Based on Yoshiko Sakurai’s column in Shukan Shincho, this article examines Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s press conference during the Wuhan virus crisis, the distorted attitude of some Japanese media toward the state of emergency declaration, critical reporting by outlets such as the Asahi Shimbun, and the more forward-looking tone of the American media. It argues that now is the time for the Japanese people to summon courage and stand firm.

March 20, 2020
The behavior of the virus is difficult to predict.
The politics and dynamics of the world are also beginning to go far beyond prediction.
At such a time, what are we to do if we do not summon our courage and look forward?
Japanese people, now is the time to stand firm.
The following is from Yoshiko Sakurai’s serial column, which, together with Masayuki Takayama’s column, adorned the closing pages of Shukan Shincho released yesterday.
This essay also proves that she is a “national treasure” as defined by Saicho.
In this morning’s Sankei Shimbun column “Kotoba no Hitotoki,” the writer, Satoshi Koguchi, concluded by saying that he had read Ms. Sakurai’s essay in the February 27 issue of Shukan Shincho and that his heart was moved.
When I finished reading this essay, I was, despite myself, overcome with a deep urge to weep.
That is why Ms. Sakurai is a “national treasure.”
The media itself is the greatest obstacle to overcoming the Wuhan virus
How should we receive Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s message, and how should we make use of it?
That is also the question of how the Japanese people will fight the Wuhan virus and how they will protect Japan.
At the press conference held on March 14 after the amendment of the Special Measures Act concerning Wuhan virus infection, I think the prime minister was humble from beginning to end.
First, he thanked both the ruling and opposition parties for their cooperation in passing the bill, and explained that if it was judged that an emergency situation had been reached, various measures could be taken under the law to prevent the spread of infection and maintain social functions, but that this was only a preparation for the unlikely event.
He spoke carefully, saying, “In order to prevent such a situation from occurring, while asking the people for great hardship and inconvenience, the government and local governments are working together as one and doing their utmost to implement measures to prevent the spread of infection.”
He also showed consideration for children and students who, because of school closures, might not even be able to attend their graduation ceremonies, saying that although this is “an important time to make memories,” he felt “deeply sorry.”
In an article dated March 6, the medical journal “The Lancet” announced to governments around the world that “minimizing deaths caused by the new coronavirus and minimizing economic losses caused by the spread of the virus cannot both be achieved.”
In other words, in order not to produce victims of the virus, people’s actions must inevitably be restricted, and if that is done, economic growth cannot be expected at all.
It means that achieving the two at the same time is difficult.
Based on that severe reality, the prime minister stated his resolve that preventing the spread of infection is now the top priority, but that after that, in order to return the Japanese economy to a growth trajectory, he would take bold measures based on ideas unprecedented until now, and he concluded the press conference as follows.
“If we join forces, we can surely overcome any difficulty. We can defeat it. I am convinced of that.”
This is truly an expression of trust in the people, and it is also a pledge that the government will do everything in its power together with the people.
In order to deal with the virus, which is spreading rapidly in Europe and in the United States as well, the most important thing is to join forces.
We are now at the crossroads of whether we can join forces.
“Abe dictatorship”
However, when I heard the question-and-answer session following the prime minister’s remarks, I felt a strong sense of discomfort with the attitude of some media outlets.
First, Mr. Goto of the Tokyo Shimbun and Chunichi Shimbun, the managing company of the Cabinet Press Club, asked that although the amendment to the Special Measures Act made it possible for the prime minister to issue a state of emergency declaration, there remained deep concern among the people about restrictions on rights, and under what circumstances it would be issued.
The final question at the press conference also, in a sense, overlapped with the question on the right.
It was a question from Yasumi Iwakami, representative of the internet news media IWJ.
The points were as follows.
Will freedom of speech and freedom of the press be guaranteed if a state of emergency declaration is issued?
The prime minister is very eager to revise the Constitution, but will he use this state of emergency declaration to accustom the people to it, and then introduce the emergency powers clause included in the Liberal Democratic Party’s constitutional revision proposal?
It contains elements that would make an Abe dictatorship possible.
Answer that point, he demanded.
Mr. Iwakami uttered the phrase “Abe dictatorship” very easily, but did he ask that question after understanding the state of emergency declaration?
Certainly, it is the prime minister who declares a state of emergency.
However, as has been repeatedly explained, the prime minister has said that, in making such a declaration, he will first listen to the opinions of experts.
After that, if the prime minister declares a state of emergency, what follows is the work of the prefectural governors.
The “restriction of private rights” referred to by Mr. Iwakami and Mr. Goto is carried out by each local government under instructions from the governor.
Therefore, the issue that should originally be considered is what concrete measures each local government will put forward.
The local medical association, the education community, and the economic community must all share awareness of the problem with the governor and be able to communicate mutually.
What is truly being tested is the awareness and ability of local governments.
However, looking at reality, not all local governments will be able to decide and implement measures properly.
That is precisely why, in the unlikely event, guidelines for crisis response will be necessary, showing by what standards and timing concrete measures should be taken.
Within this framework, what should be worried about is neither dictatorship by the prime minister nor restriction of freedom of speech, but rather the creation and examination of emergency plans for each governor and each local government, is it not?
In response to the prime minister’s press conference, the Asahi Shimbun published a large article on page three on the 15th.
The headline, “Turmoil over the closing of the press conference,” was striking.
It wrote that the prime minister’s press conference lasted 52 minutes and that 12 people asked questions, yet it was an article full of dissatisfaction, saying that even this was insufficient.
At almost exactly the same time, an editorial from the American newspaper “The Wall Street Journal” arrived in my hands, and it attracted my attention.
As is well known, infections are spreading in the United States.
On the day this editorial appeared, President Trump declared a national emergency and announced that, with a budget of 50 billion dollars, or 5.4 trillion yen, the testing and treatment systems would be expanded.
The editorial at the point when the United States, which seemed to have fallen behind, had begun taking full-scale measures against the virus, had the headline “America Shuts Itself Down,” and began as follows.
The spirit of Americans is positive
“The sight of the American people confronting the new coronavirus calls to mind the frontier spirit and is moving. The great majority of Americans are facing a clear and direct threat to their own lives and to their communities, and are fulfilling their own responsibilities in order to survive.”
Americans have always overcome difficulties with the frontier spirit.
Each person did what he or she had to do, protected himself or herself, and protected the country.
The editorial says that this fine tradition is being revived before our eyes.
As examples of the “social distancing” that Americans have begun to practice, it writes that companies have encouraged employees to work from home, and events where large numbers of people gather have been canceled.
The stock market recorded an unprecedented major decline, but it also says that only through distancing can the virus disaster be mitigated.
Since the fight against the virus and the maintenance of the economy cannot both be achieved, we must endure.
It says that all relevant authorities, while concerned about the present situation, should speak to the patient and energetic American people.
The spirit of Americans is positive.
It means that leaders should speak to that spirit of the people and explain the importance of fighting the virus.
In the process of fighting the virus, it is unavoidable that enormous economic losses will be suffered, but the WSJ editorial was the expression of an extremely healthy and forward-looking spirit that says this, too, should be fully communicated, and that everyone should overcome it together.
I learned from the Nihon Keizai Shimbun of the 14th that, according to Masanari Takada of Nomura Securities, the probability of this largest-ever decline in the stock market occurring is “once every 160 billion years.”
Stock market turmoil beyond prediction.
The behavior of the virus is difficult to predict.
The politics and dynamics of the world are also beginning to go far beyond prediction.
At such a time, what are we to do if we do not summon our courage and look forward?
Japanese people, now is the time to stand firm.