Page 8 - Beyond COVID-19

Cooking Classes for College Students during

COVID-19

OVID-19 outbreak has brought changes also urges members of the public to avoid in detail as the class is conducted online
Cto people’s life such as college students’ going out. Therefore many seldom get fresh this year.
diet. To help students learn how to cook food from grocery stores.
healthy meals, online cooking lectures have One of the students told me she wanted
been offered to students at Kyushu Univer- Students need cheap, convenient, and to know how food cooked by the teacher
sity. balanced meals. One solution is to cook by exactly tastes like by trying it directly. She
themselves. From my experience, cooking wondered if she could learn the essence
Many college students have unhealthy our own food satisfies all these require- of cooking though she had gained some
diets because they are not accustomed to ments once we get used to it, and there is an knowledge about how to improve her diet.
cooking healthy meals. Also, some who have interesting example which has successfully
lost their part-time job have to reduce their made college students good at cooking for Despite the fact that there are limitations
food expenses. Meanwhile, the government themselves. in learning cooking skills through online
classes, the online cooking lecture has suc-
Kyushu University has of- cessfully gained popularity among Japanese
fered “Jisui-juku” that teaches students.
students how to cook healthy
meals. The online cooking Michikazu Hiramatsu, associate professor
class is popular because it of Kyushu University who started Jisui-ju-
is very easy for beginners to ku says, “Cooking is the same as doing. It
follow. improves based on knowledge and what we
experience.”
Students have the opportu-
nity to share what they cook
with other students. They
join workshops presented by
culinary researchers. However,
Kenshin Onishi from Kyushu University shared about college students without any experi-
students’ diet during COVID-19. ence found it difficult to learn By Kenshin Onishi

Pandemic Police and Japan’s Conforming Culture

hen the Japanese government de- health. Therefore, a sense of social con- (文部科学省), the number of recognized bul-
Wclared a state of emergency on April formity (同調圧力) was triggered during the lying cases has increased for six consecutive
7, 2020, the atmosphere in Japan became pandemic in Japan. years in Japan. The emergence of “pandemic
tense. News broadcasts reported about the police” gives us a chance to understand
so-called “pandemic police” (自粛警察) day Naoki Sato, a specialist in Sekengaku (世 why bullying in Japan continues to increase
and night. The term “pandemic police” refers 間学), the study of Japan society, claims that despite determination and continued effort
to citizens who voluntarily sought to punish Japanese often refer oneself as part of a made by the Japanese government in tack-
those who returned from Tokyo, the city with group (世間) instead of an individual. In the ling the problem.
the highest number of infections, or those Japanese language system, the subject of a By Qian Yiren
who did not shorten their business hours as sentence is often omitted, so people usually
ordered by the government. say “love you” instead of “I love you”. Mem-
bers of The Japanese Sekengaku Society (日
During the pandemic, “pandemic police” 本世間学会) claim that there is no individ-
stuck flyers with invective messages such as uals but Seken in Japan. Within the group,
“WHY DID YOU COME HOME FROM TOKYO?” responsibilities are shared among members
or “WHY DID YOU NOT FOLLOW THE SHOP and one can attack those who do not comply
CLOSURE ORDER?” on the front doors of with the rules without hesitation.
people returning from Tokyo and those who
continued their business as usual. Some Under this social structure, victims being
of them even vandalized the cars of those abandoned may suffer more, which ex-
people as a “punishment”. plains several social phenomena in Japan.
Professional women wrestler Hana Kimura,
As an overseas student, I found this phe- committed suicide after receiving negative
nomenon in Japan very interesting. Social comments and being slandered on Twitter.
scientists observed that people tend to act Why was the slander so powerful? And why
in the same way as others to feel relieved, do victims like Kimura care so much about
especially during a social crisis like the others’ comments?
pandemic. People who act differently will
be rejected by vigilantes with a distorted According to the Ministry of Education, Cul-
sense of justice, claiming to safeguard public ture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan