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Living in Tokyo and just returned from Seoul yesterday. It's striking how differently the countries are handling this issue. Korea is pretty much on lockdown --

Living in Tokyo and just returned from Seoul yesterday. It's striking how differently the countries are handling this issue. Korea is pretty much on lockdown -- the government and the population are being quite proactive. Masks everywhere, thermal guns at junctions with high human traffic. Water fountains shut down, etc. Even the airport staff at the eateries were undergoing temperature checks before interacting with customers. Coming back to Japan; however, people seem kind of unconcerned in comparison. The airport was business as usual and no visible increase in mask usage. I went to a GP just this morning for a shoulder injury and noticed some of the staff weren't wearing any face protection, and a few wearing them incorrectly. It was a bit unnerving, to be honest. I have a feeling Tokyo is about to have a huge outbreak any day now. I'm not one to fear-monger, but knowing how casual people can be when out and about (unchecked coughing/sneezing, subpar handwashing in public toilets), it almost seems inevitable especially given how crowded this city is. As a resident, I'd like us to step up our precaution game before we hit infection levels that we are seeing with our neighbors -- but I'm afraid it might already be too late.

dahdum 7y ago
I’m in Tokyo and having a very different experience than you, nearly everyone on the trains are wearing masks and all customer facing staff I see now. Someone hit the emergency button on the train a few days ago because someone was coughing without one (there was a PSA asking people not to do that). It’s mostly foreigners I see walking around without masks now, but I agree it’s still ramping up. I honestly don’t see the US getting close to this level of prevention, so if it fails here it’s going to be devastating there.
- distantaidenn 7y ago
  It might be the contrast that makes it so striking to me. South Korea is in full-on alert mode. As I said, in comparison, it seems like business as usual here. Going from airport (ICN) to airport (HND) amid this really drove it home. But yes, I am definitely noticing some measures happening here. Mask shortages, a few companies shifting to remote work, etc.
- rogy 7y ago
  on a side note, i have a week of PTO booked in tokyo then a week in kyoto/osaka, leaving friday. do you think its safe to travel?
  - WillPostForFood 7y ago
    Not wise, IMO. Look how quickly things blew up in Korea and Italy, and Japan seems to be in denial.
  - rtpg 7y ago
    You’re probably fine? Most things are running, though big events are cancelled and a lot of companies are implementing mandatory work from home policies. Tokyo is where it’s the worst, right now
  - syntheticcorp 7y ago
    Are you a member of a group with higher risk for this like the elderly or immunocompromised? If so I would avoid it. On the other hand if you are young and fit and capable of following the standard precautions I don’t think you have too much to worry about. I say this as I’m about to depart from Thailand for Taiwan
    - rogy 7y ago
      young, fit, have global travel, health and emergency insurance and enough savings to immediately head to the airport if we needed too..
      - flurdy 7y ago
        I think people forget whilst they are themselves fit and in a low-risk category, they will still get ill just probably not severely, and importantly will be a carrier to spread the virus to others. To near-family, children, nieces & nephew and grandparents, or just to more at-risk people they meet on the bus, cafe, office, hospital, etc. Or indirectly to other fit people who eventually down the line infects a high-risk person. So I think it is quite selfish to expose yourself unnecessarily. I don't think we should stop everything we do, life still goes on, but just be considerate of others.
- boring_twenties 7y ago
  In the US we have an additional problem that 2 weeks of hospitalization means certain bankruptcy for many people (myself included). So it might be rather difficult to get people to voluntarily show up for tests and such.
  - toyg 7y ago
    This is the sort of thing one would worry about in developing countries. It's so sad that it's an issue in one of the richest countries on the planet.
    - boring_twenties 7y ago
      Not just sad, but terrifying. Imagine you have no insurance, had contact with a coronavirus case, and are now feeling ill. What do you do? If you do the right thing, you're looking at a 100% chance of having your financial life permanently destroyed. If you just stay home and ride it out, it looks like you've got an 80% or so (correct me if I'm wrong?) chance of being perfectly fine in a week or two.
  - Gene_Parmesan 7y ago
    I mean, if it hits here in a big way something is going to have to happen with this. Whether you're in a hospital for a 2 week quarantine, or laid up in bed for 2 weeks because you're sick -- either way you're going to have 2 weeks where you aren't working. Beyond that, if it REALLY hits here, you're going to have entire businesses shut down temporarily. I saw a CDC estimate that if it goes pandemic, we should expect 40% - 70% of the population to contract it. Imagine your place of employment, but with half of its employees out sick.
    - boring_twenties 7y ago
      Either way you're going to have 2 weeks where you aren't working, but in one of the ways you also have a $100,000+ bill. I can survive 2 weeks without work, but I simply can't pay a bill like that no matter what I do.
asiachick 7y ago
My favorite thing in Tokyo (I wrote sarcastically) is being on over crowded trains in the winter and their policy of not running the ventilation systems "because it's winter".
- jiggawatts 7y ago
  My favourite thing is trains and buses heated to 30C (85F) because it's "winter", so that you nearly have heatstroke even if you strip down to just a shirt and whatever pants you are wearing.
tasogare 7y ago
Same impression when returning in Japan at the beginning of month after a stay in Taiwan. In Taiwan something like 99% of people outside in bigs cities were wearing masks. In Japan only the usual 20%. However, things are starting to change? At least my lab cancelled a conference we planned to organize (call for paper deadline next month, and conference itself in August).
csomar 7y ago
That's an interesting observation since when I were in Tokyo at peace time, many people did wear masks. It's also important to remember that basic sanitary and hygiene are also important which I'd like to believe that the Japanese are better than probably the rest of the world. The difference is that maybe South Korea is in "panic mode" and Japan is yet to get there. They are less than half of Japan population and had 10 times more new cases in the last 24 hours.
- yyhhsj0521 7y ago
  They also tested a lot more.
- PinkMilkshake 7y ago
  > basic sanitary and hygiene are also important which I'd like to believe that the Japanese are better than probably the rest of the world When I traveled through Japan their hygiene culture came across as theatre more than anything. It's more of a social performance than a practical reality. I think 'very tidy' better describes Japan (if you ignore the beaches).
darkerside 7y ago
Considering the elderly population in Japan is relatively high, this could get ugly very fast....
jdshaffer 7y ago
I'm in Shizuoka, only about an hour "south" on the bullet train, and I have the same experience here. People don't seem any more proactive about this than they are already for the flu (many wear masks already at this time of year to avoid flu and allergies while there are still plenty who do not). There's a bit of "anxious hesitation" in the air, but apparently not enough (yet?) to warrant more direct prevention...
Izkata 7y ago
> and a few wearing them incorrectly How so? Like covering their mouth but not nose, or something? (I'm just wondering if it's something like that that should be obvious, or if there's something more subtle I'm unaware of)
- distantaidenn 7y ago
  Yes, having the mask covering only the mouth with nostrils exposed. Also, as an fyi, if you are using some of the common paper masks, make sure the strings are on the outside.

dahdum 7y ago

I’m in Tokyo and having a very different experience than you, nearly everyone on the trains are wearing masks and all customer facing staff I see now. Someone hit the emergency button on the train a few days ago because someone was coughing without one (there was a PSA asking people not to do that). It’s mostly foreigners I see walking around without masks now, but I agree it’s still ramping up. I honestly don’t see the US getting close to this level of prevention, so if it fails here it’s going to be devastating there.

distantaidenn 7y ago
It might be the contrast that makes it so striking to me. South Korea is in full-on alert mode. As I said, in comparison, it seems like business as usual here. Going from airport (ICN) to airport (HND) amid this really drove it home. But yes, I am definitely noticing some measures happening here. Mask shortages, a few companies shifting to remote work, etc.
rogy 7y ago
on a side note, i have a week of PTO booked in tokyo then a week in kyoto/osaka, leaving friday. do you think its safe to travel?
- WillPostForFood 7y ago
  Not wise, IMO. Look how quickly things blew up in Korea and Italy, and Japan seems to be in denial.
- rtpg 7y ago
  You’re probably fine? Most things are running, though big events are cancelled and a lot of companies are implementing mandatory work from home policies. Tokyo is where it’s the worst, right now
- syntheticcorp 7y ago
  Are you a member of a group with higher risk for this like the elderly or immunocompromised? If so I would avoid it. On the other hand if you are young and fit and capable of following the standard precautions I don’t think you have too much to worry about. I say this as I’m about to depart from Thailand for Taiwan
  - rogy 7y ago
    young, fit, have global travel, health and emergency insurance and enough savings to immediately head to the airport if we needed too..
    - flurdy 7y ago
      I think people forget whilst they are themselves fit and in a low-risk category, they will still get ill just probably not severely, and importantly will be a carrier to spread the virus to others. To near-family, children, nieces & nephew and grandparents, or just to more at-risk people they meet on the bus, cafe, office, hospital, etc. Or indirectly to other fit people who eventually down the line infects a high-risk person. So I think it is quite selfish to expose yourself unnecessarily. I don't think we should stop everything we do, life still goes on, but just be considerate of others.
boring_twenties 7y ago
In the US we have an additional problem that 2 weeks of hospitalization means certain bankruptcy for many people (myself included). So it might be rather difficult to get people to voluntarily show up for tests and such.
- toyg 7y ago
  This is the sort of thing one would worry about in developing countries. It's so sad that it's an issue in one of the richest countries on the planet.
  - boring_twenties 7y ago
    Not just sad, but terrifying. Imagine you have no insurance, had contact with a coronavirus case, and are now feeling ill. What do you do? If you do the right thing, you're looking at a 100% chance of having your financial life permanently destroyed. If you just stay home and ride it out, it looks like you've got an 80% or so (correct me if I'm wrong?) chance of being perfectly fine in a week or two.
- Gene_Parmesan 7y ago
  I mean, if it hits here in a big way something is going to have to happen with this. Whether you're in a hospital for a 2 week quarantine, or laid up in bed for 2 weeks because you're sick -- either way you're going to have 2 weeks where you aren't working. Beyond that, if it REALLY hits here, you're going to have entire businesses shut down temporarily. I saw a CDC estimate that if it goes pandemic, we should expect 40% - 70% of the population to contract it. Imagine your place of employment, but with half of its employees out sick.
  - boring_twenties 7y ago
    Either way you're going to have 2 weeks where you aren't working, but in one of the ways you also have a $100,000+ bill. I can survive 2 weeks without work, but I simply can't pay a bill like that no matter what I do.

asiachick 7y ago

My favorite thing in Tokyo (I wrote sarcastically) is being on over crowded trains in the winter and their policy of not running the ventilation systems "because it's winter".

jiggawatts 7y ago
My favourite thing is trains and buses heated to 30C (85F) because it's "winter", so that you nearly have heatstroke even if you strip down to just a shirt and whatever pants you are wearing.

tasogare 7y ago

Same impression when returning in Japan at the beginning of month after a stay in Taiwan. In Taiwan something like 99% of people outside in bigs cities were wearing masks. In Japan only the usual 20%. However, things are starting to change? At least my lab cancelled a conference we planned to organize (call for paper deadline next month, and conference itself in August).

csomar 7y ago

That's an interesting observation since when I were in Tokyo at peace time, many people did wear masks. It's also important to remember that basic sanitary and hygiene are also important which I'd like to believe that the Japanese are better than probably the rest of the world. The difference is that maybe South Korea is in "panic mode" and Japan is yet to get there. They are less than half of Japan population and had 10 times more new cases in the last 24 hours.

yyhhsj0521 7y ago
They also tested a lot more.
PinkMilkshake 7y ago
> basic sanitary and hygiene are also important which I'd like to believe that the Japanese are better than probably the rest of the world When I traveled through Japan their hygiene culture came across as theatre more than anything. It's more of a social performance than a practical reality. I think 'very tidy' better describes Japan (if you ignore the beaches).

darkerside 7y ago

Considering the elderly population in Japan is relatively high, this could get ugly very fast....

jdshaffer 7y ago

I'm in Shizuoka, only about an hour "south" on the bullet train, and I have the same experience here. People don't seem any more proactive about this than they are already for the flu (many wear masks already at this time of year to avoid flu and allergies while there are still plenty who do not). There's a bit of "anxious hesitation" in the air, but apparently not enough (yet?) to warrant more direct prevention...

Izkata 7y ago

> and a few wearing them incorrectly How so? Like covering their mouth but not nose, or something? (I'm just wondering if it's something like that that should be obvious, or if there's something more subtle I'm unaware of)

distantaidenn 7y ago
Yes, having the mask covering only the mouth with nostrils exposed. Also, as an fyi, if you are using some of the common paper masks, make sure the strings are on the outside.