＜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
<Added May 12, 2021> Issues with Japan Medical Association President Nakagawa’s Attendance at a Political Fundraising Party with Approximately 100 People
Japan Medical Association President Nakagawa has faced criticism from various quarters after it was reported that he attended a political fundraising party (attended by approximately 100 people) for Liberal Democratic Party Senator Jimi Eiko, of whom he serves as the support group chairperson, on April 20th.
Personally, I believe that as long as infection control measures and capacity limits are strictly implemented, large-scale commercial facilities, sporting events, and other large-scale events should be allowed to remain open, and that there is absolutely no problem with movie theaters, museums, and art galleries remaining open.
I also believe that “restricting the flow of people” is ineffective as a COVID-19 countermeasure.
However, it is completely illogical to urge the public to strictly refrain from going out while insisting that “it’s okay because we’re taking thorough infection control measures.”
Currently, a state of emergency has been declared in response to the coronavirus in 11 prefectures: Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto, Aichi, Fukuoka, Tochigi, and Gifu, in addition to the one metropolitan area and three prefectures (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama).
In addition, the Diet is deliberating on a bill to amend the Special Measures Act, with the ruling and opposition parties debating over penal provisions.
Japan Medical Association President Nakagawa continues to loudly voice his concerns about the “collapse of the medical system” and the “devastation of the medical system,” and Chairman Omi of the government subcommittee has also expressed a sense of crisis.
However, I have begun to feel uneasy about the government and Diet, which only serve to stir up a sense of crisis about the coronavirus, as well as the response of the Japan Medical Association and government subcommittee, and the media’s reporting on the virus.
1. Government and Diet COVID-19 Response
The opposition parties appear to be aiming to force the government to declare a state of emergency and provide compensation for shortened business hours and business closures. The government appears eager to impose fines on violating businesses and establish penalties, including prison sentences, for those who refuse hospitalization or flee.
2. The COVID-19 Responses of Japan Medical Association President Nakagawa and Government Subcommittee Chairman Omi
(1) Japan Medical Association President Nakagawa
The Japan Medical Association is essentially a “pressure group for private practice physicians,” not a “representative of all physicians.”
The Japan Medical Association’s membership is split evenly between private practice physicians and salaried physicians, but the majority of its executive committee is private practice physicians, meaning that the opinions of salaried physicians are not often reflected.
President Nakagawa himself is a “private practice physician.” Given that COVID-19 is currently a “designated infectious disease equivalent to Category 2,” and private practice physicians have difficulty responding, this is perhaps understandable. However, according to Dr. Moriyo Kimura, who appeared on “Seigi no Mikata,” President Nakagawa’s clinic has not accepted a single COVID-19 patient.
I have long wondered why President Nakagawa, at press conferences, loudly calls for the “collapse of the medical system” and “the destruction of the medical system,” as if he were a “representative of all physicians and hospitals,” without proposing any concrete measures. However, once we understand that it is a “pressure group for private practice physicians,” my question is answered.
(2) Chairman Omi of the Government Subcommittee
Chairman Omi of the “Government Subcommittee” owns a hospital and is accepting COVID-19 patients, but looking at the figures below (from an article in Weekly Shincho) from “COVID-19 Patient Acceptance Status,” his efforts are far from proactive.
3. The top priority in responding to COVID-19 right now is changing the category from “Designated Infectious Disease Category 2 Equivalent” to “Category 5”
In terms of understanding the COVID-19 infectious disease, I find the “New Coronavirus Hypothesis” by Professor Yasushi Takahashi of International University of Health and Welfare and the “Fried Egg Model” by Associate Professor Miyazawa of Kyoto University to be persuasive.
Even if that is extreme, if we truly want to prevent the collapse or destruction of medical care due to COVID-19, we should change COVID-19 from a “Designated Infectious Disease Equivalent to Category 2” to a “Category 5” to reduce the burden on medical institutions and increase the number of medical institutions that can accept patients.
Before leaving office, former Prime Minister clearly stated that he would “consider reclassifying COVID-19 as an infectious disease,” but the Suga Cabinet does not appear to be considering this.
There are some medical professionals who share this opinion, but perhaps because it is a “minority opinion,” it is not widely covered in the media, including on television.
Karaki Hideaki, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo and Chairman of the Japan Food Safety Foundation, also said:
Despite the fact that Japan’s infection numbers are only a fraction of those in Europe and the United States, medical care is strained solely because COVID-19 is being treated as a Class 2 designated infectious disease.
Japan, with only 2,000 to 3,000 daily infections at its peak, is considered a success in infection control compared to Europe and the United States, where infections range from 50,000 to 200,000. Comparing the situation with Europe and the United States is important, as many political decisions are made based on relative standards. For example, comparing the number of infections per 100,000 people makes it clear whether or not Japan should maintain its Class 2 status. Class 2 status strains medical care, deterring designated hospitals from general patients and causing losses, overworking medical professionals and public health centers, and even harming their families. Raising COVID-19 to a Class 5 disease, like influenza, would increase the number of hospitals able to accept it. The reason this is not possible is due to the experts, television, and newspapers who have instilled in the public the idea that COVID-19 is a “deadly disease.”
Based on the experience of the past year, I believe it is important not only to “not be overly afraid of COVID-19 but also to “look at the big picture calmly and from a broader perspective,” but also to “abandon the belief in zero risk” that is prevalent in Japanese society today.
On December 8, 2020, the National Association of Public Health Center Directors also sent an “urgent proposal” to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, asking that “the strain on public health centers be alleviated by relaxing the classification as equivalent to Category 2.”
We are being forced to respond in a manner similar to that of a disaster. Since the disease was designated as a designated infectious disease on February 1, 2020, we would like to share the current situation below with you. The critical situation has continued for several months.
As the spread of infection varies by region, we propose that in regions where it is difficult to respond to all infected people, the current system of designated infectious diseases (Class 2 or higher) be applied more flexibly under the Infectious Diseases Act.
Appearing on TV Asahi’s “Hodo Station” on December 17, 2020, Yudai Izumo, Director of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at the Japanese Red Cross Medical Center, clearly stated that “COVID-19 should be removed from the list of designated infectious diseases of Class 2 and downgraded to Class 5, the same as influenza.”
If you’re identified as a close contact, you’re basically required to stay at home for two weeks. At our hospital, 53 people were once identified as close contacts, and we conducted PCR tests on all of them, but only one tested positive. This meant that 52 of them were unable to work for two weeks, even though they had no symptoms and were not infected. Naturally, we ran out of staff, which meant we had to close wards and suspend outpatient, emergency, and surgical care.
I believe that hospitalization should be focused on severely ill patients. While public health centers and other organizations currently identify close contacts, I believe this manpower should be allocated elsewhere. For example, seasonal influenza, type 5, typically affects around 10 million people in Japan each year. Approximately 10,000 people died, clearly more than COVID-19, but I don’t think the current medical strain was a reality last year.
Incidentally, Dr. Moriyo Kimura, mentioned above in the section on Japan Medical Association President Nakagawa, also believes that COVID-19 should be changed from a Category 2 designated infectious disease to a Category 5.
Changing it to Category 5 would allow private medical institutions (including private practitioners like Chairman Nakagawa), which account for 80% of Japan’s medical institutions, to handle the disease, and is expected to improve the current excessive burden on doctors and nurses at large hospitals.
Keeping it at Category 2 would not only continue to relieve the excessive burden on hospital staff, including salaried doctors and nurses, and public health centers, but would also continue to damage all kinds of industries, including restaurants, suppliers, and accommodation and tourism businesses that have been asked to shorten their hours, as well as the transportation and department stores. It would also simply leave ordinary consumers feeling trapped, as if they were in a tunnel with no exit in sight.
I also feel that there is a problem with the media’s superficial reporting style, which focuses too much on COVID-19 and only serves to stir up a sense of crisis.