“My world has changed like this” Record of a nameless citizen June 24, 19:19

A new type of coronavirus that is said to be "a crisis once every 100 years". There is a growing movement to keep track of how our lives are rapidly changing due to the threat of infectious diseases. Why record? And what do you record? I searched for the meaning of the "footprint" that the nameless citizen is trying to leave. (Naoya Saito, Reporter, Network News Department, Daichi Takahashi, Aya Noda)

However, the "urge" to record

With the rapid change in society in a way that no one had expected, a change is occurring in a service on the Internet.

"Note" is a service that allows you to post texts and photos. It is used as a place to convey your daily life, what you have noticed, and your thoughts. The number of posts per day was about 17,000 at the beginning of March, but it increased to about 26,000 in May.

According to Konote Mihara, the director of "note", the number of posts sharing a rapidly changing life record has increased rapidly.

For example, a record of remote work and things that were devised when spending time with children at home because the school was closed. Healthcare workers and people infected with the new coronavirus vividly describe the fight against infectious diseases.
And restaurant owners continue to struggle with refraining from sales and taking out.

Mr. Kotomi Mihara
"People who have never written a diary have begun to write down their mind movements as their lives change drastically. Sharing thoughts and ideas I think it helped each other to encourage each other and overcome the crisis.''

While being swallowed by a situation that has never been experienced before, many people may be urged to "take a record" or "to convey" so that they can hold a straw.

The "note" editorial department also sets up themes such as ideas for remote work to call for postings, and from the posts, we collect useful wisdom for life and information that we want to know and introduce it as articles.

Mr. Kotomi Mihara
"I would like to create a place where even if an unexpected situation occurs again, I can find useful personal knowledge by finding it on the Internet or find friends with the same feeling."

Public institutions also collect records

Public institutions are also trying to leave the social situation changed by the new coronavirus in future generations.

The National Diet Library regularly records the information that government agencies publish on its website, but since February this year, the information is being collected more frequently. It records information that is updated daily as the infection spreads, such as a notification from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

In addition, we have started to record websites such as the Japanese Society of Infectious Diseases that we have not collected so far, and we have made a total of 385 temporary records for 117 websites so far.

In addition, museums around the world have begun to collect materials that show changes in our lives, such as advertisements that tell the store how to refrain from sales and leaflets that introduce takeaway menus.

What the 100-year-old record conveys

How do the records and diaries left by Ichii's people appear to the eyes of posterity?

About 100 years ago, it can be made clear by reading a description of the Spanish common cold, which has been the epidemic of global pandemics and caused numerous casualties.

Historical material maintenance room in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture. There was a description in the diary of one citizen left here. The diary was written by a man named Kazuharu Omori, who lived in the period from the Meiji era to the early Showa era and was operating a rice grain dealer in Kurashiki city.

It is a valuable document that explains the history of the area as seen by Ichii's people, as it clearly describes the state of the world when electricity was first passed to Kurashiki and the world situation at the time. This time, as the infection with the new coronavirus spreads, curators investigated the description of the Spanish cold and found that it was described in the diary in 1918.

In the diary on October 28, the flu (Spanish cold) epidemic spread, and while my school, factories, newspapers, etc. were being closed and closed, my son was also affected. Furthermore, on November 1st, the father and his wife were allegedly infected, and it can be seen that the infection spread to the Omori family one after another.

According to Chizuru Oshima, a staff member who analyzed the material, the interesting description is three days before. It is stated that a men's and women's athletic meet was held at his son's elementary school, and many townspeople including Omori visited to visit.

Chizuru Oshima
"I also know that the number of elementary school children is absent immediately after the son of Omori became ill. Maybe a lot of people, including parents, visited the venue, and the venue was infected. Maybe something like a "cluster" has occurred."

In addition, the diary also noted that bills that seemed to be mesmerizing were hung on the gates of neighboring houses. Mr. Oshima says that this situation seems to overlap with the current era when the monster "Ambie", which is said to protect people from epidemics, is receiving attention.

Chizuru Oshima
"It may seem that the diary is private and has no documentary value, but in fact, the lifestyle and values ​​of the people at that time were very helpful. You can get valuable information that you can't understand by writing down, recording, and passing it on to future generations, especially in today's world where various phenomena pass at a blazing speed. Isn't it important?"

Record of "now" written by 77 people

And now, 100 years later, we have completed a book that summarizes our lives, which were once again at the mercy of the epidemic of infectious diseases, from the perspectives of various citizens.

“Work book Our emergency diary” is

characterized by the various faces of the people who wrote the diary. A total of 77 people from 60 job categories, including bakery staff, garbage cleaners, taxi drivers, teachers, nursery teachers, doctors, travel agency employees, and theatrical company members, about a month after the emergency was declared. The life of is written in the form of a diary.

According to the publisher, starting from the simple question "How do people spend their time going out of town" and soliciting opinions from within the company, what kind of profession people live There were many voices wanting to know. Therefore, by making full use of the personal connections of our employees, we called on people from various occupations to cooperate.

One of them, a female teacher in her 20s at a private high school, spelled the days of her preparation for a third-year student who was preparing for a college exam so that she could study at home.

I feel that it will be helpful for future generations to write down their experiences such as making prints for students and challenging unfamiliar online classes while working from home, which I had never experienced before. ..

Female Teacher
"It's not just that you have to be yourself, but it's important to leave your experience in an easy-to-understand manner so that people in future generations will not have problems. Learning opportunities for young people who will lead the future at any time I hope we can convey that we must not lose that, and that we can have a different perspective by trying new things.''

A diary written by 77 people from their respective viewpoints. With the cooperation of people of various occupations, it seems to be a clue to understand how we faced the unknown virus from a broad perspective like a microcosm of society.

Ryoko Aoyagi, who is in charge of the publisher, has a slightly different feeling depending on the position of each person, such as how to proceed with the work, fear of the invisible virus, irritability and gratitude to others. I found out again. On the other hand, even if you are in a different position, I think that this diary also makes us feel that we are related in some way through our work.

Ryoko Aoyagi:
“I think we will be able to turn our heads by knowing that each of us has a life and has been working hard. We hope that this experience will be useful when we are faced with similar difficulties someday. I think"

It is said that the spread of infection has increased the number of people who feel lonely and the progress of social fragmentation, but the act of "recording" is not only for posterity, but for us living in the present It may also help to understand.