Japan Museum for Everyday Life in a Pandemic
2020-08-23
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1A list of food to go. Directions for attending a funeral. A note to cancel local summer celebrations.
2These simple, everyday objects of life in the pandemic have found a home in the Historical Museum of Urahoro in Hokkaido, in northern Japan.
3This small town of 4,500 people does not even have a movie theater.
4But thanks to Makoto Mochida, it now has a place to tell future generations what it was like to live in the time of COVID-19, things like social distancing or public fears over the pandemic.
5As curator, Makoto Mochida selects the objects to place in the museum.
6"I am fascinated by how things connect with people," he said.
7Mochida said some people are surprised that he is collecting objects that should be thrown away.
8But he believes the items provide "an excellent way to accurately archive history."
9And he admits that he has problems throwing things away at home, too.
10There are documents showing how children were taught to start online schooling and directions on how to make face coverings.
11Several hundred objects have been collected so far, after a call went out to locals in the area.
12After the Spanish flu of 1918-19 - the last great world pandemic - letters and notes provided details about life during that health crisis.
13That pandemic killed more than 50 million people.
14But these days, papers and notes have all but disappeared.
15And their digital versions, like emails and social media messages, are all but lost in a sea of cyberspace, Mochida said.
16He is planning a big show next February to present more of his collection.
17It will be a follow-up to the smaller museum, which centers mainly on how masks have developed over a short period of time.
18At first, masks were hard to find in Japanese stores.
19Some earlier ones were made by hand from old clothes.
20Then came masks that permit wearers to eat and drink or that were made out of clear plastics.
21The coverings eventually became fashion statements, some with complex designs.
22Cases of COVID-19 have been growing in Japan.
23But Urahoro has not yet recorded a single case.
24At first, the community ignored the pandemic.
25Then fears began to grow as outsiders and adult children working in Tokyo or nearby cities would come to visit.
26The small town decided to end in-person eating at restaurants in an effort to reduce any virus spread.
27So people began to take out a local food favorite called "spa-cut" to eat at home.
28It is a meat-sauce noodle topped with fried pork.
29Before the pandemic, it was not even a possibility to take the popular food home.
30Shoko Maede was born in Urahoro and works as a cook at a school for young children.
31She says that many years from now she can almost imagine how people will struggle to remember what life was like during the pandemic.
32"They may think, 'Oh, so this was the way it was,'" she said, after visiting the museum.
33I'm Bryan Lynn.
1A list of food to go. Directions for attending a funeral. A note to cancel local summer celebrations. 2These simple, everyday objects of life in the pandemic have found a home in the Historical Museum of Urahoro in Hokkaido, in northern Japan. 3This small town of 4,500 people does not even have a movie theater. But thanks to Makoto Mochida, it now has a place to tell future generations what it was like to live in the time of COVID-19, things like social distancing or public fears over the pandemic. 4As curator, Makoto Mochida selects the objects to place in the museum. "I am fascinated by how things connect with people," he said. 5Mochida said some people are surprised that he is collecting objects that should be thrown away. But he believes the items provide "an excellent way to accurately archive history." And he admits that he has problems throwing things away at home, too. 6There are documents showing how children were taught to start online schooling and directions on how to make face coverings. Several hundred objects have been collected so far, after a call went out to locals in the area. 7After the Spanish flu of 1918-19 - the last great world pandemic - letters and notes provided details about life during that health crisis. That pandemic killed more than 50 million people. 8But these days, papers and notes have all but disappeared. And their digital versions, like emails and social media messages, are all but lost in a sea of cyberspace, Mochida said. 9He is planning a big show next February to present more of his collection. It will be a follow-up to the smaller museum, which centers mainly on how masks have developed over a short period of time. 10At first, masks were hard to find in Japanese stores. Some earlier ones were made by hand from old clothes. Then came masks that permit wearers to eat and drink or that were made out of clear plastics. The coverings eventually became fashion statements, some with complex designs. 11Cases of COVID-19 have been growing in Japan. But Urahoro has not yet recorded a single case. 12At first, the community ignored the pandemic. Then fears began to grow as outsiders and adult children working in Tokyo or nearby cities would come to visit. 13The small town decided to end in-person eating at restaurants in an effort to reduce any virus spread. So people began to take out a local food favorite called "spa-cut" to eat at home. It is a meat-sauce noodle topped with fried pork. Before the pandemic, it was not even a possibility to take the popular food home. 14Shoko Maede was born in Urahoro and works as a cook at a school for young children. She says that many years from now she can almost imagine how people will struggle to remember what life was like during the pandemic. 15"They may think, 'Oh, so this was the way it was,'" she said, after visiting the museum. 16I'm Bryan Lynn. 17Yuri Kageyama reported this story for the Associated Press. Hai Do adapted the story for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor. 18________________________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20pandemic - n. an occurrence in which a disease spreads quickly and affects a large number of people around the world 21curator - n. a person who is in charge of the things ion a museum 22fascinated - adj. very interested in something 23accurately - adv. free from mistakes or errors 24archive - v. to collect and store materials (such as recordings, documents, or computer files) so that they can be found and used when they are needed 25digital - adj. using or relating to computer technology 26cyberspace - n. the online world of computer networks and especially the Internet 27mask - n. a covering used to protect your face or cover your mouth