Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Trip to Saga

　　As I've been feeling confined these days due to the outbreak of the Wuhan virus, I decided to make a trip to Saga prefecture, whose level of the virus's prevalence was about the same as my prefecture. The local government issues an alarm to avoid moving into pandemic areas like Tokyo, Hokkaido, and so on. Saga was out of the alarm areas. My purpose was to visit the Nagoya Castle Remains. FYI, this castle is located in Kyushu and is different from the famous Nagoya Castle in Aichi prefecture in central Japan. The place of the remains is called Yobuko, which is well-known for its famous specialty of squid, which is my wife's favorite.
　　There was some routes for Saga prefecture and I chose the ferry boat between Misaki, the westernmost town of Shikoku and Saganoseki, the almost easternmost town of Kyushu. I spent the last two years of elementary school days at Misaki town, so I felt nostalgic to see and find the change of the streets and other scenes. The picture of the chimney below was shot just before the arrival in Saganoseki. Its of a very famous copper refinery and you can see it from Misaki town. The chimney was towering just the same as 50 years ago. Another picture shows the site of evacuation. I learned that such places were called muster stations during my cruise trip. Is this expression "Emergency assembly point" right?

佐賀旅行

武漢ウイルスによる生活の制限のためなんとも息苦しい。気分転換に感染者数が愛媛県と同レベルの佐賀県へ観光に行くことにした。行き先は名護屋城跡。すぐそばの呼子はカミさんの好物のイカで有名な町。

ルートは愛媛県の西の端から九州に渡るフェリーを利用。この土地は小学校時代に２年間過ごした土地。実に懐かしい。下の煙突の写真は目的地の佐賀関港に到着直前に撮影した。天気が良いと四国側からも見える煙突だ。そして最後の写真は緊急時の集合場所を示した看板。英語の表現に引っかかった。マスターステーションという単語は知っているが、この表現も正しいのかな？

Westerdam & Diamond Princess

　　The novel pneumonia, which derived from Wuhan, China, plunges the globe into a pit of misery. The new type of coronavirus is taken as the cause of this pneumonia. In relation to this virus, two cruise ships, the Westerdam and the Diamond Princess, collect strong public attention. Both ships were suspected that there might be some infected persons with this virus on board, but the aftermath of both ships were completely different.
　　In the case of the Westerdam, it was refused to land at several ports and drifted around the South and East China Sea, or North Pacific Ocean for more than one week to seek a port which welcomes it. Unable to stand by any longer, Cambodia reached its helping hand to the ship and all the passengers were able to step out on the soil. Then they left Cambodia for their home countries. However, an infected person was detected later, but no nations would ever be able to accuse developing Cambodia of passing them without any quarantine. Each country which received passengers from the Westerdam would have to check their medical check and quarantine.
　　On the other hand, in the case of the Diamond Princess, Japan, by itself, took on the quarantine of about 3700 passengers and crew members and medical treatments of infected people. Japan, as one of the developed countries, naturally lead the way in the process of the control of the infection, but I wondered why the U.S., which owns this cruise ship, and the U.K., where the Diamond Princess is registered, retreated into silence. A few countries like the U.S. and Canada decided to take their countries' passengers home. The U.S. responded to the American passengers who were tired of living in confinement. Canada was willing to mitigate the burden of Japan.
　　I heard that there's no international rule against such conditions. I think the international society requires some resolution against the next outbreak of some pathogenic organisms.

(Vocabulary)
retreat 引き下がる, 立ち去る, 逃げる
retreat to/into/from etc. sth ＜場所＞へ［の中から，から］逃げる

 

Infected Diamond Princess

　　Chinese originated pneumonia causes havoc in the northern hemisphere. The Japanese Government always ends up reacting after the event because they are concerned for China and trying not to dishonour the Chinese Government. However, the one thing that they have to do is protect the lives of their people, Japanese. I hope that the Government will take strong actions against the virus.
　　The Yokohama-based cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, came back to its home port, Yokohama city, on Feb 3rd, but almost all the passengers and crew members were stranded in the ship. It carried a Chinese from Yokohama to Hong Kong two weeks ago, who later developed the novel pneumonia in Hong Kong. Therefore, the Government suspected that there might be some people affected with pneumonia. Actually the new type of coronavirus was detected in the specimens from passengers. Both passengers and crew members are confined to their rooms until the end of the latent period of 14 days.I'm so sorry to hear that. Honestly, I had been on board this ship from Dec. 15th to 23rd last year. I can't afford to be indifferent to this incident.
　　The four pandemics occurred only in 20th century. All of their epicenters were the southern part of present China; Spanish, Asian, and Hong Kong flu, then SARS. From my viewpoint, the social conditions in China are too dirty for me to live, though I'm not going to live in China at all. I hope the virus will be confined soon.

(Vocabulary)
havoc 　大混乱, 大損害
end up reacting after the event　後手後手になる
latent 　隠れている, 潜在的な

Arrival in Yokohama

　　When the ship entered into the channel to Tokyo Bay, the sea surface became really calm. The Diamond Princess proceeded to Yokohama Bay. The last night was stormy, but the weather changed for the better this morning like my usual last day. It's always like that. The last day of my trip will be sunny with a high probability. I just hope that it will be so in the midst of the trip. Anyway, I enjoyed the scenery of Yokohama from the deck. When I started the trip 8 days ago, it was dark. There were lots of suitcases lined up on the pier. They would belong to the tourists who would join the next cruise. The staff members would be busy preparing for the next cruise by cleaning up the rooms and public areas, or to bring food and necessities in or to take garbage out, and so on within the limited time. We were able to disembark about 2 o'clock. As our flight to our hometown was at about 1900, we were able to take a rest in Haneda Airport.
　　On my last cruising trip on this Diamond Princess, I had an opportunity to talk with a medical crew. I learned how they work on board and her story aroused my interest. The company that operates the Diamond Princess is Princess Cruise in the U.S., and it apparently has 16 cruise ships or more. I informed her of my skills in the medical field and languages. She said to me, "fully qualified!" I can speak in German, though a little haltingly and naturally Japanese, so, according to her, I would be welcomed to the cruise especially in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, as the number of Japanese people who enjoy cruising in those waters is soaring. I started thinking of taking up a new lifestyle as a ship's doctor.

Postscript:
Disgusting Wuhan pneumonia occurred on the Diamond Princess during the next next cruise tour after our disembarkation. I was so surprised as I had already submitted my resignation on Dec. 30th. declaring that I would quit my job on June 30th. Postponing my ship's doctor plan, I had to seek for my new job until that day, but don't worry. I already received so many offers from various facilities.
(Jan. 30th)


東京湾に入ると、鏡のような海面になった。ダイヤモンド・プリンセスは滑るように進んでいく。いつものことだが、旅の終わりには晴れる。本当に良い天気だ。昨夜の嵐は夢だったのか。ベイブリッジをくぐり、大桟橋に近づくと、大量のスーツケースが見えた。どうやら今日、乗客を入れ替えてまたどこかへ向けて出発するのだろう。客の入れ替わるわずかの時間に掃除をしたり物資の搬入、搬出とスタッフは忙しいことだろう。我々夫婦は１４時頃に下船できた。６時間以上遅れたけれど、羽田発は１９時頃の便なので余裕。前に乗ったときにも思ったのだが、この船、あるいはこの会社で船医として働きたい。船医への転身を真剣に考えてみようと思う。ま、これまでも、多分これからも、成り行き任せの人生だから、、、

（２０２０年１月３０日)
追記　次の香港へのクルーズのその次のクルーズで例の武漢ウイルス感染が起こった。心底驚いた。船医計画は延期となった。１２月末に辞表を提出してしまったし、さて次は何をしよう(^_^;)

Izu-oshima Island

　　We were supposed to arrive at Yokohama in the early morning on Dec. 23rd, but the last night's stormy weather made for the delay of 6 hours or more. As the passengers will be allowed to leave the ship in order of the rank of the room from the higher to the lower, then it would be toward the last in the afternoon for us to disembark. It was a nice decision to book the last flight from Haneda Airport. Even if the arrival was late, we had enough time to connect to the next schedule. The internet room was crowded last night. I thought that they were attempting to change their modes of transportation via the internet.
　　Most of our possessions were sent to disembarkation control last night, and we were bored as I had no books, and no mobile pc. The sea became incredibly calm and we climbed up to the restaurant on the highest deck. I was sure to have had enough last night, but became hungry in the morning. We were able to take a nice table to view the ocean. Eating too much to kill the time (grin), a vague silhouette came into my sight. It was Izu-oshima Island! I felt we were approaching Japan. I'll show you the map which was shown on the screen when we got back to the room.

早朝に着く予定だったはずが、６時間以上遅れるとのこと。部屋のランクの高い乗客から降ろされるので、我々が下船できるのは昼を優に過ぎるだろう。羽田からのフライトを最終便にしておいて良かった。昨夜インターネット室が混んでいたのは、交通機関の予約変更などをするためだったのだろう。

荷物のほとんどは昨夜のうちに部屋から送り出しており、手元には必要最小限のものしかない。何もすることがない。昨夜の揺れが嘘のように穏やかな波になっており、最上階のレストランに行って見た。昨夜も食べて飲んだはずだが朝になると腹が減る。眺めの良い席を取ることができた。厚い雲がどんどん晴れてきた。暇に任せて大量の朝食を食べていると、島が見えてきた。スマホで確認すると伊豆大島！日本に戻ってきた実感が湧いてきた。部屋に戻ったときにテレビに表示されていたマップ、１時間後のマップをＵＰする。

Two Days at Sea

　　Dec 21st and 22nd were to cruise all day. We were going to enjoy various events, concerts, shows and wandering in the shopping street and on the deck during these two days. To my regret, however, the weather was terribly horrible. I'll upload a moving picture which shows the sea from my room. We booked the cheapest room but one this time and it was lucky, because the room was located on the lowest deck, which must have served to suppress the pitching and rolling for me. I'm quite prone to motion sickness. The motion picture taken from near the sea surface is really awful. It was fun to have a tea time with my friend and his wife whom I came across on board for the first time in 10 years. The cooking show by the executive chef was also fun.
　　An unexpected happening was waiting for me on the final night. The captain made an announcement that the ship wasn't able to keep its usual speed and our arrival in Yokohama would be considerably late.

https://youtu.be/LQQg2nZKL5A　Cooking Show  料理ショー
https://youtu.be/vVurYDTg__k　 Raging Sea   荒れ狂う海
https://youtu.be/5mXNNMSp9so　Boisterous Dinner  ドンチャン騒ぎ

２１日と２２日は終日航海の予定。いろいろなイベント、コンサート、ショーがあり、これらを見たり、プールでのんびりしたり、レストランの食べ歩きなど、予定していたが、天気は最悪。部屋の窓から見た風景を動画で撮影したので見て欲しい。
今回のクルーズも安い部屋、つまり一番下の階にあるが、お陰で他の上のクラスの部屋よりも揺れが少ない。これは有り難かった。海面近くから撮影した動画は迫力がある。
１０年ぶりに船内で出会った古い友人夫妻とのアフタヌーンティーも楽しかった。そして、総料理長による料理教室。これも動画に撮ってあるので下に出しておきます。
そして、最後の夜に船長からアナウンス。荒天のため、スピードが思うように出せなくて到着がかなり遅れるということだ。

A Mystery

　　Passing through the tunnel on the way to Taipei, the sky changed for the better, just as the tour guide had told us. The bad weather was unlucky, but it was good for us to have enough time to talk with the tour guide. I asked her about what I felt was unusual on the cruise ship. There are so many Chinese people everywhere in Japan who talk loudly in their distinguishing high tone. Their behavior is often criticized in lots of tourist spots. However, no Chinese on the ship, quite the contrary. A quiz show was held on the ship on the first night and one of the questions was to ask the number of the passengers by nationality. I don't remember the exact numbers, but the largest was Japan, second, the U.S., then Australia, Canada, Germany,,,some other countries followed like that. To my surprise, there was no Chinese! I didn't see why, and I told our tour guide about this mystery. She laid out the reason why there was no Chinese on the ship. She said Taiwan was in the midst of the presidential campaign. The government took several steps to avoid sabotage by the Chinese Communist Party and stopped granting Chinese people visas. Her comments reminded me of the instruction of the chief purser on the Diamond Princess. Even if you don't get out of the ship in Keelung, you need to undergo the immigration check. If someone was refused entry into Taiwan, the Diamond Princess itself is not allowed to berth in Keelung. The ship's company would have rejected Chinese people on this cruise.
　　Then, the main topic of our conversation moved onto the presidential election. I hoped that cài yīngwén will win the presidential race, but the guide looked disappointed to know that I'm for cài yīngwén.

(Vocabulary)
sabotage
〈敵対者の設備・乗り物など〉 に破壊工作を行う
…を妨害する
[名] [U] 破壊工作,妨害行為
cài yīngwén 蔡英文

Climate of Taiwan

　　We had to give up sightseeing in Keelung due to the terrible weather and made for Taipei following the tour guide's suggestion, though we didn't have any special plan in Taipei in advance. A certain Taiwanese drink has been getting popular in Japan recently. It's various drinks including tapioca. Taipei is the birthplace for the tapioca drinks, so we decided to taste them. As for me, I wanted to buy my wife some accessories made from hokutolite, which is very precious now. This mineral is found only in Taiwan and Japan, and it's prohibited to newly mine them.
　　The tour guide told us that it was clear or at least cloudy in Taipei, though the city is only less than 30km away from Keelung. It was natural for us to feel doubtful about her words. According to her explanation, Taiwan is geologically divided into two parts, the east and west side, by the 4000 meter class mountain range. Both sides show totally different climates. It appears there are few plains on the east side. As she put it that way, there were no vast areas in Keelung as far as I saw. Moreover Taiwan can be climatically divided into two parts longitudinally. Its northern half has a subtropical climate, and its southern half has a tropical one. I understood the affluence of various kinds of fruits in Taiwan.

(Vocabulary)
hokutolite 北投石
climatically 気候(上)の; 風土の.

Chung Cheng Park 中正公園

　　I hate the phrase "Chung Cheng", because it's another name of Chiang Kai-shek. I didn't want to visit the place bearing his name, but the tour guide advised us to take a look at Keelung port from the Park even though it was raining. As she said, we were able to see the panoramic view of Keelung. I wished it had not rained. Our tour guide seemed to have moved to Taiwan from the continent after the Great East Asian War, or his/her descendant. I'm going to write about this issue in the next entry. By the way, her Japanese skills were excellent and we got lots of knowledge about Keelung and Taiwan.
　　I think a word of caution is in order here. Taiwan used to be under Japanese reign for about 50 years since 1895 in the wake of the conclusion of the diplomatic pact with the Qing Dynasty. That is to say, it was a simply legal act. On the other hand, the reign by Chiang Kai-shek had no legal basis. Consequently, Taiwan is not acknowledged as an independent nation yet.
　　Leaving the park, our tour guide wanted to walk around the city center, but the weather was terrible, so we headed to Taipei to taste Taiwan's tapioca drink, which is getting popular also in Japan. We'd like to try genuine ones.

(Vocabulary)
zhōngzhèng gōngyuán, Chung Cheng Park 中正公園

中正という名前は嫌いである。なぜかというと、蒋介石の本名だから。こんな名前を冠した土地には近寄りたくもないが、一応観光地で景色が良いというので行って見た。ガイドさんはどうやら外省人のようである。日本語が実に堪能で、前回の台湾旅行で案内してくれたガイドとは雲泥の差。何でも尋ねられる。 ここで一言注意をしておく必要があると思う。かつて台湾は日本の統治下にあったが、それは１８９５年に清国と結ばれた国際条約によるもので合法的な行為であった。しかし、蒋介石が台湾に住み着いたことについてはなんら法的根拠はない。 さて、ガイドは街歩きの後、夜市を案内したかったようだが、天気が悪く４時までには船に戻らねばならなかったので、台北へタピオカドリンクを飲みに行くことにした。やはり本場で試してみないといけないということで。

Peace Island

　　No matter how strong the wind was, I was going to visit Peace Island, which was called Sharyoujima under the Japanese reign. Lots of Okinawan fishermen are said to have lived on the island in those days. Its terrain was like yěliǔ dìzhì gōngyuán at which we looked during the last trip to Taiwan.I viewed the raging ocean from the tip of the island and the scene reminded me of the last night's pitching and rolling of the ship. If an old fishery boat like one which was made in the early times of the Meiji Era faced such furious waves, it would never survive the storm. Four or five dozen fishermen were actually washed up on the island due to a violent storm early in the Meiji Era. They weren't able to communicate with local inhabitants and most of them ended up being killed by the natives. The Meiji Government came to dispatch Japanese soldiers to Taiwan in the wake of this incident. It was the first military dispatch to an overseas country for modern Japan.
　　I put my hands together for victims in front of their monument and felt the difference between Taiwan and China. Chinese people would never build such a sincere monument but a simple signboard with a fake description. On the way to the next spot, the driver pulled over abruptly at a tiny fishery port called zhèngbīn yúgǎng, which was apparently one of the picture spots. Now that he mentioned it, the port had a little European feel.

(Vocabulary)
hépíngdǎo  和平島
yěliǔ dìzhì gōngyuán　野柳地質公園
zhèngbīn yúgǎng　正濱漁港

雨風がひどいのだが、どうしても訪れたい場所があった。和平島だ。戦前は社寮島と呼ばれていた島である。沖縄の漁民が大勢暮らしていたとされる。前回の台湾旅行で行った野柳地質公園に似た地形が似ていた。荒れた海を見た。昨夜の揺れを思い出した。これでは明治初期の漁船では遭難するだろう。ここへ流れ着いた宮古島住人を地元民が虐殺した事件があった。言葉の通じない時代のことだ。明治政府が初めて海外に派兵した事件はここから起こった。

琉球漁民慰霊碑に手を合わせた。やはり台湾は違うなと感じた。支那だったらこんな慰霊碑は絶対に作らないだろう。帰りに正濱漁港で記念撮影。観光スポットだという。少しヨーロッパの雰囲気があるかも。

Landing on Keelung, Taiwan

　　Unlike Miyakojima, Keelung was perfect as a port for big vessels. Miyakojima Island is formed by coral reefs and is shallow to a considerable distance from the shore. We had to use a tender boat to reach the island, but the Diamond Princess was able to directly berth at the pier in Keelung. The Diamond Princess sails under British colours and Japanese passengers disembark in Taiwan. I presumed that the procedure of passport control would be too much trouble, but all the formalities were already finished by morning. Really skillful! I recalled the incompetent Russian officials whom I had met in Karafuto, Sakhalin in Russian language. (link)
　　When we walked along the designated route at the pier, our guide spotted us. It was a good idea to have sent our pictures in advance. By the way, where should we go in the heavy rain? I wanted to see shīqiúlǐng suìdàoas built in the period of the Qing Dynasty and has been partly preserved. It's also a historic spot of the first-ever tunnel in Taiwan, but I had to give it up due to the heavy rain. I'd heard of a historic battery, Ershawan Battery , in Keelung, which was originally built against the British invasion in the times of the Opium War and was destroyed during the Sino-French War (1884-1885). However, the battery was renovated and now open to tourists. I wanted to see it, but our tour guide advised us not to visit the place in the heavy rain, because the tracks to the battery were very muddy.
　　We dropped in at qìng ān gōng, or Qingan Temple which is dedicated to Mazu (the Goddess of the Sea). Our tour guide was a real pro and her explanation on the temple was perfect. We were lucky to hear her story exclusively though it was expensive to hire a tour guide. I informed her about a shrine also dedicated to a deity of the sea which is located near my hometown. It's well-known in Japan. It would be helpful for her future guidance.

https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2015/09/review-of-the-karafuto-tour.html
https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2015/09/immigration.html

(Vocabulary)
berth 停泊する
shīqiúlǐng suìdào 獅球嶺隧道
qìng ān gōng 慶安宮
Taoism 道教

宮古島上陸とは違い接岸しているので上陸は楽ちん。船はイギリス船籍でその船から日本人が台湾へ入国するわけだが、入出国の手続きは昨夜のうちに終わっている。実に手際が良い。樺太で目にした仕事の遅いロシア人たちを思い出した。(リンク)

船から下りて決められたルートを歩いていると、ガイドが待っていてくれた。あらかじめこちらの写真を写メしていたのですぐに見つけてもらえた。さて、このひどい雨の中でどこへ行くか、、、、獅球嶺隧道を見たかったが、諦めた。これは、清朝統治時代の鉄道トンネル跡で、台湾で最初かつ清朝時代のものとしては唯一現存する鉄道トンネル。そして、海門天險（アヘン戦争時代にイギリスの侵略を防ぐために築かれた砲台で、清仏戦争で破壊されたが修復された）も道がぬかるんでいるため訪問できず。

あまりに酷い雨のため、雨を避けてまずは慶安宮へ立ち寄った。支那文化について少し学ぶ。こういうとき、独占的にガイドの話を聞けるのは有り難い。高いガイド料の価値はあった。四国に金刀比羅宮があるが海上交通の安全を守る神様ということで似ていたのでガイドに教えてあげた。次からの日本人客のガイドに役立つだろう。

Keelung

　　I awoke past 6. It was raining heavily and very windy. The ship should pitch. Last night, I brought some nibbles back from the restaurant to my room and drank wine which I brought from Yokohama. That helped me sleeping on the raging ocean. By the way, what do we do in this heavy rain? The Diamond Princess offered us a variety of bus tours, but I wanted to freely walk around Keelung, so I had asked a travel agency to exclusively prepare a tour guide and a driver. We were able to choose places where we would visit and I had some places.
　　I viewed around from the top of the ship after breakfast. The port of Keelung is the nearest port to Japan and is now known for its second largest trade volume in Taiwan. This port has been developed under the reign of Japan and now its appearance must have changed from those days. However, its mountainous terrain would still retain the general atmosphere of the old days. I recalled zhèng chénggōng. He must have taken a view of these mountains in the 17th century and I imagined the scene of 17th in which Spanish sailors were the first Europeans to see this beautiful island. French soldiers would have seen them in 19th century when they waged war against the Qing Dynasty. Those images always get me turned on. On the opposite side of the pier, several military vessels were moored.

(Vocabulary)
zhèng chénggōng 鄭成功
the Qing Dynasty　清王朝

基隆港

６時過ぎに目が覚めた。ひどい雨だ。風も強そうだ。揺れるはずだ。昨夜はレストランからつまみを部屋へ持込み、横浜で買ったワインを飲んで寝た。お陰で揺れには悩まされずに済んだ。さて、この雨の中、どうする。自由に行動したかったので団体行動は止めて個人的にガイドと運転手を頼んでいる。どこへ行こうか、、、見たいところはいくつかあったのだが、この天気では難しい。

朝食後、デッキに上がって周囲の風景を眺めた。基隆港は日本に一番近い港であり、台湾第二の規模を誇っている。日本統治時代から開発されてきたために雰囲気は変わっているだろうが、１７世紀にやって来たスペイン人や鄭成功、１９世紀に戦争をふっかけたフランス軍もこの山並みを見たかと思うと感慨ひとしお。対岸には海軍の施設があった。

Return to the Diamond Princess

　　We dropped in at a restaurant at first in the ship, as we didn't eat enough in the daytime. The restaurant was open except for very early 3,4 hours. It was so helpful, though it might be harmful for people on a diet. Going out on the deck, the tender boats were collecting. To my surprise, another cruise ship, Superstar Aquarius, was coming in the port, which had been coming into Naha port last evening. Apparently, this ship cruised in the daytime and stopped at a port at night. What were the passengers doing on the ship. Other passengers around us were also wondering, but we didn't reach a conclusion. We met this cruise ship also at Keelung later.
　　Until dinner time, I joined an event imitating Japan's famous quiz show, "Quiz Time Shock", which places people in a kind of tension and asks simple and easy questions. At that time, I came across my old friend from my high school days. So surprised! We exchanged mutual room numbers and decided to have a tea time on the way back to Yokohama.
　　After dinner, the ship started to pitch! I went up to the highest deck to look around, I'm prone to motion sickness, though. The pool was closed and the water in it was raging. Watch the following motion pictures. As my room was on the fifth floor, the extent of pitching would be milder in my room and I went back immediately.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvrJqIsh-Hw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk2djeVxs6A

(Vocabulary)
tension [U] 不安, 緊張
be prone to ～するたちである、～の傾向がある

船へ戻ってまずは腹ごしらえ、昼間に十分食べていないので。いつでも食べ放題の船のレストランは本当にありがたい。デッキへ出てみるとテンダーボートを回収中だった。そしてSuperstar Aquariusがやってきた。昨日、那覇港にやって来ていた船。昼間航走して、夕方に入港するようで、一体何をしているのだろう。他の乗客もいぶかっていたが、結論は出なかった。この船には翌日夕方、基隆でも再会した。

クイズタイムショックという日本の有名なクイズ番組がある。それを真似たイベントがあり、参加した。そしたらなんと、高校時代からの友人がいて、驚いた。向こうも同様ではあったがここで出会うとは、約１０年ぶりの再会だった。部屋番号を交換し、帰りの２日間の終日航海の日にお茶することにした。そしてこれもまた楽しい時間となった。

そして夕食後、船が外洋に出ると揺れ始めた。嫌な予感がしてきた。揺れには滅法弱いのだ。それでも、最上階に行って見ると、、、プールの水が荒れていてプールは使用禁止に。写真では迫力が出ないので動画を撮った。ご覧あれ。

Tohri-ike Pond

　　Shimojijima Island is tiny and flat. The island has no high terrain and structures, so the island would be suitable for commercial pilots' landing and taking-off training. On the other hand, there are two Tohri-ike ponds for the general tourists. If you translate them into English literally, they would be "Through-pond". Two ponds, called Tohri-ike, connect with each other underwater and one of them with the sea. I saw similar holes on Kauai island (link). The process of the island formation in ancient times would be alike.
　　Distinguishing rocks were scattered around. I'm not familiar with rock science, but I hadn't seen such rocks in my hometown. I noticed two airport-related facilities far away and wanted to walk around to the end of the runway under the clear sky in the sea breeze, but I didn't have enough time for that, because I wanted to visit one more island, Ikemajima. After seeing Tohri-ike ponds, I left for Ikemajima island, but I couldn't help returning just in front of the bridge connecting Miyakojima and Ikemajima islands. Considering the time for returning the car and moving time from the car rental shop to the pier, I had to do a U-turn there.
　　The return shuttle to the Diamond Princess was not so crowded as the shuttle boat which we had ridden in the morning. I investigated some equipment in the tender boat. I was surprised and then understood a device for collecting rainwater in order to use it as drinking water. The boat seemed to be able to seal up to prevent seawater from coming in the cabin.

https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2019/06/spouting-horn-park.html

下地島は平坦で小さい島である。空港の周りには視界を遮るものは何も無いから離着陸の訓練には向いているのだろう。その空港の西側にこの島唯一と言っても良い観光スポットがある。地下でそれぞれが、そして海と繋がっている池があり、通り池という。文字通り英語に訳すなら『Through-Pond』とでも訳せようか。同じような構造の穴をカウアイ島でも見た。島の成り立ちが似ているのだろう。

このあたりには特徴的な岩がゴロゴロしている。岩石に詳しくはないが、少なくとも愛媛でこのような岩を見たことが無い。平らな土地の向こうに空港施設の一部が見える。天気は良いし、心地よい海風が吹いている。滑走路の方まで散策したかったのだが、時間が十分無い。もう一つ渡りたい島が残っているのだ。その島、池間島に向けて出発したのだが、レンタカーを返却し、港まで向かう時間を考えると、島へ渡ることは諦めざるを得なかった。池間大橋の手前でUターン。宮古島、また来ることもあるだろう。

帰りのテンダーボートは上陸時よりは空いていた。雨水を採取して飲み水にする装置など、遭難時の設備が珍しかった。いろいろなことを想定して設計されているのだろう。

Irabujima Island

　　We moved from Miyakojima Island to Irabujima island crossing Irabu bridge, which was built 4 years ago. At first, we visited Makiyama lookout, which is located at the highest point on the island. The following first picture shows the map of the island. The second one was shot on the bridge. I was able to see the whole view of the bridge and the Diamond Princess from the outlook. If you look at the third picture closely, you can see Kurimajima Island at the back of Irabu bridge.
　　Look at the map. You'll know two islands are on the map. The big one is Irabujima Island and the other is Shimojijima Island, on which a fairly large-scale airport is built. Its size seems to be wastefully big for this tiny island.To be honest, this airport was being used for training commercial pilots. I heard that lots of aviation fans had visited this tiny island to see the scene of touch-and-goes of big airplanes like the Boeing 747, what you call the Jumbo jet. I imagined its spectacular scene and detonating sound. FYI, the flight simulation device was developed and the trainees don't need to operate real planes now. So, this airport is used for public transport now.

宮古島から伊良部大橋を渡り伊良部島へ　まずは展望台へ向かう　１枚目は伊良部島の案内板。２枚目は橋の上で運転中に撮ったもの。展望台に上がると、伊良部大橋とその向こうに先ほどまでいた来間島が見える。また、ダイヤモンド・プリンセスも。

案内板をよくみると、これは一つの島ではなく、二つの島が載っている。大きい方が伊良部島で、小さい方は下地島Shimojijima。ここには立派な空港があり、かつては旅客機の操縦訓練に使われていた。今は操縦訓練はシミュレーション装置で出来るようになり実際に飛行機を飛ばさなくても訓練できるようになり、この空港は民間空港として利用されているが、有事の際には当然ながら軍事用にも使われるはず。ここではかつてはジャンボジェットのタッチ・アンド・ゴーなどを見ることができ、航空ファンを魅了したらしい。

Higashihen'nazaki Cape

　　It was my Miyakojima Island debut. I had one thing that I wanted to fulfill. That was to stand at the cape, Higashihen'nazaki. My senior resident, who instructed me in my surgical resident days, was from this island and he told me that he had frequently stood at the tip of the cape in his childhood and dreamed to learn medicine in mainland Japan. He is now a famed shrewd plastic surgeon and does the volunteer work repeatedly in developing countries. I hoped to visit the cape at first after the landing.
　　As soon as we landed, we headed for a car-rental shop and rented a small car. The shop was crowded, but it didn't take so much time to rent out. It was fun to drive a car from the west side to the east of the island amidst subtropical scenery. 30 minutes later, we reached Higashihen'nazaki cape. The following pictures show the strange terrain around the cape. My travel guidebook says that the cape was formed from coral and is fragile. Lots of rocks around the cape might be the fragment of the cape of long ago.

(Vocabulary)
shrewd 凄腕の

　

宮古島へは初めて上陸する。どんな島なのか楽しみだ。一つこの島で果たしたいことがあった。研修医時代にお世話になった先輩がこの島の出身で、高校生の頃、いつも本土に一番近い岬に立ち、本土で勉強することを夢見ていたという。その先生は今、形成外科医となり、発展途上国へ赴き、ボランティアで医療活動を行っている。時々テレビでも紹介される凄腕の外科医だ。この岬へは上陸後、まず訪れたい。

テンダーボートから下りてすぐレンタカー屋へ向かい、軽自動車を借りた。混雑していたがスタッフは手際よくすぐに借りることが出来た。南国の景色を楽しみながらドライブ。高い山がなくぺったんこな島だ。島を西から東に横切って東平安名崎へ向かった。写真を見れば一目瞭然でこの岬はとても奇妙な地形である。珊瑚礁から出来ており、島の一番東に位置していて日本本土に一番近い。悲しい伝説も残っている。

Miyakojima Island

　　December 19th. We would land on Miyakojima Island today. We finished breakfast earlier and got a numbered ticket for the tender boat. I presumed that Miyakojima Island didn't have a pier big enough for a cruise ship like the Diamond Princess. It was the second time for us to get on a tender boat of the Diamond Princess. I hoped to take pictures of the inside.
　　Our room was located on the 5th floor, called Plaza Deck. We had stayed on the same floor in the last cruise, but our room was inside and had no windows then. This time, however, we took an outside room and the room had a square window. Look at the outer appearance of the Diamond Princess, you'll find square windows lying in a row on its white ship hull. There were management facilities below 5th like the clinic, rooms for crew members, food storage facilities, machinery rooms, and so on. Our room was at the lowest floor among the passenger rooms and we weren't able to breathe outside air and weren't able to see the clear view due to dirty window glass.However, I found one thing of our room which was better than the upper class rooms. I'll write about that point later.
　　There were a variety of public facilities on the Plaza Deck. The art gallery was in front of our room. Every time we went out, we were sure to go through the gallery and saw lots of pictures. I liked some of them, but the prices were out of reach. While observing them every day, the number of pictures labeled "sold" increased. I heard that passengers buy them as a memory of the cruise.

(Vocabulary)
numbered ticket 整理券
ship hull 船体








１２月１９日、今日は宮古島へ上陸する。早めの朝食をとり、上陸のためのテンダーボートの整理券を受け取った。ダイヤモンド・プリンセスが接岸できる港はないのだろう。テンダーボートに乗るのは前回のクルーズを含めて２回目。これはこれで楽しみ。混んでいなければテンダーボート内部の設備を写真に収めたい。

今回の部屋は５階プラザ・デッキにある。前回のクルーズでは窓のない部屋だったが、今回は外側の部屋で窓はある。外から見ると、白い船体の部分に四角い窓が見えるが、この階である。４階以下は医務室やクルーのための部屋、食品倉庫、機関室など運行のための設備がある。客室の中では一番低い位置にあり、景色は悪いし外の空気は吸えないものの利点が一つ。今日の記事の最後にこの利点について書く。

５階には共用施設がたくさんある。部屋を出るとギャラリーとなっていて、毎日ギャラリーを通ってメインホールやショッピング街、洗濯、レストランやプールに出かける。気に入った絵もたくさんあったが、なにせお値段が、、、(^_^;)　毎日見ていると、売約済みのシールが貼られていき、翌日には他の絵と入れ替わっている。クルーズの記念に買い求める乗客が多いそうだ。

Shuri Castle and Enkakuji Temple

　　Next, we came by Shuri Castle, which had been burnt down recently. As I saw via broadcasting, the scene was very catastrophic. It would take a long time to restore it. I'm not familiar with the history of Okinawa, but this monument is precious for native people without doubt. To my surprise, while wandering around the castle, I found the ruin of the Buddhist temple. The description says it was built in 1492, but was destroyed during the Great East Asian War. The temple was partially rebuilt and I felt it continues to make us aware of the misery of wars.

 


 

次に立ち寄ったのが首里城。焼け落ちていた。周辺をブラブラしていたときに、円覚寺跡を見つけた。那覇に仏教寺院があったことを今まで知らなかった。１４９２年に建てられたと言うが、先の大戦で焼失してしまっている。

Naha, Okinawa

　　The Diamond Princess got into Naha port in Okinawa. It seemed that it was berthed at an unusual pier. I found another cruise ship was moored at the original berth in the evening, so the Diamond Princess might have given it up to that ship. Anyway, the first daily routine of this ship was the radio gymnastic exercises, which was well known to Japanese, but would be unfamiliar to international tourists. The gymnastic exercises to the sound from the radio started after the last war as one of the measures to keep the Japanese physical strength up. I think all of the Japanese had experienced it, at least during compulsory education. This exercise is now adopted at lots of Japan's companies. Some passengers told me that they knew about this ritual in Japan after the boarding.
　　I had two places which I wanted to visit in Okinawa; Maeda Escarpment, which is called "Hacksaw Ridge" among the U.S. soldiers, and burnt-down Shuri Castle. We took a shuttle bus service to a station of Naha Monorail and got its one-day pass. We would see around along the Monorail line. I'll show you many pictures of Maeda Escarpment and some pictures have descriptions of the background of this place.
　　Maeda Escarpment was one of the hard-fought fields in the battle of Okinawa during the Great East Asian War. I walked around the Escarpment imagining the harsh fight. I took a picture of its description and you would understand how fierce the battle was. I just prayed for eternal peace in front of the monument. I found several caves called "Gama" in the Okinawan dialect. Okinawa island is formed on the accumulation of coral and is abundant in limestone caves. People seemed to have taken refuge in those caves during the war.
　　The above place and monuments are located in Urasoe City. I had only passed through this city in the last several visits to Okinawa and I didn't know anything about the city, so Urasoe Castle Ruin also surprised me. I didn't even know of its existence. In the next opportunity to visit Okinawa, I'd like to stay at least one week and walk around the island.
　　Next, we came by Shuri Castle, which had been burnt down recently. As I saw via broadcasting, the scene was very catastrophic. It would take a long time to restore it. I'm not familiar with the history of Okinawa, but this monument is precious for native people without doubt. To my surprise, while wandering around the castle, I found the ruin of the Buddhist temple. The description says it was built in 1492, but was destroyed during the Great East Asian War. The temple was partially rebuilt and I felt it continues to make us aware of the misery of wars.

 


 

今日は沖縄那覇に入港　いつもの場所ではなく少し離れたところに着くようだ。夕方見ると別のクルーズ船が着いていたのでその船に譲ったのかも知れない。この船ではラジオ体操から一日が始まる。朝の日課だ。この船で日本のこの伝統的なラジオ体操を知ったという人もいた。

那覇では訪れたい場所が２ヶ所あった。浦添市にある前田高地（アメリカ人の間ではハクソー・リッジ）と首里城である。桟橋からシャトルバスで県庁前へ移動し、モノレール１日券を買った。今日はこのモノレール沿線で動き回る予定。前田高地は沖縄戦の激戦地。散策しながら当時を想った。ここにもガマと呼ばれる洞穴があった。戦闘時には隠れることが出来たのだろうか？近くから見たかった為朝岩には崩落の危険有りとのことで近づけなかった。浦添城趾の石垣が復元されていたが、沖縄には十分な歴史資料がないという。戦争のためだろう。残念なことだ。

At Sea, Day 2

　　We were on the sea all day long on December 17th, too. Today's sea was rough and our ship rocked all day long. This cruise ship was so enormous and I assumed that it never rocked. To be honest, I'm a poor sailor and easily get seasick, but a variety of events made me feel free of seasickness. Some events were held in Japanese and others in English. I joined some English events for the purpose of testing my English listening ability. I manage to understand conversations concerning the medical field containing lots of technical terms, but sometimes have a hard time in common conversation, as it contains slang and phrasal verbs. I didn't know whom and what most American people know. This also stood in the way of my understanding. Anyway, events and concerts were enjoyable.
　　The Diamond Princess has a repeaters' club called the Captain's Circle. This cruise was the second time for us and we were invited to this meeting. We enjoyed short talks from the captain and other crew members, concerts, and then received presents from the cruise company.
　　Before going to bed, I climbed up to the highest deck wondering whether I could see outside, but I didn't see anything. I expected to see some lights from the land or other ships, but there was nothing around the ship. No stars and the water in the pool was billowing. I felt a little scared and returned to my room just like taking refuge.

(Vocabulary)
billow (風で) 膨らむ, はためく;〈煙などが〉 渦巻く, 巻き上がる
refuge
[C] 避難所, 保護施設
a refuge for battered wives 配偶者から虐待を受けた妻の保護施設
[C] (悪天候・危険などからの) 避難場所, 逃げ場, (野生生物などの) 保護区
a refuge from the rain 雨宿りの場所
[U] 避難, 安全
take/seek refuge 避難する
When the bombing started, we took refuge in the cellar. 爆撃が始まったとき地下室に避難した．

　終日航海２日目。この日は揺れた。この大きな船が。実は僕は船酔いにはとことん弱い。屋内プールを見ると、使用禁止になっていた。ただ、船内は賑やか。イベントが盛り沢山で、飽きることはない。英語版イベントも日本版もあり、英語版はリスニングの勉強も兼ねて参加。専門用語の多い医学の学術会議は聞き取れても、スラングの含まれた日常会話は難しい。
　ダイヤモンド・プリンセスにはキャプテンズサークルというリピータの集まりがあり、今回我々は２回目なのでリピーターとなりこの集まりに招かれた。船のいろいろな説明を聞いたり、音楽を楽しんだり、帰りにはちょっとしたプレゼント。
　寝る前に何か景色が見えるかと思い、最上階に上がってみた。周囲には何も見えず、星も見えず、プールの水は大きく波打ち、あふれていた。少し怖くなり逃げ込むように部屋へ戻った。(^_^;)