に第二次世界大戦での) 連合国
the Imperial message on Education  教育勅語
勅語とは天皇のことば。みことのり。明治憲法下で、天皇が大権に基づき、国務大臣の副署を要さず、親しく臣民に対して発表した意思表示。
militarism　軍国主義
foment (けなして・フォーマル)  〈戦争・暴動など〉 をあおる, 扇動する = stir up
chief of staff  幕僚長

 

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

kangaroos in Australia

     I found some sweet news about Australia through CNN. Australia sounds anguished over the growing kangaroos. kangaroos look winsome, but they seem to be fierce and dangerous to humans. According to the CNN, they got to show up around people in the street, and devastated crops and often injured people. Now, what would the Australians do to solve this problem. I'm very interested.

     You know, Australia gives assistance to the Greenpeace boat, which interferes with the Japanese investigation ship which collects data on the number of whales. The number of whales is getting large over several decades after the ban against commercial whaling.

     Greenpeace don't want to take in the data and accuse Japan because they feel sorry for the whales. I think Greenpeace is sort of a gangster in the Antarctic Ocean. The country that helps them interfere with Japanese research violently, is Australia.

     Now, the Australian Government has to take some measures against the growing number of kangaroos. Australia looks like a country of mercy. Mercy surpasses justice. They wouldn't slaughter the kangaroos by any possible contingency.

(Vocabulary)
sweet revenge  胸のすく復讐劇
winsome  愛嬌(あいきょう)のある, 魅力のある
fierce / vicious  どう猛な
commercial whale hunting / commercial whaling  商業捕鯨
feel sorry for  ～がかわいそう
the Antarctic Ocean  南氷洋
Mercy surpasses justice.  慈悲の心は裁きに勝る。
not ~ by any possible contingency  よもや～まい
contingency  [C] (将来起こりうる) 緊急事態, 不測の事態
contingency plan   緊急対策
contingency fund   緊急予備金

Kamikaze Special Attack Corps

     Do you know about the Greater East Asian War which Japan is supposed to have waged against the U.S. in 1945? You might wonder what "is supposed to" means.

     The Atlantic Charter was promulgated on Aug. 14th in 1941, just  before the Greater East Asian War. In the pathway, then U.S. president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and then prime minister of Great Britain, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer- Churchill had a talk on Aug. 10th and 11th on the battleship off  Newfoundland in Canada. Both leaders are supposed to have reached an agreement that the U.S. would join World War Two from the backdoor. If you are intersted in this meeting, google for it with the keyword, backdoor,  Churchill and Roosevelt and you'll know the opinions of lots of professional historians. The content of this meeting is still veiled in secrecy. If the record about this meeting was open to the public, you'd know who just wanted the war in the Pacific Ocean.

     By the way, I'll write about Kamikaze. It was the name of the suicide attack corps when the war was near its end. The chief pilot of the first attack team was a young man who had been born in Ehime Prefecture, where I live now. I'm so ashamed that I hadn't known about this hero until recent times. The pictures are of the ceremony in commemoration of him.

     I'm not going to praise the war in this blog, but the patriotism of the young pilots of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps should be commemorated by all Japanese, but many Japanese reject it. I can easily imagine your doubtful looks. There would be no way in other countries. The Japanese spirits are getting rotten year by year.

     After the end of the Greater East Asian War, the coalition leader, Douglas MacArthur and other staff members of GHQ, made up the Japanese Constitution and gave the Japanese the wrong information that has pressed their case for the war. Their occupation policy was replaced by leftist groups and medias, including NHK,  and most Japanese are still under the influence of the U.S.'s occupation at present. I was told that MacArthur was a nice man and gave us freedom and democracy, and lots of Japanese still believe it. However, remember the address by Martin Luther King, which is well known with the phrase "I Have a Dream". There was no democracy in the U.S. when the war ended, though Japan already had it.

     I'm now reading THE COLDEST WINTER by David Halberstam. MacArthur is vividly described in the book, and he doesn't look like what I was told. I'll write the book report later. The author, David Halberstam, is a great journalist and what he wrote is absolutely true, I believe.

(Vocabulary)

special attack corps / suicide corps  神風特攻隊

the Greater East Asian War  大東亜戦争

Atlantic Charter　大西洋憲章

promulgate a constitution　憲法を発布する

both leaders  両首脳

be veiled in mystery/secrecy  なぞ［秘密］のベールに包まれている

secrecy  秘密（の状態）, 内密

absolute/complete/total secrecy   極秘（扱い）

when the war was near its end. 　戦争の末期

in commemoration of sb/sth   ＜…＞を記念して, の記念に

allied military leader / coalition commander  連合軍の指揮官

press your/the case (for sth)   （＜…＞の）正当性を主張する[訴える]

occupation policy  占領政策

press your/the case (for sth)  （＜…＞の）正当性を主張する[訴える]

The President was determined to press his case for war. 大統領はあくまで戦争の正当性を主張する構えだった．

Don't be fooled!  だまされるな！

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