＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49) on X
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s announcement on the morning of December 4, 2020, that a teenage female had died from COVID-19, was discovered to be a data entry error, and a press conference was held in the evening to make a correction.
When I heard this report, I was more shocked than dumbfounded, leaving me speechless.
1. My Thoughts on the Initial Report
As there have been no cases of teenagers dying from COVID-19 to date, I was deeply intrigued.
Questions arose one after another: “Which prefecture was the child from?” “How did they get infected?” “Did they have any underlying health conditions?” “What were the details of the situation from onset to death?”
However, none of these details were revealed in the announcement, likely for reasons of “protecting personal information.” In particular, the presence or absence of underlying health conditions was mentioned, even though they “are completely unrelated to personal information.”
I felt increasingly disappointed, wondering, “What is the point of this announcement?”
2. Initial Reports Turned Out to be “False,” Due to a “Data Entry Error”
According to an apology held by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare in the evening, “The teenage girl infected with COVID-19 did not die,” and “The company contracted to compile the data entered incorrect data when interviewing the local government over the phone.”
It was only after inquiries from media outlets that the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare confirmed the information with the local government where the woman lived, and discovered the error.
3. Problems with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s Management System
(1) A system of “outsourcing” COVID-19 interviews to contractors
(2) A system of “not checking the results of contractor work” reports
(3) A “lack of sensitivity to the abnormal situation” of “teenager deaths from COVID-19”
This undermines the credibility of the statistical data released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The lack of awareness on the part of MHLW officials of the abnormal situation of “teenager deaths from COVID-19” and the complacent attitude of their superiors who release the data without questioning it are simply shocking.
This is not something that can be resolved with an apology. I urge the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to seriously reflect on this.