“The nature of illness, or the state of being cured or healthy, varies from culture to culture, and although the conditions of the human organism may be the same, people’s conceptions of the body and of illness are determined by the culture in which they live.” These are the words of Dr. Emiko Namihira, who comes every year to teach at the University of Tokyo. She always says that medicine is universal, but healthcare is very local. There are things that can only be understood by going into a society, sleeping in the same place and eating the same food.
The Corona disaster has divided people from each other, and it has been a long time since people thought that eating together was out of the question. However, there are some things that can only be picked up through the act of eating together while tracing the actions of people. In the village of Harbin, where I worked for JICA, whenever I went, I always had the opportunity to eat with the villagers as much as possible. In the midst of this, the world and its richness came into view.
I thought that human being is interesting.
