Japanese Pianist, Long-Term Hong Kong Resident Dies After COVID-19 Vaccination

Pianist Chihiro Arai in an undated photograph announcing her passing on Sep. 15, 2022 (L), Chihiro Arai tweets about her deterioting health after a COVID-19 vaccination. Twitter/@ChihiroARAI

Doubts arise about the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in Japan after the passing of a Japanese pianist who lived in Hong Kong for over two decades.

On Sept. 23, Chihiro Arai’s family announced the 57-year-old Japanese pianist’s death in Japan on Sept. 15 on her Twitter account.

From Arai’s tweets, it can be seen that she was in good health all her life and loved performing piano and teaching, which resulted in more than 600 students worldwide receiving her tuition.

Arai studied under Prof. Eleanor Wong of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and she performed in Hong Kong, Europe, and Japan. Just a year ago, she held her 2021 piano recital online.

Health Deteriorates In 145 Days

Arai tweeted in detail the complete timeline of how her health worsened after a third COVID-19 vaccination.

Arai already felt fatigued and had a headache after the first two injections of the COVID-19 vaccine but said she recovered fairly quickly.

According to her tweets, on April 23, Arai took her third dose but began to have a high fever two hours later, followed by headache, dizziness, general weakness, and erythema in her legs.

During the next five months, she experienced leg and spine pain, insomnia, severe pain at the base of her left leg, brain fog, and a weight loss of 12kg (26 pounds). She tweeted that her body became so weak that it was hard to dispose of the garbage.

Difficulty In Raising Her Arms

Arai said she had a fever of 38.5 deg. Celsius (101.3 deg. Fahrenheit) after the injection on April 23.

She tweeted that her “high fever was accompanied by a decline in physical strength,” adding, “I feel dizzy, not only the left arm that was vaccinated, but the right arm also feels heavy and numb.”

Luckily, she still had a good appetite and tried to console herself, “I have a fair bit of appetite to eat, so maybe it’s okay.” To supplement her calcium and iron content, she also ate a lot of yogurts. Her body temperature returned to normal on the fourth day after the injection.

However, the side effects did not seem to let go quickly. “I haven’t regained my strength yet; my arms don’t work. I feel dizzy and anemic... I think the side effects vary from person to person, but I’m starting to recover!” she said.

“To my surprise, I had another blow as soon as I thought I was starting to recover. I was surprised when I suddenly saw red spots on both legs! From my research, some people have red spots around 5-11 days after being inoculated with... luckily, I don’t feel it ache or itch. But after I vomited last night, I was terrified.”

It continued like this repeatedly, and when she started to see improvement, she would also try to go for a walk to bask in the sun, “Yanagihara Chigusaen Park in Tokyo’s Adachi Ku city is like a small replica of Hong Kong Park,” she wrote in a tweet.

Staying Positive Through the Pain

She deeply loves music and knows that “Listening to classical music is good for the body ... it promotes growth. Listening to Mozart makes me feel warm!”

“It ended up so badly. I can’t help it. I believe I will recover! When you believe, you feel positive to live for every single day,” Arai added.

While lying in bed feeling sick, she still introduced her livelihood in Hong Kong to her followers. “I lived in Hong Kong for 25 years. Whenever I entertained friends and customers from Japan, I always took them to the Jumbo Seafood Restaurant. There had been reports that it sank while being towed, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, does it?”

From her tweets, Arai repeatedly suffered from pain for five months. On July 22, she wrote, “It seems that the physical strength and energy within me will be exhausted due to the long-term deterioration by the third shot. Sorry, it is difficult for me to keep this all inside. Let me have a break!”

To cheer herself up, she set a schedule for playing the piano. She said she ordered a massage chair and a stepper for muscle training to restore her strength.

Housework, such as drying clothes or taking out the garbage, became a measure of her energy level. She tried to eat as much as possible, even without an appetite. This made her miss Hong Kong again, “I miss the porridge in Hong Kong! There are various ingredients and flavors to choose from,” she said.

In the last few days of her life, Arai was too weak to walk. She lost another five kilograms (11 pounds), totaling 12 kilograms (26 pounds) altogether.

Arai had repeatedly stated that the vaccine caused her condition. She tried to consult with the relevant departments of the district office about her problems but didn’t get any help. The day before her death, she said she had another telephone conversation with a government health official leaving her more frustrated.

Skepticism Over Third Jab

Many netizens left messages on Arai’s Twitter questioning the vaccine. One netizen claimed her husband also passed away after receiving his second shot in October; she was pregnant with her third child.

Data released by the Japanese government on Dec. 12 showed the vaccination rate of the first two shots was more than 80 percent, but that of the third had dropped to 67 percent.

According to Yahoo News, by the end of November, 1,910 people in Japan had died after vaccination.

However, after reviews by various parties, the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare concluded that it was “unable to decide [if they were due to the vaccine].”  Some comments said that while serious side effects are evident, the cause of death has not been fully investigated, and we are continuing with the vaccination program.