The COVID-19 Pandemic and Bio/Geopolitics in Japan

For German sociologist Ulrich Beck, risks in the contemporary world consist of three dimensions: ecological crises, financial crises, and the risk of global political extremism. While these risks make us realize that our daily lives are closely related to global political and economic fluctuations, they point us to new directions of conflicts and alliances. Given that our perception of risks is related to our political behavior towards them, no risks exist as themselves independent of our consciousness. Rather, only when being perceived, risks become socially and politically constructed to be defined, hidden, or performed strategically. The COVID-19 pandemic, or the globalizing coronavirus disease since 2019, is one of those risks. It poses a question about what kind of political subject exercises what politics to deal with this threatening risk. This chapter attempts to answer this question by investigating COVID-19 and governmental and public responses in Japan. It theorizes non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) as a nexus of public health as bio-politics and spatial antivirus measures as geo-politics. After examining tensions between NPIs and other economic and democratic practices in Japan, this chapter elucidates the political implications of NPIs and forecasts Japanese society after the COVID-19 pandemic. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

MAKING ASTRAX ACADEMY ONLINE, E-LEARNING, DIGITAL X-FORMATION, AND MULTILINGUAL

ASTRAX has been conducting a project called ASTRAX ACADEMY (Private Space Business Development and Education and Training School) in Japan since 2017 to prepare for the private space age. Until now, we have been conducting lectures in classrooms in a classroom format and using facilities such as various spaceship simulators and commercial space mission support control centers. However, due to COVID-19, it has become difficult to conduct the courses. Therefore, we have been transforming all the courses into an online format and using various existing tools to conduct the classes efficiently. In the future, we plan to make the classes digital and multilingual so that students can learn not only in Japanese, but also in various languages such as English, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, and so on. In the age of space travel, there will be an increase in the number of multinational people conducting missions simultaneously. The common language may be English, but if we can support various languages in the education stage, it will lead to further expansion of our services and market. To do so, we are deliberately moving in the direction of multilingual space education. In this paper, we will introduce the method of digital transformation and multilingual education that ASTRAX is planning to implement. Copyright © 2021 by ASTRAX, Inc. All rights reserved.

OUTLINE OF ASTRAX PRIVATE SPACE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION AND TRAINING CENTER

When private space flight becomes possible, a variety of space businesses and services will emerge that are different from those of the past. The personnel and fields involved will diversify, requiring education and training tailored to various customer needs. However, there is no facility in the world that combines the functions of integrated space business development, space education and training, and one specializing in commercial space flight. Therefore, ASTRAX is planning to develop a center for space business development by the private sector and for education and training of personnel involved in these activities. In addition, it is necessary to virtually connect space-related training facilities around the world so that training can be conducted in conjunction with them. ASTRAX has also been aiming to build a physical facility, but due to the influence of COVID-19, we are considering to focus education and training virtually as much as possible. This paper introduces the overall concept and plan of the private space business development, education and training center planned by ASTRAX. Copyright © 2021 by ASTRAX, Inc. All rights reserved.

Experience and lessons learned from the Covid-19 problem in Japan and application to space travel

This problem will also appear sooner or later in space hotels as it enters the space travel era. If a sick person is diagnosed with a new type of space virus in a space hotel, on the Moon, and Mars, that person may not be able to return to Earth. Even if the virus originates from Earth, if the patient is diagnosed in a spacecraft, the people on the spacecraft will not be able to leave the space hotel, the Moon or Mars, and they will not be able to return to Earth. Even if you managed to return to Earth while in isolation, you might not be able to get off the spacecraft or out of the quarantine facility of the landing country, including your return to your home country. To prepare for a situation like this, we, the space industry, will need to take measures at the UN level, beyond national and national governments, to ensure that medical institutions, censors and physicians who can respond and not discriminate against patients affected by space viruses are readily available. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has not yet converged, we should start considering how to respond to space viruses while the information and awareness is fresh. In addition, since it is not an astronaut who is fully managed, including health, but also an ordinary space traveler, it is necessary to consider the impact on individual human rights and economic activities. It will be crucial to have the facilities and care prepared ahead of time to prevent a similar situation as COVID-19 in space. ASTRAX MEDICAL (Space Medical Division in ASTRAX) wants to nurture doctors who can study this field. In this presentation, I will introduce actions in case a virus infected person, not a health-cared astronaut is found in space based on the experience and lessons learned from COVID-19 in Japan. Copyright © 2020 by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). All rights reserved.