Subject: Greetings from Mandalay!
Date: Sunday, 24 March 2019 at 14:21 GMT
〇〇先生、〇〇先生
昨夏は旧ソ連ウズベキスタンへの団体旅行（ボストン引率を除けば34年振りの団体旅行）に参加し、その後は単独でこれまた旧ソ連のベラルーシ（旧白ロシア共和国）と、東地中海の島国でEU加盟国のキプロス（国際的に承認されない北キプロスを含む）を初訪問したにも拘わらず、道中体調がどうにも芳しくないことを口実に先生方への便りも無い「もぐりの旅」になってしまい失礼申し上げました。
今回はビルマ王朝最後の都Mandalayに来ております。KiplingやSinatraが英語圏に拡散してくれたMandalayという独特の響きに惹かれてのことです。ミャンマー政府が昨秋から1年間の暫定措置（以後は再検討）として日本国籍者の入国査証（entry visa）を免除（exempt）してくれているので、この機会を利用してやろうと考えたわけです。ヤンゴン国際空港（Yangon RGN）にて我が日本国旅券に手書きで記された*EXEMPEDの綴りは、どう見てもEXEMPTまたはEXEMPTEDの誤記でしたが、ここでは自分が嫌味な英語教員であることは忘れたいと思います。こうしてミャンマーが人生81番目の訪問国と相成りました。覚悟はしていましたが、3月の東南アジアの酷暑は体力を消耗します。
話はちょっと前後しますが、実は何を隠そう、今月は〇〇〇区〇〇〇２丁目の単身者用アパートへの引っ越しを果たしました。古い安物の物件（土地はなんと国有地）なので、ガスコンロもカーテンも天井の蛍光灯も全部借り手が自分で揃えるべし！という甚だspartanな鉄筋アパートですが、〇〇の駅と勤務先との絶妙な距離感が気に入っています。今回は十八年ぶりに〇〇〇〇駅附近から〇〇〇にかけて安い物件を探しましたが、2001年春の時点に比して空き物件が多いため家賃も割安感があり、おまけに敷金礼金も以前（2ヶ月＋2ヶ月）の半分（1ヶ月＋1ヶ月）が相場で、または場合によっては敷金礼金ゼロも登場し、今はすっかり「借り手市場」になっています。ただ、運送業については人手不足から完全に「売り手市場」ですので、引越業者の手を借りずに、定期券が使えるのをいいことに、〇〇〇〇市〇区の実家から何度も何度も電車で、そして〇〇〇１丁目の原田研究室から徒歩で物を運び込みました。まだ色々と買うべき物があって買い物地獄の様相を呈しています。ところで我が日本国数次旅券は当初の50頁では到底足りなくなっていることに気づき、晴れて都民に成った記念に都庁地下の旅券課（パスポートセンター）にて2,500円払って40頁の増補をしてもらいました。簡単な書面の提出から待つこと2時間です。
タイ航空の夜行便とミャンマー国内の夜行バスを使ってきて、昨晩（土曜）初めてまともに床に就くことができたのも束の間、本日（日曜）は永平寺の雲水よろしく午前3時起きして英領ビルマ時代に開発された海抜1,100メートル級の避暑地Pyin Oo Lwin (or Pyinulwin) ＝旧称Maymyo（「英人メイ氏の町」の意）まで日帰りで鉄道旅行に行ってきました。午前4時マンダレー発で片道3時間半の行程でしたが、4度のスイッチバックを繰り返す鉄道オタク垂涎の乗車体験です。車窓からは生まれて初めてまるで日の丸のような夜明けの太陽を見ることができました。この上級（upper class）の切符は山手線の初乗り運賃より安かったです。この国では俄かリッチマンな状態で（逆に西欧では完全に貧乏人ですが）、金銭感覚が日に日に可笑しくなります。ただ、切符売り場の窓口は何やらクネクネしたビルマ文字しか書かれておらず、どこに並んでも別の窓口を紹介され盥回しにされるので、時間と体力と忍耐力を要します（尤も知力と財力は不問ですが）。仏教国では人前で怒りを露わにするのは最低最悪な不作法とのことですので怒ってはいけません。鉄道に人気が無いので行列が短いのが勿怪の幸いですが、発車間際に切符を買うのは事実上不可能と言えるでしょう。
帰りの下りコースは英語でpick-upと呼ばれるトラックの荷台に現地人に混じり積載されてきました。荷台に載れたのは有難いことで、車によっては荷台を覆う幌の上に何やら器用に胡坐をかいている現地人（全員男）すら居ます。きっと計り知れないスリルが味わえるのでしょう。こちらは鉄道の上級席より少しだけ値段が高く、山手線の初乗り運賃程度でした。道中では日光「いろは坂」のようなカーブを幾度も曲がり、充分スリルに満ちた2時間程の行程でした。道路は（おそらく中共政府の援助だと思いますが）当初想像していた以上に整備されていて、今も日々整備されつつあります。標高が下がるに連れてマンダレー盆地の暑さが戻ってきて閉口しました。
当地は日本標準時（GMT+9.00）より2時間半遅れて（GMT+6.30）いて、今20:40を過ぎたところです。それでは恙無くお過ごしください。
原田俊明
Subject: Greetings from Mandalay!
Date: Sunday, 24 March 2019 at 15:29 GMT
Dear Norman,
Where are you right now?
The Burmese government is accepting Japanese visitors visa-free from October 2018 to September 2019 as a tentative measure, and I’m taking full advantage of this scheme. So here I am in the last royal capital of old Burma, whose nostalgic name Mandalay was made famous in the English-speaking world by Kipling and Sinatra amongst others. Myanmar as they call themselves has become my 81st country of entry so far.
I took an overnight flight by Thai Airways at Tokyo HND (Haneda) on Thursday night. Having entered Myanmar through Yangon RGN (which apparently attributes to the former name Rangoon), I took an overnight coach to Mandalay on Friday night. I was finally entitled to lying in bed on Saturday night here in Mandalay but got up on Sunday morning at 3.00am and took an old slow train to Pyin Oo Lwin (or alternatively spelt Pyinulwin; formerly Maymyo, which means ‘May Town’ named after a British colonial administrator by the name of Mr May) at 4.00am to enjoy a cool day trip to this hilly town at approx. 1,100 metres above sea level. This ‘May Town’ was of little interest apart from a few colonial buildings and landmarks such as Purcell Tower (a clock tower built in 1937), but the hilly climate was pleasant enough for a ramble and the 3 + 1/2 hour train journey (for the price of less than one pound sterling) with four consecutive ‘switchbacks’ (or ‘reverses’ as they call in local English) was also exciting. Having said that, the train service is few if any, so I decided to get on the rear cargo bed of a pick-up truck (again for the price of less than one pound sterling but only slightly more expensive than the old train) for my return journey. The road to Mandalay was much smoother than I had expected thanks probably to the Chinese aid (though I detest the fact that the Japanese government has been aiding the ungrateful Chinese for the past fifty years at the expense of us taxpayers) and the whole journey took only two hours. As we came nearer the Mandalay basin, the scorching Burmese heat came back with full vengeful force. Then I joined those legendary mad dogs and Englishmen in Noël Coward’s song, so to speak.
Keep in touch!
Toshiaki
Subject: A question from Tokyo
Date: Sunday, 31 March 2019 at 09:55 GMT
Hey old Viking!
You ought not to call me a tourist ’coz I’m an explorer, ha ha!
>Burma this time, is it safe there? Is it not civil war or something going on there?
Yes, it’s safe enough. The Buddhist-Muslim tension and killings have indeed occurred, but those incidents were on the frontiers, far from my travel path. All you have to be cautious about are: traffic accidents and health problems such as diarrhoea, the latter of which I shall discuss later.
Having endured 15 + 1/2 hours’ rail journey without air conditioning from Mandalay to the former capital Yangon (formerly Rangoon), indeed from 6.00am to 9.35pm, I got home in Tokyo (my new bedsit apartment) on Thursday. About 4 hours before the arrival in the terminus Yangon Central Railway Station, I bought a local half-litre canned beer from one of the ubiquitous vendors on the railway carriage corridors. The quality and hygiene was good enough, but I made a serious blunder. I dropped the unopened can on to the dirty floor of the railway carriage, making the can filthy with dirt. The vendor was kind enough to rinse the dirt with his iced water and soak the can in the said water once, and then he handed back the canned beer to me. I was totally unaware at the time, but the can was naturally contaminated with bacteria, against whom the natives might have innate immunity but of course I had none. Nothing happened that night, but the next day was hell! I could do literally nothing but stay in bed + occasionally go to the hotel room’s en-suite toilet till 4.00pm. Toilet then bed, toilet then bed, again and again! At 4.00pm I decided to take shelter in a Japanese restaurant, where I could take some tofu, boiled ‘daikon’ radish and ‘soba’ buckwheat noodle. It turned out to be a brilliant idea and I recovered a little bit.
I'm not sure whether I should consult a doctor here in Tokyo. I still suffer from diarrhoea from time to time. I've taken prescribed but already expired old tablets + unprescribed but fresh over-the-counter drugs. I also try 4 different gins (‘Bombay Dry Gin’, its more expensive ‘Star of Bombay Gin’, the fairly expensive ‘Sipsmith London Dry Gin’ and the most expensive ‘Monkey 47’ from Germany). I’m also thinking about buying ‘The Botanist Islay Dry Gin’ from Scotland and the ‘Roku (meaning 6) Gin’ by Suntory Company, Japan. The gin drink was supposed to be developed by the Dutch to carry to the tropic climate for the cure and prevention of tropic diseases.
I went into town and found a bottle of Aalborg Jubilœums Akvavit (Ålborg Jubiløums Akvavit) from Denmark at about 2,000yen (less than US$20.00). So tell me. Is it worth it?
Anyhow hope your project with Bristol University Press will come out successfully.
Toshi the Tokyoite
Subject: A question from Tokyo
Date: Tuesday, 2 April 2019 at 02:25 GMT
Thanks for the tip, P-O! After posing that question to you, I also found Skåne Akvavit from Sweden on Amazon Japan, which is much more expensive than Ålborg, at more than US$35.00 (GBP29ish?). Comparing the prices, I think I should stick with Ålborg. My recovery progresses at an accelerated pace, and I even had a full sushi dinner last night complete with four different saké. —Toshi
Subject: Re: 日本に帰ります
Date: Monday, 1 April 2019 at 04:41 GMT
〇〇さん
おゝ、それは急展開ですね。でもお元気にしているようで何よりです。
ところで私は最近東南アジアのミャンマー（旧称ビルマ）に行っていましたが、自分の不注意から胃腸が細菌感染し、今もまだ完全には恢復していません。
会社は本日（4/1(月)）開始しましたが、カナダはまだ3月ですよね。学科によっては早くも学生を登校させている所もあるようで、原田研究室附近の中教室が学生で今いっぱいです。
4/22(月)以降、特に予定はありません。また、研究室に遊びに来てください。カナダ土産は特に思いつくものがありません。気にせず手ぶらで来てください。
原田俊明
Subject: Re: 日本に帰ります
Date: Thursday, 4 April 2019 at 23:50 GMT
〇〇さん
>ミャンマーにはどのくらい滞在してましたか？
１週間足らずです。あまり本格的な旅とは言えず、急いで下見したような感じでした。
>先生、最近旅先での体調不良が多いですね。もう良くなりましたか？
今はもう治りました、お蔭様で。寿司屋に行けるほどの恢復ぶりです。お腹を壊したのは下記（英文）のような経緯であり、完全に自己責任でした。
Having endured 15 + 1/2 hours' rail journey without air conditioning from Mandalay to the former capital Yangon (formerly Rangoon), indeed from 6.00am to 9.35pm, I got home in Tokyo (my new bedsit apartment) on Thursday. About 4 hours before the arrival in the terminus Yangon Central Railway Station, I bought a local half-litre canned beer from one of the ubiquitous vendors on the railway carriage corridors. The quality and hygiene was good enough, but I made a serious blunder. I dropped the unopened can on to the dirty floor of the railway carriage, making the can filthy with dirt. The vendor was kind enough to rinse the dirt with his iced water and soak the can in the said water once, and then he handed back the canned beer to me. I was totally unaware at the time, but the can was naturally contaminated with bacteria, against whom the natives might have innate immunity but of course I had none. Nothing happened that night, but the next day was hell! I could do literally nothing but stay in bed + occasionally go to the hotel room's en-suite toilet till 4.00pm. Toilet then bed, toilet then bed, again and again! At 4.00pm I decided to take shelter in a Japanese restaurant, where I could take some tofu, boiled 'daikon' radish and 'soba' buckwheat noodle. It turned out to be a brilliant idea and I recovered a little bit.
昔から胃腸が弱いので（肝臓が強いのだけが取り柄ですが）、残念ですが一生つき合っていくしかないですね。現地で蕎麦(そば)を食べに行ったのは、アベちゃん総理が米西海岸遊学中によく「また腹こわした。頼む、蕎麦を茹でてくれ、、、」と言って寝込んでしまったとアベ友（SWU社の元非常勤で、アベちゃんのことが好き過ぎて、いつもアベちゃんの悪口ばかり言っている人物）から聞いていたから、それに倣(なら)ったわけです。
>それでは、23日(火)はいかがでしょう？
23日(火)、いいですね。久しぶりの東京ですから、蕎麦でも寿司でも何か日本的な所がいいですか。それとも英国風の所でしょうか。
原田俊明
Subject: Happy 89th birthday!
Date: Wednesday, 8 March 2019 at 15:54 GMT / 16:54 BST
Dear Norman,
Happy birthday to you!
I wish you a very pleasant 90th year of your long and illustrious life on the occasion of your 89th birthday. I really hope to see you this year of 2019 whether in Oakham or elsewhere.
Talking of which a new Oxonian (Merton BA & MA on the history of waterborne traffic) Emperor of Japan took the Chrysanthemum Throne at age 59 here in Tokyo last Wednesday (May 1st) and a new Imperial era of ‘Reiwa’ (not that Real Estate Institute of Western Australia but with the meaning of ‘beautiful peace’ according to the official governmental translation) started alongside.
The Japanese governmental calendar (even the local government stuff) is so complicated that January 1st to April 30th 2019 is called Heisei 31st year, whilst May 1st to December 31st 2019 is called Reiwa 1st year. Everytime one submits a form (birth certificates, etc.) to bureaucracy, one has to fill it in with the Imperial era year system. I for one is required to write in the Date of Birth section: ‘Showa 43rd year, 10th month, 12th day’, which means 12th October 1968. Yes, the year 1968 is the 43rd year of Emperor Showa’s reign (who was better known outside Japan as his lifetime name of Hirohito). And in your case incidentally, that’s ‘Showa 5th year, 5th month, 8th day’.
Sorry, I failed to send you a follow-up report on my previous journey in late March. I endured 15 + 1/2 hours’ railway journey without air conditioning from Mandalay to the former capital Yangon (formerly Rangoon), indeed from 6.00am to 9.35pm. About 4 hours before the arrival in the terminus Yangon Central Railway Station, I bought a local half-litre canned beer from one of the ubiquitous vendors on the railway carriage corridors. The quality and hygiene was good enough, but I made a serious blunder. I dropped the unopened can on to the dirty floor of the railway carriage, making the can filthy with dirt. The vendor was kind enough to rinse the dirt with his iced water and soak the can in the said water once, and then he handed back the canned beer to me. I was totally unaware at the time, but the can was naturally contaminated with bacteria, against whom the natives might have innate immunity but of course I had none. Nothing happened that night, but the next day was hell! I could do literally nothing but stay in bed + occasionally go to the hotel room’s en-suite toilet till 4.00pm. Toilet then bed, toilet then bed, again and again! At 4.00pm I decided to take shelter in a local Japanese restaurant, where I could take some tofu, boiled ‘daikon’ radish and ‘soba’ buckwheat noodle. It turned out to be a brilliant idea and I recovered a little bit.
You don’t seem to regard Myanmar much favourably, as I understand. But in my opinion, the ‘oppression’ of the Burmese Junta was much too exaggerated in the Western media such as BBC and CNN. If they had been that oppressive then Aung San Suu Kyi would have been executed or assassinated long ago. The level of ‘oppressiveness’ in Myanmar is actually on a par with Thailand, where criticism against their royals is a taboo, with Laos, where one is not allowed to criticise the Socialist regime, with Vietnam, where the Communist Party is king, and indeed with Singapore, where no three men are allowed to form any group in the street as it is deemed as a political rally. Japan is slightly better, though, but I shan’t be able to boast of our knavish politics much.
Anyhow I’ll stop my musings here for now.
Toshiaki