[Kunihiko Hisa's Manga Anything Theater <Special Edition>] Our Era

2022/09/15

Come to think of it, it is a strange title. For those living in any given time, it is always "our era." Yet, I dared to call it our era because I cannot help but feel that right now is a series of moments in which we are truly shaping the times.

Even looking only at modern history since the Meiji era, there have been many assassinations, wars, and epidemics. Back then, under the system of declarations of war, the international rule was that if a country's demands were not met, it would announce it was going to war and then begin hostilities.

The current Article 9 of the Constitution was a landmark—or perhaps a constitution assigned to a defeated nation that suggested it lacked the qualifications of a state—by renouncing that right. Post-war Japan, so to speak, took advantage of that constitution, managing to achieve economic development without spending money on armaments or participating in wars occurring nearby. The ingrained feeling was likely that, as long as Article 9 existed, Japan would never be involved in war again.

Speaking of feelings, in today's Japan, where medical sciences have developed so much and a clean environment has been created, the pandemic of the new coronavirus—reminiscent of the former Spanish Flu—must have been completely unexpected. While not as severe as the Spanish Flu, it is a great plague that has killed approximately 6 million people worldwide and about 30,000 in Japan alone (as of July 2022). No one could have imagined that such a pandemic, the kind that appears in historical timelines, would occur, or that a daily life where no one can go out without a mask would unfold before our eyes. This is truly an event occurring in our era.

Another thing I was shocked to witness was Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A war began that looked exactly like something out of a history textbook. Russia massed a large-scale military force near the border under the guise of exercises, made excuses like telling Ukraine not to get any closer to NATO, and when Ukraine responded boldly while counting on support from the West, it suddenly turned into tanks and missiles.

And an even more personal shock was likely the shooting of former Prime Minister Abe during the House of Councillors election. In Japan, where guns are strictly regulated, shootings rarely occur outside of conflicts involving anti-social forces. Furthermore, the popular former Prime Minister Abe, who was supposed to be under heavy guard, was shot quite easily. The police might have been the most surprised of all, as the security was extremely lax.

Now, to the main point. These events occurred exactly in "our era." Regarding the war in Ukraine, a massive amount of footage from both Russia and Ukraine, including fakes, instantly traveled around the world. Videos taken by citizens on smartphones convey the local situation most realistically. The world stared in horror at Russia's barbarism as they relentlessly fired missiles and shells into residential complexes and supermarkets where citizens live. Images of Russian tank convoys burning as captured by drones and the sinking of a large guided-missile cruiser were also exposed to the world. Russia countered by broadcasting footage staged to look like a peaceful occupying force. This is truly a battle of images possible only because it is our era. One wonders how much support was gathered for Ukraine due to this visual impact. However, the more weapons are provided to help Ukraine fight, the more the death toll will rise. War does not end unless one side wins or the battle reaches a stalemate.

The COVID-19 pandemic was also an uproar unique to our era. An uproar on the internet. Where did the new coronavirus start? How did it spread? While traditional media like newspapers broadcast only verified information, the internet was flying with all sorts of information, a mix of truth and falsehood. Even former US President Trump joined in, making it impossible to handle.

It started in Wuhan, China, and the noise was amplified by conspiracy theories: it was caused by eating wild bats, no, it leaked from a virus Research Centers and Institutes in Wuhan, no, it must have been done on purpose. When vaccines finally began to appear, theories circulated ranging from the idea that the coronavirus itself was a conspiracy by vaccine companies to the outlandish claim that getting vaccinated would allow the government to track your internal information. There are even people seriously campaigning that it is better not to take vaccines that have not yet been sufficiently verified. I thought we were in a scientific age with advanced medicine, but the reality of both the coronavirus and the vaccines remains unclear. If this is an era of what to believe and whom to believe, it feels somewhat frightening. People who believe in anti-vaccine rhetoric even go so far as to obstruct vaccination sites.

The shooting of former Prime Minister Abe was an event that occurred right in front of TV cameras and numerous smartphones. This incident, too, is full of strange points when you look at them. The internet exploded instantly. The fact that the Nara Prefectural Police's initial announcement hid the name of the former Unification Church by saying "his mother belonged to a certain religious group..." seemed to add fuel to the fire. At the first shot, white smoke rose and everyone looked around thinking it was some kind of explosion. There was a three-second gap before the second shot was fired, just as Mr. Abe turned around thinking "Oh?" But the SPs (Security Police) ran toward the suspect rather than protecting Mr. Abe. They were still holding their bulletproof attache cases. The area behind Mr. Abe was completely open, with traffic not even stopped. The suspect was completely unmarked as he took a suspicious, pitch-black 40cm object out of a bag at close range. Whether it was a total blunder by the Nara Prefectural Police or not, it is no wonder conspiracy theories started buzzing.

The homemade gun was also too well-made. It looked bad, but the performance was perfect. Using gunpowder is actually very difficult. If you get the amount wrong, the pipe explodes and you get hurt. The fact that the method for making the gun and obtaining gunpowder was all done via the internet is exactly our era. Could the method for making and obtaining the right gunpowder for firing, the way to plug the breech of the iron pipe, the electric ignition method, the way to make buckshot using iron spheres, and the hip-firing style all be mastered in about half a year? Moreover, the hit location was exactly like a professional's. Because of this, various conspiracy theories are bound to keep coming out.

On the other hand, it is scary that there are movements to use these conspiracy theories as an excuse to regulate free discourse. No matter how much conspiracy or fake news is mixed in, we must not forget to look at, listen to, and think about things from multiple perspectives. Because these are precisely the events of our era. Perhaps the scariest thing is creating one's own world using only information that is comfortable or convenient for oneself.