Japan’s finance minister has sparked controversy by attributing the nation’s low coronavirus mortality rate to the superiority of its social manners.
Taro Aso, who is also deputy prime minister, made his remarks during a parliamentary session as Japan starts to reopen for business after the nationwide state of emergency ended last week.
“I often got phone calls [from people overseas] asking ‘do you have any drug that only you guys have?” said Aso, who has something of a reputation for controversial comments. “My answer is the level of social manners is different – and then they fall silent.”
Critics highlighted how Aso used the Japanese word mindo, which loosely translates as “cultural standard” and is often used by politicians to invoke a sense of nationalism and ethnic superiority.
Renho, vice chair of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, tweeted: “Could you be any more condescending, Minister Aso?”
Maiko Tajima, Upper House member, added: “It’s an embarrassment to the world.”
Japan has been the subject of global speculation due to its relatively low coronavirus mortality rate, despite its sprawling capital Tokyo being one of the most densely populated cities in the world.
The mortality rate per 100,00 people was around 0.72 per 100,000 people in Japan, home to 17,000 confirmed cases and just over 900 deaths. In contrast, the rate was 59.88 in the UK, 43.33 in France and 32.76 in the United States, according to John Hopkins University data.
Experts have highlighted how Japan’s strict social protocols such as bowing instead of hand-shaking and removing shoes before entering homes may have had an impact on the spread of the virus, combined with aggressive cluster tracing early in the pandemic.
However, others are sceptical as to what extent such factors would impact the spread, with Japanese scientists recently launching a genetic study to determine whether race plays a part in the severity of symptoms.
Mr Aso later reiterated his stance when quizzed by Japanese media over his remarks, stating: “We have kept the fatality rate very low, and it was done just by asking people to (minimise their infection risk). People in other countries can’t do that, even being forced.
“I guess everybody (in Japan) just took it and sweated it out. There were no fines, no violations. I believe the Japanese should be more proud about that.”
Mr Aso often finds himself in the headlines for the wrong reasons due to his controversial statements. In January, he apologised for offending Japan’s ethnic minorities after stating that the country had been unified under a single language and ethnic identity for 2,000 years.
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