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As far as I've read, they undertest a lot in Japan. It also probably helps that like other asian countries they wear masks all the time, everywhere and without

As far as I've read, they undertest a lot in Japan. It also probably helps that like other asian countries they wear masks all the time, everywhere and without complaint. Japan also currently doesn't let anyone in to the country.

chrischen 5y ago
Masks and general do-care care attitude with regards to personal air space and sanitary space.
Barrin92 5y ago
Having spent time in several East-Asian countries how masks during a pandemic became some political hot topic in some places still confuses the hell out of me.
- colechristensen 5y ago
  Japan is a very conformity based society which has plenty of its own problems, just not this one. Countries often have a broad common ethos which are quite variable around the world and each has its strengths and weaknesses. Americans quite like splitting into factions, telling the other factions what the moral imperatives of the day are, and rebelling against what other factions tell them to do. It is a part of a somewhat broken sense of anti authoritarian bent which doesn’t recognize that authoritarian actions by your own group are equally problematic. Just a signal that once quite good ideology is degrading into something a bit strange, mostly just because of how information is distributed and education done.
  - labster 5y ago
    The problem in America is that the other side really doesn’t believe in American values, but instead wants to take away our constitutional freedoms. They preach a hypocritical sense of morality while inflicting violence on those who cannot defend themselves. They use gerrymandering and political tricks to hold on to power, even when most people hate what they’re doing. Because of their incompetence, we’ve become a laughingstock on the world stage. And their response to the coronavirus could not be more misguided or dangerous. And almost all Americans agree with this, because I didn’t actually name a political party. If there’s one thing that brings Americans together, it’s knowing that the other half is pure evil.
    - SamoyedFurFluff 5y ago
      I would disagree that there is a side that doesn’t believe in American values. American values are instead being interpreted in disagreeing ways, and are being applied to different circumstances. (For example, the sovereign citizen movement clearly at least attempts to take on aspects of the American constitution, and interprets them very differently to the court system.)
      - fivea 5y ago
        > I would disagree that there is a side that doesn’t believe in American values. As an outsider, one of the US's core values is democracy and the democratic process. Given the current push to undermine it, and the recent coup attempt intended to overthrow a democratically elected representative to install an authoritarian despot, and given the current level of support given to this dictatorial push, I have to say that from an outsider's perspective one side of America's political establishment clearly does not believe in American values.
        readflaggedcomm 5y ago
        Consider that the information you get could be one-sided because the major platforms ban dissenting views (in cooperation with partisan NGOs identifying it).
        fivea 5y ago
        > Consider that the information you get could be one-sided because the major platforms ban dissenting views (in cooperation with partisan NGOs identifying it). Could you please explain how exactly the recent coup attempt intended to overthrow a democratically elected representative to install an authoritarian despot is not profoundly anti-democratic and thus anti-american, or how the coup was just a reflection of a "one-sided" coverage by the media? Regardless of how dissenting your view is, a coup to overthrow a democratically elected representative is still a coup.
        jollybean 5y ago
- cplusplusfellow 5y ago
  It’s less confusing to me because I specifically do not want to live in a society where people willingly cover half their face. And I most particularly have no interest in living in a country where I am shamed, ridiculed, or outcast for not doing so as well. Im ok with the repercussions that society may face (eg, higher covid counts etc) to avoid such a society. Call me a monster but I want my daughter to know a world much more similar to what I knew 2 years ago than the one in black mirror, which I believe we tend to be accelerating towards.
  - smt88 5y ago
    The masking is temporary and in limited situations. People don't think you're a monster for not wearing one, they think you're a selfish baby.
    - leishman 5y ago
      There’s nothing selfish about not wearing a mask if vaccines are safe and effective.
      - forgotmyoldname 5y ago
        It's like saying you don't need to wash your hands because the food is cooked and hot.
      - fivea 5y ago
        > There’s nothing selfish about not wearing a mask if vaccines are safe and effective. If you really want to parrot that line, the very least you need to do is get informed about the issue you're trying to discuss. Vaccines are safe and effective in training your immune system to handle a COVID-19 infection. That's how vaccines work. They are not, nor they ever were, a silver bullet that stops everyone from catching the disease and transmitting it to everyone the come across. To put it very clearly and unambiguously to you, vaccines don't stop the virus from spreading, they only improve your chances of not dying from it. Also, it's disingenuous to pretend that the current generation of vaccines, which was developed for the original Wuhan strain, also have the same effectiveness against subsequent strains such as the Delta and now Omicron strains. Your blend of vocal ignorance is tiring. It feels like you're arguing in bad faith. A brief one-minute read on the topic is enough to clear up any possible misconception regarding the topic. Is that too much to ask?
forgotmyoldname 5y ago
Japan under-tested a lot pre-Olympics in a desperate attempt to salvage the event. After that point they had no more reason to hide the data. Tests that have been carried out since show very low positive rates, so there likely aren't too many hidden, untested cases out there.
nradov 5y ago
That is incorrect. Japanese people don't wear masks all the time everywhere. Please stop spreading misinformation.
- fivea 5y ago
  > That is incorrect. Japanese people don't wear masks all the time everywhere. Please stop spreading misinformation. Can you please point out precisely which OP's point you feel classifies as "misinformation"? https://m.dw.com/en/how-japans-mask-culture-may-have-saved-lives-during-coronavirus/a-55321518 https://m.dw.com/en/how-japans-mask-culture-may-have-saved-l...

chrischen 5y ago

Masks and general do-care care attitude with regards to personal air space and sanitary space.

Barrin92 5y ago

Having spent time in several East-Asian countries how masks during a pandemic became some political hot topic in some places still confuses the hell out of me.

colechristensen 5y ago
Japan is a very conformity based society which has plenty of its own problems, just not this one. Countries often have a broad common ethos which are quite variable around the world and each has its strengths and weaknesses. Americans quite like splitting into factions, telling the other factions what the moral imperatives of the day are, and rebelling against what other factions tell them to do. It is a part of a somewhat broken sense of anti authoritarian bent which doesn’t recognize that authoritarian actions by your own group are equally problematic. Just a signal that once quite good ideology is degrading into something a bit strange, mostly just because of how information is distributed and education done.
- labster 5y ago
  The problem in America is that the other side really doesn’t believe in American values, but instead wants to take away our constitutional freedoms. They preach a hypocritical sense of morality while inflicting violence on those who cannot defend themselves. They use gerrymandering and political tricks to hold on to power, even when most people hate what they’re doing. Because of their incompetence, we’ve become a laughingstock on the world stage. And their response to the coronavirus could not be more misguided or dangerous. And almost all Americans agree with this, because I didn’t actually name a political party. If there’s one thing that brings Americans together, it’s knowing that the other half is pure evil.
  - SamoyedFurFluff 5y ago
    I would disagree that there is a side that doesn’t believe in American values. American values are instead being interpreted in disagreeing ways, and are being applied to different circumstances. (For example, the sovereign citizen movement clearly at least attempts to take on aspects of the American constitution, and interprets them very differently to the court system.)
    - fivea 5y ago
      > I would disagree that there is a side that doesn’t believe in American values. As an outsider, one of the US's core values is democracy and the democratic process. Given the current push to undermine it, and the recent coup attempt intended to overthrow a democratically elected representative to install an authoritarian despot, and given the current level of support given to this dictatorial push, I have to say that from an outsider's perspective one side of America's political establishment clearly does not believe in American values.
      - readflaggedcomm 5y ago
        Consider that the information you get could be one-sided because the major platforms ban dissenting views (in cooperation with partisan NGOs identifying it).
        fivea 5y ago
        > Consider that the information you get could be one-sided because the major platforms ban dissenting views (in cooperation with partisan NGOs identifying it). Could you please explain how exactly the recent coup attempt intended to overthrow a democratically elected representative to install an authoritarian despot is not profoundly anti-democratic and thus anti-american, or how the coup was just a reflection of a "one-sided" coverage by the media? Regardless of how dissenting your view is, a coup to overthrow a democratically elected representative is still a coup.
      - jollybean 5y ago
cplusplusfellow 5y ago
It’s less confusing to me because I specifically do not want to live in a society where people willingly cover half their face. And I most particularly have no interest in living in a country where I am shamed, ridiculed, or outcast for not doing so as well. Im ok with the repercussions that society may face (eg, higher covid counts etc) to avoid such a society. Call me a monster but I want my daughter to know a world much more similar to what I knew 2 years ago than the one in black mirror, which I believe we tend to be accelerating towards.
- smt88 5y ago
  The masking is temporary and in limited situations. People don't think you're a monster for not wearing one, they think you're a selfish baby.
  - leishman 5y ago
    There’s nothing selfish about not wearing a mask if vaccines are safe and effective.
    - forgotmyoldname 5y ago
      It's like saying you don't need to wash your hands because the food is cooked and hot.
    - fivea 5y ago
      > There’s nothing selfish about not wearing a mask if vaccines are safe and effective. If you really want to parrot that line, the very least you need to do is get informed about the issue you're trying to discuss. Vaccines are safe and effective in training your immune system to handle a COVID-19 infection. That's how vaccines work. They are not, nor they ever were, a silver bullet that stops everyone from catching the disease and transmitting it to everyone the come across. To put it very clearly and unambiguously to you, vaccines don't stop the virus from spreading, they only improve your chances of not dying from it. Also, it's disingenuous to pretend that the current generation of vaccines, which was developed for the original Wuhan strain, also have the same effectiveness against subsequent strains such as the Delta and now Omicron strains. Your blend of vocal ignorance is tiring. It feels like you're arguing in bad faith. A brief one-minute read on the topic is enough to clear up any possible misconception regarding the topic. Is that too much to ask?

forgotmyoldname 5y ago

Japan under-tested a lot pre-Olympics in a desperate attempt to salvage the event. After that point they had no more reason to hide the data. Tests that have been carried out since show very low positive rates, so there likely aren't too many hidden, untested cases out there.

nradov 5y ago

That is incorrect. Japanese people don't wear masks all the time everywhere. Please stop spreading misinformation.

fivea 5y ago
> That is incorrect. Japanese people don't wear masks all the time everywhere. Please stop spreading misinformation. Can you please point out precisely which OP's point you feel classifies as "misinformation"? https://m.dw.com/en/how-japans-mask-culture-may-have-saved-lives-during-coronavirus/a-55321518 https://m.dw.com/en/how-japans-mask-culture-may-have-saved-l...