Hostname: page-component-f554764f5-qhdkw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-17T14:15:50.408Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Information as the Key: Evaluating Japan's Response to COVID-19

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The triad of robust state capacity, strong social trust, and competent leadership has been proposed as essential for a successful national response to the COVID-19 crisis. The flow of information among individuals and entities responsible for the response, and from them to the public, is the thread which unites and activates this triad itself. Effective response depends on timely and unambiguous information being openly available to government bodies, leaders, and society alike. Although Japan's pandemic experience at the time of writing has been mercifully mild, the official Japanese response has objectively been quite flawed on many counts. What can be observed about the accessibility and transparency of the information concerning the pandemic that has been provided to the Japanese public?

Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2020

References

Sources

Bonner, S., Brown, A. (2020) ‘What the Fukushima meltdowns taught us about how to respond to coronavirus’, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 13 March. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Brown, A. (2020a) ‘COVID-19 Testing in Japan: The situation and ramifications’, Safecast Blog, 17 March. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Brown, A. (2020b) ‘Making sense of COVID-19 numbers in Japan’, Safecast Blog, 24 March. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Brown, A. (2020c) ‘Uncertainties about Japan's COVID-19 data’, Safecast Blog, 28 April. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Carter, S. (2020) ‘Fortunately, quite a big weekly average increase required to get to the 850,000 cases in Japan and 400,000 deaths that Safecast predicted… a couple of weeks ago…at the current rate they will be right in 11,600 days…’, [Twitter] 16 May. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Fukuyama, F. (2020) ‘The Pandemic and Political Order’, Foreign Affairs (July-August) (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Furuse, Y., Sando, E., Tsuchiya, N., Miyahara, R, Yasuda, I., Ko, Y.K., et al (2020) ‘Clusters of coronavirus disease in communities, Japan, January–April 2020‘, Emerging Infectious Diseases 26 (9) (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google ScholarPubMed
Iwata, K. (2020) ‘Aboard the Diamond Princess’, Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan, 20 February. (Accessed:28 June 2020).Google Scholar
Jimi, H., Hashimoto, G. (2020) ‘Challenges of COVID-19 outbreak on the cruise ship Diamond Princess docked at Yokohama, Japan: a real-world story’, Global Health & Medicine, 29 April. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Katsuta, T. (2011) ‘Genpatsu no hokusei 30 kiro takai hoshasenryo’, Asahi Shimbun, 24 March, p. 2.Google Scholar
Li, R., Pei, S., Chen, B., Song, Y., Zhang, T., Yang, W., Shaman, J. (2020) ‘Substantial undocumented infection facilitates the rapid dissemination of novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)‘, Science, 368 (6490) pp. 489493. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google ScholarPubMed
MHLW (2020) ‘Basic Policies for Novel Coronavirus Disease Control’, February 25. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
NAIIC (2012) The Official Report of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission: Executive Summary. National Diet of Japan, Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission.Google Scholar
Infectious Disease Surveillance Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases (2018) ‘Infectious Disease Surveillance System in Japan’, February. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
National Institute of Infectious Diseases (2020) ‘Infection control for COVID-19’, 21 February. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Nishiura, H. (2020) ‘Kansen-sha wa happyō no ‘sukunakutomo 10-bai koeru’ Hokudai kyōju, Keidai byōin jirei mo 'kichōna jōhō“, The Page, 24 April. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Omi, S., Oshitani, H. (2020) ‘Japan's COVID-19 Response’, 1 June. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Osumi, M. (2020a) ‘Will Japan's virus testing policy be enough to flatten the curve?‘, Japan Times, 16 March. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Osumi, M. (2020b) ‘Foreign residents stranded abroad by Japan's coronavirus controls’, Japan Times, 25 May. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Reustle, S. (2020) Japan COVID-19 Coronavirus Tracker. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Roser, M., Ritchie, H., Ortiz-Ospina, E., Hasell, J. (2020) Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19), Our World in Data (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Saito, T. (2020) ‘Contact-tracing and peer pressure: how Japan has controlled coronavirus’, The Guardian (International) 6 June. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Shibuya, K. (2020) Online Media Briefing: Kenji Shibuya, 23 April. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Swift, R. (2020) ‘Japan health ministry projects 400,000 deaths without virus containment measures: media’, Reuters, 15 April (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Teraoka, A. (2020) ‘Japanese driver of Chinese tourist bus contracts coronavirus’, Nikkei Asian Review, 28 January. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Tokyo Metropolitan Government (2020) Updates on COVID-19 in Tokyo (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Wingfield-Hayes, R. (2020) ‘Coronavirus: Japan's mysteriously low virus death rate’, BBC News, 4 July. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar
Yano, H. (2020) ‘Coronavirus: Why Japan tested so few people’, Nikkei Asian Weekly, 12 March. (Accessed:5 July 2020).Google Scholar