As 2020 mercifully disappears behind us I’m sitting at home in Tokyo reflecting on how thankful
I am to have been living in Japan this year as the COVID-19 madness took over.
The Japanese constitution does not allow for lockdowns, and probably never will.
The right not to be controlled by higher authorities is enshrined in the constitution, to prevent the
kind of control the emperor exerted over citizens in WW2 ever happening again.
So although comments have been popping up on online forums saying that Japan did lock
down, I can assure you it didn’t. I think data showing that countries that didn’t lock down fared
better necessitated some propaganda to redefine what ‘lockdown’ means, for the purpose of
obfuscating inconvenient facts. Rather than admit that lockdowns are a failed experiment that
have caused more harm than good we’re being directed to believe that countries that didn’t lock
down in fact did. Yeah, no.
In truth all Japan did was close public schools much earlier for spring break and declare a state
of emergency at the beginning of April. This means the government can commandeer hotels for
hospitals in the event public health services are overwhelmed, and factories to produce PPE
equipment and medicines if necessary. Neither of which happened to the best of my knowledge.
It doesn’t confer any more powers on government than that; there were no “bubbles” imposed
on citizens, no classifying of workers as essential/non-essential, no enforced business closures,
and no mandates on mask wearing. There was just a very simple public health strategy from the
beginning, The 3 Cs [1], polite requests to work from home if possible, and a temporary tightening
of international borders. We could go out, see whomever we pleased and make our own
decisions about how much personal risk we were prepared to take.
They also reactivated small local TB tracing centres [2] around the country which were originally set up in the 1930s to manage TB epidemics. Low tech but very effective, these centres were able to trace COVID-19 clusters [3] the same way early on, a key feature of Japan’s response to COVID
which is rarely, if ever acknowledged by critics of the strategy here.
There’s no MIQ here. Anyone arriving in the country is asked to self-isolate at home or in a
hotel/private home if a temporary visitor. Companies are responsible for making sure their
business guests comply. Nobody actually checks up, it’s an honour system. The truth is nobody
really cares that much. Quarantining healthy people doesn’t achieve much if the virus is
endemic in the population. Some quietly ignore it, I’m told. I read somewhere recently that
people were also ignoring requests not to use public transport to get home from the airport
(because taxis are expensive). To solve the problem they’ve created international traveller-only
carriages on trains from the airport. That’s pretty much what I’d expect. To me the Japanese
epitomise keeping calm and carrying on. That’s what I’ve observed living through financial
crises, earthquakes, tsunami, and now a pandemic with them. It’s just how they roll.
In spite of this laxness by New Zealand standards the sky has not fallen in. The number of
deaths from COVID-19 stands at about 4,100 [4] so far I think (from a population of 127 million),
the overall mortality rate [5] this year shows nothing remarkable going on. ICU capacity has never
been reached let alone exceeded to my knowledge, and nobody knows anybody who has had
the virus despite Tokyo being the largest and one of the most densely populated cities in the
world, with a population of around 38 million. Like most countries we have a huge number of
“cases” but no actual sick people. A casedemic.
Having not been subjected to a government fear campaign, there is not a lot of fear of the virus
here generally. There are just under 2,000 employees in the company I work for. We had our
first ever confirmed case last month, which barely caused a ripple. We were notified via a memo
pinned to the notice board asking us to wash our hands more often and not come to work if we
had a fever. The person wasn’t named. Nobody asked. I met with three people from a large
financial institution early this week. They have 10,000 employees across several Tokyo
branches, yet have not had a single confirmed COVID case to date. This is commonly reported
here. Nobody has had it or knows anybody who has had it. A doctor working in Shinjuku, ground
zero for COVID-19, told me in July that she’d seen very few patients with it and that the ones
she had seen typically just had fever and a mild sore throat. Were they not testing we’d not
know there was a new virus circulating. I wish they would stop testing.
Nobody knows for certain why the death rate is so low in Japan. Some things we do know are
that testing of small groups of people in June showed cross immunity to COVID-19 from
previous coronavirus infections [6], and a paper [7] published recently on people that were sero tested weekly from May to August concluded herd immunity had probably been achieved over the summer months in Tokyo. Which surprised nobody. This is a seriously crowded city.
We often hear the western world believes the low mortality rate here is down to cultural
practices such as not shaking hands, mask wearing etc. Sounds a bit sketchy to me because
people do actually shake hands here (this is the 21st century…) and some don’t wear masks.
There’s also two or three million foreigners living here who presumably don’t adhere to
traditional Japanese cultural practices. I know I don’t. And then there’s the matter of the
mafia-owned clubs and parlours that are rife in Shinjuku and other parts of Tokyo and Osaka
which have continued to operate throughout. I don’t think a lot of social distancing goes on in
dens of iniquity. Just saying…
I’m a teacher, not a medical professional, but my gut tells me that what we’re seeing in Japan is
not anything more than the true course of the virus after a heavy flu season [8] with no lockdowns
imposed. In other words, in real time and sans all the bullsh*t that perpetuates things. Time will
tell. If the information isn’t censored and disappeared by the fact checkers.
I wouldn’t want anyone to think Japan’s come out of this completely unscathed. The economy’s
been affected by the lockdowns abroad and by the shift to office staff working from home here.
International business travel to many countries hasn’t been possible for months and people
making an effort to stay away from very crowded areas this year has meant that the hospitality
industry has suffered, like everywhere. There will be job losses. It’s not so readily apparent in a
city this size but it’s definitely happening. A wonderful little chicken restaurant near my office
which has in all probability been there for over a hundred years (there’s a tea shop in Kyoto
that’s 1000 years old) has not survived the migration of office workers from the CBD. There’s a
closed sign in the window, the blinds are closed and the furniture is gone. No doubt there are
many other small restaurants like that one that have met the same fate, sadly. These little
places are such an intrinsic part of what makes this city so vibrant and amazing that even a
single one closing is mourned by the workers who eat lunch in them every day. It really is sad.
We are definitely of the mind that we need to get back to normal sooner rather than later here
and we’re not talking the new normal, we want travel to resume properly and people to go back
to offices. I think I speak for us all when I say we are well and truly over the COVID mania.
Everything has felt relatively normal here for the most part this year, but we are still living in
limbo, reliant on the rest of the world to get back to normal so we can get on with life properly
too. We have an Olympic Games we’d like to get on with hosting next year, thanks.
Don’t get me wrong, we are very aware that we’ve not had the same level of stress and
uncertainty as our friends and family elsewhere who live in constant fear of a rise in “cases”
throwing them back into lockdown for weeks or months on end, and for that we are immensely
grateful. Immensely. We take nothing for granted. We also know we are the exception not the
rule. We worry a lot about what the effects of living under such uncertainty will be in terms of
mental and physical health for people living at the mercy of these newly authoritarian
governments.
We sincerely hope that next year will be better for everybody.
P.S. As I finish writing this I see that the new and less deadly variant of COVID-19 reaching
these shores has necessitated a tightening of the borders again here from Monday. I guess that
means 2021 will be more of the same…
References:
[1] https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/10900000/000619576.pdf
[3] https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/10900000/000639224.pdf
[4] https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/japan/
[5] https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.09.20143164v9
[6] https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200612/p2a/00m/0na/009000c
[8] https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00386/japan-gripped-by-major-flu-outbreak.html
Excellent article. Japan is of course seldom mentioned here in New Zealand as it exposes the dishonest nonsense fed to the New Zealanders by our Government and specific members of our scientific community. Perhaps Prof. Michael Baker can explain to us why our Asian neighbor has, with one of the most densely populated capitals on earth, managed to maintain a death per capita (from Covid-19) less than that of Australia, without imposing lockdowns? Any explanation Prof. Baker?
Yes. Agreed. Thanks Yosen.
“Nobody knows for certain why the death rate is so low in Japan.”
“I’m a teacher, not a medical professional”
Then perhaps you should refrain from judgmental and critical opinions of other country’s responses if you don’t even know exactly what is going on where you live.
Hi Rui, I hardly see why not being a medical professional make someone unable to comment on a situation of which they are present in. There are many variables at play and we understand that medical professionals have said the same thing.
The author’s disclaimer is just that–full disclosure that her knowledge is limited to what she has shared here. But she is absolutely entitled to her very informed and even judgmental opinion! She’s living in Japan, has done for a significant length of time, and is providing a much-needed insight into exactly what’s happening there, which is very different to the experience in New Zealand, for example. And yes, medical professionals can provide their opinions too. Many of them are trying to provide opinions alternative to those of government spokespeople, but their views are not being taken seriously. Why?
As a fellow Kiwi also living permanently in Japan for over 31 years now I would like to compliment you on your well-presented and as far as I can see, truthful description of the situation here. Apart from the ubiquitous mask-wearing, though a few notches more extreme than usual for us, a country that has always worn them as a matter of course, there has been as you say, very little of the hysteria and fear-mongering that is rampant back home in NZ and elsewhere in the west.
At my own company though, a disturbing trend is emerging that seems to belong more in NZ than it does here and I just hope it doesn’t develop into full-blown craziness as talk of the vaccine becoming available crops up more and more. Recently we were all spoken to by our CEO and he went on at length about the saving grace of the vaccine and how it may enable us to once again operate fully within the system…The hairs on my neck began to raise as I personally have no intention of getting it…I see far too many glaringly unresolved problems with this new, highly experimental, and unprecedented mRNA tech to ever consider putting it in my body without the long term testing that it would demand in ANY sane society, but as I said the panic that has fast-tracked it into clinical usage in the west is not entirely absent here and listening to the top brass extol the virtues of being vaccinated filled me with a fear that I have never felt for the virus…I hope the sanity I have seen so far will continue to prevail and that jobs won’t become dependent upon being vaccinated as appears to be the promoted idea overseas. Having said that though…Japan is a dependent nation within the global community and its history of capitulation to global trends doesn’t exactly fill me with a warm fuzzy sense of security. I used to be a teacher here like you (for about 21 years) but I got completely brain scoured by that daily ritual of “Jiko Shoukai” and running on the treadmill of corporate language teaching…I got out, and am now working in construction, with the grunts of Japan…The real blue collar types and I must say I am much happier for doing so…we don’t do any social distancing at all, we wear masks as protection for our jobs not so much in compliance with COVID-19 precautions…It’s really only the executive wing, the desk jockeys who sit at desks all day that are promoting this escalation of fear rhetoric and I must say they generally do if from a completely uninformed mass media influenced position where only one side of the narrative is allowed. After a lot of digging and listening to experts who are barred from participating in public discourse on all things COVID-19, I am now convinced that this entire pandemic narrative is much less about public health and safety than it is about the U.N’s agenda 2030 a.k.a The great reset.
Thanks Riki. Really interesting to hear how things have been for you. Keep in touch! Claire, Alia & Libby.
Thanks for weighing in with your experiences! It is so good to hear from people “on the ground” around the world, not just the official reports aka propaganda.
Well said, thank you.
Hi everyone,
A truly fascinating story! The first question that leaps to mind is: “What happened in Sweden then?”
They have a population (10 million) just over double the NZ population, but according to Worldometers, they’ve had 547,000+ cases and over 11,000 reported C-19 deaths. They seemed to have it under control, initially, and they have quite a low population density, especially compared with Tokyo.
So:
a) Is it just a matter of time before Japan’s situation goes the same way? Or
b) Is the Japanese habit of public mask wearing the whole difference?
c) Are there some unrecognised genetic differences that account for the different results in the two countries?
d) Have the Japanese already acquired a suitable immunity from prior exposure to bird ‘flu or one or more of the other forerunners of this plandemic?
e) Is it simply “The Power of Belief”? Sweden seemed to have that, to start with, but now?
f) Is it all of the above?
g) Is it none of the above / something else?
There are just so many things about this whole ‘pandemic’ that don’t add up.
For example, it appears that dogs are the best C-19 detectors available on the entire planet. Ever been through the airport with an empty plastic container that previously contained an apple? We once got “indicated” by a sniffer dog, no trouble at all.
So, where are they? Why aren’t we training any? Our own Medical Detector Dogs organisation is still waiting for anyone in Government to ask it to start training dogs.
With trained dogs, we wouldn’t need 14 day stays in MIQ. Lockdowns could be avoided. Cases could be found among crowds in a matter of minutes. Blah blah blah…
Oh, it is the possibility that some of the doggies might get infected?
Or, is that there is no SAR-COV-2 virus for them to detect? Maybe, this is simply the Salem Witch Hunt, all over again.
So, what the heck is going on in Sweden then?
Sweden has done fine as well. Excepting for mistakes make with old people’s homes similar to New York situation. The government now is bowing to pressure but adjusting for population Sweden did same as other countries that had strict lockdown and was hardly locked down. There is a lot of information out there. I will link to a few quickly but there is so much that is not shown on main stream media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_vAQyVlXzU&t=1094s and other videos from Ivor Cummins on YouTube
From Jonathan K an interested accountant in NZ: “We already know that the mortality rate for Sweden (which had no broad, crippling mandatory lockdowns during the year) in 2020 was lower than the 10 year average, and the 5th lowest out of the preceding 11 years (see https://www.facebook.com/241231716993396/posts/316008506182383/).
But even if you must only look at the worst Covid hit months (which primarily concentrated deaths into a shorter time frame, rather than caused much in the way of “excess” death), these months were not at all unprecedented – 1993, 1988 and 1976 all had worse examples of severe months.
But unbelievably, some alarmists still allude to vague comparisons (and up till recently, adamantly overt comparisons) to the Spanish flu.
These people are lying, or are genuinely stupid. There is simply no other way to put it – because there is no similarity whatsoever to Spanish Flu.
This is a 2 minute video from Ivor Cummins, with a quick and easy breakdown of some fascinating data on the matter. – see on Jonathan’s blog here: https://www.facebook.com/eyesopennewzealand/videos/863715427710336
Has anyone shared information anywhere as to Japan’s testing approach? ie, are they testing asymptomatic people at the same rate as other countries? And how many cycles are they running those tests at? How are they classifying cases–positive test only or must be with clinical symptoms also? How are they classifying deaths? (eg a positive test within 28 days of death regardless of cause of death?)
THE UK column has very interesting information regarding what is happening in the UK. There seems to be a pattern emerging that shows care homes that have been covid free suddenly have an outbreak 2 weeks after the residence are vaccinated. There was also a paper written on past experimental covid/sars vaccines failing because while they produced a good immune reaction in the body to the vaccine they also caused the body have a very severe reaction to the actual covid virus leading to fatalities.
There is a lot of information coming out of the UK but not through main stream media. I have family there and the fear campaign is overwhelming yet no one I know there has lost anyone to the virus or been hospitalized.
Read everything you can from the right sources and make up your own mind.
I am not an anti vaxer I am a free choicer.
Great site thank you for putting it together.