A Spontaneous Journal Entry | Watalu Yamamoto, Member of the Steering Committee, Graduate School of Health Management
One day, about four years after I started working at the Graduate School of Health Management, a strange email arrived. It said they were expanding the target pool of writers for the Okashira Diary. Right below that, I saw my own name. It was positioned as if I were to lead the charge. This is a spontaneous journal entry, of my thoughts.
I introduce the degree program I belong to, at first.
I belong to the Major in Public Health, Sport and Health Sciences at the Graduate School of Health Management. This major has three degree programs, and among them, I serve as a steering committee member from the Health Care Management Degree Program. Of the three degree programs, Health Care Management is the only one whose name is not included in the major's title. Public Health and Sport Management are included. I thought about this for a while after taking up my post, but when I asked a colleague, they told me it was encompassed within "Health." Hearing that, I was convinced. Health care, nursing, welfare, and sports are indeed important foundations that support the health of society.
In our major, the barriers to taking courses are low. Regardless of which degree program you belong to, you can take almost all courses. Regarding the course requirements for completion, although it varies by degree program, the proportion of compulsory subjects is at most just under half, and in some places, it is one-third. The rest can be taken according to each student's research field. There are many courses offered in public health, health care management, and sport management, allowing students to design their own learning with a high degree of freedom.
I am often asked which degree program one should aim for if similar learning is possible in any of them. The core of graduate school is research, not just learning. Research in this major also includes the practice of problem-solving through internships. Learning is primarily preparation for research and practice.
When asked about choosing a degree program, I make it a point to respond with a question: "What do you want to research?" This is because even if course enrollment is free, the faculty members for research supervision differ for each degree program. Also, as stated in the brochure, "Health, medical, and welfare institutions, as well as related businesses, are required to provide higher quality services efficiently, and when providing services, they are required to respond meticulously based on the individual needs of the service recipient. Based on this, the Health Care Management Degree Program aims to train human resources who can research, plan, and practice management to realize these goals." I recommend Health Care Management to those who view health, medical care, and welfare as services, and who are conscious of tackling problems and issues related to the management, operation, and systems of the organizations and facilities that provide them, or management issues arising from their own work experience.
I am also sometimes asked if it is possible to study while working. Many courses are held during the day on weekdays, so workplace understanding may be necessary, such as adjusting work schedules by choosing specific days. We have several students here who are working hard at both their jobs and their studies. I answer that the way they make adjustments seems to vary depending on their individual circumstances.
After introducing our program, I am going to mention the main part, a spontaneous journal entry. I had considered several topic candidates, before finding my Okashira-like position.
I am not an "Okashira" (a leader/boss). At most, I am a small-time person who, getting tired of walking back and forth between my office on the 3rd floor and the water server on the 1st floor every time I came to work, plotted to install a water purifier in my office, only to have my dream quickly crushed after being gently taught about a very simple restriction. And considering my health, climbing up and down the stairs is a good thing, so it was for the best that I couldn't buy it.
When I think of an "Okashira," I think of Heizo Hasegawa, the head of Hitsuke Tōzoku Aratamegata (Special Police for Arson and Robbery), who has appeared in Onihei-Hanka-Cho. He is the central figure in the stories richly depicted by Shotaro Ikenami, with many subordinates like Yoriki (Inspectors), Doshin (Constables), and spies, and featuring Edo-period food culture. I have probably watched the Fuji TV version of Onihei, played by Kichiemon Nakamura, II, from beginning to end. Every time I hear the ending theme, "Inspiration" by the Gipsy Kings, I am deeply moved by how well it matches. Even now, just seeing the word "Okashira" brings him to mind. Should the next topic be on soba and sake? But that wouldn't be very "Okashira-like," so I'll keep thinking about it.
I also considered mentioning that the Graduate School of Health Management expanded to two locations in the last year, with Shinanomachi also becoming a campus, and that Shinanomachi campus is the main campus from this year. My office is in the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care Building, which is located in SFC. My classes are held in Shinanomachi. They are about 50km apart. I don't feel any particular inconvenience. I feel myself not eligible for writing about it. It would be better to have a real "Okashira" of our graduate school write about it.
If this is just a journal entry, I think of my cat. I am married to a human, but I also live with a female cat. Since the state of emergency regarding the new coronavirus, for some reason, I alone have become an early riser. Because of that, my wake-up timing now coincides with the cat's. Every morning, I am either woken up or I wake the cat. Led by the cat, I go to get the food bowl, wash it clean in the kitchen, and then, led by the cat again, I prepare the meal at the cat's dining spot. While the cat is eating, I close the door, wash the cat's fountain, and change the water. Then, called by the cat again, I hand-feed it ten blades of cat grass, one by one. After that, led by the cat once more, I open the door to the dining spot. If anything, I give it a little refill. The cat, now over 10 years old, seems to believe that anything it asks of me will come true. I'm sorry. Even in the 10th year, I still can't guess on the first try which Sheba treat you want to eat right now. I could write quite a bit about taking care of the cat morning and night, and my interactions with the cat who sleeps beside me. After all, my cat sometimes talks to me like a dam bursting. Perhaps it's built-up feelings or accumulated frustrations. I don't understand a word of what it's saying, but it's very cute. However, continuing this topic wouldn't be very "Okashira-like." In the first place, there are no elements that touch upon the university or my own research.
I also thought about writing about my regular days commuting to the Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC). I thought it might be nice to record daily events, such as things happening around Shonandai and Tsujido Stations, the state of the Kanagawa Chuo Kotsu buses to the Keio University bus stop, the large Mt. Fuji that repeatedly appears and disappears as I cycle between the station and the campus, the borrowed scenery of Endo Sasakubo Park from the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care Building, the competition for securing shared cycles occurring nearby as seen on an app, the whirlpool of people surrounding the bus stop around noon during middle and high school exams and in the evening of the Tanabata Festival, and the heartwarming sight of children from the nursery at the adjacent hospital relaxing on our grounds. However, all of these are too mundane and not worth presenting in the Okashira Diary. I don't think anyone would want to read the story of how, in the middle of summer around the Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC), every bicycle parking lot from the FamilyMart in Ishikawa 5-chome to Utsumochi Shrine—let alone Akibadai or the Civic Center—was full, so I had to go all the way to the Goshomi Civic Center to return the bicycle and walk from there. It would have been much faster and more comfortable to wait for and ride the bus. On another hot day, after putting my bicycle in for repairs, I took a random bus and ended up in Ishikawa 5-chome, from where I called a taxi to get to work. I have also walked from Nakamura Park to the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care Building. Amidst all this, I was sad when the owner of a convenience store in Shobuzawa, which I used by taking a slight detour, told me they were planning to close.
Having wandered around, I reached at a fact that even someone like me is in an "Okashira-like" position.
In the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care Building, there is an on-site facility where microdata from official statistics can be analyzed for research purposes. At the on-site facility, we are allowed to use individual-level data from official statistics that are not normally accessible for research. Being able to handle individual data rather than published aggregate tables is a major advantage for research. While this is a Keio University facility, it is also a public facility under the jurisdiction of the National Statistics Center, an incorporated administrative agency stipulated by the Statistics Act. The terminals in this room can only be operated by people who have applied to and been approved by the government. I am in charge of the operation and management of this facility. It is so much a part of my daily routine that I didn't remember it until I wrote this far.
With a recommendation of establishing an on-site facility in Keio University and also in Kanagawa prefecture, and also an advice that we could receive a financial support from the Statistical Information Institute for Consulting and Analysis (Sinfornica), I began preparations for setting up the on-site facility without any other budget. As preparations progressed, a budget shortfall of over a million yen was discovered. In the first place, I had no sense of the market price for construction to build walls. Nevertheless, people in related departments who understood the significance of opening the facility paid for the renovation costs to install the walls and provided stocked items for some of the equipment, and it was somehow completed with expenditures about double the support funds. Without everyone's understanding, it would have been absolutely impossible to set up a VPN tunnel through the underground tunnel in SFC, and the backbone network connecting Fujisawa and Keio's SINET port. The fact that I personally procured the clients for the users of this facility is just a minor discrepancy. I am truly glad it was completed.
The daily life we take for granted is actually supported by many people. The opening and operation of the on-site facility, the maintenance of the beautiful school building, and the safety and security while spending the day in the building. Everything is supported by many people. I would like to express my gratitude here for being able to concentrate on what I should and want to do thanks to them, and I would like to put down my pen, also grateful that this diary reminded me that I am the "Okashira" of the Keio University on-site facility, which is a one-person household.
I would like to express sincere thanks to all of you.
Since this is a diary, I would appreciate it if you could forgive these rambling sentences written in idleness.