This past month of March and early April has seen some shifts in Japan – the sakura cherry blossom have come into full bloom, the season of candy-red strawberries have filled the grocery store shelves, and of course, the growing news of COVID-19 cases within Japan and across the globe.
Watching, Listening, and Waiting for COVID-19 News
While COVID-19 has dominated the global news since early February, the coverage of the infection in Japan has been relatively quiet. I thought back to the countless times a student coughed into my face, or that time I had a debilitating, 7-day flu after a year-end party sharing dishes in an izakaya. Theories of Japan’s cultural norms, such as bowing or hygiene practices, accounting for Japan’s low COVID cases didn’t do much to convince me.
Cases eventually trickled out after the 2020 Olympic postponement, and since then, 7 prefectures (out of 47) in Japan have been declared under a state of emergency.
Suffice to say, the overall placidity of news reports was enough to get our butts in gear, and we’ve been building up our quarantine stock every weekend in preparation for more difficult times ahead:
Since then, we’ve taken many drives out in the countryside, cleaned the apartment, continued my job hunt online, and spent too much time thinking about cutting my hair. Or I could let it grow out like this:
Cherry Blossoms in Kunisaki Peninsula
As self-imposed isolation becomes enforced in several parts of Japan, I’ve come to appreciate the many benefits of living in the open countryside of Oita even more than I had before. While we’re not completely out of reach from the dangers currently in the world right now, it’s nice to be able to get in the car and drive, sometimes aimlessly, through the countryside, to break the monotony of social distancing.
Over this past weekend, we drove through the Kunisaki peninsula to Gyonyu Dam, where several cherry blossoms were in full bloom throughout the park. There was barely another soul around – a rare sight during peak sakura season in Japan.
Also, some pictures from a walk through my neighbourhood:
At-Home Exercising Program
With more time being spent at home, it follows the sedentary lifestyle that seems to come with it. So, we have started an at-home exercise program to keep those sneaky love handles from making their permanent homes on our midsections. I could blame the sedentary stay-at-home quarantine for our Japanese weight gains. Still, considering that Japan barely started its self-initiated quarantines less than a week ago, I don’t think that excuse was going to hold up.
I’d been thinking about it for a while. Watching YouTube videos where people trained intensely for 30 days, I wondered how much I’d be able to change my body if I applied some hard workouts throughout the week.
So, during one of our aimless, scenic drives through the Kunisaki peninsula, I posed the question out loud. Unbeknownst to me, my partner was having the same thoughts and took charge from there. Since then, we’ve bought a blender (to make shakes with), an exercise mat, an ab wheel, and a Japanese scale that has more intimate knowledge of my fat levels than I care to know.
Next, we took “before” pictures to compare to our future “after” pictures. Here’s an exclusive peek of my “before” picture:
It’s been a week following our personal exercise regime, and so far, we’ve welcomed the new-found sore muscles and exercise. We shall see what happens in the next few weeks and months, both in terms of exercise and the state of Japan. Hope everyone is safe, comfortable, and engrossed in something fun and interesting.
