There does not appear to be one single reason why the pandemic has hit Japan less hard than other comparable countries and trying to pinpoint possible causes has become a favorite sport on social media. High levels of hygiene and general health, removing shoes indoors, widespread masks, bowing as a greeting rather than shaking hands or kissing: all have been advanced as possible reasons, but analysts agree there has been no silver bullet.
[Asia Times May 25, 2020]
日本が感染拡大を抑え込んでいる理由として、高い衛生意識、日々の健康への気遣い、室内で靴を脱ぐ習慣、日頃からのマスクの着用、ハグやキスではなく、お辞儀による挨拶などが挙げられており、欧米の評価とほぼ同じ見方をしている。
Yet the curve has been flattened, with deaths well below 1,000, by far the fewest among the Group of Seven developed nations. In Tokyo, its dense centre, cases have dropped to single digits on most days. While the possibility of a more severe second wave of infection is ever present, Japan has entered and is set to leave its emergency in just weeks, with the status already lifted for most of the country and likely to exit completely as early as Monday (May 25).
[Bloomberg May 23, 2020]
出所はアメリカBloombergであるが、アジア系の特派員であり、一橋大学卒の経歴をもつ方の記事ということで取り上げた。ここでも、他国、特に先進7カ国と比べて緩い要請レベルの日本式ロックダウンでも、感染者数がほぼ横ばいになったことを報告している。
