The new academic year of 2020 was postponed because of COVID-19. We got free time but we had to stay home. In order to turn this negative situation into a positive one, we tried what we could do. I had a chance to discuss with my GV classmates the outbreak of COVID-19 based on the reading of newspaper articles, and wrote two essays in April and May. This allowed me to improve my English skill and better understand COVID-19 as well. After the submission of my essays, I received feedback regarding the structure, grammars, and expressions of my writing.
I was able to discuss a number of important issues regarding COVID-19. One of the first questions we discussed was the state of emergency. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency for five major prefectures on April 7th. People were “asked” to refrain from nonessential outings, but this did not lead to the scale of harsh lockdowns seen in other countries such as China and France. Here was a question for us. “Why did the Japanese government not control the society more strictly like other countries?” I discussed and exchanged opinions with my classmates. The result of the discussion was due to the limit of Japanese law. Mandatory measures cannot be taken based on the state of emergency in Japan, which could violate the citizens’ rights and freedoms. This does not necessarily mean that other countries taking mandatory measures such as China and France curtail the citizens’ rights and freedom. It might be true that Japan needs more mandatory measures for the effective quarantine and prevention of infections, but other countries should also be more careful in restricting private rights.
Another question we discussed was “Why Japan cannot increase the number of PCR testing?”. Although other countries such as Korea and China developed new PCR test kits to increase the number of testing, Japan showed a limited progress. I believe that Japan is one of the countries that is good at making devices for PCR testing. We could not reach a specific conclusion but what I felt from this discussion was that I needed to study more. I did not know about Japanese law related to this situation and the difference between Japanese law and other countries’ law. It was difficult for me to discuss this topic using English, but discussion with classmates allowed me to learn these issues from various perspectives. It was very fruitful for us to exchange our various opinions by thinking about COVID-19 with all together.
I was able to experience such a valuable time thanks to the opportunity arranged by the GV Program. I am grateful for being a member of this program. I hope we can continue to inspire each other and improve ourselves regardless of the changing environment of education.
(武丸 奈月)