When it comes to bumbling crisis management, Japan has form
to choose one country in which to ride out a pandemic, it would surely be Japan. Early 19th-century woodblock prints of bathing testify to Japan’s old and admirable cult of cleanliness. Modern Japanese have for years been quick to don a face mask at the first sniffle, out of consideration for others. And the population responds swiftly to public messaging.
For all that, social strains have shown in recent days. In Tokyo scuffles have broken out in queues for facemasks outside pharmacies. Panic-buying of toilet paper has left shelves bare. A photograph of toilet rolls in a public lavatory chained to their dispenser with a bicycle lock has done the rounds. While hardly “Lord of the Flies”, it is all highly unusual in such a well-behaved country.
’s handling, too. European ambassadors with nationals aboard complained they did not know who in the government to call. Fans wondered whether Mr Abe, invisible during the crisis, had lost his touch. His hitherto unassailable poll ratings fell sharply. The assertive Abe, then, is back. So much so that questions are growing about what expert advice, if any, he drew on for his schools decision. New social stresses will surely emerge, not least for working mothers who must now drum up weeks of day-time childcare. “The government does not grasp what it’s like to raise children,” one mother complains.
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