I would like to express my sincere congratulations on the launch of the international journal “Journal of Digital Life”, and I would like to express my respects to all the people involved for their efforts.

Now, the global pandemic of COVID-19 has dramatically changed the lives of people. Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics had to be postponed for a year, and unfortunately, the much　anticipated games were held without spectators at many of the games venues. However, it was impressive to see the athletes talking with their families and friends in their own countries through the online meeting system at the competition venues. It has also become a natural scene for people all over the world watching the games to get detailed information about the games through the Internet, as well as to watch high-quality live video from anywhere with their Smartphones or PCs. In professional sports, fans can send messages to players through screens at games, and there are also events where fans and players can interact through the online communication. Such interactive communication is rapidly increasing. In addition, the secondary damage of health caused by lack of physical activity due to stay-at-home has been a serious problem. However, it has become common for people to join online sports classes or work out at home while watching popular training videos. The lifestyles surrounding sports are changing dramatically.

At the center of all these social changes is definitely the innovation of “digital” technology and the corresponding change in people’s awareness. The Japan Sports Agency has been promoting “Sports Open Innovation” for a few years now, and of course digital technology has been at the center of that. Recently, the keywords “Digital Medicine” and “Digital Health” have become trends in the academic research. The basis of maintaining physical and mental health is to manage one’s lifestyle through sports (physical exercise), diet, sleep, and so on. And digital technology can play a very important role in supporting these activities. In short, technological innovation in the digital field is directly contributing to the improvement of people’s health. And this will not only help to make a healthy and long-life society, but also contribute to reducing the continuing increase in national healthcare costs. I would like to expect that the Journal of Digital Life, an academic journal in a new field, will be an academic database that can help solve such issues.

Last year, I returned to Juntendo University from the Japan Sports Agency for a five-year period and established Juntendo Administration for Sports, Health and Medical Sciences（JASMS）. Our goal is to enhance collaboration between the two core pillars of Juntendo University, ” Sports” and “Medicine”. For example, in Japan, there is not enough collaboration between doctors and sports instructors, and between medical institutions and sports facilities. It is also true that there are numerous diseases that can be prevented by sports or improved by sports. Therefore, JASMS will play a key role in enhancing these collaborations within the university, and also actively promoting industry-university collaborations to solve the issues that cannot be solved by medicine on its own or by sports on its own. We have already received inquiries from many companies and have started several attractive projects with them. As a “comprehensive university” for health, we would like to contribute to the resolution of social issues. The key word common to all of these projects is “digital”. Digital technology will play an important role in the fields that have not yet been solved or even started yet.

I sincerely hope that the Journal of Digital Life, which is being launched at a time of significant social change, will publish a large number of research results that will contribute to solving social issues, and that it will serve as a foundation for providing the world with a variety of information that is in advance of the times.

Daichi Suzuki Profile Detail
He participated in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, won the gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke at the 1986 Asian Games, won the 100 and 200-meter backstroke titles at the 1987 World University Games, and won the gold medal in the men’s 100-meter backstroke at the 1988 Seoul Olympics as a senior in University. He graduated from Juntendo University’s Department of physical education in 1989, completed the Graduate School of physical education at Juntendo University in 1993, and received his Doctor of Medicine degree from Juntendo University in 2007. He has been a professor at Juntendo University’s faculty of Health and Sports Science since 2013 and has also served as President of the Japan Swimming Federation. In October 2015, he became the first commissioner of the Japan Sports Agency when it was established, and retired in September 2020 at the end of his five-year term. He has been in his current position since April 2021. He has also served as President of the Japan Swimming Federation, President of the Japan Olympians Association, Advisor to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Director of the International Swimming Federation, Vice President of the Asian Swimming Federation, and commentator for Fuji Television’s Mezamashi 8 and Nippon Television’s Shuichi. (As of September 1, 2021)