ABSTRACT
Several critical elements in Japan would be a barrier to getting a handle on COVID-19. Thirty-million people live within 30 miles of Tokyo, and four million people go through Shinjuku Station daily, one of the most densely populated areas in the world. The population density makes it ripe for this virus to metastasize uncontrollably. Additionally, Japan has the largest percentage of citizens globally aged 65 or older, as the elderly are the most vulnerable to this disease. Unlike other states in East Asia, Japan was also slow to react to this virus. According to a global survey, Japan received the lowest public rating in response to this outbreak. Lastly, Japan cannot force a business to shut down or stop public transportation temporarily. It can only make recommendations. Nevertheless, the one security blanket the country can rely on is its socio-cultural defense against this pandemic. The social construction of the Japanese identity is perhaps why Japan has not seen COVID-19 envelop as witnessed in the U.S., Brazil, and some European countries. The United States averages more deaths per day than Japan averages in the number of infections.
Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, Japan, cultural space, wa
INTRODUCTION
The box office hit, The Perfect Storm, released in 2000, is about a group of Boston fishermen aboard a fishing vessel searching for a big payout. Initially unsuccessful, they yonder out to the Flemish Cap and strike it big. At the height of their success, their ice machine breaks down, leaving a choice between hurrying back before their catch spoils or waiting out the impending storm. They choose the former but unbeknownst to the crew, a confluence of events, two powerful weather fronts, and a hurricane, leading to the “perfect storm”.
Pejoratively speaking, perhaps the 2019 pandemic is also “perfect.” It takes the requisite balance between contagiousness and deadliness before a virus can metastasize like COVID-19, as it had happened only once before in about the last 100 years. If a disease is too deadly such as Ebola, few people die from it because they do not contaminate too many others. They become too sick, too quickly, and the afflicted stay home or get hospitalized, leaving little opportunity for the virus to spread (Information is Beautiful, 2018). The seasonal Flu will contaminate an extensive population, much like COVID-19, but has a fatality rate of around 0.1 percent, meaning instead of nearly 500-thousand fatalities in the US as of winter 2021, that number would have been closer to about 50,000 (Retner, 2020, May, 04).
Issues Concerning Japan
Consider all the factors that would make the outbreak hard to contain in Japan. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s approval rating was the lowest in about two years at 39.4 percent, mainly because of how he handled COVID-19 as he was criticized for the lack of public testing for the deadly virus (Japan Times, 2020). According to a global survey, Japan received the worst public rating for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which surveyed 23 nations on April 3-19, 2020 (Blackbox Research & Toluna).
Also, consider that the prime minister has limited power if attempting to declare a state of emergency. Unlike other countries like the UK or France, the government cannot take punitive measures, nor can it order shops to close, mandate workers to stay at home, or suspend public transportation.
Another obstacle is the number of tests being conducted daily. In April 2020, Japan was averaging a meager 7800 tests per day, which had risen to about 20-thousand by mid-May. Its neighboring state of South Korea received praise for its effort to combat the pandemic. Korea’s government focused on aggressive testing and contact tracing to contain the transmission (Japan Times). It also produced high-quality diagnostic kits. Other interventions included hundreds of testing sites, and dozens of drive-thru centers, making it capable of testing an estimated 20-thousand people per day in a country of 51 million (Japan Times., et al.) Japan can now test as many people as South Korea, but it is a country of 126 million people.
Tokyo is also one of the most densely populated cities globally, making it prime real estate for COVID-19 to spread. Combine that with the fact that Japan has the largest percentage of citizens aged 65 or older. Japan ranks number one globally in the percentage of people aged 65 or higher at 26-percent (IIASA, 2015), a number expected to rise to 40-percent by 2040.
Also Read: COVID-19 Masks: The Emotional and Cultural Questions
Hanko
It was not until the outbreak of COVID-19, which has made Japan confront its rigidity. One example is its reliance on a personal seal known as a hanko. In many cases, a hanko stamp is necessary, which requires the print and faxing of papers. Because many businesses mandate that they be manually stamped, people have to go to the company and governmental offices for that purpose. More than 95-percent of businesses still use the hanko system today (Information Technology Cooperative), forcing thousands of people to commute to their workplace amid this pandemic. Japan’s long-ingrained usage of the hanko has faced criticism for its unyielding practice, unsafe in the current environment. If Japan continues to wallow in the mire, it will get left behind in this race to be at the forefront of digital capitalism.
3rd Wave
In its third wave, Japan began to witness an uptick unlike any other. Infection rates started rising again in mid-November, with cases topping at more than 7500 per day in early January and about 25-hundred in Tokyo (Worldometers). The government enacted a second state of emergency. However, this time, only ten Japanese prefectures were under lockdown, unlike the entire country during its first dominion. They included Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Gifu, Aichi, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, and Fukuoka (https://corona.go.jp/en/). Measures included the total ban on new entries to the state, shortening business hours for restaurants and bars, and reducing the number of workers at offices by 70-percent, although it never reached that milestone. As aforementioned, compliance is voluntary based on Japanese law. As a result, companies and establishments cannot be fined; they can only be named and shamed. However, Japan’s parliament enacted new regulations for people and businesses that do not comply with restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. For example, patients who resist hospitalization can be fined up to 500-thousand yen ($4600), and restaurants and bars that fail to reduce their operating hours can be fined up to 300-thousand yen ($2750) (Kyodo News).
Despite how dire the circumstance appeared to be in Japan, it has been more distressing for western countries. In its third wave, the UK peaked at nearly 70-thousand cases per day, but it is a country of about half the Japan population. France had infection rates of about 90-thousand per day and Italy at about 40-thousand per day. Both France and Italy also have about half the people of Japan. Though the United States is 2.5 times the Japanese population, it topped out at about 308-thousand infections per day on January 8, 2021 (Worldometers). The US, in fact, has more fatalities than Japan has infections, and carries a fatality rate of about 70 times that of Japan (Johns Hopkins).
Japan’s new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga appears to be getting similar criticism to his predecessor, Shinzo Abe. The vast majority of respondents thought the government response to the new wave of infections was too slow. Additionally, the domestic tourism campaign known as “The Go-To Travel”, to boost the country’s economy because of corona, has contributed to the spread of the virus, according to some experts as they had called for the halting of this campaign. Japan’s prime minister has also reaffirmed his commitment to the Summer Olympics despite widespread appeal against hosting the event (Japan Times).
Japan’s vaccination program which began in late February was the last among the Group of Seven nations. The country awaited the Japanese health ministry’s approval of the drugmaker Pfizer vaccine developed jointly by Germany’s BioNTech SE. The thinking behind this move is because of Japan’s long history that its people are unique. Befu (2001) argues the Japanese and their uniqueness is a salient part of their culture and conscious thinking known as nihonjinron (theories of being Japanese). Nihonjinron has permeated almost every aspect of Japanese life from its economic trends to individuals’ mannerisms. They assume the homogeneity of Japanese in terms of race, culture, language, cognitive style, management practices, and society (Lazopoulos, 2004). Much of the delay of vaccines in the Japanese market is because of “ethnobridging.” Studies are conducted on a drug-by-drug basis to determine the effects on a person based on “ethnic factors” (Kelly, 2012). Although ethnicity is a cultural construction; ostensibly, the Japanese view themselves as biologically different, another aspect of nihonjinron. While all the other Group of Seven nations began its vaccination programs, Japan plans to vaccinate those aged 65 or older in mid-April, the first group to receive inoculations after medical workers.
Japan’s Sociocultural Defense
With all the factors mentioned above, it would be a wonder why Japan’s infection rate is low, relatively speaking. As of Winter 2021, Japan has witnessed about 387-thousand infections and 5600 hundred deaths. If you compare Japan (126-million) to other states with similar population sizes, Russia (145-million) and Mexico (126-million) are faring far worse. Russia will soon reach four million infections and 75-thousand deaths, while Mexico is near two million infections and 160-thousand deaths.
“Space” as a construct
“Space” is not only a construct that heavily influences the social construction of Japanese; it is also an important variable when considering why they are nearly impervious to a pandemic. Culturally, the Japanese are inherently suited for social distancing. They do not shake hands, kiss each other on the cheek, or give hugs to greet each other. Instead, they prefer to bow. As a result, it is part of their culture to maintain distance from each other. Inside even in the smallest of apartments, there is a rectangular entrance area known as a genkan. It is the neutral space between inside and outside (Ohnuki-Tierney, 1984). Inside space is viewed as clean and pure to the Japanese while they believe outside space is dirty and contaminated. The Japanese try to preserve three primary contaminants on the body: their hands, throat, and feet. During early socialization, children are taught to take off the unclean dirt contracted from the outside to ensure not to track it into the house or the pure inside (Ohnuki-Tierney, et al., 1984). Japanese children are also instructed to slip on their uwabaki once they pass the genkan. Uwabaki or Japanese slippers are worn indoors at home, at school, or in public buildings where shoes are prohibited, such as a medical clinic. Because Japanese shoes are considered highly contaminated, if one were to wear shoes inside the home, this practice would be viewed as highly impolite, and the Japanese would feel a sense of discomfort. Children are also taught to go straight to the bathroom when they enter the home to wash their hands and gargle their throat to kill any impurities. They even brush their teeth at school after lunch.
For those who work with their hands, it is also common to see them wearing gloves. These include bus and taxi drivers and ticket punchers to not contaminate themselves from money and ticket stubs (Ohnuki-Tierney, et al., 1984). The gloves they use are also washed frequently to maintain purity. It is also customary to see Japanese wearing a mask, a practice long before the pandemic. Mask-wearing caught on for the Japanese during the Spanish Flu in 1918, which killed tens of millions of people globally. Although the numbers were difficult to track so early on, an estimated half a million Japanese also perished. The disease’s infectious nature compelled them to start wearing masks, which seemed to offer protection.
Mask-wearing gained considerable popularity throughout the world, including in the US and the UK, yet the masks’ evidence-based utility seemed secondary to their social function (Burgess, Mitsutoshi, 2012). Mask-wearing in Japan, however, remained long after the Spanish Flu – it can be explained as the folk pathology of Japanese with its traditions of symbolic purity and pollution rather than the viral-based understanding of infection. However, covering the mouth is a practice dating back to the Edo Period (1603-1868). This practice prevented the “unclean” mouth from polluting religious rituals and festivals (Reader, 1991). It is a custom still practiced at the Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto and the Otori Grand Shrine in Osaka (Japan Times). In that period, the Japanese could be seen covering the mouth with a sakaki (Japanese cleyera). This concept is antithetical to why a westerner would wear one. Typically seen only amongst medical doctors performing surgery before the pandemic, the purpose of mask-wearing was to ensure they do not contaminate their patients. The Japanese, do not want others contaminating them.
Another factor to consider is the concept of wa. Wa is about surrendering personal and selfish goals in favor of the group. Ask a Westerner, “What do you do?” they will answer, “I am an engineer” or “I am a computer programmer”. The Japanese would answer, “I work for Sony,” or “I work for Panasonic”. The individual’s specific position is less critical than group membership. It is the manifestation between self and role. While many western countries value their independence (self) and will perhaps speak out about their right not to wear a mask, the Japanese have a weak sense of self. Instead of instructors teaching students to be independent, Japan stresses the importance of interdependence and encourages a dyadic relationship, known as the “Inverted V” (Chie, 1970). No two people have an equal relationship, even if they are of the same rank and age. Their time with a company creates what is known as senpai/kohai, perhaps equivalent to a mentor/protégé in the West. However, there are nuances in the senpai/kohai dynamic that would be unfamiliar to the West. Age, for example, is an essential criterion in this relation. It is omnipresent in Japanese culture and can be found in all walks of life, from education to sports, business, and social events. This vertical relationship lasts in perpetuity even if the two lose contact and meet later in life (Zakaria, 2018). The spirit of harmony, cooperation between groups, and a shared purpose is palpable in Japan and has arguably helped to contain this pandemic.
Conclusion
Future pandemics will emerge, spread more rapidly, and kill more people than COVID-19 because the 837-thousand undiscovered viruses have the ability to infect people (IPBES). But if another pandemic emerges, its impact on Japan will be minimal compared to its western counterparts.
Among the many social rules Japan follows, one amongst them is its duty and obligation known as giri, though the word has no direct translation. Durkheim (1966) would argue the kamikaze committed what he would have called altruistic suicide. The kamikaze, volunteer pilots who sacrificed their life by crashing their planes into American naval ships during World War II, committed these acts as a social obligation to their government and country. It speaks to how powerful giri is in Japanese society, though the example above is an extreme case. The concept, which began during the age of the Samurai still exists today but is much more liniment. Take the example of a wife’s husband whose mother is bedridden while her own mother who lives in a different town is also bedridden. Despite the husband suggesting that his wife care for her own mother, she will likely refuse because of the obligation she feels to her new family.
The Japanese will even adopt western concepts and make it their own. Known as giri choco, on Valentine’s Day female workers will give chocolate to their male co-workers and bosses to show their appreciation and politeness. The men will reciprocate on White Day. Though in this gift-giving culture and society, it can be argued this practice is losing popularity as some companies have banned the practice citing power harassment, it is an example of the many social precepts the Japanese feel obligated to navigate and practice. Perhaps, Japan’s obligation it still feels for its country will be its socio-cultural defense against COVID-19 and other future viral outbreaks.
REFERENCES
Aging Demographic Data Sheet 2020. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. Retrieved from https://iiasa.ac.at/web/home/research/researchPrograms/WorldPopulation/PublicationsMediaCoverage/ModelsData/AgingDemDataSheet2020.pdf.
Aizawa, Y. 2020, April, 6. Abe to declare state of emergency. NHK World Japan. Retrieved from https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/1012/.
Alston, JP. 1989. Wa, Guanxi, and inhwa: managerial principles in Japan, China, and Korea. Business Horizons, 32(2), 26+.
Befu, Harumi. 2001. Hegemony of homogeneity : an anthropological analysis of Nihonjinron. The Journal of Asian Studies.
Burgess, A., Mitsutoshi, H. 2012. Risk, ritual and health responsibilisation: Japan’s ‘safety blanket’ of surgical face mask‐wearing. School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent.
Chie, Nakane. 1970. Japanese Society: A Practical Guide to Understanding the Japanese Mindset and Culture. Tuttle Publishing.
Covid 19 Information and Resources. Retrieved from https://corona.go.jp/en/.
Coronatracker.com. Retrieved from https://www.coronatracker.com/country/japan/.
Durkheim, Emile., Spaulding, J. A., & In Simpson, G. 1966. Suicide: A study in sociology..
IPBES. Retrieved from https://ipbes.net/sites/default/files/2020-12/IPBES%20Workshop%20on%20Biodiversity%20and%20Pandemics%20Report_ 0.pdf
Japan Times. 2020, May, 9. Retrieved from https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/05/09/national/abe-coronavirus-survey/#.XuCavC90fGI.
Japan Times. 2020, May, 16. Retrieved from https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/05/16/national/japans-daily-pcr-test- capacity-20000/#.XuCeRy90fGI.
Japan Times. 2020, May, 05. Retrieved from https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2020/05/05/commentary/world- commentary/south-korea-stopped-covid-19-early/#.XuCiSC90fGI.
Japan Times. 2020, July, 04. Retrieved from https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/07/04/national/science-health/japans-history-wearing-masks-coronavirus/
Japan Times. Retrieved from https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/01/25/national/japan- suga-coronavirus-response/.
Johns Hopkins. Retrieved from https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality.
Kimberly Kelly, Mark Nichter; The Politics of Local Biology in Transnational Drug Testing: Creating (Bio)Identities and Reproducing (Bio)Nationalism Through Japanese “Ethnobridging” Studies. East Asian Science, Technology and Society 1 September 2012; 6 (3): 379–399. doi:.
Kyodo News. Retrieved from https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/02/672b77d898d6-japan-to-pass-bills- allowing-fines-for-antivirus-measure-noncompliance.html.
Lazopoulos, G. 2004. National character studies in america and japan: Toward a new understanding of nihonjinron (Order No. 1422393). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I. (305124511). Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/national-character-studies-america- japan-toward/docview/305124511/se-2?accountid=45916.
Ministry of Heath, Labour and Welfare. 2020, June, 10. Retrieved on June 10, 2020, from https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/newpage_00032.htmltri.
Nier.go.jp. Retrieved from https://www.nier.go.jp/English/educationjapan/pdf/201703TTASJ.pdf
Okada, N. 2020, June, 10. Japan struggles to provide coronavirus tests. NHK World Japan. Retrieved from https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/1038/.
Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. 1984. Illness and Culture in Japan an Anthropological View. Cambridge University Press.
Retner, R. 2020. May, 04. How does the coronavirus compare with the flu? LiveScience. Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/new-coronavirus-compare-with-flu.html
Schommegna, P. 2019, September, 25. Which County has the Oldest Population? It Depends on how to Define Old.’ PRB. Retrieved from https://www.prb.org/which-country-has-the-oldest-population/.
Science. 2020, 03. Retrieved from https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/china-s-.
The World in Crisis: 2020. Blackbox. Retrieved on June 10, 2020 from https://blackbox.com.sg/everyone/2020/05/06/most-countries-covid-19-responses- rated-poorly-by-own-citizens-in-first-of-its-kind-global-survey.
Worldometers. Retrieved from https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/02/672b77d898d6- japan-to-pass-bills-allowing-fines-for-antivirus-measure-noncompliance.html.
Zakaria, Z. 2018. Age Means Respect in Japan Culture. New Straits Times. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2091444769?accountid=45916.
Teach at Akita International University in Japan. Graduate of the University of Oxford in Social Anthropology.