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Coronavirus pandemic
This Week in AsiaHealth & Environment

Coronavirus: German embassy criticises Japan’s case figures as expats question Tokyo’s approach

  • Japan’s official numbers on those infected by the novel coronavirus ‘cannot be believed’, according to the embassy
  • The foreign ministry declined to comment on the matter, but foreigners in the country are worried about potential government misinformation

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Masked people stop on a bridge to photograph cherry blossoms in Tokyo. Photo: AP
Julian Ryall
The German embassy in Tokyo has issued a sharply worded criticism of the Japanese government over the spread of the coronavirus within the country, effectively accusing Japan of fudging official figures.
“The official infection rate in Japan cannot be believed. Due to the low rate of testing, it is likely that there is a high number of cases that have not been reported,” the embassy warned in a statement published on its website this week addressed to German nationals in Japan.

“Testing is still only available for people who are very sick (those who have had a high fever for at least four days) as well as other factors (such as contact with other infected people or those returning from high-risk areas).”

A spokesman for Japan’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the message, although Stephen Nagy, a professor of international relations at the International Christian University in Tokyo, said it was outside the usual terms of diplomatic protocol.

“This is an unusual move from Germany, which has well-established and good relations with the Japanese government,” Nagy said. “It would appear to be a way to push for more transparency from the Japanese side, as Germany has an aversion to anything that seems to be authoritarian or undemocratic.”

The Japanese public and media are largely not discussing the scale of the coronavirus problem, even though the authorities have recently admitted a sharp increase in new cases.

That reporting of cases suddenly changed on Thursday, when health officials confirmed a record 47 new cases in Tokyo, with the national figure now standing at 1,291, and a government panel warned that in reality, infections across the nations are likely to be “rampant”.

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