Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Immigration

　　The restaurant would be open soon, but I was staying on the deck to see how the tender boat would be ready for us. I saw some crew members working in the cabin of the boat, but the boat was still kept tied to the ship. Another group of crew members started to set the accommodation ladder for something.
　　At that time, another dirty boat arrived at the Nippon Maru. Russian Immigration Officers! We would not be allowed to land on Oodomari until they finished their work. "Work hard and finish in a hurry! Petty officials! Rosuke!, which is an insulting epithet of Russian" , I muttered to myself, seeing them getting on board. Their boat went back real quick. It would take time to examine all the passengers' passports. I gave up seeing the preparation of the tender boat and headed for the restaurant.
　　After I ate a set of Japanese style breakfast, I ate a western style one. I was really hungry.

(Vocabulary)
insulting epithet 侮蔑的なあだ名
epithet /épəθèt/ (人・物の特徴を表す) レッテル, あだ名
a racial epithet  人種差別的な言葉
mutter:  to speak in a low voice, especially because you are annoyed about something, or you do not want people to hear you

Sunrise in Aniwa Bay

　　Our ship was moving into Aniwa Bay when I went out on the deck. The first picture was shot then. This day, September 6th of 110 years ago, was the first day of Karafuto as Japanese territory. Since then, no territorial pact has been signed. It means Karafuto still belongs to Japan, but actually it is occupied by Russia even now. After Japan ceased fighting on all fronts on Aug. 15th in 1945, Russia abruptly invaded Japan, breaking the mutual non-aggression treaty and robbed Japan of several islands and lots of lives of innocent people. This fact has been concealed from most Japanese by leftists, but now most Japanese know the historical facts.
　　While I was sipping lukewarm coffee sitting on a deck chair blown by a gentle breeze, our ship cast anchor offshore of Oodomari(Korsakov in Russian). On casting, a small red shabby boat came to the Nippon Maru. I didn't know their work, but it went at once.
　　Deep in the gulf, the sea was really calm. Its surface was like a mirror. The morning walk on the deck was refreshing.

(Vocabulary)
Aniwa Bay  亜庭湾（あにわわん）、樺太の南、稚内方向に開けた湾

Constellation Viewing

　　A lecture was held by the third mate at 10 o'clock at night on the top deck. It was about constellations. About 50 participants were there. We were first told to close our eyes and keep them closed for a minute, and in the meantime all the lights on the deck were put out. The mate signalled, and I opened my eyes. I uttered some words or sigh-like sounds without thinking. I was in the midst of jet-black darkness and numerous stars were shining over me. The brightness of the moon near the horizon was a little nuisance, but I was able to see lots of stars. The story about constellations was really attractive. The mate had a detailed knowledge of the constellations, though I didn't think that Nippon Maru decided its route from the position of the stars. Stargazing might be an essential subject to become a mate.
　　I recalled something viewing the sky. On the same day 110 years ago, did people who were heading for Karafuto (Sakhalin in Russian) see the same sky? As the result of the Japanese-Russo War, Japan received the southern part of Karafuto starting at a latitude of 50 degrees north and the associated islands from Russia in the Treaty of Portsmouth signed on September 5th in 1905. This area was invaded and has been illegally occupied by Russia since 1945. I would get into the area next morning. I was on the border at that time on the Google Maps.

(Vocabulary)
constellation viewing 星座教室
navigation officer/mate 航海士
jet-black 真っ黒な, 漆黒の

Dinner

　　Today's dinner was genuine Japanese cuisine. I was surprised to be able to have such a dinner on the ship. Lots of my friends wanted to see how was life on the cruise ship and so I'll upload some pictures of bulletin paper "Port & Starboard" and the menu of the night snack. We finished the embarkation procedure at Kutsugata port and so were able to get something in the shop without the consumption tax. The last three pictures showed me enjoying a tax-free whisky and the local fermented food of mackerel.

(Vocabulary)
Okhotsk atka mackerel ホッケ

Sunset over Russia

　　I assumed that our ship would go north through the channel between Rishiri Island and Rebun Island, but the ship turned left to the south and went around Rishiri Island counterclockwise. Why didn't the captain directly head for Sakhalin? The answer was announced by him. The announcement told us the time of sunset. I went out to the rear deck and saw the black silhouette of Mt. Rishirifuji and the sun sinking under the land of Russia. Awesome was what I call it!

Send-Off Ceremony

　　Getting on board, we rushed to the deck to say farewell to islanders who had welcomed us. I'll show you the pictures of our departure below. Some people played musical instruments, others danced the "Rishirin Ondo Dance", or shouted "See you again", or waved at us. We thought of visiting the island again. Especially, I'd like to stand on the summit of Mt. Rishirifuji and look down and around.
　　Just after the departure, we attended the briefing of the optional tour on Sakhalin, which is undoubtedly Japanese territory, but was invaded in 1945 and even now is occupied by Russia. It was regrettable that we needed our passports for landing on Sakhalin. We were offered several tours and we chose a tour which would go sightseeing to Toyohara and Oodomari.

(Vocabulary)
北緯５０度以南の樺太は日本領、したがってこのブログでは日本名を使う
Karafuto (樺太)　Sakhalin サハリン
Toyohara (豊原)　Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ユジノサハリンスク
Oodomari(大泊)　Korsakov　コルサコフ

Otatomari Lake and Mt. Rishirifuji

　　We didn't have enough time and were able to drop in only at Otatomari Lake, one of the tourist attractions on Rishiri island. The view of Mt. Rishirifuji from the lake was wonderful. "Shiroi Koibito", which means literally "white friends", is the most well-known cookie coated with white chocolate in Hokkaido and the picture printed on its package was the scene of Mt. Rishirifuji from the lake. It meant that the scenery which we were seeing was one of the representative views of Hokkaido. We'd like to stay longer there in the serene atmosphere, if possible.
　　Coming back to the port, local specialties were served on the pier for free. Sea urchin soup, and roasted scallops were distinctively great. In the cabin, two small packages of dried kelp were placed. A comical character on the package was called "Rishirin", which is used for the promotion of local products and local tourism.
　　For your information, my home of Ehime Prefecture has a character called "Mikyan". It was designed from the primary product of mandarin orange just like "Rishirin" was produced from kelp.

Historical Importance

　　Located in the northwest of Hokkaido, Rishiri Island and Rebun Island are only 19 km apart, 40 minutes by ferry. They are often referred to collectively as a group of islands, but they have completely different characteristics. Rebun Island is known for its highland plants and is called a floating island of flowers, whereas Rishiri Island is known for its manly rough terrain.
　　I learned another thing about Rishiri Island in the lecture delivered the previous night. It had lots of recorded historical facts, which means they have been not passed down as oral traditions. Mt. Rishirifuji in the following picture looks so prominent, even from afar, that it was a landmark for smugglers who were plotting to land Japan. There are tombs of samurai who were dispatched from Honshu, the biggest island in Japan, and Hokkaido to guard the border, but who weren't able to survive their mission. Their stories will be written in another entry, but now I'll note a Canadian, Ranald MacDonald (1824-1894). He was born in Canada when it was possessed by Britain, and he tried to slip into Japan, pretending that he had been shipwrecked. However, he was taken to Nagasaki, which was the only port of contact to the outer world under the isolation policy. He was really sincere and the government didn't punish him. He started working there as a native English teacher and trained several interpreters, who would be key in the following turbulent decades.
　　Japan was founded as long as 2600 years ago. During its long history, Japan has faced various difficulties which threatened the survival of the nation. Every time Japan went through those tough situations, someone amazingly emerged at the right time and saved the country. The arrival of the black ships of Commodore Perry from the States was one of those crises for Japan, because Japan didn't have enough armament against it. In the diplomatic talks at that time, the interpreters were essential.
　　A decade before his arrival, a 14-year-old boy was lost on the Pacific Ocean in fishery work and he was rescued by an American whale catcher boat. He was taken to the States, where he grew up by the courtesy of the captain of the catcher boat. After about 10 years, he came back to Japan with lots of knowledge of English, up-to-date navigation techniques, mathematics, chemistry... the list is endless. He was really gifted with a phenomenal memory. Manjiro Nakahama was his name, and he is very famous among Japanese. He appears in the textbook about Japan's history. Naturally I knew about him, but I didn't know anything about the other interpreters. I had been wondering how they were able to learn English under the isolation policy of Japan. Japan was open only to Holland in those days, so many people were able to speak in Dutch in Nagasaki, but few had the chance to learn English.
　　When I heard of Ranald MacDonald in the lecture, I considered that Manjiro Nakahama, who wound up mastering English indirectly after a shipwreck, and the Canadian smuggler, Ranald MacDonald, who ended up teaching English in Japan to several samurai, were both saviors of Japan.

(Vocabulary)
manly  男らしい, たくましい
be passed down as an oral tradition 言い伝えとして受け継がれる
from afar  遠くから
a point of contact  窓口, 連絡先
savior 《[C]通例単数形で》 (困難・危険などから) 救ってくれる人［もの］, 救世主
Rooney was hailed as the savior of the England team. ルーニーはイングランドチームの救世主としてたたえられた．
the Savior (our Savior とも) (キリストを指して) 救い主, 救世主

The last three pictures were taken in 2001. They show me and Mt. Rishirifuji.

Rebun Island

　　Our bus started for another port "Oshidomari" on Rishiri Island, which was connected to Kafuka port on Rebun Island by ferry. I had expected to see the full image of Mt. Rishirifuji on the ferry boat, but its summit was obstructed by a dense cloud.
　　On Rebun Island, we just went to the north end of the island, but fortunately, we were able to see Kaiba Island, which is called Moneron Island in Russia, and is one of the  islands associated with Karafuto Island. It seemed that it's only on a few days a year that you are able to see it with the naked eye. We were really lucky. Most of the scenic places were located on the west coast of the island, but there's no roads for buses. We didn't have enough time to walk around. We had to pass them, and it was regrettable. I'd like to visit the island again to enjoy wandering in the wilderness.
　　We came back to the port and took a lunch break. The menu was a bowl of rice topped with raw sea urchin just after harvesting without the addition of preserving agents. It was really great. Sea urchin is usually processed with sodium bicarbonate to keep its shape for distribution. However, when eating on Rebun Island, no need for the addition of any agents!

(Vocabulary)
sodium bicarbonate 重曹

Breakfast & Kutsugata Port

　　After viewing the magnificent Mt. Rishirifuji for a while, we went to the restaurant for breakfast. Mt. Rishirifuji is the iconic mountain of the island, whose shape resembles that of Mt. Fuji and the word "fuji" is contained in its name. The altitude is 1721 meters and it's not actually so high, but it rises from sea level, which makes the mountain look more noble.
　　By the way, the breakfast was great as you can imagine. We could choose one from Japanese style and Western style dishes, but you could eat both, if you wanted to. I asked for a set of Japanese style breakfast at first, and after that, I ate dishes and desserts from the buffet tables to my heart's content. As I woke up so early, I was really hungry.
　　The port where Nippon Maru was tied up was Kutsugata on the west side of the island. The passengers were welcomed by the local people. My wife and I got off the ship and got on the bus for the optional tour.
　　We attended a lecture about Rishiri and Rebun Islands delivered by a nature guide on the previous night. After the lecture, I wanted to see around Rishiri Island only due to the limitation of time, but my wife had never been to both islands, so I joined the tour for going around both islands, though the moving by ferry between both islands takes about 2 hours.

(Vocabulary)
get it all tied up 停泊する

Route of the Cruise

　　I had wrongly taken the cruise ship as just the means of moving just like planes. Look at the 1st picture. It shows Rishiri Island and the port that the ship headed for is located on the west coast of the island. I assumed that the captain turned the ship to the left, but actually the ship went up north on the right side, i.e., the east side of the island. It was supposed to take more time and fuel. Why?
　　It was not the purpose of this ship to minimize the fuel consumption or time span to the destination. I understood the intention of the captain at once. That operation must have been for passengers to see the sun coming up on the land of Hokkaido. The sunrise was utterly beautiful. The next scene was Rebun Island in the sunshine. It was also beautiful. I'll show you the point where I took pictures on the screen of my smartphone. Can you figure out the place the ship was cruising. After taking pictures, we rushed to the restaurant to start the preparation of the landing.

Wake of World War Two

　　World War Two ceased on Aug. 15th in 1945. The Japanese Government requested all the fronts to stop fighting and discard their armaments, and almost all the soldiers responded appropriately to it. However, the USSR, which is Russia at present, had already started their invasion into Japan on Aug. 9th after the atomic bombing on Hiroshima and continued their invasion after the surrender of Japan, breaching the mutual non-aggression treaty with Japan on a unilateral basis.
　　Several thousands of inhabitants on Karafuto, which is called Sakhalin in Russia, escaped from Karafuto to Otaru City, in fear of the savagery of Russians. Though the war had already been over, three non-armed passenger ships on which those people were on board, were torpedoed by Russian submarines and two of them were sunk off the coast of Rumoi City on Aug. 22nd. More than 1700 people were killed at that time. The monument for them was built in Rumoi City near the sinking point.
　　At about 4 o'clock, I went out on the deck. It was just before dawn. The ship was just passing off the coast of Rumoi City. I commemorated the victims by a moment of silence. The sea wind felt fresh. When I took a walk on the deck with a canned coffee in hand, two crew members came out of the cabin and started to sweep the floor and arm rails. They didn't work for direct service to passengers and weren't able to speak in Japanese, so I told them of the victims in English. It was new to them.
　　Just at the time, the bright sunlight came to me and a few minutes later, a half circle rainbow emerged. I realized that my sincere prayers had reached the victims.

(Vocabulary)
savagery  残忍さ, 残忍な行為;extremely cruel and violent behaviour:
北緯５０度以南の樺太は日本領、したがってこのブログでは日本名を使う
Karafuto (樺太)　Sakhalin サハリン
Toyohara (豊原)　Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ユジノサハリンスク
Oodomari(大泊)　Korsakov　コルサコフ

A Fantastic Life on the Cruise Ship

　　I noticed that I didn't leave comments for the last two pictures in the last entry. They were shot at dinner time. Abruptly a group of people, who had a guitar, a flute, or other musical instruments, came in the restaurant, singing something. It was for celebrating certain passengers who reached their birthday during the cruise and who had their 10th, 25th, and 50th wedding anniversary during the period of from 3 months ago to 3 months later. The group were serious but comical, and we enjoyed their performance. I thought that they were a makeshift band for the celebration chosen from the staff members, but it was not right. I didn't know at that time that they were a professional band who had a contract with the ship company. We enjoyed their performance after dinner in the concert hall called Dolphin Hall.
　　I wrote about the heavy rain in Otaru City, which obstructed us from going downtown for local specialities. We dropped in at the Sushi Bar "Shiosai", which had a nice and relaxed atmosphere. Having had a few items and a little Japanese sake, we left the bar for an early wake-up the next morning. We'd like to see the sunrise from the ship.

Dinner

　　Every meal is one of the most attractive events on the cruise trip. Particularly for my wife, she was keen to have it. I was asked by her to take pictures of dishes and to keep menus for future reference. She is a good cook and my everyday meal might be even better from this experience. However, waiters and waitresses weren't fully able to understand Japanese. They were from the Philippines. They could only use minimal Japanese words for serving. My wife wanted to ask something about dishes like its ingredients, cooking techniques, but they couldn't answer them at all. They didn't know the names of the materials in Japanese. There's two restaurants on the ship and another restaurant was for upper class passengers. Our restaurant was for the lower class, which was one of the reasons for such people to serve us. I asked one of the waitresses some questions in English. She knew what I meant, but she was not educated about the detail of dishes. If I were the captain of the ship or the manager of the company, I would strictly train them.
　　After dinner, we took a brief walk around the ship. There were shops, amusement facilities, bars, a beauty salon, laundry, pool, movie theater, library, tea ceremony room, etc. We could also enjoy the night view of the west coast of Hokkaido.

Evacuation Exercise & Bon Voyage Service

　　All the passengers were required to get together on the promenade deck on the 4th floor. It was the first announcement from the captain, which was about the evacuation exercise. Following his advice, my wife and I went up to the promenade deck. The place where we had reached was the 2nd lifeboat station as the following picture shows. Our boarding pass said that our boat was No.4 on the port side and we were guided to the 4th station by a crew member. Then we listened carefully to the evacuation siren. If we heard it during the cruise, that means, we were requested to be ready here to leave the ship with a lifejacket on. After we listened to the crew's lecture here, we attended the departure ceremony preformed on the opposite side.
　　Bon Voyage Service, which I heard for the first time. I didn't know what it meant. When we looked down on the starboard side, a glass of champagne was served on the deck with paper streamers. I took a green one and threw it to the land. As you see in the pictures, a local band of traditional musicians played something for our security during the cruise.
　　Now, coming back to our room and reading the day's bulletin carefully, we talked about what, when and where we should do this night.

(Vocabulary)
port side 左舷, 左側 (反）starboard side
streamer (飾りに用いる) 色テープ

 

Nippon Maru

　　It was in March when I saw the cruise ship Nippon Maru for the first time. (URL) Awesome is what I call it. I decided all at once to get on board in the coming summer vacation at that time. Hence then I stood in front of the ship with a ticket in hand.
　　I was asked to present my cruise ticket and my passport before boarding. Just after getting on board, I was ordered to deposit my passport with the ship authorities for the smooth procedure for immigration. Then, I received the day's bulletin and my boarding pass, which was used as my credit card on board, my room key, and ID card for entering and leaving the ship. The bulletin, which I'll show you on another page, told us all the information for passengers about restaurants, shops, amusement facilities, some lectures, and so on.
　　As for my room, I applied for the lowest price room, but all those rooms were fully booked as early as 6 months before the cruise. I was put on the waiting list of those rooms, but there was no cancellation. I was assigned to the second lowest priced room on the third floor. Entering the room, my suitcase was delivered, which was sent several days before from my home. I took my binoculars out of it and headed for the promenade deck.

(Vocabulary)
promenade deck (船の) 遊歩甲板, プロムナードデッキ
promenade (海岸沿いなどの幅広い) 遊歩道, プロムナード;(やや古) 散歩

Rain Again

　　It was raining in the early morning on the 3rd day. We were going around the city where lots of historic buildings and monuments exist by bus or foot. Otaru City used to be called "Wall Street in Hokkaido" in the Meiji era, from the mid-19th century to early 20th century and it was the most important city for the exploration and development of Hokkaido. The railway track in the picture was constructed the earliest in Hokkaido and is now abolished and preserved as one of the historic estates of the city, which is now a park with a walkway. The picture was shot on the way to the harbour in the afternoon. The scene of the abolished railway track reminded me of a Canadian trip with my youngest daughter in 2012. I'll show you pictures of Kensington Station on Prince Edward Island. (URL)
　　By the way, seeing the weather, we wondered where we could enjoy sightseeing in such heavy rain and finally chose the Otaru Aquarium (URL). We had a lot fun there and enjoyed riveting performances by dolphins, sea lions and penguins, though most of the shows were performed outdoors in the rain. Coming back to the city center, the rain eased and we could view tonight's hotel, plus the cruise ship Nippon Maru from Otaru Station, and we headed for the harbour.

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2012/07/guided-tour-9-kensington.html
http://uu-hokkaido.com/corporate/otaru-aq.shtml

Bulletin 9/4