Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Gaoxiong and Its Name's Origin

　　I've been to Taiwan twice, but the area which I walked around was limited to the northern district. I will visit several cities in the south some day.
　　I'll write about the big city of Gaoxiong in southern Taiwan first. This city is now one of the principal cities in Taiwan, but it was only a tiny fishery village when Japan received it from the Qing dynasty of China in 1895. Its name was something which had the meaning of "beat the dog" at that time. The Japanese government viewed the name as an unpalatable fixture of its culture and changed its name into Gaoxiong, which was cited from the historic place of Kyoto and they took it into consideration that its pronunciation in their local language didn't change that much on the flip side. The port of this city used to be a crucial naval base of the Japanese Imperial Navy and now it has the same function as the Taiwanese Navy's base.
　　Japan ruled not only Taiwan, but also Korea and the islands of Micronesia for about 30 to 50 years, but Japan's governance was far different from that of general colonies. Japan spent a significant amount of money on those countries as well as Japan built various infrastructures, provided education to local people and improved hygiene. Given the name of Gaoxiong City, you'll know Japan's policy. Let me give you some examples: Lake Victoria, Port Elizabeth, Rhodesia, the Philippines,,. These were named by the ruler or like that, ignoring the local people.
　　When Japan was founded in 660 B.C., the 1st Ten-noh declared his policy, among which he wished for the well-being of all people on the globe. An idea flashed across my mind. Problems of refugees might be a kind of punitive justice to the former suzerains. Refugees are heading to the countries where their relatives live or they can communicate with their languages.

(Vocabulary)
Qing tʃɪŋ dynasty 清朝（１６４４－１９１２）
punitive justice 因果応報
suzerain 宗主国

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。

Kurimajima Island

　　Miyakojima Island has three islands connected respectively by bridges. We were going to visit all of them, and we headed for one of them, Kurimajima Island at first. There were very few cars on the way, so I drove our car slowly to see around. The landscape around us was so beautiful. Cars run on the left side and traffic signs were the same as those of my hometown, but the natural scene was completely different from what we were used to seeing. Crossing Kurima bridge, I came across an elementary school. I imagined how the schoolkids' lives were there. Japan is a tiny country, but it has lots of climatic variations for its size.
　　We dropped in at a supermarket on the way to the next island, Irabujima Island, to see the local foods on the shelves. Two foods caught my eye there, one was raw bonito slices and the other was mimiga salad! I knew mimiga by its name, but had never eaten it. Firstly, raw bonito, we call sashimi, was great. This fish goes bad rapidly, so you must eat them on its landed day, if you like its raw state. Next, mimiga salad! It's okinawan original food and mimiga means pig's ear. It was my first time to eat it, but I liked it. If I didn't drive, I would get 'shochu', Japanese white distilled liquor to enjoy with mimiga salad. To be honest, I'd been reluctant to eat mimiga before then, but such reluctance disappeared.

　


宮古島には付属する島が３つある。それを全て見て回るつもりだった。東平安名崎を出て来間島に向かった。途中の景色が実に楽しい。日本だから左側通行だし、道路標識ももちろん松山市と何ら変わらないが、景色がエキゾチック。海がきれい、例えようもない。人口密集地を外れているので道はガラガラ。キョロキョロしながらの運転となった。来間大橋を渡って来間島へ。小さな小学校があった。この島での暮らしはどんなだろうか？小さな日本だけど、その割には変化に富んでいる。

来間島を出て伊良部島までの途中でスーパーマーケットに寄った。どんな食材が売られているのかと、、、そして、カツオの刺身とミミガーサラダを試してみた。どちらもうまかった。運転中でなければ地元の焼酎も飲んでいただろう。ミミガーはちょっと抵抗があったのだが、、、抵抗はなくなった。そして伊良部島へ渡る！

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。(^_^;)

At Sea

　　The ship proceeded to the west all day long today. We had breakfast by the window of the Pacific Ocean side, while viewing the vast expanse of the ocean. The dishes were delicious, so I had a good appetite. To be honest, my wife wondered at my appetite, because we had a snack late at night in our room, taking a few dishes out from the restaurant after the magic show. One bottle of wine per person was permitted to bring into the ship, so we had two bottles. Holidays when I don't mind clocks are great! I was never called from my office. I was out of reach of the smart phone network in the first place.
　　The weather was clear and we took a walk to help digestion on the 7th deck where we were able to walk around the ship. The walking distance was about 600 meters per cycle. Then, I went swimming and my wife went window-shopping for some time. After that, we enjoyed several kinds of performances of various instruments, like a piano, violin, flute, and so on.
　　Getting back to the central hall, the champagne tower was already built and its pouring had started. I recalled our first cruising trip during which we tried to pour for the first time in our life. It was two years ago. The picture at that time was really nice and is placed now in the living room of my house. Then we watched a movie at the last time slot of the day under the sky full of stars wrapped up in a blanket. Adjacent bars offered soft drinks and pizzas for free, i.e., included in the cruise fee. The breeze on the ocean was a little bit cool, but comfortable.

終日航海の日　朝食は太平洋側の窓際で大海原を見ながらいただく。美味しいので食が進む。昨夜はあれほど食べたのに、よくまた食べられるものだと驚く。昨夜の記事には書いていないが、レストランから３品ほど持ち出して、自室で持ち込んだワインで２次会。カミさんが呆れていたことは書くまでもない。何時に起きても良い休日は最高。職場から呼び出されることもない。元より携帯電話は通じない。

食べ過ぎたので、７階のデッキを散歩。船の周りを一周するとやく６００メートル、そしてプールへ。さすがに泳いでいる人は少なかったが、食べてばかりでは太るので、、、。デッキに立っていると寒いけどプールの中やジャグジーは快適。他の乗客と話をするのも楽しい。ウインドウショッピングをしていたカミさんと合流していくつかのコンサートをハシゴ。中央のホールへ戻ってみるとシャンペンタワー！　２年半前にはこれに参加したなあとなつかしく思いだした。そのときの写真は良い記念になった。我が家のリビングに飾ってある。ショーの後は最上部のデッキで映画鑑賞。満天の星空の下、毛布にくるまって、無料の（クルーズ料金に含まれている）ピザと珈琲を楽しみながら。太平洋上の風が心地よい。少し寒かったけれど。

Embarkation

　　We finished all the procedures of embarkation and entered our room. Our luggage wasn't there. It would take time for us to get it. We checked tonight's event schedule and started out for the ship tour. While walking, I recalled every corner of the ship. It was two and half years since the last time. I realized that the best thing I had to do in this time slot was viewing the night view of Yokohama City from the sea. We climbed up to the deck to see the departure ceremony. It was my first time to see the scenery of the city from on the sea. It was so nice. Several people were swimming, but we headed for the restaurant for dinner. Another helping was free and I ordered two kinds of main dishes omitting the appetizer. Such a flexibility was really thankful to me as I'm a kind of chowhound. I scarfed them down not to be late for the magic show. I'm not LGBTQ+, but I was just curious about their meeting scheduled at 9:30 pm, but refrained from it.

(Vocabulary)
scarf down (inf)　〈食べ物〉を急いで食べる

　部屋に入ったがチェックイン時に預けた荷物はまだ届いておらず、今宵のイベント案内をチェックした後、船内探検に出発。歩いているうちにだんだんと地理を思い出した。この時間帯はやはり出港風景を見なくてはと思い、最上階へ。横浜の夜景を海から見るのは初めてだった。とても美しい夜景だった。すでに泳いでいる人もいたが、われわれはレストランへ。お代わり自由ということでメインディッシュをお代わり、、(^_^;)　そしてマジックショーを見て、、、LGBTQ+の集いに興味があったが、、、会場の前まで言ったが、、、立ち入る勇気は無かった。

Japan Coast Guard Archives

　　Next, we visited the Japan Coast Guard Archives to see the North Korea Spy Ship Exhibit. I felt indescribable anger at North Korea. Pictures inside were prohibited and I'll show you its outside view below. Being more than two hours left until our boarding time, we took a free shuttle bus which went round the principal places in the pier area to kill time. The scenes from the window were fun. Chinatown was murderously packed. As we were thinking of having lunch there at first, we were lucky to drop in at Hammer Head Park for lunch.

そして北朝鮮の工作船を展示してる資料館を見つけて入ってみた。彼らの悪辣さに改めて怒りを覚えた。ダイヤモンド・プリンセスの乗船時刻を待つ間、時間潰しに港の主な場所を廻る観光バスに乗ってみた。チャイナタウンの混みように驚いた。ここへ食事に行こうと考えていたのだが、ハンマーヘッドに変更して正解だった。

Former Yokohama Custom-House

　　The brilliant sea and comfortable sea breeze tempted us to walk around the pier and we found ourselves in front of the remains of the center office of the Customs House Annex. I had visited Yokohama before, but I didn't know about this remains. Japan, which had kept its trade-restriction policy for about 300 years, put an end to it during the Meiji Restoration and Yokohama was opened to overseas. Yokohama has still its nostalgic atmosphere as one of the oldest international trading ports. This building was destroyed by the huge earthquake and ensuing fire which occurred in 1923. FYI, the day of the earthquake, Sep. 1st is now designated as the disaster drill day. The basis of the building was left and buried at that time. Later, it was dug out and set to the center of the historic park.

(Vocabulary)
ensue (結果として) 生じる, 起こる;(ある出来事のあとに) 続いて起こる
ensue from sth ＜…＞の結果として生じる

で、フラフラと歩いていたら横浜税関跡にいた。横浜は何度か来ているが、このような史跡があったとは知らなかった。在りし日の風景を思い浮かべながら散歩。長く貿易制限を設けていた日本が広く海外に門戸を開いたとき、横浜は開港された。長い歴史がある。この建物は１９２３年９月１日の大地震とそれに続く火災により破壊され、復旧されないまま埋められていた。 因みに、９月１日は防災の日と定められ、避難訓練が行われている。

Yokohama

　　We were told to get together at the Diamond Princess's mother pier in Yokohama City at the designated time. The higher rooms you booked, the earlier you could get on board, just like passenger planes, but our room was the lowest class but one, so our checking time was late and set around 1600 hours. Being eager to see the ship as early as possible, however, we left my hometown in the early morning. When we got off the bus from Haneda Airport at the Yokohama pier stop, we found lots of tourists with suitcases walking from the direction of the pier. They would have been the passengers on the last cruise. The enormous ship came into my sight, as I was approaching the pier. I was excited, thinking of getting on board again. A big event, replicating the German-style Christmas, was being held in the nearby park. One single thing which I had to do this day was to get on board the Diamond Princess. I wouldn't drive, so I got sausages and a mug filled with German beer without a second thought.
　　Next, we headed for Hammer Head Park, which was still under construction. My wife wanted to drop in at a pizza house in the park. I didn't know its name, but the pizzas were delicious.

出港は横浜から。早い便で到着し、埠頭の周辺を観光した。埠頭へ向かうと、船から降りてくる人たちの一団に出会い、また巨大な船が見えてきた。また乗るのだと思うとワクワクする。近くの広場ではドイツのクリスマスマーケットを模したイベントが行われていた。今日の予定は船に乗り込むだけ。車の運転などない。ということで、ビールとソーセージ！
　
次に向かったのが、建設中のハンマーヘッド公園。ここにあるピザ屋に立ち寄りたいというカミさんの強い希望で。店の名前を画像で記録。とても美味しかった。