Viral and Vulnerable: Japan and the Coronavirus

Historical animosity aside, the fact is that China is Japan’s largest trading partner today and Chinese tourists are the mainstay of Japanese consumerism as they tend to shop more than other visitors. With China crippled by the massive infection outbreak numbering in the tens of thousands, Chinese demand for Japanese goods has slumped. With the Chinese barred from visiting, Japan’s tourism industry has taken a significant hit and with a recently raised consumption tax slowing down spending, Japan now finds itself at the brink of economic recession as it faces a second straight quarter of contraction.

Fear on the ground in the initial days of the virus scare has given rise to anti-Chinese sentiment, with discriminatory signage like ‘No Chinese allowed’ hung out prominently at select stores in touristy hotspots of the peninsula, like Hakone. Ironically, the impending outcome of a depressed economy is in part the result of Japanese rallying on social media to ban visitors from China – an outcry that has been met out of imminent need to contain the infectious spread.

The ostracism is not unique to Japan but witnessed world-wide, with similar posts and petitions to prohibit entry of China nationals taken up by countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea and Vietnam, amongst others. But where acts of discrimination have been promptly reprimanded by ministers in Singapore, Japan’s lack of anti-discriminatory laws has made for a half-baked apology in its address of racist fear-mongering. 

Yet even as the health-scare has reared ugly encounters, Japan’s state-level and on-the-ground support for China has been praised on Chinese media and recognized as a much-appreciated gesture as the country remains embattled in its fight against the virus. Japan’s provision of medical supplies like masks and protective gear to sister prefectures in China and the pursuance of a state-level visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping kept slated for April, sit in stark contrast to the censure against Beijing by others.

The critical need for public expression of solidarity in the wake of disaster perhaps resonates deeply for the Japanese, having themselves endured multiple ordeals, most recently from the disaster wreaked by Typhoon Hagibis, the effects of which the economy is still battered by. 

The implications are heavy for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, running his final lap of premiership, now embroiled in a cronyism scandal while he struggles to regain control of Japan’s global standing as it hangs in the balance – economically weak, demographically frail and geo-politically exposed to a deadly disease.