ABE PRAISES THE ‘JAPAN MODEL.’
Prime minister lifts state of emergency
TOKYO • Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, said Monday that the “Japan model” has effectively beaten the coronavirus, as he lifted a nationwide state of emergency after seven weeks.
He described how the “uniquely Japanese way” in which the country had confronted the pandemic — unusually not including a strict lockdown — had allowed it to escape the numerous outbreaks and high death tolls seen in several European countries and the U.S.
Japan has had about 17,000 confirmed cases and 850 deaths, but has not implemented widespread testing.
At a news conference lifting the state of emergency in Toyko, three surrounding prefectures and the northern island of Hokkaido, bringing those areas into line with other parts of Japan, Abe said: “We were able to bring the outbreak nearly under control in just a month and a half in a uniquely Japanese way. We demonstrated the power of the ‘Japan model.’ ”
But experts have struggled to specify what that model is or why it appears to have been so successful in this congested nation of 126.5 million people, with the oldest population in the world.
Mask-wearing, homeworking and social distancing were all advised, but Japan’s constitution prohibits a mandatory lockdown. Businesses, including restaurants, were allowed to choose whether they remained open, and only 0.2 per cent of the population were tested for the virus.
“It is a mystery to everybody,” said Tasuku Honjo, professor of immunology at Kyoto University and winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize for medicine. There were “several theories” as to the reason for Japan’s success. “One is that people in this country like to be clean. They wash their hands frequently and they do not kiss and hug,” he said.
Honjo added that other suggestions were that the widespread BCG vaccination boosted Japanese people’s immunity, and it was also possible that the genes of Asian people were more resistant to the virus than Caucasians.
Another hypothesis was that Japan was hit by an early, weaker strain of the virus before it was able to mutate. Others suggested that Japanese authorities learned their lesson after being criticized for a slow response to the outbreak that killed 14 on the Diamond Princess cruise liner, docked in Yokohama.