～From my calendar of Feb and March～
Time flies!! Yes, it’s already February. Both Chicago and Japan are in the cold season and still fighting with the Omicron Variant. In the midst of this, I had a zoom meeting with the Chair of USA Judo regarding my schedules going forward. For anyone involved in Judo would know, the Kodokan Cup (the event I participated 13 times) for this year has been cancelled. I can only feel for the athletes that worked hard including to losing their weight, but if you consider Japanese mindset, this could be inevitable. With these different mindsets, I’d like to share my activities through March.
Meeting with the National Judo Federation, top left is Keith Bryant, President.
1.Difference in fighting COVID
(1)Standards in Events
- US: CDC publishes guidelines, but basically it is based on self responsibility.
- Japan: The event committee decides based on the current situation
(2)How persons infected are treated
- US: We more concentrate on how to react based on the fact that people do get infected.
- Japan: Focuses on how not to increase count – so when the pandemic hits, everything lags in speed.
(3)PCR Testing and Vaccination
- US: Whether you have insurance or not, everything is free. You can get vaccinated a local drug store or at a vaccination site. Same for testing. It’s your call whether to get vaccinated or not, and maybe thus the low rate of 60% although restaurants are requiring proof of vaccination.
- Japan: PCR Testing is NOT free. Vaccination is handled by local government. Tickets are distributed and you need to apply to get vaccinated.
This alone – you would see a huge difference, don’t you?
It’s not that easy to compare two cultures. US is a country of many races where self responsibility has priority where Japan more priorities “groups” and “fairness” I am not in a position to say which is better, yet. But through feeling this difference, I’d like to understand and proceed with my main agenda of Making kids around the worl happy through increasing popularity of Judo.
This is my schedule through end of March. Cold Weather? Omicron Variant? No, I hold strong!!
〜Others〜
On January 16th, I was invited as a guest speaker to the JCCC New Year Party together with people who have a relation with Chicago. I was setup together with Dave Spector, Misato Watanabe. This party is normally held in a big ball room with more than 1,000 people, but due to the pandemic, it has been executed via Zoom for 2 consecutive years. However, I am very grateful for the opportunity.
It’s a 3 minute video – I am showing some Judo moves too.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11kalbZ_0m8FliOMg3dkDYYkGjfBbx6CZ/view?usp=sharing
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