Mass hysteria over the swine flu in Japan
Tsuyoshi Takashiro, the filmmaker husband of Erika Sawajiri, has written a post on his blog[via Itai News] in complaining about Japan’s overreaction to the H1N1 flu. He comments on the scene inside Heathrow Airport, where almost everyone is not wearing a mask. The only people wearing surgical masks for protection are Japanese tourists. Some people assumed that the Japanese wearing masks must be sick, and avoided them.
Takashiro’s foreign friends noticed this spectacle, and assumed that the swine flu must have hit Japan pretty hard. In reality, only a handful of H1N1 flu cases have been confirmed in Japan, none of them serious enough to threaten the lives of those involved.
In Takashiro’s opinion, Japan is not suffering from a swine flu outbreak, it is suffering from mass hysteria. He guesses that the media must be spreading the fear, and thinks that the situation is almost the same as the hysteria that swept the United States following the 9/11 terror attacks. (And comments on how he feels like reading some Noam Chomsky books.)
Perhaps he has a point.
About 6,000 people worldwide have been infected with the H1N1 flu, with a mere 63 cases resulting in death. Most of the deaths have taken place in Mexico, and Mexican authorities are already claiming that the flu is on the wane and that it is safe for tourists to come back. Much of the world seems to have realized that the flu is not the horror it was initially expected to be, and life is returning to normal is most first world nations.
In Japan, however, the H1N1 flu is still being treated as something very serious. Checks are being carried out on every person who enters the country, and those found to be infected or at risk of infection are being forced into quarantine. Even with such strict measures in effect, the fear that some flu carriers might be in Japan is enough to cause schools in Osaka and Tokushima to cancel class trips. There are no known cases of the new flu outside of quarantine facilities, but a lot of kids are going to not have their class trips to Kyoto because authorities are afraid that there might be H1N1 flu somewhere in the country.
And for those interested in what Hollywood stars think of Japan’s reaction to the flu- Three minutes into this clip from the Daily Show, Tom Hanks, who just got back from Tokyo, jokes about all the forms he had to fill out about his health [hat tip to Keeping Pace in Japan]:
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Yeah, they just canx my Jr High kids summer vacation trip in NZ in August because of the swine flu – when it’ll be a distant memory. Something about the culture in Japan, I swear, they needlessly freak out over stuff sometimes.
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I was supposed to work in Cambridge in July teaching a school of Japanese kids. It’s been cancelled, so now I have no job.
Also, a lot of the Japanese exchange students at my uni have had to go home because of it.
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I wonder if the panic comes from the top down or from the bottom up? My wife was really scared about the flu, but was that just because the news was so focused on it or was she simply frightened by a new disease?
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Until today I thought people were being safe but nutty. Now when I hear about canceling field trips, under the current situation, I think they`re just plain hysteric.
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“In reality, only a handful of H1N1 flu cases have been confirmed in Japan, none of them serious enough to threaten the lives of those involved.”
Hate to say it, but an “I told you so” is in order.
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Oompa, Loompa, doom-pa-dee-do
I have a perfect puzzle for you
Oompa, Loompa, doom-pa-dee-dee
If you are wise, you’ll listen to me
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Hysterics? Justifiably so as it seems the Japanese can read.
1. The current strain is mild, yes, but is following the exact patterns of the outbreak in 1957 killing 4 million people after it spread, was mild, and returned mutated into a monster the next flu season. Humans who get it can reinfect pigs
2. The more deadly bird flu virus is present in the East. 60 to 70 % of people directly infected with this virus has died so far. China is not exactly forthcoming with their data, but their actions are getting suspiciously panicky..
3. A foremost expert in this field in China has now stated that the current swine flu virus is highly unstable. Pigs in China in one of their provinces has been found to have the bird flu in their systems. (See? I read:) As far back as 2007
4. Pigs + unstable airborne human pig flu + bird flu in pigs = PANIC!!
(Any seats left on the Shuttle?)
Seriously, the CDC, WHO and others are on top of it, so don’t PANIC! ;0
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Stop reading “The Sun” news – you’ll sleep better and not sound like a total dipstick.
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Godzill flu is going to F-up Japan bigtime.
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Yesterday at work I was told it was likely I will not be allowed to take my trip home to America…in July.
Hyogo-ken BOE has forbidden students from scheduling trips to other countries. Yoka HS was forced to cancel its trip to Korea in June.
We are also advised NOT TO LEAVE HYOGO. Read that again. Yeah, this country is full of crazies.
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Japan should emulate the CDC in the US – there appears to be no analogous organization here – which is odd considering Japan’s scientific contributions to anti-infectives. The clusterphuck of misinformation and misdirected resources re the influenza situation is not commensurate with Japan’s economic and scientific standing.
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“Japan’s economic and scientific standing.”
LOL – that’s a good one. Japan is hardly a well known bastion of scientific anything. You have to encourage individual creativity, not cadres of yes men to actually discover new things.
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Japan is hardly a well known bastion of scientific anything.
That is inaccurate. Learn something about a topic before you post about it. Your opinion about individual creativity is irrelevant to historical facts of JPN scientific tradition.
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Hmmmm…..enough people must of have seen Kansen Rettou then. xD
Actually, I was just going to say that it must have been the news that sparked fear into people’s hearts in Japan. I wouldn’t say the same thing in the US, but then again, when the first few cases (and US deaths) from the flu were first reported it was on the news stations a lot. I got sick of hearing about it. I don’t know what sources or what information the Japanese news stations had on the situation, but the stations here of course had the most leading information on the disease because of the fact that it was Mexico whom had a lot of the cases and the US had to react to a neighbor having this outbreak.
Anyway, like many of the “causionaries” that the news here announced (basics to prevent the spread of disease, like colds), people in Japan wear masks to prevent the spread of disease, but usually only if they have the disease in the first place. I guess the reverse can also be true.
But, as one person already said on here (“What’s the deal with Japan and this flu?”), because of Japan basically having a high population density, if a few cases break out, it could potentially spread fast (and like in the movie kansen rettou, it shows the absolute worst of what could happen to Japan if a case were to break out and spread).
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I think they did overact, but it was much better than going unprepared or else it would be worse.
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Great timing on my part to goto Japan next week lol. They’re gonna molest me at customs for being an american
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hysteric japanese, i can’t even leave my home because my school says no.. thus my host parents too- – all my plans this week has been cancelled for a week. i wonder if when this week is over and there’re still cases of influenza, if they’ll keep the school closed.. and then it’s probably gonna be a question of months, and my stay will be over.. with my last months spent at home..
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