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The words of the year 2023 / ２０２３年のキーワード

日本文が後ろに続きます。

It’s time to wrap up the words of this year. As I do every year at the end of the year, I’m looking back at what has happened to me and what I have encountered over the past year, and I’m listing them up in a few short words.

The words of 2023 are flight simulation, fitness, TOEIC, and voice recognition.

Flight Simulation

As I wrote in the past entry, I’ve enjoyed flight simulation since I bought a gaming PC with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 installed, a control yoke, thrust levers, and rudder pedals. I’ve continually downloaded and used terminal and en route charts and documents provided by the Federal Aviation Administration and Japanese aviation authorities. I flew a Cirrus SR22 in the early stages to learn the flying basics. Several months later, I changed the plane into a Beechcraft G58 Baron twin-engine airplane to develop advanced flying skills. These days, I fly Boeing 787 Dreamliner between airports, both in Japan and the United States.

Fitness

As I turned 50 this year, I had more and more opportunities to feel testosterone deficiency. Reading that strength training was the best way to supplement it, I decided to join a fitness gym and begin training regularly. I had several fitness gym chains nearby to choose from. Out of those gym chains, I decided on Anytime Fitness and became a member since I was attracted to it having franchises worldwide. Members who have been members for over a month can enter and train at any Anytime-Fitness-branded gym worldwide. Since I joined, I have sometimes used several different Anytime Fitness gyms besides what I usually use, from a gym a little farther from the home-ground gym to that in my homecoming prefecture and that in Taipei.

Of course, training once or twice a week for about six months is far from the muscular body of a bodybuilder, but it seems to be compelling enough that my shoulders, arms, chest, and thighs look a little tighter, and I no longer find it hard to climb stairs.

However, I have been overeating after workouts and have gained weight, and my body fat rate has gotten much worse, so it seems that a different approach is needed to improve these things.

TOEIC

The TOEIC stands for the Test Of English for International Communication and is one of the standardized English tests administered by the Educational Testing Service, a New Jersey-based non-profit organization, to measure English proficiency, mainly in business situations. The TOEIC L&R test is a listening and reading test on paper and one of the most well-known English tests, particularly for Japanese and Korean businesspeople, as an indicator of English proficiency for better or worse. It measures test takers’ performance in listening and reading sections. Their performance in each section is shown as scores ranging from 5 to 495 points, and total scores range from 10 to 990 points. The higher the scores they take, the better their English ability. If you have 900 points or more, at least traditional Japanese companies like the one where I currently work would evaluate you as a high English performer.

My highest score so far is 915 points, which I earned in 2017, but the score is so old that I need more recent scores. I took the test several times in the last two years, all with scores hovering around 830 to 895 points, except the 900 points I got this October. The reason why I can’t take 900 points or more so often is apparent. It is because of my lack of listening ability. It would be imperative to make my lifestyle more “English-oriented” to get more used to English.

Voice Recognition

I joined a new service development team for AI-based voice recognition services in July of this year. I never knew the team members before joining the team, but the job in this team is a new and exciting challenge.

2023 is the year when the COVID pandemic ended, authorities lifted many restrictions and mandates, and people regained more freedom to participate in activities nationwide and overseas. Although unrest is still underway in several places worldwide, I hope people will be happier with many good things next year.

今年のキーワードをまとめる時が来ました。毎年年末にしていることですが、今年あった出来事を振り返っていくつかのキーワードにまとめています。

２０２３年のキーワードはフライトシム、ジム、ＴＯＥＩＣ、職場異動です。

フライトシム

過去のエントリーにも書いたように、ゲーミングＰCと操縦桿とラダーを買ってＭＳＦＳ２０２０をインストールしてフライトシムを楽しんだ１年でした。ＦＡＡや日本の航空当局が出しているターミナルチャートやエンルートチャート、その他のドキュメントなどをダウンロードしてフライトに使ったりしました。最初はシーラスＳＲ22で数ヶ月、操縦の基礎を身につけ、そのあとはビーチクラフトＧ58バロンの多発機の飛行、今では主にボーイング７８７ドリームライナーを使って日米で空港間のフライトをやってます。

ジム

今年50歳になり、テストステロン不足を感じる機会が増えてきました。テストステロンを補うには筋トレがよいと読んで、ジムに通ってトレーニングをしようと思い立ちました。ジムのチェーンはいくつかあったんですが、結局、世界中にチェーン店があるエニタイム・フィットネスに決め、そこの会員になりました。メンバーになって１ヶ月たつと世界中のどのエニタイム・フィットネスにも入ることができるようになるので、自分のホーム以外の、近隣のところから実家の近くや台北にいたるまでいろんなジムに立ち寄ってトレーニングしたりしました。

もちろん週１〜２回で半年ぐらい通ったところでムキムキのボディには程遠いですが、肩や腕、胸、太もものあたりが少しなりとも引き締まってきたような気はします。あと階段を登るのがあまり苦にならなくなったというのもあります。

ただ、トレーニング後についつい食べ過ぎてしまうので、体重が増え過ぎて体脂肪率も増えてしまったので、それの改善は別のアプローチが必要そうです。

ＴＯＥＩＣ

日本と韓国ではＴＯＥＩＣが良くも悪くも英語力の指標として見られるので、私は最高９１５点取ったことがありますが、２０１７年のことでちょっと古いので、最近のスコアを得ようと何度か受けていました。

２年ほど受けて、１回だけ９００点に達したものの、あとはだいたい８３０〜８９５点あたりをうろうろする状態です。原因は明らかで、リスニングが弱いことです。生活習慣を「英語化」して英語に慣らさないとだめそうです。

音声認識

この７月から新しいミッションをいただき、ＡＩベースの音声認識サービスのサービス企画業務のチームに加わることになりました。チームメンバーは知らない人ばかりでしたが、内容は楽しそうなので期待しています。

今年はコロナもようやく終息し、規制や義務も解除されて、人々は国内外で活動する自由を取り戻した年でした。世界では不穏な動きも散見されますが、来年はさらにみんな良いこといっぱいの幸せな年になるよう祈ります。

The words of each year are summarized in this table.
これまでのキーワードを以下の表にまとめました。

Year 年	Words キーワード
2023	flight simulation; fitness; TOEIC; voice recognition フライトシム、ジム、ＴＯＥＩＣ、音声認識
2022	web3; Ford Focus; gout; pilotage ｗｅｂ３、フォードフォーカス、痛風、飛行機の操縦
2021	Google Maps; Yurie Omi’s resignation; Tokyo Games; death games グーグルマップ、近江友里恵卒業、東京五輪・パラリンピック、デスゲーム
2020	Synapusyu; the handgun; computer programming シナぷしゅ、拳銃、プログラミング
2019	Hokkaido; Mercari; Grand Cherokee 北海道、メルカリ、グランドチェロキー
2018	cashless; Japanese language; comeback キャッシュレス、日本語、復帰
2017	Yurie Omi; NHK; shingles; English exams 近江友里恵、ＮＨＫ、帯状疱疹、英語の試験
2016	traveling to places in Japan; mapping; Jeep 国内移動、地図作り、ジープ
2015	Maine, United States; Estonia; transfer of workplace アメリカ（メイン州）、エストニア、職場移動
2014	England; Android イギリス、アンドロイド
2013	Ayurveda; Korea; high school alumni; Tsuyoshi Takashiro アーユルヴェーダ、韓国、高校の同窓生、高城剛
2012	Oji; the mahjong; the flight attendant; Facebook 王子、麻雀、ＣＡ、フェイスブック
2011	the car; the British culture; China クルマ、イギリス文化、中国
2010	Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia; iPhone; the credit card 台湾・シンガポール・マレーシア、ｉＰｈｏｎｅ、クレジットカード
2009	office position change; MacBook Pro; JR Seishun 18 Ticket 職場異動、ＭａｃＢｏｏｋ　Ｐｒｏ購入、青春１８きっぷ
2008	England; Fukagawa イギリス、深川
2007	changing my car; visiting Hawaii クルマの買い替え、ハワイ旅行
2006	the US stock; the mutual fund アメリカ株、ミューチャルファンド
2005	darts; the GSM and WCDMA mobile phone; visiting Hong Kong again ダーツ、ＧＳＭ／ＷＣＤＭＡ携帯電話、香港再訪
2004	the blog; Asian countries (Singapore and Hong Kong); the GSM mobile phone ブログ（文芸業界）、アジア（シンガポール、香港）、ＧＳＭ携帯電話
2003	the airplane; the musical 飛行機、ミュージカル
2002	America アメリカ
2001	getting a flat within the Tokyo metropolitan area; a position change at the office; Soarer 都内一人暮らし、職場の異動、ソアラ

December 29, 2023

Visiting United States military bases in Japan

Visiting US military bases is fun for me. The US Army, US Navy, US Air Force and US Marine Corps use 75 facilities within Japan and Okinawa, 51 of which are dedicated and the rest 24 shared with Japan Self Defense Force. Though those facilities are usually closed to civilians, they are open to residents around them once or twice a year, and you can get inside the military places during these festivals.

Visiting those facilities is one of the few occasions to get in touch with the United States. You can eat American-made hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, turkey legs, and other American foods. You can pay foods, sodas, beer, sweets, and souvenirs with US dollars. You can talk to Americans in English. And, you can find out how average Americans live their daily life. What kind of groceries do they buy? What kind of foods do they eat? What kind of newspapers do they read? What kind of school do they make their children attend? You can catch a glimpse of those things without flying more than 12 hours to get to mainland America.

I have visited US bases and facilities in Japan and Okinawa for more than 15 years. With respect to what I have experienced, I’m grading each of these out of 5 by categories of accessibility, smoothness of entry and exit, freedom of movement, and availability of on-base building. 5 is the most excellent, and 0 the worst.
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September 21, 2019
もうひとつの朝ドラ：近江友里恵さんトークライブ

８月31日に青山一丁目のＮＨＫ文化センターで近江友里恵さんの講演会があったので行ってきました。こちらのエントリにも書いたように、私は近江友里恵アナウンサーのファンで、一昨年には名古屋での講演会に出かけていったことがあります。今回は東京で行きやすいので、受講募集があったときに速攻で申し込みました。
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September 14, 2019
Another Asadora: a talk show by Yurie Omi

On August 31, I went to NHK Culture Center at Aoyama-itchome in Tokyo to attend a lecture presentation of Ms. Yurie Omi. As I wrote in this entry, I have been a fan of the NHK Announcer, and once met her at her talk show in Nagoya two years ago. This time it was held in Tokyo and it was much easier to have access to the venue, so I applied to this lecture presentation as soon as NHK Culture Center began selling the tickets.
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September 14, 2019
The words of the year 2017 / ２０１７年のキーワード

日本文が後ろに続きます。

The last day of each year is a good chance to look back on what happened in the year. Each time I wrap up what I did experience for the first time and what impressed me most in the year, I sum them up as a few keywords, and then I post some “words of the year” in this blog.

The words of the year 2001 were getting a flat within the Tokyo metropolitan area, a position change at the office, and Soarer. The word of the year 2002 was America. The words of the year 2003 were the airplane and the musical. The words of the year 2004 were the blog, Asian countries (Singapore and Hong Kong), and the GSM mobile phone. The words of the year 2005 were darts, the GSM and WCDMA mobile phone, and visiting Hong Kong again. The words of the year 2006 were the US stock and the mutual fund. The words of the year 2007 were changing my car and visiting Hawaii. The words of the year 2008 were England and Fukagawa. The words of the year 2009 were office position change, MacBook Pro and JR Seishun 18 Ticket. The words of the year 2010 were Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, iPhone and the credit card. The words of the year 2011 were the car, the British culture and China. The words of the year 2012 were Oji, the mahjong, the flight attendant and Facebook. The words of the year 2013 were Ayurveda, Korea, high school alumni and Tsuyoshi Takashiro. The words of the year 2014 were England and Android. The words of the year 2015 were Maine, United States; Estonia and transfer of workplace. The words of the year 2016 were traveling to places in Japan, mapping and Jeep.

Considering what I saw this year, I have decided that the words of the year 2017 are: Yurie Omi, NHK, shingles, and English exams.

Yurie Omi is, as I wrote in this entry, an NHK broadcaster, and an idol of me. For me, this year began with her and ended with her. I got to know her for the first time on New Year’s Buratamori, I watched the TV shows where she appeared, I went to Nagoya to see her presentation, and there I talked to her face-to-face.

At the same time, I got to know a wide variety of broadcasters of NHK. I didn’t know NHK broadcasters’ names so far, since I wasn’t interested at all in anything about so-called joshi-ana, or female announcers. All I knew among NHK announcers were Yumiko Udo and Maho Kuwako. This year I got to know Mayuko Wakuda, Keiko Nakamura, Tomoko Kogo, Izumi Tanaka, Aiko Terakado, Naoko Suzuki, Naoko Hashimoto, Sayuri Hori, Risa Hayashida, Nonoka Akaki and more, who hosted or made narrations in various types of NHK programs, from news shows to variety ones. I got to know male broadcasters as well, from a top-notch player like Shin’ichi Taketa to Kozo Takase, Jun’ichi Tosaka, Keita Mochizuki, Yuki Inoue and Masaiku Nomura. I got to know NHK’s human resource development system where rookies start their careers at one of NHK’s local broadcasting stations spreading nationwide and return to the Broadcasting Center in Tokyo after several years’ experiences. Plus, I got to know that, besides broadcasters, NHK has various kinds of options for employees such as correspondents, directors, broadcasting technicians, and more. One of the positions is assigned to the employees upon recruitment, and even if they wish to be a broadcaster when they are hired, they may be appointed as a director, and vice versa.

The third keyword is based on the fact that I was suffered from shingles this summer. I knew some of my friends and acquaintances suffered from shingles, but before I was really suffered from it I didn’t think it would be such a painful disease. Rashes appeared from the right side of my face to the top of my right ear, and my face quickly turned into a grotesque look. Early cure contributed to the distorted face returning to normal in a week or two, but an unbearable pain on the right side of my face followed and lasted for months. The hardest thing was that, though doctor said that I should warm up the suffered part, not cool down, no stores were selling warm canned coffee, warm pads or anything that could warm something up since it was mid-summer.

The last, this year I took English exams, both exams of English itself like TOEIC, and exams written in English such as CCNA Collaboration. This time I failed CCNA Collaboration, but in TOEIC I marked more than my target score. I want to take IELTS or something like that next year.

Probably the next year will be harder, but I’m looking forward to the forthcoming serendipities. Have a happy New Year!

今年も恒例の「キーワード」のまとめの時期がやってきました。

２００１年のキーワード：都内一人暮らし、職場異動、ソアラ
２００２年のキーワード：アメリカ
２００３年のキーワード：飛行機、ミュージカル
２００４年のキーワード：ブログ、アジア（シンガポール・香港）、ＧＳＭ携帯電話
２００５年のキーワード：ダーツ、ＧＳＭ／ＷＣＤＭＡ携帯電話、香港再訪
２００６年のキーワード：米国株、ミューチャルファンド
２００７年のキーワード：クルマの買い替え、ハワイ旅行
２００８年のキーワード：イギリス、深川
２００９年のキーワード：職場異動、ＭａｃＢｏｏｋ　Ｐｒｏ、青春18きっぷ
２０１０年のキーワード：台湾・シンガポール・マレーシア、ｉＰｈｏｎｅ、クレジットカード
２０１１年のキーワード：クルマ、イギリス文化、中国
２０１２年のキーワード：王子、麻雀、ＣＡ、Ｆａｃｅｂｏｏｋ
２０１３年のキーワード：アーユルヴェーダ、韓国、高校の同窓生、高城剛
２０１４年のキーワード：イギリス、Ａｎｄｒｏｉｄ
２０１５年のキーワード：アメリカ（メイン州）、エストニア、職場異動
２０１６年のキーワード：国内移動、地図作り、ジープ
でした。

そして今年のキーワードは

近江友里恵、ＮＨＫ、帯状疱疹、英語の試験

にしたいと思います。

近江友里恵さんは、この前のエントリにも書いたとおり、今年はこの人に始まりこの人に終わったといっても過言ではないほどで、年始のブラタモリを見て知って以来、ずっと近江さんのファンになってしまいました。毎朝ニュースを見て、名古屋の講演会にも行き、そして質疑のパートでじかにお話もできました。

近江アナウンサーつながりで、ＮＨＫのこともより深く知ることができました。これまでいわゆる“女子アナ”の類にはほとんど興味はなく、ましてやＮＨＫのアナウンサーなど、知っててもせいぜい有働由美子さんや桑子真帆さん程度で、あとはほとんど知らなかったんですが、近江アナウンサーのほかにも和久田麻由子アナウンサーや中村慶子アナウンサー、小郷知子アナウンサー、田中泉アナウンサー、寺門亜衣子アナウンサーや鈴木奈穂子アナウンサー、橋本奈穂子アナウンサー、保里小百合アナウンサー、林田理沙アナウンサー、赤木野々花アナウンサーなど、いろんなアナウンサーがいて、ニュース番組でニュースを読んだり、番組の司会をしたり、ナレーションをしたりなどいろんなことをしていることを知りました。男性アナウンサーも、トップクラスの“たけたん”こと武田真一アナウンサーをはじめ、“眉”こと高瀬耕造アナウンサー、“麿”こと登坂淳一アナウンサー、そのほか阿部渉アナウンサー、望月啓太アナウンサー、井上裕貴アナウンサー、野村正育アナウンサーなどが番組に出ていることを知りました。またＮＨＫのアナウンサーは、入局後まず地方局に送られて修行を積み、そこからその地方の拠点局へ異動したのち優秀な人が東京の放送局にやってくるというシステムになっていること、またアナウンサー職のほかにも記者、ディレクター、放送技術などの職種があり、入局時に希望や配属などで決まること、記者やディレクター志望でもアナウンサー職で採用されたり、その逆があったりすること、などなどのＮＨＫの営みについても触れることができました。

今年の夏は帯状疱疹に悩まされました。帯状疱疹という言葉はよく耳にするし、周りでかかったことのある人の話は聞くんですが、いざ自分がなってみるとこんなに辛いものとは思いませんでした。私の場合は右の顔から耳にかけて発疹ができたんですが、みるみるうちにグロメンと化してしまい、ふためとみられないほど醜く変形してしまいました。治療開始が早かったのでグロメンは一週間もすれば元に戻ってきましたが、そのあと顔の右半分の耐え難い痛みが何ヶ月も続きました。痛いところは冷やしてはだめで、暖めなければならないんですが、なにせ真夏のときのこと、カイロも温かい缶コーヒーも売っていなかったので、暖めるものを探すのに苦労しました。

英語の試験は、英語そのものの試験（ＴＯＥＩＣ）と、英語で受ける試験（ＣＣＮＡ　Ｃｏｌｌａｂｏｒａｔｉｏｎ）と両方受けました。今年はＣＣＮＡのほうは落ちちゃいましたが、ＴＯＥＩＣのほうは目標の点をクリアしたのでまあよしとしましょう。来年はＩＥＬＴＳあたり受けてみたいものです。

来年も前途多難ですが、また新しい出会いに期待したいものです。それでは良いお年を。

December 30, 2017
近江友里恵さんのこと

ＮＨＫのアナウンサーの近江友里恵さんのファンです。といっても今年のお正月に実家に帰省していたときにたまたま「ブラタモリ」をＴＶで見て初めて知ったんですが。「ブラタモリ」自体、桑子真帆アナウンサーがアシスタントをしていた時代に一度見たきりで、それまでほとんど見たことなかったのですが、このときは、昼に「伊勢」「横浜」の回の再放送をやっていて、さらに夜には「鶴瓶の家族に乾杯」とのコラボレーションスペシャルで成田山に行っていた回の放送があって、そこに出ていたアシスタントの近江アナウンサーがなんかいい味を出していて、注目するようになりました。
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October 16, 2017
Yurie Omi

According to Wikipedia, “Yurie Omi (born July 27, 1988) is a Japanese female announcer, television reporter, television personality, and news anchor for NHK. Omi is one of the hosts of NHK morning news show NHK News Ohayō Nippon. She is also the co-host of NHK television series Bura Tamori aired from April 2016.”

I’ve been a big fan of Yurie Omi since the beginning of this year when I sat in front of the TV by chance at my parents’ house and watched her for the first time in Bura Tamori (I had rarely seen it before, though). This program is a travel show where NHK’s broadcaster strolls Japan’s particular town or area with Tamori, one of Japan’s renowned TV personalities, and a geophysicist, a local historian, or a curator, to investigate the place’s topics such as terrain features, history, culture, and civil engineering.

Why do I think she is so attractive? I think the reason is three-fold. Firstly, she sometimes shows goofy behavior in her TV programs, although she is actually very smart and good-looking. She wore her dress back to front in the news show. In Bura Tamori, she read the thermometer incorrectly. (She said the temperature of hot spring water was 940 degrees Celcius while it really pointed 94.0 degrees.) Such slight weaknesses mean imperfection, which is what Japanese people value in tradition. This mentality makes the Japanese regard her weaknesses as charming. Secondly, she acts or speaks less highhandedly than average so-called “joshi-ana” and TV personalities. They often show off, but she doesn’t. They often speak aggressively, but she never does it. Her attitude like this gives a favorable impression to many Japanese viewers. Thirdly, most of her personality looks so similar to mine that I find something congenial in her. I don’t think she is such a personality that is good at thinking on her feet and speaking off the cuff with a ready wit. Rather, she looks genuine, and she can only do diligently what she has to do with simple honesty. Such characteristics are just like mine.

For those reasons, I got fascinated by her. I watch every TV program she appears in. I get up at five in the morning on weekdays to watch NHK’s morning news show she hosts. In Saturday evening I watch Bura Tamori to see her traveling with Tamori.

In addition to watching her on TV, I had a chance to see her with the naked eye. One day I got the information that she was going to hold a lecture presentation at Nagoya on September 30 and was requesting for audience. I applied for it because it might be my once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet her up.
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October 13, 2017
Visiting Hong Kong / 香港へ

日本文が後ろに続きます。

A few weeks ago I visited Hong Kong to deposit part of my fixed amount savings, deposited in Japan’s post office and matured last month, in HSBC Hong Kong where I’ve had my bank account for 13 years, and to buy some gold which was a bit inexpensive than what you buy in Japan. Since nobody can predict what will happen to Japan and its economy in the future, I think it is reasonable to diversify assets both nationally and internationally to reduce risks of the loss due to possible economic confusion.

I found out two notable things through this trip. One is that Kagoshima is in fact one of the important gateways of Japan for some foreign travelers. From a Tokyoite’s point of view, Kagoshima looks like the southernmost far end of Japan, but for some people, it is not. I heard that a sales clerk of Chow Sang Sang’s Central store selling a gold necklace to me saying that she had ever been to Japan for leisure, entering Japan at Kagoshima Airport, and then moved east to Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo, where she departed. She also said that it was a golden route for travelers from China and Hong Kong. Those facts suggest that cities like Kagoshima, Nagasaki, and Fukuoka should look at Asian countries rather than Tokyo to survive in the future.

The other thing is my lacking ability of English conversation. When I talked to the sales clerk or any other people in Hong Kong, all I could say to those people were one-to-two-word sentences like “Yeah,” “No,” “Thank you,” “Oh really?” or something like that. Response speed to English was apparently slower than that of a few years ago. Clearly, it was because I hadn’t used English so much for years as it is now irrelevant to me in the workplace. All I can do (and need to do) would be to have at least my home Englishized to get accustomed to the English environment and help live in an English way.

先日、香港へ行ってきました。郵便貯金の定額貯金が満期を迎えたので、一部をハンドキャリーして13年前に開設したＨＳＢＣの口座に入金するのと、現地で金製品を買うためです（日本で買うより安いのです）。この先日本がどうなるかわからない中、国際的に資産を分散しておくのが理にかなっているかと。

旅行記をフォートラベルに転載しました。

https://4travel.jp/travelogue/11718398

September 18, 2017
Japan’s northernmost end / 日本のさいはてへ

日本文はフォートラベルに転載しました。

https://4travel.jp/travelogue/11321411

Though it was almost half a year ago, I visited Wakkanai, the northernmost end of Hokkaido. Since it was the beginning of January this year, it was extremely cold outside with plenty of snow and the streets were very slippery.

Wakkanai is deeply related to Russia, since this city is just 40 kilometers away from the southern end of Sakhalin. When Sakhalin was part of Japan in the beginning of the 20th century, the city of Wakkanai played an important role in connecting to ports of Sakhalin by ferry.

Defense is also important since it is very close to the border and there is such a risk to let illegal immigrants in and to let foreign ships invade this town.

Wakkanai is one of Japan’s cities symbolizing tragedy of the WWII. When the USSR began invasion to the southern half of the Sakhalin Island after Japan’s surrender in August 1945, nine young women were working at a telephone exchange in the island. They were encouraged to escape from the island to flee to Hokkaido as it was going to be a dangerous place very soon. They refused to do it and chose to stay there because they wanted to do their job until the last time. At the time when Soviet Union’s soldiers came to where they worked, they took their lives as they didn’t want to be captured and molested by the soldiers. The memorial monument for them is build on the hill of Wakkanai city. I was eager to see this monument, but I couldn’t do it since the hill was closed due to the heavy winter snow.

With one more day I could’ve visited the Cape Soya and see the Sakhalin Island over the Soya Channel. This would be a good reason for me to visit Wakkanai again this summer.

June 10, 2017