Vol. 17 No. 4 July/August 2020INSIDEVoicesfrom theSeafarers
Page 42020 Miss Japan Marine Day

Interview with the determined Miu Moriya
She obtains 2nd-grade license for piloting small ships, and speaks of her hopes for the ocean and shipsT

he 52nd Miss Nippon Contest washeld on Monday,
Jan. 20, 2020 at theKeio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku,
Tokyo. Ms. Miu Moriya, a student at Yamagata University, wasnamed Miss Japan Marine Day.
In February, she tried to obtain alicense for a second-grade smallship pilot as part of the studies
and activities that she had begun
since becoming Miss Japan Marine Day, although it was still
very cold. She spoke of a memoryof acquiring her small-ship pilot
license.
Feeling nervous but looking
forward to operating a ship

Spending two days on Feb. 1415, I acquired a license for asecond-grade small-ship pilot. I
learned immediately after being
named Miss Japan Marine Day
that I would make an attempt tohave one. I was worried at thattime, as I only knew a little about
the ocean and ships. However, I
realized that I would have a deeper understanding of the ocean if
I could operate a ship by myself.
Then, I started looking forward
to obtaining a license.
Day 1 of the license-acquisition camp began with a course
on practical skills. I first learned
ship inspections and rope tying,including pre-sailing inspections,and speed accelerations and zigzag operations when at sea. I
still remember it was very pleasant to feel the wind—although
I was still nervous—when I firstgrasped a helm to run a ship on
my own.
Then, I learned from lectures
how to leave and be docked atAbove: Miu Moriya learns how to tie a rope (how to make abowline knot). Right: Ms. Moriya is crowned Miss Japan MarineDay.

land and rescue human lives.
I had a tough time controlling
speed considering the waves thatmy ship would generate, butwhen I did it well, it was much
more fun than anything else.
Important to do sufficientresearch and other preparatory
work when operating a ship
When completing my course onpractical skills and relevant examinations, I attended lecturesto prepare for written examinations in the afternoon of Day 1
and the whole of Day 2. I experienced great difficulties when being faced with names that I had
never been familiar with. But I
enjoyed studying nautical charts
more than anything else. I heard
when learning maritime traffic
rules and others that nauticalcharts are used when ships areoperated. By measuring distances
to the destinations that you want
to arrive at from all four points ofMiu participates in bean-throwing to drive away evil spirits
and prevent diseases at the last-day-of-winter ceremony held onFeb. 3 at Takahata Fudoson Kongoji Temple in Tokyo. “May thenovel coronavirus and influenza viruses be driven away.”

the compass, routes are selected.
Before I knew these, I had feared
going out to sea by ship. But now
that I realized that even I can go
to sea if I fully complete researchand other preparatory work, I felt
the fun of operating a ship andwas very excited to do so.
Growing with friends andhaving a new goal now
During the camp, I met andstudied with a husband and awife. I cannot get them out ofmy mind. Although I only spent
two days with the couple, we all
increased our knowledge and became more and more attracted
to the sea, shared questions andothers, and grew into each other.
I learned that activities for Marine Day would be more fun if I
took steps forward with you.
I have a dream of running aship by myself and visiting islands, which is an activity I love
to do. Hoping that some day, I

can sail to Tobishima, an island
in Yamagata Prefecture, where I
live, and islands in the Seto Inland Sea, I will renew my license
every five years and continue towork hard to have a first-grade
license so that I will be able to go
farther from shore.

“I want to run a ship some day to visit islands.”

PROFILE
Ms. Miu Moriya is a college student who was bornin Yamagata Prefecture.
She loves to travel and takepictures with film cameras.
She is good at dancing, as
she has been doing it for 15
years now. Her motto is thatsmiling is a tip for living anexciting life. We are having
a tough time now due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. Thatis why it is time now that
I needed to keep smiling.
I want to become an announcer in the future and awoman who can send powerful messages on her own.
I began working as a reporter when I was a freshman.
I have since learned how
fun it is to deliver information. This is the reason whyI would like to become anannouncer.

HEALTH & FITNESS(2)

JULY/AUGUST 2020

On-board Exercises

Actress Kaoru Yumi presents the Nishino Breathing Method行
行
霞霞

Gyoka—have an image of energy generated inyour body spreading as if it were haze.

When standing on your knees, draw in breaths using the sokushin breathing
method, while moving both hands at the same time. Hold breaths gently when
they have reached the top of your head. When breaths have gone down to yourlower abdomen, let them out long and slowly. Then, bend your upper body withboth hands on the floor. Slide your palms forward until your chin also touches
the floor. In doing this, try not to feel your weight at all as if your body were haze.
Gyoka refreshes your entire body and stimulates visceral movements.

1. Get on your knees with yourfeet together, and relax yourentire body.

2. While breathing inthrough your nose using
the sokushin breathing
method, move your hands
up slowly.

Points to do‘Sokushin’ breathing

Imagine a big tree absorbing water from its
roots and deliver to each leave. Inhale asif breaths were taken from sokushin (thesoles of your feet) and up through yourknees, thighs, tanden (lower abdomen). Whilekeeping attention on your anus lightly, continue
to breathe in through your backbone all way
to hyakue (the vertex of your head). Then holdyour breath lightly until your breathing traverse
through your tanden. And then take breaths out
toward sokushin.

5. While exhaling through your mouth,
stretch your left leg to your left. Try to keep
the sole of your feet on the floor.

9. Keep inhaling and keep yourleft leg back, then begin to lift yourhands off the floor.

6. Continue to exhale, and slide your handson the floor.
10. While continuing to breathein, bring your knees together. Turnyour palms upward and raise themto chest level. Bring your breath
up to the top of your head, hold it
gently and let it down to your lower
abdomen. Repeat steps 4 to 10 withyour right leg.

3. Lift your hands to thelevel of your chest. Hold
your breath gently when
they have reached the
top of your head, andthen bring it down toyour lower abdomen.

4. While holding yourbreath, bend your upper
body forward, and place
your hands on the floor
with your fingers facing
inward.

7. Move your hands forward. In doing so, try
to touch your chin on the floor.

8. While breathing in, raise your upper body andbring your left leg back, Keeping the sole of yourleft foot touching the floor.

11. While breathing out, lower yourhands, and return to the starting
position in 1.

JULY/AUGUST 2020

巡巡回回

HEALTH & FITNESS

Junkai—imagine that energy generated from thelower abdomen, the main source of energy for thebody, circulates across the whole body.

Even if you are lying on your back on the floor, pay attention to your abdomen andthe soles of your feet, and do the sokushin breathing method.
When you twist your upper and lower bodies, make your body feel as if slightly elastic. Just do what you can do without overdoing it. Junkai is effective for backaches
and cold constitutions.

(3)

6. While breathing in again, return your upper and lower
body positions. Hold the breath gently when ithas reached
the top of your head, and then bring it down to your lower
abdomen.

1. Lie on your back on the floor, and relax yourentire body with your knees bent.

7. Keep holding your breath gently, andextend your legs upward.
2. While taking breaths in through your nose using sokushin breathing method, lock your handsbehind your head and pull in your knees. Hold
your breath gently when it has reached the top ofyour head, and then bring it down to your lower
abdomen.

8. While keeping the position, move your toes toward
your head.
3. While breathing out through your mouth, twist
your upper body to your right and lower body toyour left.

9. While exhaling, lower your legs.
4. While continuing to exhale, return your upper andlower bodies.

Institute of Nishino Breathing Method
Email:
info@nishinojuku.com
Internet:

https://www.nishinojuku.com/
english/e_top.html

5. Then twist your upper and lower bodies in the otherdirections with your upper body to your left and lower
body to your right.

10. Exhale completely, and return to the starting
position.

All JApAn SeAmen’S Union
15-26, Roppongi 7-Chome,
Minato-Ku, Tokyo 106-0032
Tel.: (03) 5410-8320
Fax: (03) 5410-8336
E-mail: iss@jsu.jp
Internet: http://www.jsu.or.jp
Publisher: Hiroyuki Tachikawa
Send inquiries to the attention ofMr. Hiroyuki Watanabe,
Director, International Dept.

SEAFARERS’ CORNER/NEWS(4)

JULY/AUGUST 2020

VOICES from SEAFARERS

Officers and Crew of MV TSUKUBA MARU
Although this pandemic has set us apart on the extended time, insure everybody is safe and healthy when we gethome. Please observe physical distancing, it is important
to avoid infection from corona virus.

Officers and Crew of MV IYOWhatever the situation may entail, may we kindly ask
everyone to observe safety with the proper hygiene and towear the required protective gears at all times.

Officers and Crew of MV MALAYSIA BRAVE
Most of the essential products are transported by ships.
As seafarers directing its courses, we would like to ask ourlove ones to stay at home for a while to prevent the spreadof the pandemic. With this sense of peace of mind, wecould easily steer the ship safely throughout its destination.

Signing off Crewmembers of MV CATTLEYA ACE
We highly appreciate the efforts of the labor unions in
supporting every company to enact the wish of the signing
off crewmembers during this outbreak of the pandemic.
We reassure you of our support in avoiding the threats ofthe covid-19 virus.

Master and Signing Off Crew ofMV HOKKAIDO BULKEROur gratitude goes to the concerned authorities whoformalized this crew change to happen. We wish this ongoing pandemic would vanish thus to lead us to safety andto bring us back to normal life. Take care everyone!

Signing off Crewmembers ofMV MARGUERITE ACE
Special thanks to the authorities and to our company
who have initiated this crew change to take place in Yokohama. Nothing is impossible when things are well coordinated. Bear in mind to think safety at all cost.

Top court rules on seafarer health in extreme weatherSeafarers have to bravestorms, typhoons andhigh waves during thevessel’s journey which
could have dramatic impact on
quality of their life at sea. The
job entails laborious manual tasks
conducted in a moving ship alongwith the sudden change of climate and temperature as the vessel crossed territories.
The Supreme Court recognizedthat prolonged and continued exposure to the changes in temperatures could probably expose theseafarers of the risk of sufferingfrom illnesses or accidents. The
seafarer is entitled to compensation for certain diseases throughthe aggravation principle wherein
his work conditions caused or, atleast, increased the risk of contracting the disease. The Court
noted that reasonable proof ofwork connection is sufficient—direct causal relation is not required. Thus, probability, not theultimate degree of certainty, is thetest of proof in compensation proceedings.
In Atienza v. OROPHIL Shipping Intl. (G.R. No. 191049,August 7, 2017), the seafarer, anAble Seaman, was diagnosed to besuffering from right cavernous si-nus inflammation or Tolosa HuntSyndrome (THS). The Court considered said illness as compensable
since he was called to keep watch
at sea during navigation, and toobserve and record weather andsea conditions, among others. In
the performance of his duties, theseafarer was constantly exposed tocold, heat, and other elements ofexposure to different temperatureand unpredictable weather conditions that accompanied his workon board an ocean-going vessel,
the likelihood to suffer a viral infection — a possible risk factor —is not far from impossible.
In Grace Marine Shipping
Corp. vs. Alarcon (G.R. No.
201536, September 9, 2015), thepatient to cardiovascular diseases
and some cancers. Its inevitable
impact on the seafarer’s chances ofbeing hired and capacity to continue working as a seafarer cannot
be ignored entitling him to permanent total disability benefits.
In Fil-Pride Shipping Company, Inc., et al. v. Balasta, (728Phil. 297), the Supreme Court

Being exposed to adverse climate conditions and other forces of nature
at sea can be challenging but it is in these types of situations that
Filipino mariners continue to thrive.
nature. While the exact cause of
THS is unknown, the Supreme
Court opined that seafarer’s illness
was most probably aggravated dueto the peculiar nature of his workthat required him to be on-calltwenty-four (24) hours a day toobserve and keep track of weather
conditions and keep watch at sea
during navigation.
These activities necessarily entail the use of eye muscles thatcan cause an eye strain as in fact,
he experienced headache, nausea,
and double vision that worsened
when he looked at his right side.
Considering further his constantSupreme Court attributed theseafarer’s psoriasis to the stress andclimate changes that permeate
his working environment. The
Court also noted that the seafarer
used strong detergent, fabric conditioner, special soap and chemicals in performing his duties as asteward. Despite the declarationin the medical reports that psoriasis is not contagious, the Court
emphasized that no profit-minded employer will hire the seafarer
considering the repulsive physicalmanifestation of the disease, its
chronic nature, lack of long-term
cure and the vulnerability of thereiterated its ruling in several
cases that cardiovascular disease,coronary artery disease, as wellas other heart ailments were held
to be compensable since thework of a seafarer is both physically and mentally stressful.
The Court pointed out that theseafarer was constantly exposed
to harsh weather conditions aswell as to varying temperaturesof extreme hot and cold as theship crossed ocean boundaries.
In the performance of his duties
as Able Seaman, he inhaled, wasexposed to, and came into directcontact with various injurious

and harmful chemicals, dust,
fumes/ emissions, and other irritant agents. The Court said
that these tasks could very wellcause the illness that the seafarer, then already 47 years old,
suffered from six months into
his employment contract withcompany.
In Teodoro vs. Teekay Shipping
Phil. (G.R. No. 244721 February 5, 2020), the Supreme Court
considered the loss of vision of
the cook’s left eye as attributable
to the sudden extreme changes intemperature from the upper deck
to the freezer during the haulingand storage process for the foodprovisions. The panel of voluntary arbitrators pointed out thatthe company’s personnel were
exposed to extreme temperatures
without the proper protective
clothing, thus, creating a moredangerous work environment that
resulted to the seafarer’s permanent blindness in the left eye andhis incapacity to resume the sameline of work. Being exposed to adverse climate conditions and otherforces of nature at sea can be challenging but it is in these types ofsituations that Filipino mariners
continue to thrive. (Source: CDNby Atty. Dennis Gorecho)