The next day in Takamatsu, we visited the Home Care Network, a general incorporated association, to hear from its president, Sanae Hanabusa. The name “children with medical care” may be unfamiliar to some, but it refers to children who require daily medical care such as ventilators and gastric lavage, etc. In 2021, the “Law Concerning Support for Children with Medical Care and Their Families” was enacted, making it a well-known keyword. It is estimated that there are about 20,000 children with medical care at home in Japan. Among children with medical care, there are children with severe mental and physical disabilities (children with both severe mental retardation and severe physical disabilities), who have great difficulty in communicating. This is an issue that arises precisely because medical science has advanced and the number of lives that can be saved has increased. The University of Tokyo’s Institute for Advanced Study approached this center with the idea of providing childcare support, and in support of the president’s idea, the institute continues to conduct online study sessions on childcare. The center is also a valuable venue for proposing optimal educational and communication methods for children with medical care. The hope is that the students who visit the program will understand that there are many different kinds of people and that they are living in the same generation, and that the program will help them to feel diversity and broaden their perspectives. Hiromi Akamatsu, Project Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo’s Institute for Advanced Study, Endowed Research Division for Individualized Optimal Learning, who is also in charge of this program, and who is accompanying the students this time, said, “There are many parents who have children who need severe medical care and are wondering how to raise them. They need the understanding and support of many people, not just the parents. For the middle and high school students participating in this event, they will have few opportunities to meet children with medical care needs. However, the feelings of parents for their children and the desperate lives they lead are no different from those of junior and senior high school students. I thought there would be a lot to learn and realize by meeting them. He further explained the significance of incorporating the program, saying, “I wanted them to experience the personality of the board chairperson, who has overcome obstacles by applying her wisdom and creating new ideas, rather than giving up because there is no system in place when they hit a wall. Mr. Nakamura explained, “You don’t come into contact with children who need medical care very often in everyday life. But it has increased very much in the past 20 years. That is because of advances in medical technology. It’s really a good thing. But what to do to live beyond that has not progressed at all. Getting help from the public (government) is already outdated. Mutual aid, everyone helping each other. The use of technology is the key word for the future,” he tells the students. We saw 4-year-old Yoshi, who had epileptic seizures and was admitted to the NICU three days after his birth, and is now living on a gastric bandage. When I hear anecdotes like this, it makes me think about life all over again. We also heard from Mr. Yamane, who lives in Takamatsu City and works as a telecommuting designer. He has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a type of motor neuron disease similar to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which causes a gradual decline in muscle strength. I would like to send out information from the Takamatsu region to improve the situation, such as making it difficult for people in wheelchairs to enter stores and installing elevators,” said Nakamura. It is easy for the rural areas to be left behind, and this will be an issue for the future. We have been studying truancy and delinquency, and have been working with severely mentally and physically handicapped children, as well as with more talented students, but in LEARN, it is all the same. Diversity will be realized when we have this kind of feeling,” he said. In response to a question from a student, “How well do you connect with children who cannot speak?” he explained the research being conducted by the University of Tokyo’s Research Center for Advanced Technology to understand the intentions of severely mentally and physically handicapped children with few reactions. The final words of President Ei, “We don’t want special support as welfare, we just want the same options as everyone else,” left a lasting impression on the audience. The students seemed to have had a lot to think about after seeing firsthand some of the issues that modern society is facing. After that, they flew to Tokyo. This was where we said goodbye to our guest, Yoshiharu Doi. At a hotel in Tokyo, a meeting was held to review the trip to Shikoku, where the students shared their impressions.
On the final day, we gathered at the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo in Kisarazu City, Chiba Prefecture. Opened in October 2021 as the ninth of its kind in the world, it is a facility where visitors can drive the latest Porsche models and experience the Porsche brand itself. The course is designed not only for laps, but also for off-road driving in a variety of conditions, with elevation changes taking advantage of the original terrain. Students can experience driving, but they will also experience riding in the car. Upon entering the facility, Mr. Shinji Kuroiwa, Director of Public Relations, Porsche Japan, explained the company’s “Porsche. Dream Together” initiative. LEARN with Porsche” is a part of this program, but the company also has a cooperative relationship with the local city of Kisarazu, and contributes to the local community by running the course for the “Kisarazu Blueberry Run” marathon event, and by making arrangements to be a base of operations in the event of a disaster. While listening to such an explanation, the sound of a violin came out of nowhere from ……. Listening carefully, I realize it is a Hungarian folk dance czardas, with one man playing the violin solo beside a gorgeous flower-patterned taikan art car. The students are taken aback by the mournful tone that resonates well in the hall and the superb technique of the violinist. In fact, this was a surprise performance by Kaoru Kondo, who will appear later. Mr. Kondo is the concertmaster of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and a specially-appointed professor in the Department of Advanced Art Design at the Tokyo Institute of Advanced Study. The students looked at each other strangely, but the performance proceeded as if they were still reverberating with the excitement of the wonderful performance. The students were gathered in a large conference room, and the staff member in charge of driving asked them, “Do you know what a Porsche is? One of them answered, “A 911! Of course, we have a 911 for this day. This is going to be fun. There was even one student who said, “I have driven one on the track. It is said that the younger generation has become less interested in cars, but I was a little surprised to learn that even this younger generation is familiar with the 911. Next, Kaoru Kondo, who had just played for us, and Tomotaka Takahashi, a robot creator and visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Advanced Study, were introduced as special participants. Mr. Kondo said, “Playing the violin is a world of emotions and thoughts. I’m sure you will be kyotoed, but don’t forget that there is also such a world,” he said to the students. Takahashi said, “I don’t want to be hired, and I don’t want to be hired. I don’t want to be hired, and I don’t want to be hired. I don’t like to work by consulting with others, and I like to do everything by myself, working with my hands and devising. Anyway, I want them to experience everything. I heard that you fished this time, but I often go fishing for tuna on weekends.
Music and Industrial Products Made by Putting Parts Together After the ride-along experience was over, Mr. Kondo played a violin for us. The time period in which Johann Sebastian Bach, also known as the father of classical music, which Mr. Kondo specializes in, was active was just before the Industrial Revolution. Bach’s music is a completely different kind of music from what we hear today, with only one kind of theme, which is layered on top of another. He plays the actual layering of chords and shows us how it was done. Bach did this 300 years ago, and no further music has been written to date. Bach was a man who recorded his emotions and other invisible things in a clear and logical manner. I feel I have to play this piece here today,” he said before introducing the Sonata No. 1 Fugue for Solo Violin. As he explained, the piece makes extensive use of heavy techniques, and it was immediately apparent from the beginning of the performance that it could not be performed with ordinary technique. Even though it was only one solo violinist, the hall lined with Porsches reverberated with majestic chords. If you close your eyes, it is as if more than one person is playing. It’s interesting, isn’t it? There is a connection between music and industrial products, which gradually evolve and combine technology,” Nakamura said, giving the students something to think about. I don’t know how much the students felt it, but the carefully calculated harmony certainly resembled an elaborate industrial product.
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