While companies in Europe and North America carried out massive layoffs during the COVID-19 crisis, Japanese companies sought to preserve employment, and the Japanese government provided a uniform ¥100,000 payment without means-testing.
Drawing on an essay by Mayumi Tanimoto, this article examines why people overseas admired Japan’s employment practices, social support, and culture of compassion.

2020-06-29
¥100,000 for Everyone—from Babies and Prisoners to Foreign Residents: Japan’s Culture of Compassion Astonished the World
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
The following is a continuation of the preceding chapter.
A Country with a Culture of Compassion
Japanese companies have not carried out large-scale layoffs.
In Britain and the United States, many companies dismissed large numbers of employees immediately before and after stay-at-home orders were introduced, leaving towns full of unemployed people.
One of my acquaintances was dismissed even though the person worked for a large company with sufficient financial strength.
No consideration whatsoever was given to whether the employee had an illness or a family to support.
Unlike in Japan, the approach is extremely cold and focused entirely on profit.
For example, immediately after the coronavirus crisis began, airlines in Britain, other European countries, and North America dismissed tens of thousands of employees.
Pilots and maintenance engineers were also cut without hesitation.
At some companies, more than half of the workforce was dismissed.
In Japan, however, neither JAL nor ANA dismissed its employees.
Instead, they reassigned crew members from their usual duties to the production of protective clothing.
This was reported in Europe, where people expressed astonishment at what they regarded as a compassionate and flexible response.
The Japanese style of management that seeks to protect employment has been highly praised.
It has also been pointed out that the large cash reserves held by Japanese companies proved useful in responding to the crisis.
Although employment is more fluid in Europe than in Japan, being dismissed is still a severe shock.
Many people live while burdened with mortgages, credit-card debt, and other loans, and their savings rates are low.
Once they are dismissed, they are unable to maintain their way of life.
In Britain, unemployment benefits are also pitifully small, and for middle-aged and older people, finding another job is far from easy.
The widely reported guarantee of 80 percent of wages is available only to people who remain employed and can prove that they have been temporarily furloughed.
Many companies dismissed their employees despite knowing this.
Even those who were temporarily furloughed had no guarantee whatsoever that they would later be re-employed.
Self-employed people received no support at all if their annual profits exceeded approximately six million yen.
Japan, where companies avoided dismissals and where various forms of support were provided to small and medium-sized businesses and the self-employed, showed far greater compassion.
For this reason, many people overseas envied the compassionate measures taken by Japanese companies.
Moreover, Japan was the only country to provide a uniform payment of ¥100,000 to everyone—from babies and prisoners to elderly people with dementia—without examining their assets or income, and even extended the payment to foreign residents.
Other countries imposed various restrictions, including proof of reduced income and evidence of previous tax payments.
The United States and Canada distributed payments relatively generously.
At the same time, however, they carried out layoffs with a degree of coldness and cruelty that would be unthinkable in Japan.
Although coronavirus testing was free, treatment for the disease was not free as it was in Japan.
In the United States, some people were billed several million yen for their treatment.
Viewed as a whole, people in Japan were far more fortunate.
Incidentally, the uniform ¥100,000 payment was also reported in Europe.
My husband, a British university lecturer, and my friends say every day, “¥100,000! ¥100,000! Mr. Abe is a nice guy!”
To be continued.