By Avi Landau

On March 11th, miles beneath the Pacific Ocean floor off the shore of North-Eastern Honshu (the largest of the Japanese Isles), the tectonic plates which meet there shifted, suddenly and dramatically. This movement sent a geological shock wave through the region, resulting in one of the most powerfull earthquakes EVER recorded, and in a devastiting tsunami, as well.

More than a week has passed since that fateful day, and still the earth has not settled into a comfortable position. That means that there have been aftershocks of varying degrees of force several times everyday. We have grown so accustomed to them by now, that  we dont give a second thought to the slight tremors. We have even grown numb to the larger shocks,  many of which, if it were  before March 11th would have been considered big earthquakes in their own right.

Whether they are frightening or not, these aftershocks can have a disrupting effect on some: dizziness- something  very much like seasickness.

In fact, I was a victim of this phenomenon today, just after a hardly noticeable tremor ( I guess the building I was in must have been swaying alot). I felt like I would lose my balance, and maybe even throw up.

When I told my friend about my sudden symptoms, she told me how to get rid of the feeling using self applied ACUPRESSURE and a special ( yet simple) form of breathing.

Since it worked for me right away, I thought I should share the technique with you- since there are probably many more aftershocks in store for us in the near future.

Here is what you do:

Use the index fingers of both hands to press at the base of your skull. This is an important pressure point ( tsubo) in oriental medicine called the BON NO KUBO in Japanese ( see photo above for exact location).

While applying firm pressure, breathe in through your nose for a five second  count.

Then, breathe out your mouth while you count to ten.

And...... thats all!

It should do the trick!

So even though the ground beneath our feet has still not settled down- you can keep your head from spinning using this simple, natural, and very effective  technique.

For more on what the impact of the earthquake on Tsukuba has been like, read my onrunning TsukuBlog Post ( detailing the earthquake itself, as it was felt in Tsukuba, and the following two weeks):

http://blog.alientimes.org/2011/03/tsukuba-and-everyone-in-it-greatly-shaken-up-by-strongest-earthquake-ever-recorded-in-this-area/

12 Comments

• At March 24, 2011, Dan Waldhoff wrote:

  Aloha Avi and Welcome Back!

  Happy to know that you still have your typing fingers - as do we.

  Your message is timely because I was quite off balance today and thinking of a Hitchcock vertigo scene while wondering what deep, deep motion had triggered it. I had just stood up to move from one room to another and hadn't felt a tremor.

  Thanks,

  Dan

• At March 25, 2011, kaori kakuta wrote:

  Hi,Avi

  I was really relieved when I knew you and your family are safe by reading your survival story on this blog.

  And today’s information is helpful for me,because my mother has trouble of dizziness recently. After the earthquake, she fell over a step,and hit her shin.I try it for her as soon as possible.

  I am looking forward to seeing you in April!

  Please take good care of yourself.

  Kaori

• At March 25, 2011, daliza wrote:

  Hi Avi,

  I have been a silent reader for almost a year, but today, I must say thank you, Thank you for not being selfish, and keep sharing your experience living in Tsukuba.

  After March 11, i notice i become dizzy easily. My method is simply going to bed and get some sleep.:))

• At March 26, 2011, Mamoru Shimizu wrote:

  Thank you Av-san! Now I feel easy I am not an only person feeling DIZZINESS also knew how to cure. I have been thinking my stocked Sake of every night-friend became stronger while swaying.

• At March 26, 2011, alice wrote:

  How's the water situation at your place? In Yokohama, bottled mineral water are already sold out. I am down to my last box of tissue due to the heavy bouts of hay fever in my family. Substituting toilet paper for tissues. As soon as the stock comes in, it's snapped up and one customer can only buy one item at a drugstore near my place - either a twelve-roll toilet paper or a five-box tissue paper. Hubby came home with toilet paper only.

• At March 27, 2011, ginni-California North Coast wrote:

  Hello - Avi & All!!!

  ~ from the North Coast of California, USA ~

  It's SO Good to hear your voice!!!

  We are thinking of you All The Time, and our hearts are with you every moment. Listening to the news all day every day, googling for Tsukuba & Ibaraki - waiting & hoping to see you post again - I've been SO Worried about you all. I'm Very Glad you are mostly safe - but just the thought of all those aftershocks makes *me* dizzy! Thanks for the acupressure - I tend to be kinda "dizzy" myself sometimes... har.

  We are especially sad here in my hometown, as our Sister City, Otsuchi has been devastated... We share the same latitude, and the Bay is more lovely even than ours. Now I can barely stand to look at it... Any info/images of Otsuchi are Greatly Appreciated - Avi has my e-mail address, so please send to him. Our prayers are with you constantly. Sending You Much Comfort, Compassion, Friendship.

  loads o' gentle love,

  from "The Other Edge"

  ginni

  aka 'Flower Mountain'

  [please send kanji & pronunciation? oh, thanks forever thanks!]

  please, if convenient - I'm very interested in the area of Matsushima Bay, its exceptional beauty, culture, temples, etc. I've tried to google for lovely images and also for news of the outcome there of the quake & tsunami. Can anyone provide a few good links for me about Matsushima? !Arigato!

  Please Take VERY GOOD CARE of Your Sweet Selves.

• At March 27, 2011, alice wrote:

  Hi Ginni,

  Here are some reports from The Mainichi Daily News. You can search up more by typing the town's name.

  http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110325p2a00m0na012000c.html

  http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110324p2a00m0na029000c.html

  http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110326p2a00m0na010000c.html

  http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110324p2a00m0na023000c.html

  http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110322p2a00m0na011000c.html

  http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110322p2a00m0na013000c.html

• At March 27, 2011, Mamoru Shimizu wrote:

  Alice-san

  Near the area in which I live in Tsukuba,

  Two supermarkets are selling 2 liter Pet-bottles of water, one or two for each customer, with a written explanation about the situation. The situation is better compared to yesterday (sold out). Toilet paper is in full stock, with no limits on sales.

  It reminds me of 1973, when the Yom Kippur War ( The Fourth Middle Eastern War, in Japanese) broke out, and the oil embargo occurred. At that time people rushed to buy toilet paper and detergent even though they had no connection at all to oil. A toilet-paper panic.

  In our house we always keep some stock of these materials for this kind of disaster (common sense for some Japanese people like my elder daughter who is extremely earthquake-savvy: we felt much gratitude for her help at this time).

• At March 27, 2011, Mamoru Shimizu wrote:

  The Mayor of Otsuchi Town in Iwate Prefecture, Mr. Kato Koki was found dead after the earthquake on March 20th.

  • According to the Iwate Prefectural Government, there are 463 persons are dead and 1032 missing from the town. In addition, 5992 person’s are taking shelter in 41 different asylums. There is great damage all over the town. The 3 story high hospital which was damaged by the Tsunami up to the second floor could not be used.

  • Almost all houses in the town were severely damaged.

  • A relief headquarters has been set up at the central town hall.

  • Only a small area has electric power now. There is no water supply system working in the city.

  • Telephones are working in some areas.

  • The towns roads have been knocked out and it is only possible to leave in one direction.

• At March 29, 2011, MioL wrote:

  Hello Mamoru san. I learned today that the evacuees staying at the kokusaikaigijo in Tsukuba have been told to leave Tsukuba by April 1st. They can go to Ryugasaki if they need.

  What is the situation at the Doho koen gymnasium? Must the evacuees leave there also.

• At March 29, 2011, Mamoru Shimizu wrote:

  Miol-san

  There is no request that the evacuees in The Doho-koen gymnasium leave.. But they will not accept any more evacuees. Ibaraki prefectural goverment is responsible for these matters.

  So I do not know any detail yet.

• At April 10, 2011, Mamoru Shimizu wrote:

  The Doho Koen gymnasium for evacuees will be closed as of April　17th. At present there are 31 evacuees staying there and they will have to leave by then and finf a suitable hotels(if they have lost houses) or Ryugasaki-city's Tatsunoko-arena(I made a research and found that 21 evauees are staying there). I do not like this decision by Tsukuba City Hall. Why cant they wait not until the nuclear plant situation is under control. If I were an evacuee from Iwaki-city I would have to choose to go back to Iwaki because I wouldnt have any way of knowing about Tatsunoko-arena because the officers of Tsukuba do not explain about it. Apparently they do not even know about it. Nor wpuld I have had access to a PC or internet.

  I am awfully afraid of radioactivity. What about reactors No.s 1,2,3 now? Even though there are so many Japanese enjoying OHANAMI, I am worrying about the nuclear plant in FUKUSHIMA. Bigger than the Three-smile case and less dangerous than Chernobyl?

The flower has a long history in these islands and  many scholars actually assert that it is indigenous to Japan and in fact introduced to China from here. After centuries of breeding, numerous varieties have been developed and new colors, pinks and whites, brought out. By taking a look at the etymology of the Japanese name AJISAI, we can see that in earlier times the flowers were mainly blue, as the sounds used to make up the name originally meant a GATHERING OF BLUES (aji-from atsu (集まる) or gather , and ai (藍), indigo blue.

Hydrangea have another Japanese name, however, nanahenge (七変化), or seven transformations, which derives from the flower's unique characteristic. The colors of the petals change according to the chemical make-up of the soil! This feature has given the flower rich symbolic meaning in Japanese art and poetry -- especially to represent a fickle and changing heart. It is because of this characteristic too, that hydrangea were shunned by the warrior class in the feudal period, because for them, changing colors, or by extension loyalties, was anathema .

For Westerners, however, hydrangea can be seen as a symbol of silent devotion, as its scientific name, otaksa, appears to refer to Otaki-San, a woman from Nagasaki's pleasure quarter, who was the  mistress of the German naturalist P.F. von Siebold, who went on to introduce ajisai to Europe .

One more point. These flowers are to be looked at and NOT EATEN. Recently, there was a nationally reported case of food poisoning which occurred down the road from my house in Tsukuba at the curious and pricey Italian restaurant Toeimon Sakae. The chef, in keeping with the season-conscious aesthetics of Japanese cooking(despite this being an Italian eatery), garnished a dish with the very IN SEASON leaves of hydrangea. These were subsequently consumed by the unsuspecting  diners.

This resulted in what must have been an unforgettable scene, right out of Monty Python. You see, the leaves of ajisai have always been used to induce vomiting, especially when poisons were consumed. Imagine then, the eight customers wretching uncontrollably, spewing out their expensive dinners onto the antique furniture and tatami mats (this restaurant is in a magnificent thatched roof farm house!).Surprisingly,the penalty for this chef`s oversight was a mere one-day suspension of business. 

 while you're out there enjoying the last few AJISAI DAYS remember: LOOK BUT DON'T TASTE.

Please go to the city's Environment Division's page(Japanese) to check for smog information:http://cms.city.tsukuba.ibaraki.jp/040900/

Or go to Ibaraki Prefecture's air pollution monitoring information page(Japanese) for more precise information:
http://www.taiki.pref.ibaraki.jp/index.asp

I don't have any background in science(in fact, anything "scientific" makes my brain cells gasp for air), so please bear with me while I attempt to translate the information from the Ibaraki Prefecture's website.

Photochemical oxidase smog prediction(予報/yohou) will be issued when:
- Hourly concentration of photochemical oxidant is expected to be over 0.12ppm,

Photochemical oxidase smog advisory(注意報) will be issued when:
- Hourly concentration of photochemical oxidant is expected to be over 0.12ppm, and when the concentration is expected to remain high due to the weather condition

Photochemical oxidase smog alert(警報/keihou) will be issued when:
- Hourly concentration of photochemical oxidant is expected to be over 0.24ppm, and when the concentration is expected to remain high due to the weather condition

Photochemical oxidase smog "acute" alert(重大警報/juudai keihou) will be issued when:
- Hourly concentration of photochemical oxidant is expected to be over 0.4ppm, and when the concentration is expected to remain high due to the weather condition

If you work or live in Tokyo, or visit Tokyo often, you might be interested in signing up for this service:
http://www.kankyo.metro.tokyo.jp/ox/bunpu/smog.htm
The air pollution prediction/advisory/warning in Tokyo will be sent to your computer or cellphone. Unfortunately, this is also all in Japanese.

The sign-up page is here: http://www.kankyo.metro.tokyo.jp/kinkyu/regist.html
Please note that the registration for this service will be automatically cleared at the end of every fiscal year (the end of March), so you'll need to register your e-mail address again in April.

Another very good site is "そらまめ君/Soramam-kun" or Atmospheric Environmental Regional Observation System.

You can pick the area you want to check the air pollution or weather from their main page like this:
http://soramame.taiki.go.jp/DataMap.php?BlockID=03
and, hallelujah!, there are chemical symbols and English abbreviations on the upper left corner of their website! You can see a particular air pollution type by clicking those buttons.

If you have very sensitive skin, eyes or throat for example, you may have very irritated skin/eyes/throat. In severe cases, some people even develop breathing trouble, severe headache, numbness in limbs, emesis, and disturbance of consciousness when the photochemical smog occurs.

In fact, one of my co-workers who has very sensitive eyes left work early to visit a doctor yesterday. My eyes were also irritated so bad that I was using eye drops all afternoon. I didn't know about the advisory for the smog, so I thought I was just tired or stared at my computer too long(!).

This smog warning is like the ozone alert, and I really think people should try to stay indoor while the advisory or warning is in effect. Did you know that the public schools do shut their windows and doors when the advisory or warning is issued no matter how hot the weather is? Please be careful when you go outside, especially if you take your small children out for a stroll. If they start to whine, it's possible that something other than the heat might be bothering them!

An all-natural skin lotion made by Junko Takasaki from yuzu (citron) seeds and shochu

One thing that never fails to surprise foreigners who wander through Tsukuba`s traditional hamlets in December is the abundance and variety of CITRUS FRUITS which can be found weighing down the trees in the gardens of nearly every private home. Most people imagine these fruit to be the products only of of more southern climes, and in fact, Tsukuba ( Mt Tsukuba to be exact) IS the Northern limit for commercial citrus cultivation. Besides the usual tangerine-sized mikan are the miniscule FUKURE MIKAN, which besides being wonderful to look at glowing on their trees, are used as one of the components of SHICHIMI, Japan`s distinctive seven-spice seasoning.

Citrus fruit (perhaps natsu mikan) along the road in Tsukuba in December

But there are still more citrus varieties growing in these gardens, most of them which I would not be able to identify without asking the locals. 

 Among these is the YUZU (柚子), or citron, which seems to appear in disconcertingly many different sizes, shapes, skin textures and shades of color (which can sometimes make it hard to identify).

These deliciously fragrant fruit ( more specifically, their rind) have long been an indispensible part of Japanese cuisine, especially as a flavoring in NABE, savory winter stews, and in one of my favorite dishes FUROFUKI DAIKON (風呂吹き大根). They are also used to make an assortment of traditional winter confections such as: yumochi (柚餅), yubeshi (柚餅子),and yuzu yo-kan (柚子羊羹)- DEELISH!

Large and bumpy skinned yuzu (demon citrons) and they are often placed inside the entranceways to homes to ward off bad luck

But more importantly, since ancient times the yuzu has been used on the day of the WINTER SOLISTICE (to-ji, 冬至) as an addition to the evening bath. Not only do the yellow fruit make a beautiful sight floating in the water and provide a refreshing scent, but yuzu has been believed to possess certain qualities which invigorate the body and recharge it with LIFE FORCE. This is probably because yuzu is the fruit which remains ripe on the tree the latest ( or among the latest) in the year, staying firm and strong even when it grows harshly cold ( and maybe because they look like the sun, as well!).

Today, I discovered another use for yuzu, one also takes advantage of its health-giving properties: making skin lotion!

I learned of this traditional Japanese beauty-care product ( and how to make it) from Junko Takasaki,who in turn learned how to make it from her mother, who uses it everyday on her face and hands.

I`ve never had the honor of meeting  her mother, but one look at Junko-San`s fine complexion is recommondation enough for trying out this very easy ( and inexpensive) to make skin lotion.

Here is all you need to do:

Remove the seeds from several yuzu.

Place them in a jar.

Add enough SAKE ( Japanese rice wine) or SHOCHU ( Japanese distilled liquor) to immerse the seeds.

Let them sit overnight.

By the next morning, the oil from the seeds interacting with the alcohol will have made a lotion.

You can keep it at room temperature.

Use it everyday for the hands and face.

I tried it myself this lotion this morning, rubbing the slippery liquid over my hands until it had evaporated- leaving a slight hint of the yuzu fragrance and my hands as smooth and soft as a baby`s bottom!

Try it!

If you live in Tsukuba, you can just ask a local farmer for some yuzu. They will most probably be happy to provide you with a few!

                                                                                Using Citrus Peels to do the Dishes

And just when I thought I had had my big scoop for the day, Harumi Takaya, who was also with us, told me about how she ( and many other women who grew up in Tsukuba`s traditional neighborhoods) do not use for or detergent for doing the dishes during the winter. Instead she uses citrus peels- especially those from mikan.

Just you the inner part of the peel ( the white part) to scrub the pots, pans and dishes. Apparently this even cuts through heavy grease.

Sounds like another all natural, cost-cutting idea ( with a long history of effetiveness) that you might want to try out.

Let me know how it works out for you.

4 Comments

• At December 14, 2010, Abe wrote:

  Thanks for your information about yuzu seeds. I have whole bunch of yuzu fruits on a tree in my garden. I make yuzu-shu, yuzu jam, yuzu jerry and yuzu syrup. Of course, I put them into the bath, and give them to my neighborhoods and colleagues. I peel the skins (it is hard job) and keep them in a freezer. They are available any time in a year. But, seeds are obstacles to make any things from yuzu. There are many seed (much more than oranges) in a yuzu fruit. I'll try yuzu lotion this year.

• At December 14, 2010, NoVo (Nora) wrote:

  Great like every article on the blog (thought I've been read a tiny amount this year, hope that the web archive is available (:)!

  About the lotion, I was heard from my Japanese mother-friend Mitsouko, that it is for whole body.

  Otherwise, one year before I made one similar lotion with yuzu seeds and strong brandy which I never used keeping for damaged skin... but on this dry season I'll do.

  As for the 'mikan' detergent, I'll also try; putting the skins on the plastic fruit's string bag...

  Before that, you can still enjoy the very delicious mikan-road next to the Mountain hill in the way to Makabe town...

  My child memory is full of joy for this favorite seasonal fruit. Enjoy these very special citrus in the end of the year!

• At December 18, 2010, Nakayama wrote:

  Nice skin lotion.

• At December 27, 2010, Keiko wrote:

  I made the yuzu skin lotion you introduced. I have been usuing it everyday. It is good for this season because I am now doing a big cleaning. The lotion is keeping my hands and feet smooth. Thank you.

Acupuncture, moxibustion and massage teacher and therapist Naruto Yoshida

This is testament to the indefatiguable efforts of  generations of traditional Chinese physicians who over the years built up a vast body of data on which points of the body, when stuck with needles, pressed, or heated, affected OTHER specific parts of the body. Their endeavor goes all the way back to a time when someone realized that a pain in one part of their body, perhaps the lower back, suddenly disappeared when another part of their body was pierced, perhaps by an arrow.

No matter how they hit upon the idea, this system of treating  bodily complaints  became a part of  the STANDARD PRACTICE of  maintaining  human health within the  vast traditional Chinese cultural sphere of influence, including of course, Japan ( to which these techniques were probably introduced in the 6th century).

In recent decades, these traditional forms of East-Asian medical treatment have become more and more accepted outside their usual home turf and acupuncture clinics are now common in the US  and many European countries.

( more than 30 years ago James Reston, a highly respected journalist for The New York Times, was in China on assignment and had to be hospitalized for what I think was appendicitis. After his surgery his pain was controlled with acupuncture. The reports of his experience helped make Americans more open minded about this, then, very exotic for of medical treatment.)

 Though stories of  the successful treatment of headaches, stiff necks and lower-back pain are impressive, for me, the MOST AMAZING thing I had ever heard of acupuncture and moxibustion`s powers was that it could be used to get a fetus in the breech position ( with its head up) into the right position ( with the head down), merely with the application of heat to the small toe!

A tiny cone of MOXA placed on the outer side of the little toe

It sounds incredible, but I have found that it really does often work, even when the pregnancy is in its late stages.

 Recently, I talked with Naruto Yoshida Sensei, a teacher and practitioner of acupuncture, moxibustion and massage therapy, who had just successfully gotten a soon-to-be-born fetus to turn over into the proper position, thus sparing the expectant ( though anxious) mother from having to have a Caesarean section.

This is what the treatment involved in this particular case:

When Yoshida Sensei first met the patient, he talked with her to try to gauge her emotional state. Finding her to be quite stressed about her baby being in the breech position ( and dont pregnant women and their husbands have enough to be worried about already), and thus probably stiff and TIGHT throughout her body, he decided to begin with some soft massage. He gently worked on her shoulders, lower back, arms, legs, hands and feet.

Feeling that she had become appropriately relaxed and phyically loosened up, he had the patient lie on her side. He then proceeded to place a tiny cone made up of the mugwort plant on the side of the small toe of her right foot, and proceeded to burn it. This took a few minutes and gave her a slight burning sensation. This was then repeated two more times.

The same was done to the small toe of her left foot.

A SENENKYU applied to the same spot

This acupuncture ( and moxibustion) point on the small toe is called the SHI IN NO KYU, and this spot which, when stimulated in the proper way, gets the fetus to turn upside down ( which in this case is the right side up!)

As is usual with acupuncture or moxibustion, one time does not always do the trick. In this case as well, especially considering the late stage of the pregnancy, it took two sessions with Yoshida Sensei for things to take a proper turn. And this happened a few days after the last treatment. The patient had continued the treatments on her own at home, with a special moxibustion applicator ( with a small base), called a SENENKYU.

What a relief for the mother-to-be. She can now go ahead with a natural childbirth, which is what she wanted.

And for us, it gives us an dramatic proof  of moxibustions powers ( though 100 percent success cannot, of course be guaranteed.

The SHI-IN NO KYU point on the little toe

By the way, the English word moxibustion, or moxa treatment derives from one of the Japanese words used for the plant mugwort- MOGUSA.

Another word for the same plant is YOMOGI. And I have recently written of how it is used in an important sprintime snack in Japan- KUSA MOCHI.

A SENENKYU applicator, on the left and a moxa cone, on the right

Another interesting point that I would like to mention is that for many older Japanese people moxibustions brings back bad memories of childhood punishment! It was not unusual for parents to discipline their kids by making them sit and endure the little moxa cones buring on their hands.

By the way, in Japanese acupuncture is HARI 、and moxibustion OKYU.

                                                                              POSTSCRIPT- Acupuncture and Asthma

Right after I had completed and posted the original version of this article, I set off to join a group (consisting of family and friends) at a Chinese restaurant ( which are always more fun with large groups- you can share more dishes!).

Sitting next to me, was a old buddy, who also happens to be a native New Yorker. When I asked him how his day had been, much to my surprise, he told me that he had just come from acupuncture treatment ( every day is teeming with coincidence) !

Apparently, he had once gone to a clinic because he had been having some sort of pain, but when the acupuncturist found out that my friend suffered from asthma he quickly and confidently asserted that he could treat that as well.

According to my friend,the treatments HAVE been effective, and he has in fact been able to cut down on his intake of prescribed medication.

In Tsukuba, as the days grow longer, here and there, slim shafts of greenery begin pushing up out from the snowless, brown, gray and straw-colored winterscape, giving us relieved assurance that once again, spring has come. It is in this time of year that many Japanese can be seen scouring the roadside, field edges or riverbanks, as if looking for a lost object.

In fact, these people are searching for yomogi (蓬), a wild herb which is gathered to make this season’s most representative sweet – kusamochi (草餅), a distinctly green hued (perfect for St Paddy’s Day!) mochi-rice cake, sometimes filled with anko-sweet bean paste, or covered with kinako-soy bean powder.

Since yomogi (mugwort in English, though that word does NOT sound very appetizing), becomes inedibly tough quite soon after sprouting up, it has to be gathered when still very small, young and fresh. (I remember doing this years ago, for the first time, in the field behind the Tsukuba Central Police Station!) The herb is then boiled to make it less bitter, and then mixed into mochi (pounded rice cakes) and molded into small roundish patties. This gives the mochi a slightly bitter and grassy taste.

Yomogi ( mugwort) growing on the side of the road in summer

It is because of this flavor that the custom began in the first place in ancient China, where bitter grasses were believed to be effective in expelling impurities and evil spirits. This notion was imported to Japan in the Heian Period (794-1192) though a different type of herb was the most common ingredient (母子草 hahakogusa or gogyou). It was only in the Edo Period (1601-1868) that yomogi came to be used as the distinctive component of KUSAMOCHI.

Young yomogi leaves in Hojo, Tsukuba ( March 9th 2011)

These days kusamochi is also available at most convenient stores in this season and can of course be found at wagashiya (Japanese sweet shops). I had one today. Why don’t you enjoy the season and the tradition and try some for yourself !

For more of my postings on this time of year in Tsukuba and Japan:

On sakura mochi: http://blog.alientimes.org/2008/04/to-eat-the-leaf-or-not-to-eat-the-leaf-that-is-the-question/

peach blossoms: http://blog.alientimes.org/2009/03/everything-is-peachy-keen-at-kogas-momo-matsuri/

apricot blossoms: http://blog.alientimes.org/2009/03/cries-of-sakura-might-be-mistaken-but-dont-let-that-discourage-you-from-savoring-the-beauty-of-tsukubas-anzu-apricot-blossoms/

and willow trees: http://blog.alientimes.org/2009/03/weeping-willows-exemplars-of-spring-greenery-and-demarcators-boundaries

The Wagashi shop on the ground floor of the Seibu Department Store calls their delicious kusamochi YOMOGI DAIFUKU (よもぎ大福)

2 Comments

• At March 8, 2011, Mamoru Shimizu wrote:

  My liking is “Hana mo Dangomo: loving both flowers and cakes ”! I also fond of a Japanese adjective “Shibui(渋い):gentle also stern, this is suitable meaning for good gentleman over 65? Like whom I would like to be. Kusamochi is for me that kind of cake. Avi-san introduced Mitono-ume, then Kusamochi, I hope in April Sakuramochi.

  I have read once in an article that to be a good gentleman one should know at least more than ten names of wild flowers and ten names of wild birds. For those conditions I only could pass. Avi-san has very sound knowledge quite wide area. Great Gentleman.

  Avi-san can be a principal of gentleman school or groom-school (the word “bride school” used be used very often but out of era now?).

  In so called gentleman school nowadays they should be taught how to cooking, sewing (simple ones like to put on buttons, or repairing of small tear of clothes), washing both tableware and wardrobe, ironing, making spicy irony too?, quoting several famous passages from Shakespeare or poets Basho(芭蕉), Buson〈蕪村〉, knowing match-results of footballs (soccer, rugby, American footballs, baseball, eyeball), should know at least 10 names of presidents of any countries, or prime ministers, a colonel, etc. !

  Recently there is the new word in Japan “Ike-Dan : nice husband, be called from female side” meaning a good husband who willingly do housework or regard house-work as his hobby. “, already Ike-men(nice guy as used from female side)”has become a very popular word.

  Derailment!

  Moxa cautery (Chinese way of burning dried plant leaves on certain points (Tsubos:important points of body) for curing diseases or symptoms uses dry leaves of Yomogi, My grand mother did it for herself but I never have not had them even I got a problem of bed-wetting until 5. (for this purpose grilled Imori:newt had been thought to be effective).

  I like the color of Kusamochi beside its taste. Dark green. Yomogi-Iro(Yomogi-color) reminds me very quiet-feeling. With color of Anko(sweet bean), dark violet, Yomogimochi looks very gentle and Jimi(plain) like gentleman over 68!

  By the way are there any sweets or cake with the color of Navy blue? I can not remind.

  Anyway season is changing and also Japanese sweets are changing. “Kashi/ Hana no Iro wa utsurinikerishi itazurani wagami yonifuru nagamesehsimani”(My rough translation: The color of cake/ flower changing uselessly while I just watching this long-lasting rain falling the world:

  (I have been and will be withering like those flowers during to watch this long-lasting rain and life, why you don’t visit me? ).

  It is very famous poem in Hundreds poem(百人一首),by Onono Komachi(the most female poet during Heian-Era(around 800-1100).

  She was thought to stay a while in Houjyo of the foot of Mt. Tsukuba. Also thought to be very elegant lady.

• At April 29, 2011, Hanamizuki wrote:

  Recently I often remembered my mother's Kusamochi, because I sometimes see Yomogi by the roadside.

  When my mother was alive, she picked them up every spring, and made Kusamochi two or three times a year.

  Today on the way to my house, I dropped in one shop and found ones very similar to hers.

  I bought them & ate. They were different from hers.

  It's because they were made from rice powder.

  She had made from just rice(Not Mochigome but Uruchimai), steamed twice, pounded by special old machine!

  Now I really want to make them by my normal machine someday!

The whole procedure didn't last very long. First, I had to fill out a form with my name and contact information and sign something to say that I did not have any of the listed afflictions. After that, I was given an explanation of what would happen if someone happened to need my bone marrow. The man explained that I would be given plenty of opportunities to say "no" for whatever reason -- because I was sick, or tired, or even too busy -- after a match is found. If I did eventually decide to donate my bone marrow, I would be in the hospital for about two or three days and all of my hospital expenses would be covered by the Japan Marrow Donor Program.

After the explanation was finished, I went and sat in a room to wait for a few minutes. There were lots of people in the room who had donated blood, and I would have been happy to donate some of my own while I was there, but since I lived in England for a year in the early 1990s, my blood cannot be accepted (because of the mad cow disease scare that happened around that time in England). I was eventually taken to a room where a doctor took my blood pressure and asked me a few questions. Once I passed the blood pressure test, a nurse took a very small amount of blood from my arm and sent me back to the reception area. At the reception area, I picked up my donor card and a present (two tea towels) and went back to the festival. The whole thing probably took about 30 to 40 minutes -- but if the festival wasn't happening at the time, I'm sure it would have been over even more quickly.

Since bone marrow matches are most likely to be found in people of similar racial background, it is important for foreign people who live in Japan to register themselves. Those of us who are not of Japanese descent have a very limited pool of bone marrow donors to choose from, should we fall ill. Since registration only takes a few minutes, doesn't hurt (except for the prick of the needle), and can be done right in Tsukuba Center, I would like to encourage you to consider doing it. You can have your bone marrow tested and registered in Tsukuba at the Red Cross Blood Donation Center which is located on the second floor (the same level as the pedestrian deck) of AiAi Mall, in between Joyo Bank and Tsukuba Information Center. The Donation Center is open every day, including weekends, from 10am to 12 noon and from 2pm to 5pm. Address: Azuma 1-1364-1-4, Tel: 029-852-7888.

To figure out if you might be suffering from it, see if you have any of the following symptoms: lack of appetite, lethargy, insomnia, disrupted digestive system, lower energy levels. If you have two or more of the symptoms, you might very well have a case of summer fatigue.

It is said that eating grilled eel (unagi) is good for curing natsubate in that it gives the body stamina and strength. This makes sense considering the fish is packed with all sorts of vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin B. Vitamin B is also said to help relieve a bout of lethargy.

Japanese pears, watermelon, and citrus fruits are good fruits to cool the body. I particularly like washing Delaware grapes and freezing them in a tray. When frozen they can be eaten (skin and all) and taste somewhat like sorbet! This works just as well with seedless Kyohou grapes and other grape varieties. (to buy fresh local grapes, there is a grape farmer just behind Couronne bakery...dozens of varieties I never knew existed can be found there!!! That and Chiyoda 'fruit city' is home to plenty of fruit farmers, many of which offer an all-you-can-eat type of fruit picking plan.) Another great treat is banana 'sherbet' created by cutting up a sweet ripe banana, dousing the pieces generously with lemon juice, and popping it into the freezer.

If eating something does not help, try putting a wet towel on the back of your neck or wetting your hair. This creates a eco-friendly air-conditioning system of sorts!

Good luck and stay cool everyone!

1 Comments

• At August 8, 2007, TsukuBlog » Do you “Uchimuzu?” wrote:

  [...] post:Combat Natsubate Related [...]

Apricot (anzu) blossoms in Tsukuba

anzu blossoms in Tsukuba

Bark of the anzu tree

Not only are the blossoms of the anzu tree beautiful, but these trees which flower between the blooming periods of the UME (plum) and the Sakura, have had a very long history in Japan, after having been introduced to this country from its native  China sometime before the Heian Period (794-1192). While apricots also spread to the Caucasus and the Mediteranian and remain a major fruit  for consumption in those areas today, these fruits , long called KARA MOMO (peaches of the Tang, or Chinese peaches) in Japan, were originally prized for the medicinal power of their seeds (especially for respiratory problems). This curative  was called kyo-nin 杏仁, which is now read as annin, and which has become an ingredient of the very popular desert dish annin dofu.

Annindofu

 Though the earliest extant use of the word anzu for apricot was in 1620, it was not until after the Meiji Restoration, Japan`s opening up to the West and the introduction of foreign varieties that apricot trees were cultivated for consumption as fruit ( and even today apricots are mostly used for making jam and wine), and  in fact anzu trees are not  very common in Japan today.

Anzu blossoms

I was also surprised to find that the anzu tree has very little significance in Japanese culture, despite its beauty, antiquity, and medicinal powers. There are few poems dealing with these trees, their blossoms and their fruit, and references in almanacs and encyclopedias are brief.

Unlike the sakura,  which has been feted by emperors and shoguns, adored as the vehicle of the god of the fields by farmers who celebrate them just before rice cultivation begins, and the motif used for myriad poems and art works dealing with the theme of MUJO- the fleeting nature of all things, the apricot blossoms are merely beautiful, without any of  the hype.

There is one place in Japan, however, where the anzu is king. Ko-shoku City (更埴市）、which has recently merged with surrounding towns to become Chikuma-City (千曲市) in Nagano Prefecture , has been a center of anzu production for more than 300 years. Each April, the city is flooded with visitors who come to enjoy the pink carpet created by all the apricot trees which bloom during their anzu festival. That towns souvenir shops will also be one of the few places in Japan where you will see fresh apricots on sale.

Read more about Nagano`s Apricot Village (Anzu no Sato) here-

www.city.chikuma.nagano.jp

If youve got some free time, why not head out to Nagano, and give the unsung apricot the attention it has long deserved,

My newly removed gall stone sits on my laptop as I write a TsukuBlog post

It is well over ten years ago now, that I found out that despite the fact that I was still living the single life, I had not been actually living alone. It was on a night that I had recieved a very welcome gift- a whole laquer box full of TEMPURA- probably enough to feed 3 people. But I was young, and slim ( back then)- a growing boy- and I gobbled it all up in a minute.

A couple of hours later, I felt a strange sensation near my bellybutton-something I had  never experienced before. It was not a pain- but a tingling. In an hour or so, this turned into a strong pressure just below the ribcage on my right side. Though disturbed and discomforted, I remained calm. Being so high up, I knew it was not appedicitis, and with no nausea or fever, I also discounted food poisoning.

However, neither the  over-the-counter stomach medicine that I had at home, nor long bouts of sitting on the toilet gave me any relief- in fact things got worse. Much worse! If you`d like to know how it felt, imagine some tiny ferocious creature sewed up inside your body that was desperately trying to bust out. That is what is was like.

Still I did NOT call an ambulance. Why not? Well, its a little hard to explain. I might not understand the real reason myself. It was most probably because I REALIZED what was wrong with me- from a combination of two things- first a medical guide that I had, and then the fact that I remembered that my father had had a similar attack when he had been the same age that I was.

I was having a gall stone attack!

I recalled how my father had had surgery, and how miserable he had been for about 3 weeks after the operation. And since my medical guide told me that the attack would not be life threatening ( right away) and that it would eventually pass, I decided that rather than being taken to the emergency room for surgery ( and a long layup) I would endure the pain and ride it out- until the attack was over.

I did this mostly in the shower, and by slowly, ever so slowly, pacing around my house ( laying down was unbearable as when I did so the only consciousness was one of pain- walking was a distraction!).

Finally after about 6 hours, when the sun began to rise, the agony suddenly, and thankfully disappeared. A sense of relief that I will never forget ( and one which I would patiently and prayerfully await several more times in the future).

The next day, a visit to a local clinic ( here in Tsukuba) proved that my self diagnosis had been correct. No, I was not alone- I had a friend- or rather a NEMESIS, lodged inside me. A large gall stone- which I could see clearly on the video screen of the doctor`s echogram machine.

When I asked what I should do about the stone, the doc recommended surgery. Sure, I could keep it inside me he said, but eventually, I probably WOULD get more attacks. Why not have the problem taken care of permanently- there would be almost no danger involved.

I said I would think about it and left his office.

 I knew that I did  NOT want to be operated on, though. I had read up on gall stones and learned that many people lived to ripe old ages with stones inside them. I thought that by watching the foods that I ate, that I would be able to get along just fine.

And  maybe I wishfully believed that  the stone would somehow get ejected from the gall duct or would maybe disolve and flow away. Anyway, I never did seriously look into surgery.

One thing that really helped me throughout the years was a  suggestion from a fellow sufferer that I always carry BUSUKOPAN (ブスコパン), an over the counter muscle relaxant which I would take whenever I felt an attack coming on. This would avert the attack if taken soon enough ( usual pain killers are completely ineffective when it went into full force).

And though I did in fact eventually have a handfull of later attacks, for which the muscle relaxant was to be of no avail, for all the years ( remember that it must have already been in my body for a long time when I had the first attack) I WAS able to lead an extremely active life- visiting more than 100 countries, playing in a couple of rock bands and always working and playing HARD- without really any hindrances.

 I guess you could say that for all my experience in Japan- the shrines, the temples, the hot springs,the sacred sticks and stones, the festivals, the  inns, the capsule hotels (the love hotels!), the woods, the flowers, the birds, the fields, the crowds, the food, the drink, the pubs, the parties, the IZAKAYA, the libraries, the community centers,the concrete jungles, the rustic villages, the off-shore islands, the bookstores.............. and all the great variety of people- all so intense- I had been STONED!

The gall stone which I had been carrying around inside me for all these years

All that has changed, however, since last week ( the end of February 2011) when I was suddenly and finally hit by an attack that just didnt go away ( despite my quick ingestion of BUSUKOPAN)- not even with the sunrise- or the next days sunrises either.

Still I did not go for help right away. Again, I cannot explain exactly why- maybe just because of my stubborness- but I just couldnt imagine myself breaking out of my very full schedule- so many jobs, so much to research, so much to write about ( for Tsukublog!)- I  just didnt want to give it all up. I couldnt imagine doing so.

I guess you could say that I was a creature of inertia.

At the 3rd day, however, I knew something was very wrong with my body- and I went to the Tsukuba Medical Center, our city`s state of the art healthcare facility.

I got there on foot ( now you know just how stubborn I AM)- a forty minute walk ( which would have been much shorter if I were not having an attack!).

I arrived at the reception area at about 8:30 am, about half an hour before opening time. Already a couple of dozen elderly people were waiting patiently in the waiting room chairs.

Now once again, inexplicably, I acted the tough guy. Instead of asking for emergency care, I went to register with the regular patients. I had to fill out a form describing my symptoms ( I did this in Japanese), and then answered some questions- maddeningly, I was asked several times if it hurt!

Still I told them that I could bear the pain.

The kind staff told me that I would have to go upstairs and wait my turn at the outpatient clinic.

I was shown upstairs to a corridor filled with older people who once again could only be described as PATIENT- all sitting calmly, nearly motionless, without showing any sign of stress or fear.

I, on the other hand, couldnt relax for a minute, and slowly paced the floor, like a caged lion, for MORE THAN ONE HOUR!

When I was finally called in to see the doctor, I put on the most  cheerful face I could muster, and told him that I was having a gall stone attack. He then immediately sent me down to have a blood sample taken.

That means I had to walk back downstairs, wait my turn, get my blood taken ( this was done quite skillfully and painlessly), and then wait more than an hour again for the results to come back.

When they did come back they indicated that I was showing signs of sepsis (ensho) and the doctor insisted that the situation was dangerous if I were not admitted to the hospital.

He also showed me, with the echo machine, an imagine of the stone- now much larger than the last time I had seen it!

But with so much planned for the week, I could not imagine myself suddenly cancelling everything. I insisted that I had work to do. The doctor, a charismatic and intense character, expressed his concern, and stressed that if I were not hospitalized AT LEAST I needed some rest. In other words- he thought I was a complete nutcase!

I said again, however, that I was OK and asked for some medicine. I still believed, or wanted to believe, that the attack would just go away.

 At a loss of what to do, the doctor prescribed some antibiotics- but no pain-killers. And told me to come right back to the hospital if I felt worse.

I left the hospital and went into the pharmacy next door where I again waitied for what seemed like AGES before I got my medicine.

( I want to stress that for me the ONLY problem with the EXCELLENT care I received throughout this story was the long waiting I had to do at this OUTPATIENT stage)

You might be surprised to hear this, but on that day I worked as usual. I even wrote an article for Tsukublog!- despite the fact that I hadnt slept at all in at least two nights. The next day I went out to work again.

But now I had started to feel something more frightening than mere pain. I could feel an infection within me. I imagined that this was what it was like before an appendix burst and spread poisons throughout the body. I realized that if I didnt get help I would die.

At about one thirty in the afternoon, after having worked half the day, I slowly walked towards a clinic that I had been to several times before for colds and checkups, etc. It was lunch break time and would not open for another hour. I rang the emergency buzzer, and the doctor came out. I told him how I felt and he told me to go to the Medical Center. Thats what I did.

After all the years of being STONED, I had finally resigned myself to having surgery.

 It was a good decision. The ONLY decision!

This time , back at the Medical Center, I went straight to EMERGENCY. Surprisingly, I still had to wait for a while before being called.

When I WAS ushered in they already had  my records from the previous day`s examination and had me lay down on a stretcher. A nurse inserted an IV into my vein. I waited- and waited......

One funny memory I have of that time was of the doctors and other staff trying to figure out what to CALL ME. Like many Americans I have a first name, middle name and family name, and on my Japanese health insurance card these are all strung together into something unintelligable. Untill I later explained that everyone always simply knows me as AVI, everyone who dealt with me was really at a loss ( it seems that ALL those involved in treatment always address patients by there names whenever they approach).

I was left like this, with IV in arm and in a semi-conscious state for what seemed like a LONG TIME. Other emergency patients were being treated around me.

Finally I was told that I was to be admitted immediately, and operated on in two days. I did not resist. The inertia had shifted.

I was taken in a wheel chair up to my room, which I would share with 3 other patients, and was given my all important wrist band with my name on it ( the full name- not Avi!), which would be checked countless times each days when I recieved my Meds or was examined.

My gall stone

One outstanding thing happened when I was put into my room. There was a man in the bed across from me, an old farmer who was being very dutifully looked after by his wife. When the wife saw that a foreigner was being put into the same room as her husband, and realized that probably more foreigners would be coming to visit, she started to get all paranoid about their SICK VISIT MONEY ( it is customary for patients in hospitals to recieve gifts of cash from friends, neighbors and relatives in rural Ibaraki), It seems that she was worried that with a foreigner in the room, this money ( quite a large sum as I overheard) was not safe. Of course they didnt realize yet at that time, that I could understand what they were saying, so later, after she had asked the nurses to CHANGE ROOMS and she found out that I was a Japanese speaker, she would often drop by to chat with me and ask how I was doing.

Anyway, this didnt make me feel bad- who could blame her?! And I was two delirious to feel insulted.

The evening of the day I was checked in, my family was called in for a meeting with the team of doctors who would be treating me ( a first rate group I would soon appreciatively learn) in which all the details and dangers of the procedure were explained very clearly, concisely, and patiently.

The two days leading up to my surgery would be spent limiting the sepsis with anti-biotics, fasting ( no food or drink, though I was on iv) and a series of tests which would help the doctors safely carry out the operation.

The three tests which stand out ( comically now) in my mind are the MRI , the EKG, and the lung capacity test The MRI because I was stuffed into a narrow tube for twenty minutes while given orders to breath in and hold my breath for 20 seconds at a time, as the machine banged and clanged cacophinously.

This was not  easy AT ALL with the gall stone pain ( and claustrophobia!), and two or three times I was on the verge of pushing the PANIC BUTTON they had provided me with.

The EKG was notable for the fact that the technician was leaning over and pressing down on me with her body as she carried out the long examination. This might had been quite pleasant if it werent for the fact that she was pressing right on my gall stone. OUCH! 

The lung capacity test ( which was necessary as I would be hooked up to a breathing machine while under the anesthesia) was also quite humorous ( and painful) since I just could not take full breathes while I was having the attack. Stll, the technician had me inhaling again and again.

When my doctor saw the MRI images he came to my room to inform me that my stone was HUGE and that they would probably have to cut open my stomach ( instead of using a newer and less invasive technique). I gulped and told him he should do whatever he had to do.

I was surprised and comforted on the day before my surgery how EACH PERSON INVOLVED came to my bedside, introduced themselves, and explained to me exactly what they would be doing. The most embarrassing of these was the operating room nurse who waited until the end of her long explanation to tell me that she would be putting a catheter into my penis to extract the urine. My face turned crimson red and tingled with heat.

I was told to take a bath ( though I just showered in fact) and to brush my teeth before I would be taken into the operating room ( this is so no food particles go down your windpipe while you are under the anesthesia).

Of cultural siginificance was the bellybutton cleaning that all patients go through before such surgery. A nurse came by and filled my navel with olive oil. When she came back later to scoop out all the grime she was surprised to find that mine was clean. Amazed, she asked me if foreigners cleaned their bellybuttons. Well, I couldnt speak for all foreigners, but I told her that I often cleaned mine. Apparently, Japanese people do NOT clean out their bellybuttons in the belief that it is not good for ones health.

Anyway, all spic and span, from head- which my buddy Rick helped me shave , to bellybutton which had been cleansed with purifying oil, I was ready for my surgery.

I  was helped into my gown and given a big puffy hat ( though my head was clean shaven!) and walked into the operating theater- a star at last!

It was an almost festive atmosphere, and I was greeted by the whole staff, all of whom I had already grown friendly with. A gas mask was placed over my mouth. We chatted, joked, and I SANK AWAY.....

for more than SIX HOURS! Which is how long the procedure took! I later found out that the doctors first tried a less invasive technique, using four wires inserted into my abdomen, but could not succeed in dislodging and removing my massive stone in this way.

 They then decided to switch over to more traditional methods and SLIT OPEN my belly ( not unlike HARA KIRI). When they did this, however, they ran into the abundantly excessive body fat which I had amassed over the preceeding months. This made for very slow going, I heard.Well, its as I told you- IT TOOK SIX HOURS to complete the procedure.

When I heard about that  later, I couldnt help but feel bad for giving the doctors so much trouble.

When I finally CAME TO, my dear friends ( more like family, I guess) Rick and Nobuko ( who were so helpful to me throughout) were standing over me. I remember it all in a haze- Rick , a mere sihouette, was holding my gall stone, which the surgeon had handed to him. He was dangling it in front of me - its all a blur now really. We chatted a bit...... and then they were gone.

I dont remember the chronology clearly, but I think it was already then that I was told to WALK! That is not exactly what I wanted to do at that moment, but the doctor recommended that I get up and WALK! He said that that would be the best way to avoid developing pneumonia.

Well, you already know how stubborn I am. I decided that I would walk, and walk I did! For the next four days thats about all I did!

My first trip was downstairs for some x-rays, but then it was mostly just around and around the hospital corridors- pushing my i.v. pole along with me.

That first i.v. pole that I had was another problem. Not only for me but for everyone on the floor. You see, it was always beeping. The nurses would come over to fix it, but it would start beeping noisilly again just a few seconds later.

On my second day of WALKING, I heard one patient say to another, yesterday he was pi pi pi-ing and today he is poo poo poo-ing! I wish he would be quiet!

Finally they gave me a new iv holder, and some other poor guy got my noisy one! 

Besides the i.v. tube I had in my arm, their were some other tubes coming out me as well when I got out of surgery. But, to tell the truth, I really DIDNT want to know what they were for and tried to ignore them and the strange fluids which were seeping through them.

On the morning after my surgery, one of the nurses very skillfully and subtly, after some small talk , said that she would now remove the catheter from my penis.  No sooner had she said this than it was GONE. I hardly noticed ( though there was a quick deflation, a pull, and a slight burning sensation that quickly passed) and didnt even have time enough to be embarrassed.

By this time without having drunk anything in a few days amd having had the respirator down my throat, my mouth was beyond partched- it was leathery dry. I ask if I could have a drink. The affirmative reply pleased me to no end, but not as much as the actual sensation of the little sips of cold water that I took trickle down my throat- HEAVEN! I never realized water could have such deep flavor.

The next day I went to the vending machine for some POCARI SWEAT ( a Japanese sports drink) and the taste sensation was explosive ( apparently the four day fast had cleansed out my system making my taste buds and nose many times more sensitive than they had been before. I seemed to have developed dog-like powers of smell! It was as if I had developed a third nostril!

On my endless walks it was the various scents which left the greatest impressive, and unfortunately most of them were not very pleasant!

I have already told you how I had trouble with my beeping i.v. holder. but it was not only the noise which gave me trouble. Naturally clumsy, my KLUTZINESS was magnified ten-fold with the various tubes attached to me. If I had been filmed while I was trying to get in and out of bed and move around the hospital all hooked like that the resulting footage would probably rival the comedy of Mr. Bean for hilarity.  Imagine Woody Allen in the hospital. I definitely had the other patients chuckling sometimes.

One adverse affect of all the tugging on my i.v. tubes was that the needle had to be often re-inserted into my vein- each time in a different place. I found out that my veins run deep and are hard to find. The younger nurses had to poke me a few times before they finally succeeded. Knowing that repeated poking with needles was not much fun, these less experienced nurses GAVE UP trying to do me, and would then either call for a surgeon, or even better ( for me) a veteran nurse (named Koba-San) who after much feeling, rubbing and SENSING were able to insert the needle in one shot.

An important part of the gall bladder operation experience in the focus put on PASSING GAS and BOWEL MOVEMENTS ( as my grandmother used to say when referring to taking a crap!).

Time and again, doctors, nurses, just about anyway who happens to cross your path asks you- have you passed gas? Have you moved your bowels?

Passing gas I did, shortly after surgery, but sitting on the toilet seemed a bit scary right after surgery ( I mean still by the day after), and I hesitated to do so even though I had the urge.

When all those who had been inquiring heard about this state of affairs, their faces grew grim with concern.

But the urge that I had was NOT strong enough, The main reason for that being ( besides the fear that my inerds would be blown out of my butt  ) was that I hadnt eaten a thing in four days ( I was was being nourished by the i.v.).

When I was served my first meal- some rice porridge and broccolli, I once again experience the mind-blowing rainbow of flavors that I had encountered with my first post-operative sips of water.

Breakfast and lunch the next day were just as wonderful ( though to an ordinary person it would have been just bland hospital food).

All this food in my system made it impossible for me to hold out any longer.

When the time came, I headed for the men`s room which was always kept spotlessly clean, despite the fact that it was constantly being used by sufferers of various abdominal ailments ( like myself).

I let myself drop down on the seat and without any effort I was finally able to relieve myself- a noisy, watery outburst, which to my newly sensitive nose smelled  frightening in its UNFAMILIARITY. It was like nothing that had ever come out of me before.

Still I could not help being pleased and feeling that I had made some progress on the road to normalcy. And with a fierce determination to recover as quickly as possible, I continued to ( incessantly) do what the doctors had advised me to do- walk.

Sometimes fellow patients joined me in my wanderings, which in the limited space  covered as well as the repetitiveness could be compared to the pacing of a caged tiger.

And since just about all the other patients in the ward with me were cancer patients, I had a chance to have some deeply thoughtful and philosophical discussions ( unlike the usual talk of food and weather which is the staple of Japanese conversation), with some people who were seriously interested in throwing around ideas in regard to WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT.

One dangerous aspect of talking with fellow patients, or friends who came to visit was laughter. That and sneezing and coughing were definitely THE things that I wanted to avoid in the first few days after surgery, as doing anyof them was extremely painful and frightening. Whenever I could not stop myself laughing, sneezing or coughing it would  immediately turn to groaning and grimacing and checking to  make sure I hadnt blown open my stitches.

But, I will have to describe another frightening phenomenon which I experience while recovering from surgery- SEEING GHOSTS! Well, at least that is what it seemed like, though Im sure that it was only some sort of side effect from the anesthesia.

Anyway, whenever I closed my eyes, people seemed to come to me. I mean I could vividly see them, as if in a strong and clear dream. These visions were frightening and I would immediately open my eyes .

In other words, I could not get ANY sleep, no matter how tired I was.

TO BE CONTINUED.............. tomorrow

3 Comments

• At March 6, 2011, Eiji wrote:

  You're really stonebborn!;)

• At March 7, 2011, Mamoru Shimizu wrote:

  Now I can understand why you have been loving stones including Migawari-Amida-Nyorai stone of Hanamuro and Ururu stone,Livingstone? Loving nature of Stone-Age? It was a good Farwell!!

• At March 7, 2011, alice wrote:

  Avi my friend,

  What a relief! I've been waiting for news about you. Hey, don't be stubborn, OK? My brother-in-law was down with a high fever due to gallstones and went epileptic. Despite the fever not going down completely, the doctor performed an emergency operation on him and removed the whole gall bladder. I had my gall bladder removed by laproscopy. I tried to procrastinate surgery until the polyps increased in number. I didn't even have gall stones, just several polyps and that was enough to make me miserable with indigestion. Last resort