Why is Japan so Calm during the Wuhan Coronavirus Epidemic
It has been several weeks since the coronavirus epidemic broke out of the central Chinese city of Wuhan. As China went into crisis mode, with the government struggling to stop a virus that has now infected tens of thousands and killed hundreds, Japan, as the next-door neighbor, inadvertently faces the pressure of how to prevent similar mass infection. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the number of people who travel between China and Japan, Japan has now become the country with the largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases outside China.
However, despite the relatively larger number of cases, Japan as a whole is remaining surprisingly calm. In Hong Kong, South Korea, and the Philippines, for instance, are roiled by mass hoarding of not only surgical masks but rice and toilet paper, and protests to close all borders to Chinese citizens, remarkably little panic among the public has taken place in Japan. Streets remain full of (unmasked) people, businesses are operating with normal schedules, and despite calls to the contrary by right-wing netizens, Chinese visitors continue to enter with only cursory checks of whether they have been to Wuhan in the past few weeks.
It is hard to pinpoint one or even a few reasons that distinguish Japan's relaxed attitude toward the complete paranoia that is taking place across its neighbors, but perhaps it is worth speculating just how Japan has managed to stay so calm in the face of an emerging global epidemic, despite being located right to its epicenter. Studying the underlying causes of why Japanese people can be made to simply ignore the virus and get on with their normal lives provide some comfort in that, with the right attitude in place, any country can come out of a future epidemic with minimal disruption to the overall socio-economic fabric.
Perhaps the most distinguishing reaction of Japanese people to the virus is a complete, blind, and almost bordering naive trust in the country's healthcare system to keep the country safe from the virus. TV stations showed off facilities designed only for quarantining infectious patients, with doctors proudly talking about air circulation systems and entirely segregated wards that ensure even airborne virus remains within a confined space. Such reports have been applauded by Japanese viewers praising Japan's exceptional technology, despite what seem to be clear leakage in the system that, for one, see patients using some shared facilities with others, whether it be ambulances, passageways, and stretchers.
Such a point about the nation's blind belief in superior Japanese technology to keep the epidemic at bay plays into a bigger narrative about Japanese exceptionalism that goes beyond technology. Casual discussions of the ongoing epidemic have seen Japanese people so far considering the epidemic is a strictly foreign matter taking place in a faraway land that does not particularly concern them on a day-to-day basis. The fact that Japan is rather close to China both geographically and economically and the country's loose border controls seem not to concern the wider Japanese population.
But in a more positive note, the Japanese general public's nonchalance toward the raging coronavirus may also be interpreted with an attitude toward life that is more accepting of fate and whatever negative situations life throws at human beings. In a country full of natural disasters from earthquakes to typhoons, accepting that some disasters are simply uncontrollable and bound to happen, and people are bound to get hurt, is likely more ingrained in the populace. The belief that little can be done to halt the spread of the epidemic has only strengthened after news broke of people getting infected despite wearing masks.
The Japanese attitude toward the Wuhan coronavirus can be partially emulated in other countries, at least in future instances of similar epidemics. The eventual suppression of the virus, with relatively minimal deaths, could boost people's confidence in their national healthcare systems to protect the people, just as the Japanese now believe. And more morbidly, as more people contract the virus anyways despite all the paranoid precautions taken to wear the best masks and avoiding all contacts with other people, the Japanese attitude of simply accepting fate during epidemics may become more of a global norm.
However, the Japanese calmness today can only spread to other countries if Japan itself stays calm. The signs of Japan remaining calm is, unfortunately, becoming slimmer by the day. With a cruise ship docked in Yokohama harbor seeing an outbreak on board and the government scrambling to turn away other boats from now just China, but any connection with China and Chinese people, people may correspondingly become more alarmist. It remains to be seen whether Japan will continue to stay nonchalant as the number of cases in the country continues to creep up soon.
However, despite the relatively larger number of cases, Japan as a whole is remaining surprisingly calm. In Hong Kong, South Korea, and the Philippines, for instance, are roiled by mass hoarding of not only surgical masks but rice and toilet paper, and protests to close all borders to Chinese citizens, remarkably little panic among the public has taken place in Japan. Streets remain full of (unmasked) people, businesses are operating with normal schedules, and despite calls to the contrary by right-wing netizens, Chinese visitors continue to enter with only cursory checks of whether they have been to Wuhan in the past few weeks.
It is hard to pinpoint one or even a few reasons that distinguish Japan's relaxed attitude toward the complete paranoia that is taking place across its neighbors, but perhaps it is worth speculating just how Japan has managed to stay so calm in the face of an emerging global epidemic, despite being located right to its epicenter. Studying the underlying causes of why Japanese people can be made to simply ignore the virus and get on with their normal lives provide some comfort in that, with the right attitude in place, any country can come out of a future epidemic with minimal disruption to the overall socio-economic fabric.
Perhaps the most distinguishing reaction of Japanese people to the virus is a complete, blind, and almost bordering naive trust in the country's healthcare system to keep the country safe from the virus. TV stations showed off facilities designed only for quarantining infectious patients, with doctors proudly talking about air circulation systems and entirely segregated wards that ensure even airborne virus remains within a confined space. Such reports have been applauded by Japanese viewers praising Japan's exceptional technology, despite what seem to be clear leakage in the system that, for one, see patients using some shared facilities with others, whether it be ambulances, passageways, and stretchers.
Such a point about the nation's blind belief in superior Japanese technology to keep the epidemic at bay plays into a bigger narrative about Japanese exceptionalism that goes beyond technology. Casual discussions of the ongoing epidemic have seen Japanese people so far considering the epidemic is a strictly foreign matter taking place in a faraway land that does not particularly concern them on a day-to-day basis. The fact that Japan is rather close to China both geographically and economically and the country's loose border controls seem not to concern the wider Japanese population.
But in a more positive note, the Japanese general public's nonchalance toward the raging coronavirus may also be interpreted with an attitude toward life that is more accepting of fate and whatever negative situations life throws at human beings. In a country full of natural disasters from earthquakes to typhoons, accepting that some disasters are simply uncontrollable and bound to happen, and people are bound to get hurt, is likely more ingrained in the populace. The belief that little can be done to halt the spread of the epidemic has only strengthened after news broke of people getting infected despite wearing masks.
The Japanese attitude toward the Wuhan coronavirus can be partially emulated in other countries, at least in future instances of similar epidemics. The eventual suppression of the virus, with relatively minimal deaths, could boost people's confidence in their national healthcare systems to protect the people, just as the Japanese now believe. And more morbidly, as more people contract the virus anyways despite all the paranoid precautions taken to wear the best masks and avoiding all contacts with other people, the Japanese attitude of simply accepting fate during epidemics may become more of a global norm.
However, the Japanese calmness today can only spread to other countries if Japan itself stays calm. The signs of Japan remaining calm is, unfortunately, becoming slimmer by the day. With a cruise ship docked in Yokohama harbor seeing an outbreak on board and the government scrambling to turn away other boats from now just China, but any connection with China and Chinese people, people may correspondingly become more alarmist. It remains to be seen whether Japan will continue to stay nonchalant as the number of cases in the country continues to creep up soon.
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