Aug. 1, 2009
My essay
below,[The Politics of Pandemic in
Mexico and Japan] was translated
into Spanish, and was published in the "Bulletnin
CEAA"Mayo,2009 at El Colegio de
Mexico, as 'Politicas
de la pandemia en Mexico y Japan.'
Aug. 1, 2009My essay
below,[The Politics of Pandemic in
Mexico and Japan] was translated
into Spanish, and was published in the "Bulletnin
CEAA"Mayo,2009 at El Colegio de
Mexico, as 'Politicas
de la pandemia en Mexico y Japan.'
June 1, 2009[The Politics of
Pandemic in Mexico and Japan] On April 27, Japanese government alarmed
and recommended all Japanese in Mexico to return Japan as soon as
possible. I as a visiting Professor of El Colegio de Mexico, at first
rejected the recommendation, but on April 30, the Crisis Management
Office of Hitotsubashi University sent me the instruction of
mandatory return to Japan. I had to go back to Tokyo. Fortunately or
unfortunately, I could get a cancelled seat of direct JAL flight to
Narita on May 1. My schedule of work at Colmex and in USA was
suddenly stopped and interrupted. I discussed with Professors of
Colmex to postpone my remained works and conferences to this summer
and sent my farewell mail to my students.
At the
beginning of May, all countries began to guard the entrance of swine
flu virus from Mexico, but the Chinese and Japanese policies were
exceptionally hard and rigid.
China, which was suffered condemnation at home and abroad for their slow response to the Sars crisis of 2003, reacted swiftly to the threat of swine flu. China cancelled the direct flights between the two countries and banned the import of pork products from Mexico despite WHO statements saying that meat poses no risk of infection. China suspended flights from Mexico, after the first confirmed case of the virus was found in Hong Kong. At the Hong Kong hotel where the swine flu victim stayed, about 200 guests and 100 workers were confined to the premises for a week. China's robust response to the swine flu has provoked strong criticism from Mexico. Mexican President Felipe Calderon accused China of taking "repressive and discriminatory" actions against his citizens. The Mexican plane stopped at three Chinese cities to pick up stranded nationals. China sent its own plane to Mexico to pick up 200 Chinese citizens.
Japan is well known for its paranoia of foreign diseases, as some 10 million people in Japan are infected with seasonal influenza each year, and some 10,000 people die from complications. The media began a sensational campaign to defend Japanese from "awful Mexican flu." The alarm of Japanese living overseas to return was a part of protection policy of Japanese nationalities. It was called a "Shoreline operation."
The government provided medical care to those who enter Japan from affected countries, especially from Mexico, and issued orders for doctors and nurses to board aircraft from Mexico at Narita airport to check passengers and crew for infection of a new virus. All arrivals were required to fill out health questionnaires, and doctors had checked people who complained of flu like symptoms while they were still on board, using temperature-measuring devices to detect passengers with a fever. Thousands of travelers had to wait for hours in their seats before inspectors could clear them to pass through immigration. About fifty people, including a US citizen, were cleared of swine flu after flying in from the United States with Japan's first case of the virus and spending a week quarantined in a hotel by the airport.
Contact information and test results for those without symptoms were sent to local health centers, which kept in touch with the recent arrivals. If no symptoms appeared within 10 days of leaving Mexico, the government admitted little risk of infection. I was fortunately in this category, but could not go out from home 10 days after my arrival to Tokyo. During these overreactions in Japan, Mexico could control the epidemic and get successful recovery. Colmex opened again on May 7. I hoped to return to Mexico as soon as possible, but the anti-virus atmosphere covering Japan could not allow me to go out freely. I could only introduce the new real situation in Mexico to Japanese citizens in my website. All of my remained works for CEAA were postponed to September.
But soon
came the "Mexicanization" of Japan. On April 17, a 17-year-old male
high school student in Kobe city, Hyogo Prefecture, who had no record
of overseas travel, was announced as the first domestic confirmed
case. As the number of H1N1 cases had risen rapidly in the urban
areas of Kobe and Osaka, authorities said the real number of
infections could already be in the hundreds with the virus spreading
fast in the densely populated island nation. Japan soon became the
fourth epidemic country of the new influenza virus after USA, Mexico
and Canada.
"New York Times" on May 21 reported, "Spread of Swine Flu Puts Japan in Crisis Mode." It said, "the outbreak has come as a particular shock for hygiene-obsessed Japan, where hand-washing is religiously taught in schools, children play in sanitized sandboxes, and everything from underwear to ballpoint pens comes with supposed antibacterial properties." Facemasks became a common sight in Japan. More than 4,800 educational facilities -- kindergartens, and elementary, junior and senior high schools, universities -- in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures have decided to suspend classes for one week following the confirmation of new flu infections in the prefectures. Over 1200 Japanese schools canceled field trips usually scheduled this month and the next in light of the emergence of a new strain of influenza. Japan's government, schools and companies are on high alert over the flu. Prime Minister Taro Aso even appeared on a television program to ask his people to stay calm.
Tens of thousands of masked spectators visited the Expo '70 Stadium to watch the Asian Football Confederation Champions League. Unmasked spectators were banned from entering the stadium.
Schools and companies asked students and employees to wear masks but the masks were sold out. In an Osaka court, the judge, prosecutors, lawyers and defendants appeared with masks on their faces, along with the audience. Most daycare centers, kindergartens and nursing homes were closed in and around Japan`s second-largest city. More female workers also took a leave of absence to care for their babies and parents.
The swine flu scare has also affected Japanese companies. Mobile communications giant NTT DoCoMo halted an exhibition to release its new mobile phone models. Certain companies have recommended that their employees work from home and others have canceled job fairs or news conferences.
But
Japan soon faced the similar dilemma which Mexico experienced in late
April. The Japanese economy is not doing well. Last quarter, GDP fell
at an annualized rate of 15.6%. Exports in the first quarter were
down at an annualized rate of 70.1%. Private investment was down at
an annualized rate of 49.7%. The percentage of university students
who received job offers before graduation in March declined for the
first time in nine years. Massive layoffs from the current economic
crisis were falling heavily on foreign workers, many of whom were
opting to leave the country to seek work back home.
According to the Tourism Ryokan Association of Osaka and Kyoto, reservations amounting to 360,000 nights at hotels or other lodging facilities were canceled within four days after the first confirmation. Travel agencies and hotels in the two cities were sufferred losses of 4.3 billion yen (US$ 45.7 million), so they asked for financial support from the government.
"It is necessary to take steps to limit damage to public health and maintain social and economic functions," Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said. "The government will take all possible measures by closely cooperating with other countries, based on the recognition that countermeasures are also important for crisis management." The government decided to provide financial support for primary, middle and high schools that have had to pay cancellation fees for calling off school trips due the new strain of influenza.
The WHO
also had the same dilemma in global economic crisis. The WHO chief
Margaret Chan expressed her concern at the opening of the World
Health Organization's annual assembly followed a sharp increase in
swine flu infections in Japan and fears that the virus could take
hold in another continent beyond its source in North America. She
warned that the world might be facing the calm before a swine flu
storm. But when she faced pressure from Britain, Japan, China and
other nations not to rush into declaring a pandemic, the phase 6, she
had to resign the declaration.
At the end of May 2009, there are more than 13,400 confirmed cases of the flu in 48 countries with more than 95 deaths. In addition to financial and economic crisis, the world faces another kind of global crisis. Some may call it ﾒMexican fluﾓ of the world in 2009. The world learned the need of global governance for humankind. It must be the "politics of pandemic" in 21st century.
March 23, 2009 I am now
staying in Mexico City as a visiting Professor at El Colegio de
Mexico. I will live in Mexixo until the end of May. But I still
search for "Shigeki Sakimura" in Germany, Sweden and China. If you
have any information on his activity, please let me know by e-mail to
katote@ff.iij4u.or.jp
E-mail to:
katote@ff.iij4u.or.jp
