林業博物館

3月31日（水）曇時々雨

ケアンズの台所のテーブルランドは、150年前は原生林。開拓者たちが木を切り倒し、家を建て、農地を開墾。しかし大都市から遠く離れていたので輸出品は鉱物と木材。伐採した大木は50頭の牛に引かせて川まで運搬。博物館では当時の荷車や木材運搬用具、伐採用具などを保存展示。熱帯雨林で捕まえた大蛇の写真や、大鋸や斧を使った丸太切り競争の歴代チャンピオンの写真も飾られています。

牛車

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Forestry museum
Wed. march 31 : cloudy occasionally rainy

The kitchen of Cairns, Table Land was a virgin forest 150 years ago. Pioneers cut down the trees, built their houses and brought under cultivation. As it was far from any big cities the exports were minerals and timbers. The big woods cut down there were conveyed to the river being towed by 50 bulls. The museum there displays the carts, timber conveying tools and cutting tools from those days. The photos of pythons caught in the tropical rain forest, successive cutting timber champions using large saws or axes are displayed as well.

bull cart

木工品

3月30日（火）曇時々雨

飛騨高山にも東北にも多くの木地師がいて優れた木工品を創っていましたが、それも昔話。乱伐のため良い大木がなくなり伝統技術も途絶えつつあります。豪州は砂漠の国ですが東海岸は豊富な木材の生産地。特に熱帯のテーブルランドは大木の産地。あちこちに木工品の工房があり、洗練されたデザインの家具や置物や大皿などが安く手に入ります。木製の花瓶を買ったら昔の巨木伐採の絵葉書が無料サービス。

飛騨高山

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Wood work
Tue. March 30 : cloudy occasionally rainy

There used be a lot of woodworkers in Hida-Takayama and Tohoku areas but it is an old story now. The traditional technique has been dying out as a result of reckless deforestation that had taken good trees away. Australia is basically a desert country but its east coast yields a plenty of timber. Especially, the tropical Table Land supplies big wood. There are wood workshops here and there and you can find sophisticated furniture, ornaments and large plates with reasonable prices. I bought a woody vase and the shopper handed me a free post card of the big tree cutting from old days.

Hida-Takayama

錫のウオンバット

3月29日（月）曇時々雨

ケアンズはヨーク半島の東海岸の根元にあります。西海岸のウェイパは世界最大のボーキサイト（アルミニウムの原石）の産地ですが500ｋｍも離れていて、乾期に４ＷＤ で何とかたどり着ける遠隔地。近場のテーブルランドは錫の産地。錫は青銅や半田などの合金の原料。日本では茶器や酒器に加工されます。錫鉱山を見学後ユミはウオンバットのキーホールダーを購入。ウオンバットとはアボリジニ語で「鼻が平たい」いう意味。

ウオンバット

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Tin wombat
Mon. March 29 : cloudy occasionally rainy

Cairns is located on the base of eastern Cape York. Weipa on the west coast is the world’s biggest producing district of bauxite (the rough stone of aluminum) but it is 500km distance away so you can barely get there in a 4WD during dry season. The nearby place, Table Land is for its production of tin. Tin is the raw material of bronze and solder. In Japan it is processed to tea utensils and sake utensils. Youmi bought a tin keychain of wombat after seeing the tin mine. Wombat means “flat nose” in aboriginal language.

wombat

アメジスト（紫水晶）の巨大窯

3月28日（日）曇時々雨

豪州は宝石のメッカ。ケアンズの少し南、と言っても1000ｋｍ南にはエメラルド、ルビー、サファイアとその物ズバリの名の町があります。それではケアンズではどんな宝石が？オパールとアメジスト。僕の誕生石のアメジストは長い時間をかけて石英の窯の中で結晶化します。テーブルランドの鉱山博物館に巨大な窯が展示されていました。石言葉は誠実、高貴、心の平和、酒に酔わない。なるほどね。

シンガポールの初釜

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Giant amethyst furnace
Sun. march 28 : cloudy occasionally rainy

Australia is abundant in jewels. South of Cairns, to be exact, 1000km away to the south, there are cities that have the actual names of jewelry such as Emerald, Ruby and Sapphire. What jewels can be dug in Cairns, then? They are opals and amethysts. My birthstone, amethysts crystallize in the quarts furnace taking a long time. A giant amethyst furnace was displayed at the mining museum in Table Land. The language of stones is integrity, peace of heart and never being drunk. That’s interesting.

New Year's first tea in Singapore

熱帯雨林の星空映画館

3月27日（土）曇時々雨

人家のまばらなテーブルランドにあるドライブイン・シアターは金曜と土曜の7時半より上映開始。シティーは入場料が＄15（1200円）ですが、ここは2本立てで＄10（800円）。車50台入場可能。この日は車20台、50人の入場者。マンゴ農場を潰して作ったらしく、老夫婦と4人の高校生のアルバイトで場内カフェも営業。ＯＺは映画を見ながら飲み食いを欠かさないので、カフェも繁盛しています。

海辺の星空映画館

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Starry sky cinema in tropical rain forest
Sat. March 27 : cloudy occasionally rainy

This drive-in theater is in straggling Table Land and the show starts from 7:30pm every Friday and Saturday. The entrance fee is $15 in City but $10 with double feature here. It can accommodate 50 cars. Today there were 20 cars and 50 audiences. It seems to have been reformed from the mango farm. The elderly couple manages the cinema and annex café with 4 part-time high school students. OZs never miss drinking and eating in the cinemas so the café has been prosperous as well.

starry sky cinema on the beach

ビフテキ・ダイエット

3月26日（金）雨

子供のころ下北には冷蔵庫がなかったので、12歳で上京して牛肉を初めて食べてお腹を壊しました。肉は苦手ですが、食欲の秋ですからワンキロ・ステーキに挑戦。肉1㎏、マッシュポテト500ｇ、茹で野菜500ｇの合計2㎏で3200円。30分で残らず食べたら半額。無理に決まっているけど食欲の秋ですから。久々に食べる牛肉はなかなかの味。しかし3分の2でギブアップ。そして、やっぱりお腹を壊し、体重が1㎏減少。

500ｇステーキは完食

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Beef steak diet
Fri. March 26 : rainy

There were no refrigerators in Shimokita. I ate some beef for the first time after moving to Tokyo when I was 12 and I had a stomach trouble. Although I don’t like beef the autumn is eater-friendly season, so I challenged 1kg-steak. That was 1kg of beef stake with 500g of mashed potatoes and 500g of boiled vegetables. So it’s totally 2kg and $40. If you could finish it in 30 minutes, they only charge you half. I knew it was impossible but I dared to try it because autumn is eater-friendly season. The stake after long-absent tasted pretty good. But I needed to gave up when I finished two third of it. Not to mention, I ended up with a stomach and I had lost 1kg of my weight.

I have eaten 500ｇ steak completely

スニーカー

3月25日（木）晴後雨

スポーツの秋です。ボクシングを始めた13歳からほぼ毎日ジョッギング。ケアンズでは毎朝海辺を3ｋｍ、冬はジョッギング。夏は歩くだけで汗がびっしょり。Ｔシャツ、ソックス、下着、短パンは毎日洗濯します。毎年5枚ずつ新品と交換。大雨の日や旅行で不在の時を除いても、年間300日はスニーカーを利用します。ソールが磨り減り、汚れもひどくなるので毎年新しいスニーカーと交換します。

ケアンズの履物

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Sneakers
Thu. March 25 : rainy after fine

Autumn is the best season for sports. I have been jogging almost every day since I was 13 years old when I started boxing. In Cairns I jog 3km along the beach every morning in winter. I soak with sweat even after walking there in summer. I wash my T-shirt, socks, underwear and short pants every day. I renew 5 sets each every year. I wear sneakers 300 days a year, except heavy rainy days and during my absence because of trips. The soles are worn out and the stains become unable to be removed, so I need to change them to new ones every year.

footwears in Cairns

中国雑技団

3月24日（水）晴後雨

芸術の秋です。先週からジャズ・コンサート、アカデミー賞受賞の「ハート・ロッカー」、中国雑技団、アイリッシュ・ダンスの4連発。ダンスは入場料が6000円、ジャズは3000円。中国雑技団は親子連れが対象なので2000円で写真撮影もＯＫ。映画は1200円がシルバー割引で800円。バレー公演は公会堂のステージが小さくて中止。2年後に新公会堂建設が予定されていますが、着工が遅れないで欲しい。

シルク・ド・ソレイユ

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Chinese Acrobatic Troupe
Wed. March 24 : rainy after fine

Autumn is the best season for enjoying arts. We have gone to appreciate 4 events since last week; the jazz concert, Academy Award-winning “Hurt Locker”, Chinese Acrobatic Troupe and Irish dance. The entrance fee was $75 for the dance and $32 for the jazz. Chinese Acrobatic Troupe was mainly for parents with children, so the fee was $25 and it was OK to take pictures. The movie was $15 but $10 for me with elderly discount. The ballet performance was cancelled because the stage of civic auditorium was too small for it. New auditorium will be constructed in 2 years. Please never delay the groundbreaking!

Cirque du Soleil

キノコ

3月23日（火）晴時々雨

ケアンズも少し涼しくなってきました。暦の上ではもう秋。秋の味覚は、柿、梨、ブドウ、リンゴ、ミカン、新米、栗、トウモロコシ、落花生、さつま芋、サンマ、鮭、キノコ。最後のキノコだけがケアンズでは入手困難。青物市場でもスーパーでもマッシュルームとシイタケくらいしか見かけません。ところが郊外のアジアン・ショップでヒラタケ、エノキタケ、シメジ、シイタケ、エリンギをゲット。店主はシンガポールからの移民だそうです。

ＮＺのサンマと坂

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Mushrooms
Tue. March 23 : rainy after fine

It has become a little cooler in Cairns. According to the calendar it’s already fall. Fall flavors are persimmons, pears, grapes, apples, oranges, new rice, chestnuts, corn, peanuts, sweet potatoes, saury salmon and mushrooms. Just the last one in the list, mushrooms is what you can hardly get in Cairns. You can usually find only European mushrooms and shiitake at the green markets or supermarkets. Fortunately, I found hiratake, flammulina, shimeji, shiitake and eryngii at an Asian shop in suburbs. The owner was a Chinese immigrate from Singapore.

saury and slope in NZ

砲丸木（ホウガンボク）

3月22日（月）快晴後雨

「♪祇園精舎の鐘の声、諸行無常の響きあり、♪沙羅双樹の花の色、盛者必衰の理をあらわす」。沙羅双樹はインド原産の熱帯高木。日本の寺院では夏椿を沙羅双樹と呼び習わしています。インドでは仏教が廃れ、今やタイが本家顔。そのタイでは砲丸木を沙羅双樹と呼んでいます。砲丸木は南米のギアナが原産の熱帯高木。実は堅くボーリングのボールそっくり。ケアンズでは、シティーの海岸通りや植物園で見られます。僕の朝の散歩道でも。

砲丸木の花

本物の沙羅双樹の花

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Cannon Ball Tree
Mon. March 22 : rainy after fine

“♪The sound of the Gion Shoja bells echoes the impermanence of all things. ♪The color of the paired Sal flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline.” Sal is a tropical tall tree from India. In Japanese temples summer camellia is called Sal. Buddhism has declined its power in India and Thai is now pretending to be its original country. Cannon Ball Tree is called Sal in Thai. Cannon Ball Tree is a tropical tall tree originally from Guiana in South America. Its nut is hard and it likes like a ten-pin-bowling ball. You can see them on Esplanade in City and botanic garden in Cairns, and also on my walking path in the morning.

flower of cannon ball tree

flower of genuine Sal tree

蛙の落書き

3月21日（日）晴時々雨

テーブル・ランドに向かうハイウエイ沿いの岩に描かれた蛙の絵。岩の亀裂を口に見立てたケアンズNo.2の傑作。僕たちがケアンズに引っ越した3年前には既にありました。紫外線で色が褪せるはずですが、どうやら定期的に補修している模様。片側を通行止めにして足場を組まないと作業は不能だから、警察も黙認しているようです。吸盤のある緑色の蛙は熱帯雨林の人気者ですが、ケーン・トードの食害で絶滅の危機。

No.1の傑作

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Graffiti of frog
Sun. March 21 : fine occasionally rainy

This is graffiti of a frog painted on the rock beside the highway bound for Table Land. It is the second greatest masterpiece in Cairns that uses the crack of the rock for the mouth of the frog. It has been there since 3 years ago when we moved to Cairns. The colors must be faded under ultraviolet, but it is likely to be repaired regularly. As it looks impossible to work on it unless you build the footing on the road with one-lane closed, it seems that the police give silent consent to it. The green frogs with suckers are popular in the tropical rain forest but they are in danger of extinction due to verminous damage of sugar canes.

the greatest masterpiece

ガマの子

3月20日（土）晴時々雨

朝の散歩していると小川のそばに体長１㎝足らずの無数のガマの子。生態破壊動物のケーン・トードです。昨年生物学者が画期的な駆除法を考案。ガマの孵化期に小川のそばにキャットフードを撒くだけ。肉食アリが大集合して90％以上の子ガマを食べ殺すそうです。大丈夫かな？同じ生態破壊動物のアルゼンチン・アリを増やすだけだったりして。日本でも佐渡に導入したテンが悪さをしたし。トキが欲しければ豪州に沢山いますよ。

親ガマ

豪州トキ

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Toad kids
Sat. March 20 : fine occasionally rainy

I found numerous toad kids that are under 1cm long near the creek while I was taking a walk in the morning. They are cane toads, one of the ecological vandalism animals. A biologist invented epoch-making method for exterminating them last year. All you have to do is to scatter some cat food near the creek during the hatching period. Then, carnivorous ants gather there and they kill to eat 90% of toad kids. Will it really work like that? I am afraid it causes only the increase of Argentina ants, another kind of ecological vandalism animal. In Japan the martens that had introduced to Sado Island have done bad thing recently. If you want some ibises, there are numerous ibises in Australia.

parent toad

Australian ibis

日本語を棄てよう！

3月19日（金）快晴

日本人は中高6年間英語を学んでも英語を話せないし、小中高12年間国語を学んでも日本語を十分理解できません。豪州の学校では英語の授業がありません。母語の英語は習わなくても理解できるのに、日本語は母語なのに言語学者さえも理解困難な欠陥言語です。非論理的でコンピューターとの相性は最悪で、今後世界から取り残されかねません。思い切って英語を公用語にすれば、学校で英語と日本語の授業は不要になります。言葉は情報伝達と記録の道具であると同時に、思考と創造の道具です。公用語が論理的な言語に変われば日本人の知的レベルも向上します。（エスペラントは英語より優秀な言語ですが、当面は世界覇権語の英語を公用語にするのが現実的です）

ＮＹ世界貿易センタービル

エスペラント

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Put Japanese on the scrap heap!
Fri. March 19 : fine

Japanese cannot speak English properly even after learning it for 6 years in junior-high and high school. They even cannot understand Japanese language enough after learning it for 12 years in primary, junior-high and high school. There are no English classes in Australian school. English as the mother language can be obtained without learning it, but Japanese as the mother language is a defective language that cannot be understood even by linguistic scholars. Japanese is so illogical that it is quite incompatible with computers and Japan could be remained from the world’s culture in the future. If they designated English as the official language, they would not need the lessons in both English and Japanese. Languages are the tools not only for transmitting and recording the information but also for thinking and creating. If the official language is to be changed to more logical language, Japanese intellectual level will rise. (Esperanto is more logical language than English, but for the time being the domination language of the world, English is more practical to be the official language.)

WTC Building in NY

Esperanto

「色盲」と入力したら「死期望」と出力

3月18日（木）快晴

井上陽水の「自己嫌悪」は「盲」の1語で放送禁止。僕は「色盲」ですが、これも差別用語なので「色覚異常」や「色覚障害」と呼ばれます。さらに、「異常」とか「障害」もいけないので「少数派色覚」と呼ぼうという意見も。すると正常色覚は「多数派色覚」？学術用語も「分裂病」は「統合失調症」に、「躁鬱病」は「双曲性障害」に、「痴呆」は「認知症」に改名。亀の一声で「不良債権」も改名されそうです。日本語はますますおバカ言葉に。

宇宙飛行士

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Inputting “color blind”, output “desire to death”
Thu. March 18 : fine

Yosui Inoue’s “Self Abhorrence” went prohibited on the radio just because of the word, ”blind”. I am “color blind” but since it is a discrimination word it is substituted by “color sense abnormality” or “color sense disturbance”. Moreover, some people even suggest that “abnormality” and “disturbance” are also discriminative so you should substitute them for “minor color sense”. Are normal people “major color sensed”, then? As for academic terms, “schizophrenia” has been changed to “total ataxia”, “manic-depression” to “hyperbolic disturbance” and “dementia” to ”acknowledge disease”. A word from Mr. Kamei “bad debt” seems to be changed soon. Japanese language is becoming stupid more and more.

astronaut

日本の禁書

3月17日（水）快晴

ロレンスの「チャタレイ婦人の恋人」や永井荷風の「四畳半襖の下張」が春本（ポルノ）が理由で発禁。大江健三郎の「セブンティーン」は第2部の「政治少年死す」とともに浅沼委員長刺殺テロを描いた幻の短編小説。井沢七郎の「風流夢譚」も17歳の右翼少年のテロに発展し発禁。来月iPadが日本で発売されれば読めるようになるかも。太地町のイルカ漁の映画・「The Cove」もダウンロードできるのは確実。インターネットがノーベル平和賞候補になっているとか。

僕のセブンティーン

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Banned books in Japan
Wed. March 17 : fine

Lawrence’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” and Kafu Nagai’s “Graffiti on Sliding Door” have gone banned by reason of their pornography. Kenzaburo Oe’s “Seventeen” has been banned with its second division, “Political Boy Died”. Both of them are visionary short fictions. Shitiro Izawa’s “Elegant Dream Story” has also been banned because it had caused the terror organized by a seventeen-year-old boy. You might be able to read them when iPad is released in Japan next month. You will also be able to down load “The Cove”, the documentary film about dolphin fishing in Taiji Town for sure. People whisper that Internet has been nominated to Nobel Peace Prize.

my seventeen