Where Is Japan's Coronavirus Explosion?

Japanese tend to be extremely health conscious and in general take better care of themselves than many other developed countries, though there are exceptions (like high rate of smoking). So it's entirely possible that more people were indeed infected but could have contacted a mild version that wasn't counted in the statistics.

Second, there is a culture of wearing masks. From what I can find, surgical masks don't really prevent you from getting infected. But maybe they prevent you from infecting others. Wish there was more concrete info on that one.

Third, many things are closed in Japan now, if not to the degree that they are in Europe and the US, so there is more isolation than the article would have you believe. For example, Tokyo Disney, Sanrio Puroland, schools, sports events being held without audiences. I belong to a Buddhist temple whose Head Temple is in Japan. They are restricting if not eliminating attendance during the crisis. I didn't see that rapid of a response in Christian churches where I live; in fact, I remember at least one news report of a pastor at a local church encouraging his congregation to get close to each other because God would heal/protect them from the virus. At the beginning of March, in contrast, our Chief Priest told us he would really prefer we not come to our temple now because of the situation.

I do travel to Japan regularly, so I have some knowledge of the culture. Don't claim to be an expert, though. But I really wish there was more of an effort with Covid 19 to keep it under control - I really support and cooperate with the social distancing, but also really wish we would do more to look at how to prevent spread and lessen severity in more sustainable ways. I have my theories on that, but they might be a bit controversial and as a new user here I probably shouldn't go there.