Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Trip to the World of Japanese Mythology

　　Japan is an unbelievable nation. Imagine that direct descendant of Romulus and Remus, who are said to have been raised by wolves and founded Rome in Roman mythology, and a lineal one of Zeus, who appears in Greek mythology, are the present emperors of Italy and Greece respectively. Isn't it incredible? Japan's Ten-noh is such a being, the genuine descendant of the founder of Japan, Jinmu Ten-noh. The lineage has been linked without any interval. For your information, the foundation of Rome, Greece and Japan was roughly in the same period, 7th century BC. The other day, an attractive trip plan was put together by my friend, traveling to the places that appear in Japanese mythology. We set out for an isolated mountainous area in Shimane Prefecture which has the legend of the monster, "Yamata no Orochi". The detail of the story is written here(link).
　　Naturally, we dropped in at several tourist spots on the way. One of the group members was familiar with Shimane and the adjacent Tottori Prefectures and lead us to nice places. I think you can enjoy my pictures in this and following entries.
　　In recent years there is a funny move of local airports in Japan. Several small airports, which are suffering from the decrease of passengers, have tended to name themselves after their local characteristics for promotional measures. Tottori Prefecture is the birthplace of a noted manga artist, who created dozens of yokai, which are like a goblin, fairy, spirit or something like that, and named its airport as Yonago Kitaro Airport. Kitaro is the main character of yokai's stories and Kitaro is mounting the plane in the pictures.

(Vocabulary)
promotional measures 振興策

Itsukushima Shrine, World Cultural Heritage

　　On the way back from my nephew's wedding ceremony, we dropped in at Itsukushima Shrine. Shrines are dedicated to the deities of Shinto, Japan's ancient religion. It's said that Japan has around 80,000 shrines. People visit shrines on important occasions to make wishes and to offer thanks. Shrines take various forms in different locations, and they are home to many different deities.
　　Itsukushima Shrine stands on a small island and the island on which it's located is known as one of the three most beautiful scenic spots in Japan. This shrine is built out over the sea, and the gods of the sea are the object of worship. When we visited, the tide was low and people were walking on the sacred grounds, as you can see in the following pictures.
　　The large, red and wooden structure in the picture is called "Torii", which is the gate of the shrine. Once you pass under this gate, the torii, you are in a sacred realm.
　　By the way, do you know why the torii was built in the sea? In ancient days, Itsukushima Shrine was designed combined with the island and the whole island was thought to be sacred. The torii was the gate of the island as seen from the mainland. In the old days, people reached the shrine by boat.

SLK200

　　Today's story goes back to the Imported Car Exhibition (link) which was held on Feb. 1st. Several cars attracted me at the event and one of them was the SLK200 from Mercedes-Benz. A Lions Club acquaintance was there, who was also the head of the sales division of Mercedes-Benz Ehime. He told me that the dealer would allow me take it for a test drive for two three days. I didn't believe that, because the car was so expensive. I thought it was just sales patter, but.....
　　By the way, one of my nephews was going to have a wedding party in Yamaguchi City on Apr. 25th, which was 5 hours' drive if only by car or 2 hours' drive and 3 hours' sea trip from here. When I was thinking about the route, I remembered the salesman's words. I reconfirmed his words, which would allow me to drive the SLK200 shown in the first picture of the previous entry(link). His words finally weren't false. I was able to use the car for a 2-day trip to Yamaguchi City. I was going to drive the car in various conditions, so I chose normal roads and a ferry on the way to Yamaguchi and a highway on the way back.
　　I was really impressed by its function. First of all, it was extremely comfortable to drive a car without the roof. To my surprise, the roof was removed by a simple pull of a lever. (To be continued later)

(Vocabulary)
patter 　(セールスマン・芸人などの) 早口のおしゃべり［口上］
sales patter （セールスマンの）売り込み口上

Potsdam, Auschwitz and Yalta

　　I've been planning a trip with my second daughter to Europe this fall. She will graduate from a grad school next spring and this fall would be the last opportunity to make a trip with her. All in all in Japan, after getting a job, it will not be easy for newcomers to take a vacation as long as and anytime they like.
　　I've been to southern Germany three times, a total of three weeks and I'd like to visit the northern part of Germany next time. I have many places I want to visit, and I chose the Second World War related places this time, like Potsdam, the ruins of the Berlin Wall, Auschwitz in Poland and Yalta in Ukraine. The moving distance in the EU would be longer than before and the cost of the trip would be also high. I have to minimize the cost of hotels and meals. My second daughter can speak German. She is handy and essential on the trip. Naturally, I know about the political upset in Ukraine. I really hope that their issues will be settled in the best way. If not, I'll visit the Polish historic city of Cracow not Yalta, which I think is like Kyoto in Japan, and learn about Polish history in one of the World Cultural Heritage Sites.
　　The last issue is to save money and take a vacation from my boss because my hospital hasn't enough human resources.

(Vocabulary)
the Potsdam Declaration ポツダム宣言《1945》
Auschwitz アウシュビッツ《ポーランド南西部の工業都市；同市郊外にはナチスのユダヤ人強制収容所があった》
the Yalta Conference ヤルタ会談
Cracow  クラクフ 〔ポーランド南部のビスワ川沿いにある古都。１１世紀から１６世紀まではポーランド王国の首都だった。旧市街は世界遺産に指定されている。〕

Mandarin Chinese

　　When I visited Vancouver last time, which was two years ago, the departure of my flight from Vancouver was delayed and moreover the plane couldn't land in Japan due to a furious wind. I was supposed to arrive at Narita International Airport, but the plane couldn't land, not only in Narita but in any other airport in Japan. My plane had to stop over in Seoul and I was stranded there for a day.
　　Back to the track, I dropped in at a Chinese restaurant for lunch, which was located in Chinatown in Vancouver before departure. Lots of the same Kanji characters are used in Japan and China, but to my regret, I couldn't confidently understand the name of the dishes on the menu, though it was written using Kanji characters. I've heard most Chinese people in Vancouver came from Hong Kong and so the language on the menu might be Cantonese. However, I silently decided to start learning Mandarin at that time and two years have passed since then.
　　Today, I finished a 2-year curriculum of Mandarin Chinese in a nearby private school. My present Chinese level is only that of fundamental beginners, but I'll continue to learn it. Next time I'll visit the same restaurant, and I'm going to order what I want to eat IN CHINESE! I can manage to read Chinese news websites with the help of dictionaries and I'm very pleased with the sense of attainment of a basic understanding of Chinese.

Hachijojima Insel 2

          Am Morgen des letzten Tages sagte der Wirt der Privatpension, dass am Nachmittag das Wetter sich verschlechtere. Da wir den letzten Flug benutzen wollte, gingen wir sofort zum Flughafen, damit wir unsere Reservierung ändern könnten. Der kleine Flughafen wimmelte von Passagieren. Als wir den Flughafen erreichten, waren alle Flüge nach Tokyo schon wegen starken Windes abgesagt worden. Laut Angestellte vom Flughafen, war es ungewiss, ob das Schiff nach Tokyo abfahren könne. Wegen des schlechten Wetters, hatte das Schiff aus Tokyo eine Stunde Verspätung. Wir gingen gleich zum Hafen. Am Hafen sagte eine Angestellte, es wurde entschieden, dass das Schiff nach Tokyo fahren würde. Das Schiff war nicht so groß, wie ich gedacht hatte. Statt 50 minuten Flug, hatten wir jetzt 11 Stunden Seefahrt vor uns. Das war das zweite Mal, dass ich auf dem Pazifik eine Seefahrt gemacht habe. Das erste Mal war der Ozean ruhig, aber dieses Mal, war es wie in der Hölle. Der Wind stürmte heftig. Ich lag auf dem Bett ruhig da, die Augen geschlossen. Als das Schiff in die Bucht von Tokyo fuhr, wurden die Wellen ruhig und ich fühlte mich wieder wohl.


verschlechtern 悪くする　sich~ 悪くなる    ändern  変える
wimmeln  swarm      der Passagier -s/-e
erreichen  reach     wegen  ２格支配
der Wind  -(e)s/-e  wind      ab/sagen  cancel
ungewiss  uncertain  不確かな　確信が持てない
heftig  激しい、猛烈な　　stürmen　吹き荒れる
liegen lag gelegen         die Bucht -/-en bay
die Welle -/-n  wave 

Hachijojima Insel

    Ich machte Urlaub in deisem Monat. Ich hatte vielen Meilen gesammelt, und ich bekam kostenlos Tickets für vier Strecken von ANA. Also, ich habe meiner Frau den Vorschlag gemacht, in die südlichste Insel von Tokyo zu fahren, die wir mit dem Flugzeug erreichen können. Die Insel, die wir besucht haben, is Hachijo-jima. Die Insel, die ein subtropisches Klima hat, liegt 300 km südlich von Tokyo und besteht aus zwei Vulkanen. Hachijojima ist reich an heißen Quellen und die elektrische Energie, die die Insel braucht, wird meistens aus geothermischer Energie versorgt. Diese Insel ist wegen ihrer Verlassenheit seit dem 16. Jahrhundert berühmt. Die Leute, die aus jedem Land vertreiben wurden, hat man in diese Insel transportiert. Vertriebene waren zum Teil Verbrecher, aber die meisten waren nur leichte Verbrecher oder sogarunschuldig. Diese Leute haben viele historische Spuren hinterlassen, die jetzt ein Teil der Kulturerbe sind, was jetzt viele Leute interessiert. Wir wollten drei Tage auf der Insel bleiben, aber das Wetter ist umgeschlägen. Am fünften März, wann wir zurückkommen wollten, war unser Flug abgesagt.

........


versorgen  supply
Verbrecher   criminal
die Unschuld   innocence
die Spur   track, trace
das Erbe  inheritance
auf/hören   stop
um/schlagen  weather go bad
ab/sagen  cancel

Another Target for Trip

　　The rolling and pitching of the ship got smaller after the ship had entered into Tokyo Bay. However, even though I got freed from the high waves, I didn't immediately regain my power. We had an appointment on the day to visit a Japanese sake bar in Kagurazaka in Tokyo, but I couldn't. Our ship was delayed by an hour in the night and this wasn't the only reason that I didn't visit the bar. My sea sickness was actually so serious that I struggled to reach our usual hotel. So tired!
　　On the next day, I recovered completely, and took a walk around the bay area in Tokyo. This area is supposed to be renovated for the 2020 Olympics and our eldest daughter's office is also located in the area. We enjoyed sightseeing around the area with our daughter.
　　When I got off the ship on the previous night, I picked several tour pamphlets up inviting people to Ogasawara Islands, called Bonin Islands in English. During the flight to my hometown, I flicked through them. Those islands are 1000km south of Tokyo, 3-4 times farther than Hachijojima island and there are no flights between those islands and Tokyo. It takes 25 hours to visit the islands by ship. However, I became eager to see those islands in spite of having had serious sea sickness the previous night.

Eleven Hours' Confinement

　　I'm not accustomed to staying in a boat on furious waves. I've gotton on board only in calm waters like the Seto Inland Sea. What dramatically increased my fear was the length of the voyage to Tokyo. It was 11 hours! An announcement piled on my fear after that, which told me that the voyage was conditional. It meant that the ship might stop its service on the way in case of the weather worsening. We were supposed to drop in at two islands, Mikurajima and Miyakejima, on the way. It meant the wave height would get higher.
　　We decided to use the higher class cabin, which is shown below. I thought I would throw up due to sea sickness and cause trouble to other passengers if in a big cabin. I also wanted to be lying near the toilet.
　　I had nothing to do but lie on the bed with eyes closed. A Japanese word "shimanuke" suddenly came to mind. During the 270 years of the Edo period, "shimanuke" was attempted 18 times and only once was successfully done. "Shimanuke" corresponds to "escape" in English. The escape from Hachijojima island by a small boat without engines, GPS system and enough preserved food and water must have been harsh work, even more from Alcatraz Island.
　　I'll show you the pictures of two islands, Mikurajima and Miyakejima. Only when the ship entered inside the breakwater, could I stand and take these pictures.

(Vocabulary)
come/spring/leap to mind (突然) 頭［心］に浮かぶ, 思い出される
call/bring sth to mind ＜…＞を思い出させる
The taste of cold beer calls to mind a hot summer's day. 冷たいビールの味は暑い夏の日を思い出させる．

Sea Trip

　　On the last day, we were scheduled to fly into Tokyo by the last flight and were going to enjoy sightseeing and shopping for something original from the island until the departure.
　　At breakfast, however, the homeowner told us that the first flight had been cancelled due to the strong wind and the weather would get worse toward evening. Hearing that news, as soon as we finished breakfast, we rushed to the airport to get the latest information. On arriving at the airport, we heard an announcement, which told us about the cancellation of all flights of the day. Another means of transport was a ship. We went to the harbor to get the schedule of the ship connecting between the island and Tokyo.
　　The passenger and cargo ship from Tokyo was delayed by about an hour due to the bad weather and hadn't yet arrived at the pier when I reached the harbor. The next schedule wasn't yet determined. The company personnel told me that the ship would be somewhat rolling if it departed. I was scared to hear that. I gave up coming back to Tokyo at that time, but, to my surprise, the ship was to depart just after the loading and unloading of the cargos. "Is it safe?!" I trusted the consideration by professionals and got on board.
　　I'll write about my dreadful sea travel in the next article.

Black Rocks

　　Hachijojima island was born through two volcanic activities and its unique terrain reveals how huge the eruption was. You'll see the black beach in the first picture, which was formed by the lava from Hachijo-fuji. The island in the distance is Hachijo-koshima island.

Hachijojima's Culture and Traditions

　　Although Hachijojima island is located in the Tokyo metropolitan administrative area, it is a tiny and remote island on the Pacific Ocean. However, it has been developed by people who were confined here a few centuries ago by the authorities of those days whether or not they were guilty. Some of them were so sophisticated and talented that their activities ended up shaping the traditions of the island.
　　We visited an old folks' dwelling, called Hattori Yashiki, which is now utilized as the museum of the island's traditional arts and crafts. We also enjoyed  the island's folk music there performed by Hachijojimaites with a Japanese drum. Look at the fence of the entrance. Without cement, small round stones were beautifully and securely piled up by an artisan's highly accomplished skills. There must have been several huge earthquakes on this island too, but the fence was still intact. Amazing!
　　The last picture was shot at a tourist attraction, Furusato Village, which showed rebuilt old houses and lifestyles of the Edo period (17~19th century). There were no other tourists and we could see them at our own pace.

(Vocabulary)
dwelling (フォーマル) 住居, 住宅
highly accomplished  高度に熟練した, 非常に優れた

2nd Day in Hachijojima

　　We drove to the area called Nago and found a monument on the cliff looking down on the Pacific Ocean. It was to honor the deceased young soldiers who were trained to perform suicide attacks to defend the capital of Japan. They were designated to drive a small boat on which a bomb was loaded and rush the military vessels.
　　I had come across this kind of monument everywhere across the country. Who wanted to wage wars in World War II? No more war! I muttered to myself.

Wandering Around Minshuku

　　I walked for some time until dinner around our minshuku, roughly Japan's B&B, carrying my camera. Look at the following pictures. This island was born from two volcanic activities and has been rich in geothermal resources. I found steam rising up from the forest and it was from the geothermal power plant. A wind turbine was near the plant. A set of two towers on the top of which a ball-shaped thing was set was the facility for air traffic control. Wandering strange areas is really fun. In some area, fluorescent mushrooms seemed to be cultivated. As for plants, wild aloe was found everywhere and I saw lots of subtropical plants grown here and there, whose name I didn't know then, but I learned the plant's name was Phoenix roebelenii at Hachijojim Gardening Technical Center on the next day. The amount of production of Phoenix roebelenii in this tiny island is apparently No.1 in the world.

(Vocabulary)
foliage plant/house plant/leafy plant  観葉植物
Phoenix roebelenii  フェニックス・ロベレニー

Rain Forest

　　Japan is rich in hot springs and this tiny island also has several. We went to the farthest south of the island to use a footbath, which was run by local government and was free. While I soaked my feet in the hot water under the subtropical strong sunshine looking over the horizon, sweat came out of my body.
　　Next, we took a walk in the midst of the rain forest. A waterfall behind which we could step was the main feature of this area. It was comfortable for a heated body. I came across a ruined shrine on the way, whose approach was so steep that my wife didn't climb up for fear of losing her balance. Though it was simply constructed only by round stones, its stability was amazing. Japan is an earthquake country!
　　We took a type of hotel called minshuku, which provides room and board at low prices, and has a good reputation, due to the warm family hospitality provided. I asked for local cuisine for dinner in advance and "shima sushi" was served for the first dinner. In shima sushi, not the raw fish but marinated pieces of fish were topped on the handful shaped rice. Their color didn't work up an appetite, but they were really delicious.

(Vocabulary)
marinate ~ in a mixture of …を混ぜ合わせたものに～を漬け込む
give sb an appetite  ＜人＞の食欲を刺激する
work up an appetite  食欲をわかせる

Hideie Ukita (宇喜多秀家)

　　It's difficult to describe things in English which are relevant to Japan's unique and traditional culture and don't exist overseas, but I'll try! Japan had a 260 year peaceful period in its history. It's called the Edo Period, which started in 1603 and ended in 1968. There was only one civil war. Over the course of the Edo Period, Japan made remarkable progress culturally and technically. Ieyasu Tokugawa had laid down the basis of the period, and Hideie Ukita was one of his opponents. However, he was known for his sincerity and was very popular with ordinary people. That's why he wasn't executed and was expelled from his land to Hachijojima Island.
　　His homeland is a part of the area which we call Okayama Prefecture today. I lived in Okayama Prefecture during my medical student days and my wife came from the prefecture. After seeing the overview of the island from a higher place, we visited his tomb.
　　He was such a person that he was endeared by the island inhabitants. He wasn't permitted to be accompanied by his wife and his statue on the island was set with his wife facing his homeland, Okayama City. The mountain behind them is Hachijo Fuji.
　　40 years later, a fishing boat which was from his homeland was shipwrecked on the island and he asked the fisherman about his homeland and handed him several papers on which his own poems were written. These papers are now preserved in a museum in Okayama Prefecture.

Hachijojima Island

　　It takes an hour and a half from my home to Tokyo and 50 minutes from Tokyo to Hachijojima Island. As soon as we arrived on the island at about 13:00 hours, we rented a car near the airport and headed up the mountain, called Hachijo Fuji, whose height above sea level is 854 meters. You might know Mt. Fuji and its shape. Lots of mountains whose shape resembles Mt. Fuji are named as blah blah fuji and those mountains can be found across the country. The highest mountain on the island looks like Mt. Fuji and is called Hachijo Fuji.
　　A circular road is set at the altitude of 700 meters and you can reach there by car. You can climb up to the summit from there, if you want. I really wanted to see the 360-degree panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean without any obstacles as well as its crater, but above the road was clouded. We hoped the weather would get better the next day, but we couldn't see the summit of Hachijo Fuji during our stay.
　　After coming down the mountain, we visited a tomb in which the first person exiled to the island was buried. His name is Hideie Ukita, who was a noted warlord in the period of 16th century. I'll write about him in the next entry.
　　The picture shows the pasture on the slope of Hachijo Fuji and Hachijojima Airport.

Mileage Accumulated

　　My wife and I put everything on our credit cards if they can be used. As you might notice, we are accumulating frequent flier points of a Japanese airline company, All Nippon Airways (ANA), by using the cards even for daily purchases. My daughter and I made a trip to Germany and Italy last autumn by ANA and Lufthansa, which is a member of the Star Alliance along with ANA and this trip brought in lots of mileage points. It attained the equivalent of four domestic flights' tickets.
　　I'll have a week off in March. I was wondering where to visit this March seeing a map of the whole of Japan, and a small island in Tokyo caught my eye. Needless to add, Tokyo is the capital of Japan, but it has several islands in its executive area. The name of the island that attracted me is Hachijojima, which is located far south of Tokyo and is well-known as an island of transportation since 16th century.
　　Hachijojima island is a volcanic island in the subtropical area. Though it is so small and isolated in the south of Japan, it had appeared in Japan's history by 16th century at the latest. It has vast cultural and natural resources, and it's also noted as the place for scuba diving, fishing and observing land features made by the volcanic activities.

(Vocabulary)
put sth on your credit card ＜商品＞をクレジットカードで買う
transportation  (old use) the punishment of sending a criminal to a distant country
by __ at the latest 遅くとも＿年までに

Two Special Tours

　　A former university professor, who taught me pathology 3 decades ago, retired last year and set off on a 45- day overland truck tour in South America last December. He came back all in one piece a few days ago. He started his trip from Peru and reached Chile through Bolivia and Argentina. He uploaded pictures taken at the places he visited onto Facebook, so I looked for his present position on Google maps and enjoyed his pictures.
　　I read a story of another long journey in National Geographic Vol.12 in 2013. A journalist is still continuing his 7-year colossal journey, which started on Jan. 13th, 2013 ON FOOT! He left Ethiopia, in which human kind are said to be born, and from there it extended to all over the globe. He is tracing our far distant ancestors' route from Ethiopia to Tierra del Fuego in Chile. If you are interested in his journey, you can see where he is right now, here (link).
　　Both journeys are really wonderful. I'd like to visit various places on the globe in the near future.

http://outofedenwalk.nationalgeographic.com/

(Vocabulary)
overland    across land, not by sea or air:
They plan to travel overland to China.
colossal (程度・数量などが) 膨大な, ばく大な, 途方もない, けたはずれの
trace 〈歴史・発展など〉 の軌跡をたどる
The book traces the dictator's rise to power. その本は独裁者が権力の座に就くまでの軌跡をたどっている．
Tierra del Fuego ティエラ・デル・フエゴ  南アメリカ大陸南端部に位置する諸島。

Return Home

　　I returned home from Europe on Nov. 21st. The trip was really enjoyable. The route was like this; I flew into Frankfurt at first and moved to Freiburg, stayed there for three nights, then moved to Florence via Frankfurt, Rome, and came back to Japan via Munchen. I'm going to write about my trip since now and arrange the entries in chronological order later. I visited Freiburg for the third time and ended up staying in Freiburg for about 10 days in total, in spring, summer and this late autumn. My impression was unchanged even in this cold season. People in Freiburg were welcoming us with warmheartedness. I'll write about the reception party, too.
　　I intended to start writing the entries just after coming back, but I was suffering from heavy jet lag. I feel worse in the eastward direction rather than in the westward ones. I like Whistler in Canada and had gone skiing there many times. Every time I visited Whistler, I couldn't enjoy skiing to my satisfaction due to the jet lag for the first two or three days. I tried a variety of remedies for it, some medicine, alcohol drinking, over sleeping, or less sleep to adjust my physical clock to Pacific time, but in vain.
　　Anyway, I'm recovering now and will start. I took lots of pictures and had various experience on the trip. I'll mention my feeling or opinion, even though they are different from general ones.

(Vocabulary)
in chronological order  時系列で