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Japan’s Daily Life: Effects of COVID-19

frederic — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 02:26:41 +0000

The effects of COVID-19 in Japan’s Daily Life— When tourist visits Japan, the first thing that they will notice is how clean and hygienic Japanese are. It is said that the Japanese life is full of precautions. Good hygiene is good health; therefore, the coronavirus pandemic did not change much of their daily lives.

Japanese use hand sanitizers or alcohols, wear masks, and maintain cleanliness all the time. They are also very obedient in terms of government policies. They took precautionary measures and stayed home even before government declared a health emergency.

An interview with a soft engineer named Ahmad stated that “People felt like the anti-virus measures were already part of their routine and continued their lives but there has been less mobility since the outbreak started,”

City Life to Countryside

More Japanese are thinking of moving from urban to rural areas. This is just one of the effects of the coronavirus that comes in their minds. To avoid crowded places, to seclude themselves might be a better plan to be safe.

A resident from Tokyo mentioned in an article published by Deutsche Welle, “I was thinking of escaping to one of the islands south of Tokyo and setting up a small hotel that catered to foreign visitors,” He is considering this idea and has been encouraged by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The Impact of the Outbreak

The KYODO News released some updates and highlights in regards to the coronavirus safety and precautions:

“As of 11 p.m., Saturday, June 13 (Japan time)

Operators of nightlife establishments will have to keep a record of their customers’ names and contact information and ensure social distancing rules as part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, according to guidelines released by the government on Saturday.
Karaoke fans in Tokyo got a taste of the “new normal” for singing in a karaoke box on Friday, the first day after business closure requests for such establishments were lifted following a sharp fall in new coronavirus cases.
Japan’s pro baseball and football leagues are set to resume later this month after being derailed by the coronavirus pandemic, finally bringing sports spectating back into daily life — albeit in a different fashion
The novel coronavirus pandemic has hampered pilot training programs overseas, with the aviation industry in Japan bracing for a shortage of pilots in the near future.
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. will cut more than half of its 2,000 workforce as part of restructuring amid a plunge in demand due to the coronavirus pandemic and repeated delays in its development of Japan’s first passenger jet, a source close to the matter said Friday.”

In addition, Japan enforced measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. One of these is denying entry of travelers from 111 countries and regions for the safety of the whole country.

The coronavirus might not affect much of Japan’s daily life but there are changes that is happening and are about to happen. The health damage is relatively low but the economic and social damage is significantly high.

As of today, there are 18,110 total cases with recoveries of 16, 320 and fatality of 968. Active cases is 822 and 58 are in serious condition. For live updates, click here.

Shourai Coronavirus Articles:

3 Ways to Help Your Business In The Midst of Coronavirus Outbreak
The effects of COVID-19 in Japan’s Daily Life

For more articles, click here.

References:

https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-more-japanese-to-swap-urban-life-for-the-countryside/a-53854362

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/-covid-19-did-not-change-much-in-japan-s-daily-life-/1819015#

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/06/9b4086db3a78-coronavirus-outbreak-latest-june-13-2020.html

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2020/05/24/commentary/japan-commentary/time-face-real-risks-posed-covid-19/#.XvQITmgzbIU

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/06/18/national/japan-talks-ease-travel-curbs-four-countries-says-abe/#.XvVQvGgzbIU

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

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Embracing Culture Diversity: In Work Aspects

frederic — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 08:31:22 +0000

Today, understanding each individual and recognizing difference such as the dimension of race, ethnicity, and gender is becoming less of an issue in the corporate world. Though these have positive views, there are still criticisms and some are still very sensitive about this issue.

In 2017, minority groups in Japan began changing their views in terms of the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) topics. An article from Japan Times states, “From the progression of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Womenomics agenda, to the passing of legislation to protect individuals against bullying based on gender identity and sexual orientation, Japan is beginning to make strides in the equality arena.” This might still take some time to be resolved since the country has been very slow to make progress in gender equality. A deep-rooted perception and unconscious bias against women in the workplace still exists and is difficult to eliminate. As of 2018, the world economic forum ranked Japan as 110th in gender equality.

The government and private sectors is taking numerous actions to make the Japanese workplace more diverse and inclusive. In fact, it has been observed that there are changes in people’s thinking and in labor market in having a greater diversity and inclusion.

It is also mentioned in Japan Times that “Younger people are more receptive to the idea of working with people of different nationalities and cultures, according to a recent online survey. Companies such as Fast Retailing and Mercari have such cosmopolitan workforces. With well-respected global companies such as Fast Retailing and Mercari — one of the few former unicorns originating in Japan — leading the pack, we can expect more people to become receptive to a diverse workplace.”

Moreover, Leland Gaskins, a book author, suggests that, cultural differences in Japan have solutions to get through with these problems.

In his book, “Step Up: Overcoming Cross-Cultural Differences Between Japanese and Western Business people,” Gaskins provides a roadmap for understanding when and why these disconnects arise and for figuring out how to work effectively in diverse environments, in spite of different values and different communication styles. The comparison of the Japanese and Western approach to different aspects of work and problem-solving is also discussed in the book.

Will Japan become a truly diverse and inclusive society?

Even though Japan is not that open and friendly to different countries and cultures, they are still trying to resolve this issue. Some of the companies and even the citizens are now embracing culture diversity.

Diversity makes for stronger teams and better business: the more diverse, the more growth. The dilemma that Japan faces may now have a solution and might be overcome soon.

References:

Time to make diversity and inclusion a reality

How To Overcome Cultural Differences In Japan With “Step Up” By Leland Gaskins

Japan: Growth through diversity

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Japan: Tokyo Olympics 2020

frederic — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 09:21:31 +0000

Olympics started in 1896 and were cancelled three times ever since it began. This was cancelled once because of World War I in 1916 and twice during World War II in 1940 and 1944. It is a set of international sports competitions that happen once every four years. Japan hosted the event three times in the past (Summer Olympics 1964, Winter Olympics 1972, Winter Olympics 1998) and this year summer 2020 was supposed to be the fourth.

A lot of Japanese react to the postponement of the Olympics which was supposed to be held in Tokyo this July 2020. The event was postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

According to the interview with IOC President Thomas Bach by Dan Roan, a BBC sports editor, “You cannot forever employ 3,000 to 5,000 people in an organizing committee; you cannot have the athletes being in uncertainty.” In March 2020, the OIC was questioned by the athletes why the games were not postponed sooner. “The developments were so fast that you could not know what would happen tomorrow,” the OIC added in the interview.

It was also mentioned that the organizers have no Plan B. The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told IOC president Thomas Bach that 2021 may be the “last option” for the Tokyo Olympics.

He also said that everything is still at risk and it will still depend on how the world will look like next year for them to decide whether the Tokyo Olympics will push through. “We are relying on the advice of the World Health Organization. We have established one principle: to organize these Games in a safe environment for all the participants. Nobody knows what the world will look like in one year, in two months.” he added.

Japan and other countries are still fighting against COVID-19 outbreak. As of today, in Japan alone, there are 1,386 active cases, 894 fatalities, and 14,650 recoveries. It has 6,467,333 active cases, 382,766 fatalities, and 3,078,403 recoveries worldwide.

Reference:

Japan at the Olympics.(2020, June 3). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_at_the_Olympics

Roan, D. (2020). IOC’s Thomas Bach accepts Tokyo Olympics would have to be cancelled if not held in 2021. BBC. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/52747797

Roos, D. (2020). When World Events Disrupted the Olympics. History. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/news/olympics-postponed-cancelled#:~:text=Since%20the%20opening%20of%20the,II%20(1940%2C%201944).

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Digital Marketing in Japan

frederic — Fri, 22 May 2020 07:55:29 +0000

Japanese companies in this recent time still prefer to use traditional method of marketing, thus making them far way behind the digital age. These companies still use marketing kits such as but not limited to magazines and flyers. Most of them do not heavily invest in digital marketing which requires significant amount of time and especially money. It does not affect them since their companies keeps on growing and undeniably getting continuous profits.

The digital transformation efforts will be a long term process but will become one of necessities anytime soon. Many of the Japanese companies show interest in entering new markets and motives to expand not just domestically but internationally. This will encourage them to enhance and elevate their marketing strategies by converting or at least consider the digital world.

Entering the digital world can largely benefit them to communicate well with foreign consumers. One example is having a website displaying their services or products with an English translation. They can also make online payments to make it more convenient. Lead generation is also done digitally and can make it easier to approach business and consumers. Another is by creating a video advertisement which can also promote their brands in different social media platforms that is being widely used by people around the world.

Digital marketing in the Japanese market has a high potential to be in demand in the next couple of years. Japan is the third largest consumer market that will mostly stay on top and can undeniably expand quickly.

Does your business needs digital transformation? Contact Shourai now at info@shourai.ios

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