Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

November 3rd

　　Nov.3rd is now called "Cultural Day" and is designated as a holiday. The day was formerly called "The Birthday of Meiji Ten-noh" before the defeat of the last war. To remove the cultural backbone from Japanese people the United Nations changed its name from the birthday to an average holiday. I feel a sense of failure from this act, and I don't observe this day and don't raise the national flag on the day.
　　Fortunately, however, Japanese people began to learn the facts about the U.N.'s mind control and started to awake. I hope the Japanese government will be reborn from MacArthur's curse.

(Vocabulary)
curse 災い［不幸］のもと; 呪い、呪いの言葉
the curse of something ＜…＞の災い［不幸］のもと

Trip to Hakone Hot Spa

　　I own a timeshare condominium in Hawaii, but I wasn't able to use it in recent years due to the effect of the coronavirus pandemic. The ownership of the condominium can be exchanged with other resorts' accommodations, so I decided to stay at Hakone Spa Resort for a few days instead of visiting Hawaii. The exclusive Tokyu Harvest Club for members only was really gorgeous. It was located in the middle of the forest and was covered with a serene atmosphere. My wife and I spent a relaxing vacation. (hotel link)
　　Among a few options for transportation to Hakone, we chose our car as we could drop in at places as we liked. Additionally we utilized a night ferry(link) from Ehime to Osaka to effectively use our sleeping time. At every generation change, Japan's ferry became gorgeous. The ferry boat which we got on board was built in 2018. All cabins are single or group occupancy. We used a twin room whose picture is shown below. I thought that the room was elaborately designed. We took a bath and then enjoyed quintessential Japanese cuisine, sushi.

Hotel:
https://www.harvestclub.com/Un/Hotel/Hm/
Ferry:
https://www.orange-ferry.co.jp/en/osaka.html

(Vocabulary)
night bus 夜行バス

Liberal Trend of Germany

　　I'm focusing on Germany's recent liberal trend. I don't mind the future of Germany which is pro-China, but my second daughter had lived there for a year and I've visited it a few times. Moreover, I can understand German a little. That's why I'm interested in Germany.
　　My recent worries about Germany are its liberal trend. When a nuclear plant was hit in Japan in 2011, German mainstream media reported huge incorrect news like crazy. Nuclear plants are harmful, we should throw them away. .... The news companies didn't vet the trustworthiness of their
correspondents. One example, people who are sensitive to pollen wear face masks as early as the end of February to early May to avoid hay fever. You can see people everywhere in Japan with a face mask in this season of the year. The reporters described this scene saying that lots of people across Japan were in panic and wore face masks to avoid radioactive contamination. Actually, however, there was no panic in Japan. The panic in Japan was just their imaginary products.
　　Eventually the Merkel administration decided to stop all their nuclear power plants until 2022. They would rely on Russia to get their energy resources. I was surprised to hear that and thought they must have been out of their minds. However, they fulfilled their purpose and the number of running nuclear plants is only three now, and they are also set to be decommissioned until December. (I checked the present condition. The decommission plan was postponed to next spring due to the present energy crisis, but their intention for decommission seems to be firm.)

Originally, even if they stop their nuclear plants, they can get electricity from France or Switzerland. Taking into consideration that that electricity is produced by the use of nuclear power, their policy of abandoning nuclear power generation is simply a mean sophism.

(Vocabulary)
be out of their minds 気が狂って
sophism [C] こじつけ, 詭弁(きべん) = sophistry ; [U] 詭弁(きべん)を弄(ろう)すること= sophistry

What I think about Ukraine

　　I have no other words to say sorry concerning the people in Ukraine and soldiers from Ukraine and Russia. I wonder why wars have been repeated in this area. Hearing the news about the sinking of the Russian Black Sea Fleet's flagship of Moscow, I recalled the mutiny of the battleship Potyomkin, which used to be the newest and strongest one in the Fleet and I rented a book related to the mutiny from the community library to learn the social conditions of those days. There's a research field called geopolitics. Is it inevitable to repeat conflicts even though the time changes?
　　As far as I know, the Japanese media recognize Ukraine as good and Russia as evil, but I don't think so. The following evidence will show you remarkable facts; there was surely a slaughter of Russian or pro-Russian people in eastern Ukraine, and there are also neo-Nazi groups.
　　It was Russia that started to invade Ukraine, and so Russia is responsible for the miserable outcome. However, the opinions of Russia should not be hidden. They should also be precisely reported to everyone for their better judgement. Just making sure, I don't mean to champion Russia. I'm writing about just facts.
　　This article seems to be going to become incoherent and I'll put an end to this argument.

reference

　　The UNHCR lists the cases of the infringement on human rights in Ukraine and those cases contain lots of victims of the Russian related people in the Donbas district in eastern Ukraine.

[The victim 2016/2/15-5/15]
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Countries/UA/Ukraine_14th_HRMMU_Report.pdf

[UN Report 2020/2/16-6/30]
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Countries/UA/30thReportUkraine_EN.pdf

[UN Report insists that the number of victims soars up to 13200 in the Donbas district.]
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Countries/UA/29thReportUkraine_EN.pdf

　　With these reports the UN says that more than 5600 Russian related inhabitants were killed by the end of last year. Those cases include the Ukrainian attack on the homes of the pro-Russian people. They included also
murders and torture, that is an apparent genocide.

The world-wide and biggest international human rights NGO, Amnesty International, criticizes the Ukrainian Government that these cruel acts are blamed on the Ukrainian government.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/eur500402014en.pdf

The OSCE also reports about the air-attack on the Donbas district by the Ukrainian Air Force.
http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/119479

The OSCE elaborately reports about torture by the neo-Nazi groups of the Azov Regiment in Ukraine.
https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/e/7/233896.pdf

You can easily find this kind of evidence on the net.

(Vocabulary)
mutiny (兵士・海員の) 反乱
geopolitics 地政学的な条件;地政学
research field 研究分野
incoherent〈政策・考えなどが〉一貫性のない, 支離滅裂な; ろれつの回らない, しどろもどろの,〈話・返事などが〉わけのわからない, つじつまの合わない[＋incoherent with]
reference 参考［引用］文献
infringe 〈法律など〉に違反する. 〈権利･自由など〉を侵害する.
OSCE 欧州安全保障協力機構（Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe）

Cosmos Viewing Event

　　The coronavirus pandemic is about to cease now and various kinds of events aiming to gather people began here and there in my neighborhood. I visited one of them; Miyanomae Park, along the bank of Niyodo River, was full of cosmos blooms and crowded with lots of visitors. The event was held under the moderate control of authorities, but I was able to enjoy a relaxing time. Along the river bed, joyous voices of lots of kids, who were playing in the water, capturing aquatic lives, or enjoying the barbecue with their family, were echoing.
　　Japan is this peaceful, but there are some areas in conflict on the globe. I recalled the condition of Ukraine and I couldn't help praying for an early end.

(Vocabulary)
gather 〈人が〉 集まる [自]; 〈人〉 を集める [他]
river bed 川床、河川敷（a dry river bed）
aquatic (動植物が) 水生の, 水中にすむ; 水上の, 水中の

Sauries

　　Sauries are common in Japan as a seasonal fish of autumn. I'm afraid its catch has been decreasing in recent years, but the price has kept relatively low. Sauries have been eaten since long ago and have been the food for commoners.
　　I'll tell you about a funny story descended from the Edo period. Sauries were thought to be food for ordinary people. One day, a shogun, a feudal lord, secretly went out for an inspection of the city. He was always concerned about how people's daily lives were. During the inspection, he found a cloud of smoke from a house with an appetizing smell and then he saw a saury for the first time. The shogun wanted to try one.
　　His subordinates were upset to hear that he wanted to eat one, because sauries were believed to be fish for lowly people. The taste, however, seemed to be supreme for him and he was so delighted. The place where he enjoyed it was "Meguro". After this happened, the shogun began to often say, "Meguro is the best place to eat sauries," though Meguro didn't have the sea in its area.
　　Even now, Meguro district in Tokyo hosts a "Sauries Festival" and offers lots of grilled sauries to citizens for free. This event apparently serves for accelerating the tourism business. The misunderstanding by the lord led to a big event now. What does he think about the "sauries festival"?
　　By the way, I grilled some sauries in my garden this evening. The weather was great for outside eating.

(Vocabulary)
saury 〘魚〙サンマ(科の魚)
catch [C] (魚の) 捕獲量, 漁獲物
lowly 身分［地位］の低い, 下層階級の

A SOCIAL GATHERING

　　I've long wanted to meet a journalist and attended a gathering in Tokyo in which his supporters got together and encouraged him. His name is Noriyuki Yamaguchi. I highly evaluate his intellectual ability.
　　After he had reported about the Korean brothels during the Vietnam War in 2015, the left-wing organizations started to slander him. He was a little poor at preventing his opponents from entrapping him, and he had been under heavy fire from Japan's society. However, lots of sincere people shored him up and he got back on his feet and now he is working as a journalist. I was able to chat with him over a drink. His story was very inspiring and I'd like to continue to support him from now on.
　　After this gathering, I saw a long friend after about 20 years. This day was a really good day.

(Vocabulary)
brothel 売春宿
slander [C,U] 中傷, 悪口; [他] 〈人〉を中傷する, の悪口を言う
entrap (フォーマル) …を陥れる, わなにかける;〈犯人〉 を（不法な）おとり捜査で捕まえる

Animal Memorial Service

　　My family used to have 2 dalmatians. We started to keep the first one for our youngest daughter, who wanted to become a vet, to be able to keep motivated. The dog was so friendly and clever that walking with him everyday became one of my best pastimes, but he died after only 6 years from an unknown cause. The vet did his best, but in vain.
　　We were wondering to have a second one, but we were afraid of our sense of emptiness or sadness when the dog dies on the other hand. I heard that another dalmatian was suspended to be accepted and I decided to welcome the one.
　　I noticed the possibility of the first dog having been almost deaf, because the second one was more sensitive to my voice than the first. Anyway, the second passed away also in about 6 years.
　　Both dogs are now in the same pet cemetery and the cemetery company planned to have a joint service for sleeping pets there. Buddhist priests prayed for them family by family in the meeting. I hung my head praying for their happiness in the place where they live.

WEDDING PARTY

　　I was nervous to become a focus of public attention when I walked with my daughter on the virgin road, but the wedding party was very relaxed. Many of my relatives got together after a long interval.
　　To my regret, however, my youngest daughter, who lives in the U.K. now, didn't join the party, because of the confusion of the immigration office of the U.K. To be precise, she was able to depart from the U.K., but it would take a long time to get the visa to re-enter the U.K. She was set to start her new career in the U.K. on Oct. 1st in a big hospital near Oxford. If she couldn't be back in the U.K. until that day, some problems might occur. The immigration office seems to be extraordinarily busy to handle lots of refugees from Ukraine. My daughter paid a priority fee to change her visa from a student's to a working visa within 5 days in July, but the procedure didn't finish even in September. I don't understand the visa system in the U.K., but my daughter told me, "Tier something doesn't work" ,,,or such a thing.
　　Anyway, I never thought that the present war in Ukraine had some influence on the likes of my family who live in a rural place in a small archipelago country in the far east.
　　The adorable kid in the center of the following picture is my first grandchild.

(Vocabulary)
nervous 緊張した, びくびくした, 不安な

Needless Fear

　　According to reports, the typhoon was furious in the Kyushu area, but my hometown didn't get damaged heavily even though it had been in the strong wind zone of the typhoon for a whole day. My hometown had long been less affected by natural disasters, but I was prepared for the worst. Luckily, however, casualties were only a few people. This fact might be due to the fruitful measures which have been done for these 60 years.

(Vocabulary)
needless fear 杞憂

TYPHOON IS COMING

　　A typhoon is coming. The authorities alerted citizens to brace against it. It seems to be the biggest class typhoon ever. It was 60 years ago that the number of typhoon victims soared up to 5000! The magnitude of this coming typhoon is comparable to it. I hope that it will veer off from my hometown, but it's coming in the direction of my hometown. I stored food and water for two days. I charged my smartphone, mobile battery and my EV. In such cases, a portable power station of high capacity would be helpful, but I don't have it yet. I wish that the damage would be minimum.

(Vocabulary)
portable power station ポータブル電源

TAILCOAT

　　I came to wear a tailcoat. My second daughter legally got married last year, but wasn't able to have a party due to the coronavirus pandemic. She and her husband still wanted to have their wedding party and planned it on Sept. 23rd, which accidentally falls on my birthday.
　　I wrongly assumed that I had only to smile, eat and drink during the party, but I had to walk with my daughter on the virgin road. I'm so shy to do such a flashy act, but the young couple pestered me to show up on the road and I reluctantly agreed with their request.
　　The following picture was shot in the fitting room. I thought it was the first and last opportunity to wear the tailcoat.

(Vocabulary)
tailcoat 燕尾服
reluctantly いやいやながら, 仕方なく〈賛成する･応じるなど〉

Inverter

　　Electric cars (EVs) have no engine and consequently, they are considerably quiet even in motion. The passengers only hear the noise from the tires. This contributes to the enhancement of comfort. The air-conditioner can quietly work without engines though the EVs don't have engines originally.
　　I often eat meals in the car rather than visit restaurants. It's very comfortable as I don't mind people around and enjoy YouTube or other contents on the net. Experiencing the ownership of an EV, I find it convenient and suited to camping. If you use tents designed for use along with the car, you can utilize the air-conditioner even in the tent.
　　I'm budgeting for camping gears recently and bought an inverter for my car at first. By using it, I don't need to worry about the shortage of the battery of my note PC. I can even take a freshly brewed coffee in my car. However, it's not enough for electric appliances which require much electricity like hair dryers and hot plates. I'm also thinking of buying a portable power station for camping.

MY STETHOSCOPE'S BROKEN

　　My stethoscope abruptly stopped working. When I used it a few days ago, it worked. I've used it for more than 20 years and I didn't have any problem.
　　I didn't know about the detailed mechanical structure of stethoscopes, but I assumed that its chest- piece must be responsible. I was afraid to throw it away, so I asked its manufacturer for repair or replacement of the parts only. I didn't want to throw it away because I'd used for more than 20 years and I was attached to it.
　　The person on the other side of the line advised me to take it to pieces and clean inside its tubing. The most common problem is seemingly the occlusion of its tubing. He told me that an air duster is helpful. I followed his advice and the function of my stethoscope completely recovered.
　　Then, I wondered... What I blew out of the tubing was my earwax of 20 years? How did it smell or what was it like? The substance that was stuck in the tubing had already diffused in my room. I should have cleaned it outdoors.

(Vocabulary)
attached 《[名]の前不可》 愛着［愛情］を感じた, 情がわいた [＋attached to]
earwax 耳垢

TESLA SUPERCHARGER V3

　　I own a Tesla car, Model 3. As you know, it's an EV. I usually charge it at home at midnight. Its charging speed is slow, but the charge is done while I sleep and it finishes before I start next morning, so I don't mind its slowness. You would understand what I mean if you imagine the charging of your smartphone.
　　On the other hand, I utilize a public charging service while being away from home. Not only Tesla cars but every EV can be charged from this service and its speed is higher than that of the charger of my home. However, its speed is not ideally high.
　　Tesla, Inc. is building their exclusive charging facilities across the world. The third generation of the charger was set in the adjacent prefecture recently. You have only to put the plug in the car and your car is automatically identified and the bill is also automatically charged to your credit card. The charging speed is marvelous. The electricity for the 1100km drive can be charged in an hour as you see in the following picture.
　　Then, the Tesla-charger will be apparently launched in my home town. I'd not use it, as I have a charger in my home, but even people who don't live in detached houses would purchase Tesla cars. The number of Tesla cars from outside the city would increase I hope.

(Vocabulary)
detached〈家が〉一戸建ての, 独立した

RUSSIAN MOTORCYCLE

　　When I was taking a rest on the path of my drive, an unfamiliar motorcycle with a sidecar came in the parking space. I originally love motorcycles, though I don't have any now, and I've changed my motorcycles several times from an off-road type to a cruiser, or a touring bike. However, I haven't wanted to get this bike and haven't even see it.
　　It reads "URAL" on its gasoline tank. I wouldn't have thought that there is a Russian-made motorcycle in Japan, the motorcycle kingdom. The world championship has been competed among the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers for years. Tastes differ. I don't mean to offend the owner.
　　I remembered some surprising news. It said that a Russian reconnaissance drone which was shot down in Ukraine was equipped with an engine for radio-controlled model airplanes which was smuggled from Japan. Russia is a developed country in the weapon-producing field, but it cannot manufacture even decent consumer products like cars, fridges, TVs, and so on. Taking a close look at the bike's engine, it seemed to me that the engine was a horizontally opposed engine from BMW.

(Vocabulary)
Tastes differ. 蓼食う虫も好き好き
horizontally opposed engine 水平対向エンジン

AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM

　　Shikoku, the 4th largest island of Japan, on which I live, would be a tiny island, especially from the eyes of U.S. citizens, Canadians, or Australians whose land is vast. However, its cycle of change is unexpectedly rapid. My car is an EV, Tesla Model 3. This car is very driver-friendly and I feel that the burden of driving the car is lessened by 80%. Furthermore, the cost of energy is a third of the same class of cars. My wife and I have begun to go for a spin more often than before.
　　We dropped in at the automobile museum. I didn't know the museum until I happened to pass in front of it. A variety of cars from all over the world were displayed there. A museum worker told us that each car has its owner and the museum was asked to keep the car. Cars whose engines are alive seem to be sometimes driven in the parking lot for the maintenance of its function.
　　The DeLorean time machine, which was used in the movie, "Back To The Future", was arranged in the line of super cars of yesteryear. I forget to ask about the origin of the car. It might be a replica.

(Vocabulary)
yesteryear existing in the past: 往年の
the steam trains of yesteryear

SHIN'YOU (Rocking The Ocean)

　　During World War 2, which is called "The Great Asian War" in Japan, Kamikaze Special Attack Team provoked fear among the U.S. military ships. This fact is well known to the world. The aircrafts bearing a big bomb stormed into military vessels - this is the known typical example of a suicide attack. However, there were other versions of suicide attacks using small submarines and boats. You can see the small submarine here(link). When I toured Hachijojima island in 2014, I happened to find a monument commemorating soldiers who had thrown their own lives to protect Japan near the former special attack base on the island(link).
　　Today, I unintentionally found another monument on the seashore of Kochi prefecture. I joined my hands in prayer.

特攻潜水艇回天　https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2013/06/kaiten-kamikaze-submarine.html
八丈島の震洋基地慰霊碑　https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2014/03/2nd-day-in-hachijojima.html

Dual-mode vehicle

　　　　I came across a dual-mode vehicle. I don't know if this word can be correctly understood by native English speakers, but it's actually used in Japan. You can see it here(link). How about "Two-way vehicle" for it?
　　Anyway, I knew about it through news reports, but it was the first time to see it directly. Take a close look at the following picture. The Chinese letter means "Asa Coast Railways". Railways!! To tell the truth, this bus can run on the rail. You'll notice a section of wheels under the floor of the back of the bus. The word "dual" indicates "bus" and "train" at the same time.

https://asatetu.com/archives/156/

HIWASA CHELONIAN MUSEUM CARETTA

　　A beach which is well-known for the deposit of carettas has been attracting my interest for a long time. I dropped in at the beach and Hiwasa Chelonian Museum Caretta along the beach. The museum also serves as a facility for carettas' preservation and animal specialists are tackling various environmental issues.
　　Coming down to the carettas, I remember HAWAII! All Nippon Airways connects Narita and Honolulu with three A380s. The body of the A380s are painted with adorable carettas and those A380s are dubbed Honu, which means caretta in Hawaiian. Carettas are venerated in Hawaii. Recalling wonderful memories in Hawaii, I took a walk along the beach. I haven't visited Hawaii for almost three years due to the coronavirus pandemic, but I'm going to visit it next year and join the Honolulu Marathon.

(Vocabulary)
deposit of carettas　ウミガメが卵を産み付けること
chelonian 亀、亀の
caretta アカウミガメ=loggerhead turtle
deposit (安全な場所に)〈貴重品など〉を預ける;〈鳥･魚･昆虫などが〉〈卵など〉を産み付ける.