Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Komodahama Beach

　　Tsushima island is located on the border of Japan and has its distinctive history. We dropped in at Komodahama Beach next, which was one of the ancient battlefields in the Mongol invasions into Japan in the 13th century. The 80 some samurais mounted on horseback lead by Sou Sukekuni bravely fought several thousand enemies on this beach taking full advantage of the terrain, but all of them were killed cruelly. However, the admiral of the Mongolian soldiers recorded that he had never been confronted with such awful enemies as Japanese samurais. He added that when the samurais assaulted them, they were smiling and his blood ran cold to see them smiling. I knew that there had been Japanese who went to certain death with smiles also on Tsushima island. Though the scene of Komodahama Beach is different from that of 8 centuries ago, I stood on the beach and recalled the samurais who had devoted their lives for Japan. The Mongolian soldiers would become scared to realize that lots of samurais would be ready in
Kyushu.

対馬は日本の国境の島であり、数々の史実に彩られている。我々が次に向かったのが元寇の古戦場のひとつ、小茂田（こもだ）浜。宗助国（そうすけくに）率いる８０余騎が数千の敵とこの小茂田浜で戦った。地形を利用して勇敢に戦うも斬殺された。しかし、笑いながら突撃してきた日本のサムライの姿に元軍の将が「これほど怖い敵はこれまでなかった」と背筋が凍り付くほどの恐怖を覚えたことを記録に残しているという。笑いながら死地に向かう日本人がここにもいたと知った。当時とは地形が変わっているとはいえ同じ場所に立ち、日本を護ってくれた当時のサムライたちを想った。九州に行けば更に多くのサムライが待っていることを奴らはどう思ったろうか。

Tsushima Tour

　　After wrapping up my work, I put my gadgets and clothes into my bag and jumped on a night bus bound for Fukuoka City, which is located in the north of Kyushu. A long-distance bus ride is cramped, noisy and really uncomfortable. I always suffer from lack of sleep the next day, but there was no other option. Anyway, I got to Fukuoka on the 26th. As I was wandering around the harbor, my companions got together. I got on a high-speed boat from Fukuoka to Tsushima island. I found a ferryboat named "Mikasa" moored at Iki port on the way. I'm going to write about a wonderful story about this ferryboat later. When we got off the boat at Tsushima, several local people welcomed us and took us to a restaurant. I enjoyed seafood from the Sea of Japan there. Then we went out for sightseeing. We headed for a lookout from which we viewed the landscape of the saw-tooth coastline of Asowan Bay.

５月２５日の勤務を終えて夜行バスで福岡へ向かった。夜行バスは窮屈だし、うるさいし、眠られないので苦手だが仕方ない。早朝、福岡に着き、港で待っていると仲間達が集まってきた。福岡からは写真の高速艇で対馬に向かう。途中、壱岐島に寄ったときにフェリーみかさを見つけた。翌日に乗る予定の船だ。対馬に着くとすぐに昼食。地元の海の幸をいただく。そして、バスに乗り込み対馬観光へ出発。まず寄ったのは、上見坂（かみさか）園地。対馬の浅茅湾（あそうわん）のリアス式海岸の景観を堪能。

Anniversary of the Japanese Imperial Navy

　　Lots of the traditions or cultures of Japan were deleted through the defeat in the Great East Asian War. Several national holidays were abolished in that context. The Naval Anniversary Day was one of those deleted holidays. Today most Japanese people don't know about this day. May 27th is the day. On this day in 1905, the Japanese Imperial Navy totally knocked out the Russian Baltic Fleet.
　　If Japan had lost that sea battle between Russia and Japan, Japan would have become a part of Russia today and we, Japanese, would be spending slave-like days along with all the other colored people. This day can be thought of as a happy anniversary for all the colored people. However, this day hasn't become a national holiday even now.
　　However, it's not immoral to pay tribute to the victims of both countries on this day. I attended the memorial service for them which was held on Tsushima island in the Sea of Japan. The following picture shows the ceremony and national flags of Japan and Russia.
　　Just like other trip memos, I'll write about my two days' trip in several continuous articles. One thing, I forgot to change the date setting of my compact camera into Japanese time after coming back from Hawaii this April. Don't mind the date display in some pictures.

 

戦争に負けたことにより、日本の伝統的な文化の多くが消されてしまった。その一つにいろいろな祝日がある。日本は軍備を否定されただけでなく大東亜戦争敗戦前まで制定されていた海軍記念日が消されてしまった。今では多くの日本人がこの素晴らしい日を忘れてしまっている。５月２７日がその日である。日露戦争でバルチック艦隊を撃破したことを記念して選ばれた。

もしこの戦争に負けていたら、日本は今頃ロシアの一部であったろうし、我々日本人は奴隷のような生活を強いられていただろう。また全有色人種もまた植民地支配を抜けられずいまだに被支配階級であったろう。この日は全有色人種にとっての記念日とも言えるが、現在、国民の祝日とはなっていない。

とはいっても、この日に日露の犠牲者を悼むことは道義に反することではない。海戦域に近い対馬で行われる日本海海戦の犠牲者の慰霊祭に出席することにした。１泊２日の小旅行をいくつかに分けてここに記録しておく。

いつものように写真を呈示するが、コンパクトデジカメで撮影したものはカメラの日時設定が４月に旅行したハワイ時刻のままになっている。

 

Shooting Plants

　　About a year has passed since I got my digital single-lens reflex camera. Before then, I used to use a tiny digital camera, which was small enough to carry in my pocket. My setting of shooting was only "Full Automatic" and the buttons which I was able to use were simply zooming and shutter buttons. Such shooting was really simple and easy, but the pictures were always nothing more than memos.
　　What I knew about single-lens reflex cameras at that time was that it had a variety of functions which I didn't even imagine. Though the Japanese counterpart word of "photo" has the meaning of shooting "truth", I realized that it was able to make various pictures other than the real images which we actually see.
　　If you change lenses, you'll get different images. Even bit by bit, I'm going to learn the shooting techniques. I tried to shoot plants in my garden this morning.

TSA check

　　We came back home without accident other than one thing. My wife and I carry two suitcases every time we visit other countries. When we visited Honolulu last time, my suitcase was opened and checked by authorities, whereas my wife's wasn't. Additionally this time, only my suitcase was checked. Why? Were the cords of my shaver and electric toothbrush detected as part of a bomb? It didn't seem that they changed the arrangement or position of items in the suitcase. I don't mind their inspection, which, I know, leads to our safety, but if they tell me the reason why they had to open my suitcase, I'd be able to take care not to bother them next time. I'm not going to collect the announcement slips of TSA, but I'll show you the second one I got this time.

カミさんと合わせて２個のスーツケースを持って旅行しているが、なぜか僕のスーツケースだけ開けられる。電気カミソリとハブラシのコードが爆弾にでも見えるのだろうか？思い当たるものは何も無いのにまた開けられた。中をかき回した様子はなく、何を調べたのだろう？まあ安全のためだから仕方ないことなのだが。気になったものを教えてくれたら次回から注意するのに中にはいつもと同様に一枚の紙切れだけが残されていた。

Last Dinner

　　We walked around the shopping street in the Hilton Village to get some souvenirs in the afternoon. After much consideration, we picked "Honolulu Cookie" up, as they were light. I heard that they were really popular just now. I tried to eat some, and they were nice. Then, we headed for the Ala Moana Center, which was the huge shopping mall, by trolley bus. The information board which was posted inside was written in English and Japanese. I'll show you the Japanese version below. Our destination was a local supermarket next to the Ala Moana Center, where we got some meat for steak and a bottle of red wine. My wife tried to cook beef steaks using American cooking utensils and the sizzling steaks were really delicious. Viewing the ocean at sunset, our dinner was enjoyable. Though dinner-out was costly, self-cooking was reasonable. We've made up our mind to prepare "bento" to save money when going out. I assume that the Japanese word "bento" had already become worldwide like "sushi", "kimono" and "tofu", but "bento" means a light meal packed in a lunch box.
　　"Bento" reminded me of a funny episode which had happened up the mountain in Whistler, Canada. I was staying in a condominium in the world-class ski resort of Blackcomb and my friends prepared several rice balls with leftover rice from the previous night and we brought them up the mountain for lunch. When we were eating them in a lodge, we noticed that people on both sides' tables were gazing at what we were eating, a black baseball-sized mass. That was a rice ball wrapped with dried seaweed. Dried seaweed, called "Nori", is very common in Japan and is served as a part of a Japanese style breakfast. However, the black ball would be seen as a mysterious object to them. Their eyes were full of curiosity and that was fun to us.

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2012/03/lunch.html
グロテスクなにぎりめし

(Apr. 12th)

午後からはビレッジ内で買物。お土産だ。いろいろ考えた末、軽い物をと考えてホノルルクッキーを選んだ。流行っているのだとか。滞在中に食べてみたがなかなかいける味だった。そして夕方からはトロリーバスでアラモアナセンターへ。車内にあった停車場所の案内は英語と日本語。日本語の方をＵＰする。アラモアナセンターは巨大なショッピングモールだが、目的は地元の人も利用するその隣の食料品店。ステーキ肉とワインを仕入れて焼いてみた。アメリカ製の調理道具ももう慣れた。窓からの景色を眺めながらの食事はまた格別。そして、自炊をすると滞在費がはるかに安くつく。次回からは昼食を持って出かけよう。『弁当』はsushiとかkimonoとかtofuなどと同様に英語になっているようで、英語ではbentoと綴る。

弁当で思い出したことがある。カナダのウィスラーでの話である。前の晩の残りご飯でおにぎりを作り、全体を海苔で包んで山に持って上がり、スキー場のレストランで食べていたところ、両隣のテーブルの人からの不思議そうな視線を感じた。真っ黒な野球ボール大の塊を見て、いったい何を食べているのか？と思ったのでしょうね。その顔が面白くて、、で結局、海苔を一袋、それぞれのテーブルに差し上げることに。(^o^)

 

Hilton Grand Vacations Club

　　I had spent hectic days until yesterday so that I didn't waste precious limited time in Hawaii. I relaxed leisurely today. I visited the Hilton's office 10 minutes' walk from my condominium to collect useful information for the U.K. tour which I'm planning in the coming fall. It will be my first visit to the U.K. and I was going to choose hotels taking security as the top priority in mind. I'm a member of Hilton Grand Vacations Club and the husband of the person in charge owned a Tesla car and I chatted with her about her husband's car. Her husband seemed to be surely a Tesla freak. I really came to want to buy one, but it was extraordinarily expensive and I have to wait for a considerable time. The following picture shows my lunch. It cost about 25 dollars with a beer. Eating in a restaurant around here will inevitably be costly.

ハワイに来てから昨日まで忙しく動き回ったので、今日は一日のんびりと過ごすことにしている。ヒルトンビレッジ内のヒルトンのオフィスに立ち寄り、秋に計画しているイギリス旅行に役に立ちそうな情報を集めた。愉快だったのは、ヒルトンの僕の担当者のご主人がテスラファンで、ここでもテスラの話を聞いた。欲しいのだが、そう簡単に買える価格ではないので、しばらく我慢。写真はランチ。これにビールが付いて２５００円くらいだったと思う。このあたりでは外食は高くついてしまう。

Peaceful Waikiki

　　I came back to Waikiki by transferring to the fixed-route buses. I became used to the public bus service on Oahu island. I left my single lens reflex camera in my condominium and went out for a walk on the beach with my small digital camera. There were lots of tourists waiting for the start of the hula show around Waikiki beach. After seeing miserable pictures and records, those scenes touched the very core of my heart. I realized how wonderful peace was. I wondered if the distinctive terrain of Diamond Head was in the sight of the pilots and submariners who had attacked Pearl Harbor 77 years ago. The symbol of Waikiki was very beautiful, reflecting the evening sun.
　　The temperature went down to a comfortable level and I walked along Kalakaua Avenue, the main and most busy street in Waikiki. 50 or 60 people were waiting for their turn in line in front of a Udon noodle restaurant, which was a franchise of one of the most popular Udon noodle restaurants in Japan. A third of them seemed to be Japanese. I gave up eating American Udon noodle and dropped in at a restaurant street, called Yokocho, which means a group of small inexpensive shops in Japanese. A few artificial cherry trees were decorated there. It goes without saying that the cherry trees are one of the symbols of Japan. Would it be possible for 70 year-ago Japanese people to imagine such scenes that this island took on Japan's culture. I had a round trip of the island yesterday and received lectures from the taxi driver. Today I learned the history of the island from another aspect. Oahu island is a tiny and small island, but it has something profound.

路線バスを乗り継いでワイキキに戻り、一眼レフカメラをコンドミニアムに置き小さなデジカメだけをポケットに入れてビーチを散歩した。ビーチではもうすぐ始まるフラダンスショーを待つ人があふれていた。戦争の記録を見た後なのでこの幸せな風景が身にしみた。なんと有り難いことか。あのダイヤモンドヘッドを攻撃隊のパイロットたち、小型潜水艦で特攻攻撃をした潜水艦乗りたちも眺めただろうか。

ビーチを離れてカラカウア通りを歩いた。日本国内では名の知れたうどんのチェーン店である丸亀製麺には大勢の人が並んでいた。日本人は１／３くらいか。アメリカのうどんを諦めて横町と呼ばれる食堂街に入ったのだが、ここも大勢の人がいて諦めた。通りには日本を象徴する桜が置かれていた。この地がこれほど日本の色に染まるとは７７年前の日本人に想像できただろうか。昨日のオアフ島一周、タクシードライバーからのレクチャー、そして今日の真珠湾歴史地区の散策、、、小さな島なのに、奥が深い。

Rainbow

　　There were the former runway and the former control tower, which used to be one of the targets of the Japanese military action on Pearl Harbor along with the military vessels. It was really hot, but I walked on the runway for about 300 meters. I looked up at the bright sky. The Japanese pilots attacked the site on which I was standing 77 years ago. I looked back to the sky where lots of Zero fighters were flying. The war cost Japanese and U.S. people their lives and now I'm living in peace. I hated the war again and was grateful to them.
　　I chatted with a few groups of Americans who made their first visit to Hawaii. Some of them were out of the hangar and walking on the runway with me. After a while, we dashed toward the shuttle bus and got on it just in time. The first picture shows our tired faces. I was standing on the entrance step of the bus. I was happy and surprised at the same time for the driver to take us to the destination in this condition. If in Japan, we would have been told to wait about 30 minutes for the next bus.
　　Ford Island was strictly restricted. The persons who were permitted to enter the area were only military personnel and tourists who didn't carry their bags and accessed by public shuttle bus. The Ford Island Bridge connecting the island and the shore was the only access way. When my bus approached the bridge, a beautiful rainbow unexpectedly showed up. Did it rain? While my bus was on the bridge, the rainbow was softly covering the bridge just like protecting my way. I felt that the departed at Pearl Harbor were smiling at me. Though the rainbow isn't so vivid in the last picture, if you take a close look, you'll find it.

(Apr. 11th)

フォード島から退出

フォード島には日本軍が攻撃した、そして数々の映画にも出てきた滑走路と管制塔があった。暑い日だったが、立ち入り規制がなかったので２～３００メートル歩いてみた。空を見上げた。この場所を７７年前に日本の若者たちが攻撃した。日米双方に死傷者を出し、今はこんな平和がある。改めて戦争を憎み、今の幸せをもたらしてくれた彼らに感謝した。

航空博物館で飛行機マニアのグループと雑談、そして軽くレクチャーも(^_^;)。その後、彼らも滑走路に出てきていた。ハワイに初めて来たというアメリカ人。帰りのシャトルバスに４人でダッシュして乗り込んだ直後の疲れ果てた様子が最初の写真。僕はステップにもう一人のアメリカ人と立っていた。こんな状況でバスを出してくれるのがおおらかというか、小さなことにこだわらないアメリカ人の明るさか？日本なら考えられない。（笑）

フォード島は一般車は立ち入り出来ない。荷物を預けて手ぶらの観光客がシャトルバスでアクセスするか、軍関係者でないと入れない。陸とフォード島を繋ぐフォードアイランドブリッジという橋が唯一のアクセス道路なのだが、バスが橋へのアクセス道路に近づくと不意に虹が現れた。雨が降ったのか？橋を渡るときには橋を包むように架かっていた。島を離れる僕に英霊が微笑んでくれているような気がした。写真では不明瞭だが、最後の写真にある虹のアーチが見えますか？

Flying Tigers

　　The panels about the establishment of the Flying Tigers was on display. I was surprised and lost for words to see the exhibits, because in spite of the Flying Tigers themselves being obviously a breach of international law, the U.S. proudly posted their existence. I didn't read the description thoroughly, but that would be a kind of big talk. I wondered if the U.S. didn't recognize that the squadron had been totally against the laws in wartime.
　　On the other hand, the attacking technique of Japan was highly evaluated. The damage which the U.S. received from the Japanese attack would be far above the assumption of FDR, who wanted to wage the war.

フライングタイガースのことが堂々と展示されていた。呆れて言葉を失ったがご丁寧に日本語でも説明をしている。滞在中には読む時間が無く、帰国後もどうせ適当なことを書いているのだと思って読んでいないが、この飛行隊の存在自体が国際法違反なのであるが、ばれていないと思っているのか？それとも、インターネットが普及したことで、新聞・テレビなどのメディアによる日本人の洗脳はもはや無理ということでの開き直りかな？（笑）

一方、日本の真珠湾攻撃方法については高く評価していた。真珠湾攻撃に関しては一区画を割いて説明があった。説明ボードの写真をＵＰします。

Niihau Incident

　　Do you know Niihau Island, the westernmost island among the Hawaiian Islands? The island was designated as the place where damaged planes were to make an emergency landing during and after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The pilots who had landed on the island were to be rescued by submarines. Actually a damaged military plane urgently landed on the island on the attack day, and an incident happened. According to a theory, this incident might be a trigger of the Japanese Internment. I heard that the plane was preserved in the museum and wanted to see it, but the plane seemed to be burnt and as you see in the following picture, you wouldn't know that the wreckage used to be a plane. I recalled the 76-year-ago unhappy accident seeing the wreckage and paid a short silence.

(Vocabulary)
internment [U] 強制収容, 抑留, 拘禁

ニイハウ島事件

真珠湾攻撃に際し、ニイハウ島が、損傷を受けた航空機の緊急着陸地点だった。パイロットは潜水艦により救助される予定だった。攻撃当日、一機がこの島へ緊急着陸し、この事件は起こった。一説には日系人の強制収容に繋がった事件でもある。その飛行機が現存すると聞いていたので楽しみにしていたのだが、一度焼かれたらしく、写真の通り、元が飛行機だったことさえ判然としないが、７６年前に起こった事件を思い起こし、合掌。

Pacific Aviation Museum

　　I headed for the Pacific Aviation Museum by shuttle bus. It had fee-charging and free areas. I was able to see exhibits outdoors and inside the hangar 5 minutes' walk off the main building for free, but what I wanted to see most was placed in the charged area. The exhibits in the free area were for kids like in an amusement park. The ticket was more highly priced than I had expected, but I couldn't help it.

太平洋航空博物館

戦艦ミズーリ記念館から再びシャトルバスに乗って航空博物館へ向かった。博物館には無料で見られる部分と有料の部分があった。屋外に展示されているものと少し離れたところにある格納庫は無料で見られたのだが、子供向けの遊園地みたいなもので、見たいものはやはり有料部分にあった。結構高かったが仕方なし。

 

Humanitarian Behaviour

　　A clipping from my travel guidebook is shown in the 1st picture. It tells that American soldiers had treated the body of a Kamikaze pilot respectfully. The contents were often seen in several other pamphlets and fliers. Most Japanese who saw the contents would be happy with their heart warming act. However, I took it as a simple lame excuse for their numerous war crimes. If you learn the historical facts, you'll reach the same conclusion. I've heard an episode like that from Australia, but do you know another heroic or humanitarian act on the U.S. side? As I wrote in the last entry, a young Kamikaze in the 2nd picture crashed his bomb-bearing fighter into the Missouri. The captain of the Missouri restrained his men from throwing his torn body away and ordered some of his men to make Japan's national flag in a night. Then the young Kamikaze was wrapped with their makeshift Japan's national flag and was buried at sea courteously. Seeing the third picture, it seemed that the chaplain gave some prayer for him. I was surprised to know that the chaplain was on board. The 4th shows their captain. I'm grateful for his decision, but it cannot say that this episode indicated the existence of humanity in battlefields. Several hundreds of indiscriminate bombings across Japan, two atomic bombs, the farcical Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals, the illegal trials which were actually revenge and were performed in various places after the war, the forced Constitution to Japan, and so on; taking these into consideration, I wasn't able to believe that there was humanity in the battlefields.
　　A novel, "Eternal Zero", featured a Kamikaze fighter and became a bestseller a few years ago in Japan. This real story which happened on the Battleship Missouri is remarkably similar to the last scene of the novel, so the author must have drawn inspiration from this episode. The used-to-be dining room for the ranks was used as a museum for Kamikaze, but it was so-so. Now, my mission was complete! I just wanted to pray for a Kamikaze pilot at his death point after 73 years later. I got off from the abhorrent ship and headed for the Pacific Aviation Museum.
　　Lastly, for your information, I'd like to tell you about a historical fact which has been known as one of the Japanese humanitarian acts. See the links below.

(Vocabulary)
humanitarian 人道的な, 人道支援の
farcical (けなして) 茶番じみた

http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2008/12/17/japanese_war_ambassador_feature.shtml

https://ameblo.jp/workingkent/entry-11873896366.html

 

１枚目の写真は使っていた旅行ガイドブックの切り抜き。同じ内容が いろいろなパンフレットに掲載されていた。もちろん全て日本語。おそらくは、日本人はこれを見てアメリカに好感を持つのだろうが、僕はこれを彼らの苦しい言い訳とみた。歴史を学べばそういう結論にならざるを得ない。同様の美談はオーストラリアにもあるが、アメリカ軍の人道的行為は他にあるのか？無数の戦争犯罪を重ねた米軍にも人道はあったという言い訳だと思う。前の記事に書いたように、２枚目の写真の若者が体当たり攻撃をしてきた。艦長は、胴体半分だけになってしまったパイロットをゴミとして捨てようとしていた部下を制止し、一晩掛けて日の丸を縫わせ、その日の丸で遺体を包んで正式な水葬を行ったとある。３枚目の写真を見ると、チャプレンに冥福を祈ってもらったようだ。アメリカの軍艦にチャプレンが同乗していたことに驚いた。４枚目が当時の艦長の写真。正式な水葬は有り難いし、立派な行動だと思う。ただ、これだけをもって戦場にも人道はあったというのは、、、言い過ぎだ。日本各地への数百回に及ぶ無差別爆撃、２個の原子爆弾、東京裁判という茶番、戦後各地で行われた裁判という名の復讐劇、国際法違反の日本国憲法、、、、に対する言い訳のような気がしてならない。

日本で数年前にベストセラーとなった小説『永遠のゼロ』のラストシーンと酷似しているので作者はきっとここからヒントを得たに違いない。メインデッキ下の食堂は神風特攻に関する資料が展示されていた。あまりたいしたことは無かったが、展示されているのは神風特攻の跡が残る船だからだろうか。さて、命日に現場で手を合わせるという目的が達せられたのでこんな忌まわしい船からはさっさと下船して次の目的地、航空博物館へ向かった。

最後に参考までに日本の人道的行為として最近、知られるようになったものを紹介しておく。

 

Kamikaze

　　A Kamikaze from Kanoya Air Station crashed into the Battleship Missouri about this time on this day, Apr. 11th in HST (Hawaiian Standard Time) in 1945 near Okinawa. It was just 73 years ago. The Kamikaze pilot successfully avoided the anti-aircraft fire and hit the side of the Missouri with his talented technique. Unfortunately, however, his bearing bomb didn't work and he could only set fire to the spilt fuel. His body seemed to have been torn into two parts. A cameraman captured the scene of the collision in the first picture. The second one is the scar of the collision. The scar didn't affect the ship's function and was left untouched. The boyish-looking man in the 3rd picture was the pilot. He was young and must have wanted to do lots of things. With gratitude and a condoling tone, I offered 30 seconds' silence to him who had to throw his life away due to the small number of mad people who wanted war on the 73th anniversary of his death.

　
７３年前、米国ＨＳＴ（ハワイ標準時）で１９４５年４月１１日のちょうど今頃、鹿屋基地を飛び立った神風特攻機がこの船に激突した。沖縄近海でのことだ。抜群の操縦技術で対空砲火をくぐり抜け、船縁に激突した。搭載していた爆弾が不発で漏れた燃料に引火した火事で済んだらしいが、パイロットは胴体が二つにちぎれていたという。１枚目がまさに激突の瞬間の写真。２枚目がその痕跡。これは船の機能に影響しないので修復せず今まで残ったという。
　
３枚目の写真にある幼い表情の若者が操縦していた。やりたいことはたくさんあったろうに戦争を望んだ一部の人間達のために命を捨てざるを得なかった彼に、感謝と哀悼の気持ちを込めて７３年目の命日に、現場で約３０秒の黙祷を捧げた。

 

Surrender Deck

　　The formal signing of the Instrument of Surrender with the Allied Nations was carried out on this battleship Missouri in 1945. The explanation of my guide was apparently on the U.S.'s side. Douglas MacArthur seemed to elaborately calculate the time required for the Japanese plenipotentiary, Mamoru Shigemitsu, who had a damaged leg having been injured by a Korean terrorist, to come up to the deck. The guide told me that MacArthur was kind enough to take care of him. You idiot? His sham concern for Mr. Shigemitsu was obvious. He wanted to show to the world that Shigemitsu walked awkwardly with a shuffle, though Shigemitsu behaved proudly on the contrary. If MacArthur was a sincere person, he wouldn't pick the deck of the battleship as the place for the signing. I wanted to snap her head off asking why MacArthur chose this place for signing, but I didn't. She would have explained as she was told to. MacArthur anchored the battleship just at the same point as the USS Susquehanna's anchored point in 1853. What's more, the national flag, which had been raised on the USS Susquehanna at that time, was ordered from the U.S. and was raised on the day of the signing. He would want to say that the U.S. had finally conquered Japan after a century.
　　The battleship tour started at the site of the canon on the bow and I had been angry at the explanation all the way from the start. Then I came across a notice reading "SURRENDER DECK & PLAQUE". Is "the deck where the signing was done" inappropriate instead of that expression? I felt their arrogance at this notice. They repeated numerous war crimes and finally won. If the Japanese government had chosen a do-or-die resistance on the land of Japan, would the U.S. have been able to continue the war? Their casualties would have become way much more than those in Iwo jima.

(Vocabulary)
plenipotentiary; minister plenipotentiary; ambassador plenipotentiary
plenipotentiary (フォーマル) 全権大使［公使］ —　plenipotentiary [形] 全権の（ある）
sham 偽の, ごまかしの, いんちきの
a sham marriage 偽装結婚
walk with a shuffle 足を引きずって歩く

降伏甲板
　
大東亜戦争が終わったとき、このミズーリ上で降伏文書の調印が行われた。ガイドはアメリカ寄りの説明をしていた。足の悪い重光外相がデッキへ上がってくる時間を正確に計算して、、、と重光の身体をいたわっていたような言い方をしていた。アホか。マッカーサーが重光をいたわるわけがない。いたわるのなら陸上のどこかで調印式をしただろう。わざわざミズーリ上で調印式をした理由を知っているのかと、ガイドにくってかかりたかったがやめた。
　
ペリー来航時の国旗を本国から取り寄せ、それを掲揚して、不格好に歩く重光を世界中に見せたかったのではないのか？しかもミズーリの停泊位置はペリー来航時と同じ位置と言うではないか。１００年掛けてついに日本を我が物にしたと言わんばかりの行為だ。前甲板の主砲の位置からツアーは始まったが、正しい歴史を知るだけにずっと腹が立っていた。そして『降伏甲板』という張り紙。このデッキで降伏文書の調印が行われたというわけだが、わざわざ上がってみたいとは思わなかった。日本を戦争へ引っ張り込み、無数の戦争犯罪を侵しつつやっと勝てたくせになんたる言いぐさ。『戦争終結の調印が行われた甲板』で良いではないか。奴らの高慢な態度に無性に腹が立った。

The Battleship Missouri Memorial

　　I had long wanted to get on the Missouri this time period on Apr. 11th. I'm writing about why later. Walking from the bus stop toward the Missouri, it was getting way bigger to my eye which was used to the sight of modern destroyers. Several volunteer guides were ready and I asked for a Japanese one. The area open to the public was only the main deck and the dining and dwelling spaces, but I was able to visit what I had wanted to.
　　Before getting on board, I found that it had modern installations like a few types of radar and sets of harpoon launching tubes. I had thought that the battleship joined the Korean War and it would receive some improvements at that time, but I was surprised to see modernized items that you wouldn't be able to even imagine in the times of the Great East Asian War. I looked into the battleship on the net and knew it had installed tomahawk cruise missiles. The wiki said that the battleship was used in the Gulf War. What a long-life the battleship had!
　　I wanted to take enough time on the battleship and drank a 500cc bottle of mineral water dry at a stall just before going on board. It was a really muggy day. The last picture shows the USS Arizona Memorial from the bow.

 この日、４月１１日のこの時刻にこの船に乗船したかった。理由は後に書く。シャトルバスの停留所から歩いて近づくと、近代的な駆逐艦しか見たことの無い目にはかなり巨大な船だった。ボランティアガイドが待機していて無料で付いてくれるというので日本人ガイドをお願いして案内してもらった。観光客に開放されているのは甲板と後方の食堂だけだったが僕が見たかったところには行けた。

まず乗船する前に装備が近代的なことにすぐに気がついた。レーダーとか後方にはハープーンの発射管まで見える。大東亜戦争以後も朝鮮戦争には使われただろうから改修したのだろうと思ったが、大東亜戦争時代には考えられなかった装備になんじゃこりゃと驚き、乗船直前に調べるとなんとトマホークも装備しており湾岸戦争にも使われたとか。何と息の長い船であろうか。

ゆっくり見て歩きたかったのでまずは水分補給。乗船前に土産物店でミネラルウォーターを一本買って飲み干してから乗船した。暑い日だった。最後の写真は艦首から撮った戦艦アリゾナメモリアル。

Submarine Museum 2

　　I had something that I had wanted to see in the Submarine Museum. They are; the records or items related to 10 brave Japanese submariners who had dared to attack military vessels at the mouth of Pearl Harbor at the cost of their lives. They were trained to operate the midget submarine in a small fishery village near my office. The Japanese-style inn, rhokan, in which they stayed for their training camp, is preserved even now and their memorial ceremony has been performed every Dec. 8th, the Japanese time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. While wandering to and fro in the museum, I found it finally. That was items about one of the submariners who was captured due to the mechanical accident of his midget submarine. The backdrop of the picture of his midget submarine being stranded ringed a bell with me. That had been taken at Windward on the east coast of Oahu island. This area is now known as one of the best places for marine sports.
　　An article admired the submarine technology of Japan showing a submarine model in which a hangar for bombers was equipped.
　　It seemed that it was beyond the U.S. authorities. There were some exhibits outdoors, and a Japanese manned torpedo, Kaiten, was displayed with the simple description, "Suicide Torpedo". If the meaning of "Kaiten" and the background of its development were added to it, it would be better.
　　After the museum, I headed for the Battleship Missouri Memorial by shuttle bus. The last picture shows the USS Arizona Memorial on the right and the next destination of the Battleship Missouri Memorial on the left.

　
潜水艦博物館で探したかった資料がある。真珠湾攻撃で亡くなった小型潜水艦乗りたちの記録である。気をつけて見ていると、、、あった。１０人の隊員のうち、生き残ったサカマキ少尉の記録。添えられていた写真の背景には見覚えがあった。前日走ったWindwardだ。今ではマリンレジャーのメッカとなっている美しい入江だ。羅針盤が壊れたのが原因でこの場所で座礁したのだろう。
　
潜水艦に爆撃機を積んでいたことに驚いている記事もあった。日本の潜水艦の能力は彼らの想像を超えたものだったようだ。屋外展示を見ると、日本の回天が展示されていた。回天の意味も付記して欲しかったが、淡々とした説明だった。自爆魚雷とだけ、、、。
　
さて、潜水艦博物館のあとは、シャトルバスに乗って戦艦ミズーリ記念館へ向かった。最後の写真は右に戦艦アリゾナメモリアル、左側にこれから向かう戦艦ミズーリが写っている。

 

Submarine Museum

　　The submarine Bowfin sank several non-armed Japanese ships during the Great East Asian War, and it's abhorrent to the Japanese. However the Submarine Museum wasn't specialized in the Great East Asian War. The exhibits in the museum varied from the starting of the submarine's development to up-to-date submarine launched ballistic missiles. Comparing both technologies between Japan and the U.S. during the war, I thought that Japan would be beyond the U.S..
　　It might be of political significance, but I found an interesting picture in which the former U.S. President George H. W. Bush appeared. Though he must have been a pilot of military aircraft, according to the description, he was working with submarine crews. It seemed that he was shot down when he had piloted a Grumman TBM Avenger aircraft that attacked the Japanese installations on Chichijima. He and his colleagues were rescued by a submarine and engaged in some rescue work for some time. I read some stories about him and I admired him.

　
この潜水艦は大東亜戦争において多くの日本の商船を沈めた憎き潜水艦であるが、史料館は大東亜戦争に特化したものではなく、潜水艦の開発の歴史から始まり、最新の潜水艦発射ミサイルのレプリカまで展示されていた。展示はアメリカ寄りでも日本寄りでもなく、ニュートラルな視点で成されていると思った。いろいろな展示があったが、大東亜戦争時代の日米の潜水艦を比較するとおそらく日本の方がレベルが上だったのだろうなあと感じた。
　
政治的な意味合いがあるのか、いくつか面白い展示があった。パパブッシュは艦上攻撃機パイロットだと思っていたが潜水艦乗組員としての写真があり驚いた。説明を読むと、どうやら小笠原あたりで撃墜され、潜水艦に救われ、以後しばらく潜水艦乗組員としてパイロット達の救出に当たっていたらしい。彼の記録をいろいろと読んだが、たいした男だと思った。

USS Bowfin

　　I had been thinking of the Pearl Harbor Historic Sites as the facilities for international visitors to testify how cowardly Japan was in the so-called surprise attack in 1941, but I was wrong. The Sites were for setting the distorted record down in their mind on one hand and for concealing the U.S.'s numerous war crimes on the other hand.
　　It dates back about 20 years ago that I knew about the submarine, Bowfin, which is now permanently moored at Pearl Harbor. After receiving my Ph.D., I was asked by the authorities to work at a small municipal clinic in a deserted village for three years. Luckily, then, I got to know a veteran surgeon who was more than 20 years older than me. He closed his clinic in Kobe after the big earthquake, and started working in the adjacent village. It was a great serendipity to know him. Though our ages were far apart, we clicked together and often went out for a drink. One day, I heard about his former job as a whaler's doctor over whale meat from Kochi Prefecture. When he was young, he had worked on a whaler, the 2nd Tonan Maru, for some time. His story was really interesting and fascinating. I'll show you his book, which was written at the suggestion of the Kobe doctors' association to which he had belonged.
　　By the way, the name of his whaler was the 2nd Tonan Maru. I asked him if there had been a 1st Tonan Maru, as I felt that "the 2nd" implied the existence of "the 1st." To my surprise, the first-generation Tonan Maru was sunk by a U.S. submarine and the same submarine sank a passenger ship which was taking more than 1000 schoolkids from Okinawa to mainland Japan to save their lives from the U.S.'s terrible indiscriminate attack. The passenger ship was the well-known Tsushima Maru (link). Finally 1476 were killed, including the captain and the other 23 crew members who had chosen to share the fate of the ship. The kids survivors of the attack were only 59. I knew about Tsushima Maru at that time. (The numbers of the victims are quoted from here).
　　After a while, I knew the name of the hateful submarine, Bowfin, and that it survived the war and was now moored at Pearl Harbor as a museum. I got to want to get on it and pee on it or kick a part of it. I got on board. I've seen inside a cutting-edge Japanese submarine. The inside of the Bowfin was way more cramped and the outer shell was thinner. The reachable depth would be at most 100 meters. In the cockpit, several kids were enjoying peering into the periscope by turns. When my turn came, I didn't feel like looking into the periscope, as I recalled that the periscope had got the image of Tsushima Maru, though it's not the periscope but the war that is responsible. I got mixed feelings in Bowfin after 74 years.
　　While I was writing this entry, I became eager to see him, the veteran surgeon, but he's already passed away. I'll visit his grave to report my act of kicking Bowfin, though I wasn't able to pee on it.(grin)

対馬丸記念館
http://tsushimamaru.or.jp/

これまで、真珠湾歴史地区は日本による真珠湾攻撃を記録に残し、かつアメリカ国民と旅行者に日本が如何に卑劣な攻撃をしたかと言うことを知らしめる施設かと思っていたが、どうやら違う。アメリカが行った数々の戦争犯罪を隠しつつ、大東亜戦争全体の記録をとどめるものだと感じた。
　
さて、ここに係留されている潜水艦ボウフィン号だが、この潜水艦を知ったのは実は２０数年前にさかのぼる。ちょっと昔話をする。２０年ほど前、田舎の診療所に勤務していた頃、神戸から隣村に赴任していた外科の大先輩と仲良くなった。震災後、医院をたたみ、若い頃から考えていた無医村での医療を始められたのだ。年齢はかなり違うものの意気投合して月に数回は近くの居酒屋で仲間を集めて呑んでいた。あるとき、高知から仕入れた鯨料理を味わいながら、先生の捕鯨船の船医時代の話を聞いた。話の全てが新鮮で、引き込まれてしまった。神戸医師会に所属されていた頃に医師会からの勧めでその経験をまとめたものが下記の写真にある本。
　
さて、先生が乗られていた捕鯨船は第２図南丸という。第２とあるからには第１もあるのかと尋ねた。この船は大変伝統のある船で初代図南丸は戦争中に米軍の潜水艦に攻撃されて沈んだという。更に先生は続けた。同じ潜水艦が沖縄から本土へ避難する大勢の子供達を殺したのだと。あの対馬丸である。対馬丸をこのときに知った。学童疎開船で１０００人以上の子供を乗せていた。最終的に乗員・乗客合わせて１４７６名が死亡し、このうち対馬丸の乗組員は西沢船長以下２４名が対馬丸と運命をともにした。一方で、生き残った児童はわずかに５９名だった。（対馬丸記念館　http://tsushimamaru.or.jp/）
　
その潜水艦はボウフィン号という名で、戦後まで生き残り、真珠湾に係留されていることをしばらくして知った。是非とも乗船して、小便を引っかけるか(失礼)どこかその一部を蹴飛ばしてやりたくなった。そういった事情を背景にボウフィンに乗ってみた。日本の最新鋭の潜水艦に乗ったことがあるが、さらに狭かった。そして外殻の薄さにも驚いた。おそらく１００メートル程度しか潜れまい。操縦室では子供達が潜望鏡を覗いて楽しんでいた。この潜望鏡で対馬丸を見つけたのかと思うととても覗く気にはなれなかった。戦争が悪いのであって、この艦は職務を全うしただけではあるが、７４年が過ぎて今この船に乗っている自分がいて、複雑な気持ちがした。
　
この記事を書いていてまた先生に会いたくなってきた。鬼籍に入られてしまったので、墓参りにでも行こうかと思う。本当は小便をひっかけてやりたかったが、蹴飛ばしてやったと報告もせねばならないし。(^o^)

Monument for Submariners

　　I came across more than 50 monuments on the way to the quay at which the submarine was moored. I'll show you a description among them. They were monuments of all the submarines which were sunk by the Japanese Imperial Navy. Each description plate read the names of all the departed submariners and the phrase, "On Eternal Patrol". If FDR and a part of the U.S. Government didn't want the war, they wouldn't have wasted their good lives. Indescribable wrath against warlike officials came up. I hope that the departed on eternal patrol duty would prevent the world from getting into war one more time.

潜水艦の係留されている方向へ向かって歩いていると、５０あまりの慰霊碑を見つけた。その一つをＵＰする。どうやら日本軍によって沈められた潜水艦の乗組員を追悼する施設で、一つの慰霊碑が一隻の潜水艦を示していた。亡くなった乗組員達の名前が記載され永遠のパトロールに出たと書かれている。英語特有の言い回しに、うまいこと書くなあと感心した。この人たちも戦争さえなければ平和な人生を送ったかも知れず、戦争を欲した全ての連中に言いようのない憎しみが湧いてきた。どうか永遠のパトロールにより二度と戦争が起こらないようにして欲しい。