Goodbye online March 9 20:35

Every year, in March, graduation ceremonies and farewell parties are held in many parts of the country, including classmates and colleagues at work.
However, we stopped here and there to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
In this context, online farewell is spreading.
(Reporters at the Network Press Naoya Saito and Asako Wada)

On the net

There are many voices of sadness that the chances of farewell, which may be once in a lifetime, have disappeared.

"You'll be mailing your diplomas. The last graduation ceremony in your life ...
I was able to meet some friends in the class, but some were too sad to be able to meet. ''
"I'm sorry that I couldn't hold a farewell party because of Corona because of my part-time job that worked for four years."
"It seems that the farewell party for those who have contributed to the workplace for more than 20 years is no longer Corona.

Try it online ...

On the other hand, a 38-year-old man living in Tokyo decided to use the Internet to hold a farewell party last month.
A college friend moved to Gifu Prefecture due to the company's reasons, and he had planned a farewell party at a restaurant with one other friend, but was forced to cancel due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection.
When I was in trouble, my wife's advice triggered an `` online farewell party '' using video conferencing software, and I was able to gather on the screen with each face visible, and it was a fun meeting unexpectedly Says.

Toast over the screen with a drink

A male employee said, "I was sorry to cancel it because I had planned it for more than a month, so I opened it. Each one toasted over the screen by hand and the food was in the refrigerator at home But it was a lot of fun. I was able to convey my desire to work hard in the usual atmosphere.

Also, if you are online, there is no need to meet up or make reservations for shops, so you can easily open them if you are at home and specify only the time.
In addition, men have three children from 0 to 6 years old, and family members were reluctant to participate in a drinking party outside if the virus would be brought into the home, At the online farewell party, there was no such concern, and I was able to show my child's face to friends with each other through the screen.
It was difficult to hear each other's voice over the microphone, but men would like to continue to use online farewell parties in some situations.

A male employee said, "We both studied information science at college and were not reluctant to go online at all. We want others to know it as one of the farewell options."

Online drinking party

Although it was not a farewell party, there were several posts on SNS that held a drinking party online due to the effect of the new coronavirus.
Of these, a woman in her 40s in Kanagawa Prefecture has invited a local friend and others to hold an online drinking party, and blogged about the things she noticed and what she had trouble doing.

First of all, as a "good thing"

▽ You can talk casually with people in physically distant places. 飲 You can drink and eat what you like. を Looking at an empty glass does not cause “What's next?” Fine)
参加 You can participate in a casual style (only the upper body is shown, so there is no jersey below)
参加 Participation by voice alone is also possible (since you can participate without showing yourself, it is OK even in makeup and pajamas)
食 べ る Eat food cooked at home, so the last one, such as fried chicken, does not occur. ▽ A common drinking party has a small group, but everyone can concentrate on the conversation. ▽ No cancellation fee will be charged even if you are absent due to inconvenience on the day ▽ When you sit in the back seat and stand in the toilet, you will not let everyone stand `` I'm sorry ''

On the other hand, the "trouble"

▽ Consumes time by confirming “Can you hear me?” ▽ Speaks only one person, so a talker is needed. ▽ I hate talking while looking at my face. You can't drink while watching)

Organized by a woman: "It's an online drinking party. Some of the people who participated around the pot with their family at home felt the new possibility of drinking."

A sense of unity even in unusual expressions

Some schools have held a graduation ceremony online and said that the ceremony was unforgettable.

Okushiri High School is the only high school in Okushiri Island in the Sea of ​​Japan southwest of Hokkaido.
The graduation ceremony, which was held on the 2nd of this month, was to be held with only 11 graduates and about 20 staff members.
Because of the new coronavirus, parents and current students have stopped attending.

Unusual, empty venue.
However, the screen of the stage showed each of the 51 current students watching the ceremony from home.

Everyone on stage

An online graduation ceremony was held between graduates and students using computers and smartphones.
It was a method of sharing wisdom and trying to send out third graders.

At the ceremony, the words of the representative of the graduates were transmitted live to the students at home at home, and when receiving the diploma, students who waved their hands to the students and told them to leave the school through the terminal installed at the venue was.

On the other hand, applause from home students sent applause to the venue through the screen, and in the home room after the ceremony, students and graduates sang songs together online to celebrate the start.

Okushiri Senior High School Professor Souki Inoue "I have had experience of learning English online with a New Zealand high school student in an English class, and proposed to use it online even at a graduation ceremony. I think that the graduation ceremony is in a new form.

Alumni Ritsu Manjima "When I entered, the applause of the venue was sparse and a bit lonely, but when the ceremony began, I was happy to see the faces of all the students online and when I got my diploma I posed for a terminal that current students can see. ''

One of the difficulties that Manchurian felt was that the ceremony started as early as 6:30 in the morning.
In fact, the graduation ceremony scheduled at 10:00 a.m. on the previous day was suddenly changed to two days due to the new coronavirus.
On the 2nd day, three graduates who stayed on the island for three years and lived in school had to leave the island by ferry, so the ceremony time was advanced in time for departure.
After the ceremony, they all moved to the ferry landing and said that they had sent off three people.

Alumni Ran Manjima "I was worried about the graduation ceremony at first, but it was an unforgettable ceremony. It was the smallest graduation ceremony, but I think the excitement was the largest."