Hirokazu Kobayashi
CEO, Green Insight Japan, Inc.
Professor Emeritus and Visiting Professor, University of Shizuoka
It is uncertain how long it will be better to wear a mask in Japan, but there is no doubt that the end is near. The number of infections with the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, peaked in February 2024, marking the 10th global and domestic wave. During this pandemic, the global death toll was 7 million, and the domestic death toll was just under 80,000. I want to express my condolences to the victims and their families and my respect for the medical personnel. Compared to past pandemics, the plague that spread between 1347 and 1352 is said to have killed 80 million people, mainly in Europe. The Spanish flu of 1918-1920 is estimated to have killed 100 million people worldwide. The number of deaths in Japan at that time is approximately 450,000. The number of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 is estimated to be 700 million worldwide and 40 million in Japan. This is a small number to achieve herd immunity, and it can be said that the RNA vaccine, based on the research of Katalin Kariko (1955-) and Drew Weissman (1959-), who were awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, has made a significant contribution.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, social activities had to be maintained without human contact, and existing Internet and digital communication technologies had to be further practiced. In North America, Scandinavia, South Korea, Japan, and other countries with well-developed Internet infrastructures, these technologies were used for classes, meetings, medical consultations, and events. I want to share an online funeral ceremony with relatives, as I believe few people have experienced it. My parents were 97 and 93 years old. At the nursing home in Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto Prefecture, where they lived, the transmission of COVID-19 was given the most excellent attention. Since March 2020, visits by family members have been limited to 20 minutes in a visiting room with a transparent partition. Since I live in Shizuoka City, about 400 km from the nursing home where my parents live, I have not been able to visit them often, which must have made them feel lonely. Last summer, after they almost survived the COVID-19 pandemic, they died one by one. That was the peak of the 9th wave. So, I decided to hold the funeral ceremony online. However, there were no funeral homes that were online-enabled in Fukuchiyama City. Some places said they would cooperate online but did not always have cameras and equipment. So, I searched for a company that could provide such equipment. Ultimately, I found only one company that could meet my needs. It was a Tokyo-based company serving the Kansai region. I asked the company to provide us with the equipment, but the death occurred late on a Friday night, and the following Monday was a three-day weekend because of the Marine Day holiday. As a result, we could not use equipment that could ensure a connection speed that could withstand high-definition images. In the end, a camera and cameraman arrived at the funeral site from Kobe. The transmission was done via tethering with my iPhone. The recorded images were later available in high resolution, but I figured I could do the online transmission myself. I did not use a professional for my mother's funeral; I did everything myself. Instead, I found that for the memorial service on the 49th day of his and her death and other occasions, I could serve my purpose by transmitting the video from the gravesite using only my iPhone. In this case, the application used was Zoom. This is just one example of a memorial service, but this way, events can be quickly broadcast online, and participants no longer need to go to the site.
Also, online meetings and classes have already become popular in the academic field, but the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend. The development of technologies to prevent, detect, and treat SARS-CoV-2 infection is a pressing issue. Traditionally, papers were published after their content was peer-reviewed, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, papers have been published as preprints without being peer-reviewed. In addition, we have moved towards making the raw data public, eliminating the need to compile it into a paper. As a result, researchers are now being tested on their ability to extract what they want and what they want from a vast amount of information reliably. This trend is called "open science". Humans stand at the top of all living things on earth by communicating as a group. During this period, oral communication → handwritten characters → printing [Johannes Gutenberg's (1398-1468) typography, 1439] → led to the "digital revolution." Additionally, many tasks could be carried out online without people needing to travel, reducing dependence on transportation. Furthermore, mechanization using AI has accelerated at industrial production sites. Ironically, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought human society one step forward. This reform will be etched in human history as a significant turning point.
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