Without imposing a severe lockdown, Japan limited COVID-19 deaths through government requests and the voluntary actions of its citizens.
Drawing on an essay by Mayumi Tanimoto, this article introduces overseas reactions praising Japan’s hygiene, social responsibility, community awareness, and public order in comparison with Britain and other countries.

2020-06-29
“No One Wears a Mask or Washes and Gargles”—The Real Overseas Voices Praising Japan’s COVID-19 Response
The following is taken from an essay by Mayumi Tanimoto entitled “Mr. Abe, Nice Guy! Left or Right Does Not Matter—People of Japan, This Is What People Overseas Really Think!” published in the monthly magazine WiLL, which went on sale on June 26.
The monthly magazine WiLL is essential reading not only for the Japanese people but also for people throughout the world.
Those who have not yet purchased it should go immediately to their nearest bookstore.
That is because it is filled with genuine essays such as this one.
And yet, it costs only 920 yen, including tax.
People Overseas Praise Japan
It is truly gratifying that the spread of the coronavirus in Japan has not become as severe as many had expected.
From February through March of this year, I feared that Japan might become like Italy or Britain.
However, defying most predictions, the number of deaths in Japan was only one-fiftieth of that in Britain.
These figures are as of June 15.
Japan did not severely restrict the entry of foreign tourists, did not impose a strict lockdown, has the world’s most rapidly ageing population, and operates a medical system that is already stretched to its limits.
Despite facing some of the most difficult conditions in the world, Japan prevented the virus from spreading simply through government “requests”—in other words, by asking the public to cooperate.
Japan’s achievement is astonishing.
In Britain, from the beginning of May, the second month of lockdown, there was a sharp increase in the number of people expressing frustration over the rapidly rising death toll and their own government’s improvised and inconsistent response.
For example, Good Morning Britain, or GMB, a morning news program broadcast by the commercial television network ITV and watched mainly by elderly and middle-aged viewers, and the daytime talk shows that follow it, normally spend endless amounts of time showing cooking demonstrations and celebrity gossip.
However, strong criticism of the government’s measures began to feature prominently on these programs.
At the same time, praise for the coronavirus responses of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan also became increasingly noticeable.
In Britain, Ciaran Jenkins, a reporter for the commercial broadcaster Channel 4, compared the numbers of deaths in Japan and Britain on his Twitter account.
His post received 64,000 “likes” and became a major topic of discussion.
Although Japan’s population is almost twice that of Britain, Japan had recorded only 929 deaths.
Britain’s “official” death toll had already exceeded 40,000.
Moreover, because this figure did not include people who died at home or in nursing homes, the actual number was said to have exceeded 60,000.
When calculated according to the “real death toll,” Britain’s figure was more than sixty times that of Japan.
Even when excess deaths—the estimated number of deaths caused by the coronavirus—are added to Japan’s total, it does not approach the British figure.
Both the number of deaths and the number of infections in Japan were on an entirely different scale from those of other countries.
Jenkins’s words, “staggering by any estimation,” strongly conveyed his impression that the difference was extraordinary, no matter how the figures were calculated.
There are issues, including the relatively small number of tests conducted in Japan.
Nevertheless, most people believe that Japan’s measures had a certain degree of effectiveness and that something in Japan appeared to be working well.
Incidentally, Channel 4 is the most left-wing television station in Britain and is normally highly enthusiastic about promoting social diversity and left-wing values.
It frequently criticizes Japan over issues such as discrimination against women and exclusionism and is by no means usually sympathetic toward Japan.
Yet even Channel 4 was praising Japan.
In response to this tweet, I wrote, “I am from Japan. Having observed the behaviour of people in Britain, I can understand these results. No one wears a mask, no one washes their hands or gargles, people enter buildings wearing outdoor shoes, people are self-centred and individualistic, hygiene in toilets and public places is terrible, and there are few CT scanners and MRI machines. The government’s response was also slow.”
People from Britain and even as far away as Nigeria sent me various opinions, and the exchange developed into a small forum for discussion.
Surprisingly, there were almost no comments criticizing Japan.
Most praised Japanese customs and measures, while criticizing the British government and the behaviour of the British people themselves.
The reactions included comments such as the following.
“Japanese culture seems to centre on behaving for the sake of one another. British culture is all about me, me, me.”
“Japan is supposed to have a much higher population density. This is a terrible result. We are being badly failed by leaders who do not seem interested in working for the people.”
“The Japanese avoided the worst effects of this virus, but that was because of the behaviour of the Japanese people. It was not all done by the government.”
“Japanese people listen to their leaders, while people in Britain hold street parties and fight with the police!”
“The Japanese listen to common sense. They have a collectivist society and a strong desire to protect their communities. It is not a self-centred, immature society based on me, me, me.”
“Perhaps the Japanese actually understand what ‘STAY AT HOME’ means. We cannot blame the government alone. London and Paris are full of people who think it is better to go out!”
“Japan does not have a serious obesity problem.”
And so on.
Are you surprised?
These are not comments from a so-called “right-wing internet book,” as people on the left might describe it, nor are they taken from Japanese television programs that endlessly praise Japan.
They were written by ordinary people who actually live in Britain, other European countries, Nigeria, Poland, and elsewhere and who use their real names on Twitter.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, it was widely known in Britain and other European countries that Japan had the largest elderly population in the world.
Whenever news programs or documentaries discuss the problem of ageing societies, Japan is almost invariably presented as an example.
Despite having such a large elderly population, Japan recorded a remarkably low number of deaths from the new coronavirus.
Many people were also surprised that, although Japan’s economy was no longer growing as strongly as it once had, the economic damage caused by voluntary restrictions was kept comparatively small.
Other countries have far higher birth rates and far fewer elderly people than Japan, yet they recorded enormous numbers of deaths.
One cannot help concluding that Japan must have been doing something right.
To be continued.