Look to Japan’s culture of fervent cleanliness

SIR – Jane Shilling (Comment, June 8) discusses the theory that differing “social manners” account for Japan’s low Covid-19 infection rate – but perhaps cleanliness is the key factor.

It is striking how public places in Japan, such as railway stations and pavements, are kept perfectly clean and litter-free. While travelling across Japan by train, we noticed a lady who, having dropped a single grain of rice on the floor while eating her lunch, carefully picked it up in a tissue and put it in her bag.

Given how easily the virus spreads from one surface to another, even in a hospital, these habits might well explain Japan’s low infection rate. Dr Christopher S Holmes

Whalley, Lancashire

The Reclining Buddha at Nanzoin Temple in Sasaguri, Japan, is cleaned with bamboo