Photo/Illutration Gifu Governor Hajime Furuta, left, attends an online meeting on tourism promotion with Taiwanese government officials in September. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Author Ramo Nakajima (1952-2004) gave tongue-in-cheek answers to questions from readers in “Akarui Nayami Sodanshitsu” (Upbeat counseling room for your problems), a popular column in The Asahi Shimbun.

If I were to ask Nakajima a question now, here’s how it may read.

“I’m having a hard time because I have to attend so many online meetings due to the coronavirus crisis. I was never good at judging the distance I should keep from people.

“I can't tell if I correctly understood what I heard on the screen or if I was correctly understood by other people. The anxiety is killing me, and I can’t sleep at night. Please help me.”

I know it’s ridiculous of me to turn to myself for advice, but I believe I’m not the only one who is having trouble with the recent proliferation of “online this and that” everywhere.

I understand the need to practice social distancing. But communicating online is really tough.

While I was caught up in these feelings, I came across a tune by the rap group Sokuryo Boyz, formed by professional surveyors (sokuryo-shi).

“Your emotions defy all attempts at measuring,” goes the love song, produced by the Hokkaido Sokuryo Sekkeigyo Kyokai (Survey and planning association of Hokkaido).

Even professional surveyors have a hard time measuring people’s emotions, it appears. 

I met Sadayoshi Furumura, 33, a member of the group, in Sapporo, hoping he could give me some advice. He said his love of mathematics in high school led him to his profession.

Surveying demands accuracy at all times, but Furumura told me outright, “I'm no good at gauging myself.”

When I explained my problems with having to go online, Furumura, after a slight hesitation, said: “It won’t do to be excessively accurate, and it won’t do to be imprecise, either. It’s best if you could determine an ideal sense of distance.”

What he meant, I suppose, is that I should be able to accept a “margin of error.”

A poem by Machi Tawara goes to the effect: “You were drunk, but I can’t gauge the extent of your verbal inebriation. Still, I am awaiting your phone call.”

The desire to measure someone’s emotions, or to measure one’s own feelings for someone, is never fulfilled. This fact is timeless and universal.

After the four-day holiday weekend, I feel like taking a deep breath, while gazing up at the sky.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 23

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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