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  • So I wasn't going to make a video on the coronavirus.

  • Given the situation is changing so fast, it can often be too hard to keep up with it.

  • But yesterday I noticed a worrying trend that, for me, became a bit of a turning point.

  • I was going to my local supermarket in search of some lentils and an apple,

  • and as I reached the front of the store, I noticed that every customer seemed to be desperately clutching on

  • to as many toilet rolls as they could carry.

  • And I quickly thought to myself, 'well, shit's going down'.

  • Now, I'd seen earlier in the morning that there was some serious panic-buying in Tokyo.

  • There'd been rumours that, as a result of Chinese factories being shut down because of the coronavirus,

  • toilet roll manufacturers weren't producing enough toilet roll and thus,

  • people were going out and buying as much as they could before it inevitably ran out.

  • Yet, as it was pointed out later on in the day, these fears were completely unfounded

  • given that most of Japan's toilet paper comes from Japan,

  • and members of Japan's toilet paper industry had to basically come out and say 'don't worry, there's toilet paper for everybody'.

  • But not before people at my local supermarket had run off with enough toilet rolls to build a small castle.

  • But for me, that was the turning point where I felt like, 'okay, maybe it's time to make a video on this',

  • because when you start to see people panic like that, inevitably you begin to panic as well,

  • and that sensation really sucks.

  • Now, I have been following the situation closely for the last two months, giving advice to a lot of worried travellers,

  • and there's been some ridiculous, crazy news stories from around the country as a result of the coronavirus,

  • from a ramen shop that banned foreigners entirely,

  • to even Mickey Mouse and Van Gogh's iconic Sunflower painting facing quarantine in Tokyo where it's currently on display.

  • So in this video, I wanted to give you a round up of all the things that are going on around Japan,

  • throw in my own personal experiences and observations,

  • and discuss if Japan is still safe to visit - or, is worth visiting - given the ongoing situation.

  • Now, for the longest time, even though Japan did have the second highest number of cases after China,

  • the situation did seem relatively stable.

  • Even though there are 862 cases, 691 of them, the vast majority, are on the boat ride from hell, the Diamond Princess,

  • which is quarantined in Yokohama Harbor.

  • One of the first noticeable differences was a massive drop in the number of tourists,

  • as a result of China banning group tours.

  • China makes up 30% of Japan's overseas tourists - a huge amount.

  • And I've been to Sapporo, Tokyo and Sendai in February, and in all of those cities, you could feel it.

  • You could feel there were less crowds and there were fewer tourists, particularly in Sapporo during the Sapporo Snow Festival.

  • Last year, they had 2.7 million attendees, this year that number was just 2 million.

  • So, a pretty substantial drop, and as a result the whole event didn't feel that busy.

  • Slightly ominously, in the hotel room that I was staying in, I saw a receipt poking out from under the bed

  • that clearly the cleaner had missed, which already was bad enough...

  • But I pulled out the receipt and it revealed that the last guest in the hotel room the night before

  • had, in fact, bought hand sanitiser, towels, cold and flu tablets, and masks,

  • and that wasn't particularly reassuring!

  • I didn't really wanna see that.

  • But just today, Hokkaido announced a public emergency due to 63 cases and 2 deaths.

  • And they're currently trying to encourage people to stay in and not go out, and basically just self-quarantine.

  • Meanwhile, in contrast to that, Kyoto, which is typically flooded with tourists throughout the year,

  • has seen such a spectacular drop in the number of overseas tourists that they've announced an 'empty tourism' campaign,

  • basically encouraging sightseers to come and enjoy the city while it's still rarely empty.

  • And for the first time in a long time, I'm actually thinking of going down there to wander around it and explore it

  • while there's not many people around.

  • Meanwhile, Disneyland and Universal Studios are closed until March 15th,

  • because nobody wants Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck to contract the coronavirus.

  • Even Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflower painting, which is on loan from the National Gallery in London at the moment.

  • It's the first time it's left Europe ever.

  • It's currently quarantined in Tokyo for the next two weeks as all of Japan's national art museums are closed.

  • Just about the only good thing to have come from it so far has been people being more weary of personal hygiene -

  • washing their hands, wearing face masks, and just being more careful in public.

  • And it's said that this was a key factor in a 60% drop in the number of cases of influenza this year.

  • Last year, there were 129,000 cases, this year just 44,000,

  • a sign that people are changing their habits in the face of the coronavirus.

  • Still, fear does bring out the worst in people, and there was one disheartening story:

  • the case of a Tokyo ramen shop where the owner had banned all foreigners outright.

  • It became a Japanese-only ramen shop to protect the customers from catching the disease.

  • And ever-so-slightly ironic given the vast majority of cases on the Japanese mainland

  • are Japanese people.

  • It does set a worrying precedent - what if other shops and stores enact similar policies

  • to the point that foreigners just can't go out and eat ramen.

  • Thankfully, that won't happen, because most people

  • aren't fucking idiots.

  • Fortunately the ramen shop did receive a wave of criticism,

  • mostly from Japanese people who pointed out that viruses don't discriminate on race, so why are you?

  • And, of course, this is an isolated case which is why it did get so much traction in the media.

  • One of the most dramatic moves came last week when the Japanese government decided to close all schools across Japan.

  • Well, not technically close all schools, but advise schools to close, which is essentially the same thing.

  • It is really unfortunate timing as the Japanese academic year finishes in March

  • and thousands of students have their graduation ceremonies which is a really big moment in their lives - y'know, it's a really big milestone.

  • And now, all those events are cancelled.

  • But the biggest worry that overshadows everything and seems so unthinkable just saying it out loud feels like a crime,

  • it's basically Japan's answer to Voldemort,

  • is the potential cancellation of the 2020 Olympics.

  • 6 months ago, if someone had suggested the Olympics wouldn't happen in 2020, they would've been laughed out the room.

  • Now, people are talking about it as a real possibility.

  • What's worse, is Japan has already cancelled a previous Olympics back in 1940

  • and you can probably work out why that happened.

  • But to cancel it would be a huge blow for Japan.

  • And while I'm not a fan of the Olympics, or sports,

  • or just the concept of having fun in general,

  • for 7 years now I've watched the country become consumed with excitement and enthusiasm and anticipation,

  • especially after the hugely-successful Rugby World Cup last year.

  • Billions had been spent, the planning has been colossal, and cancelling it all just so suddenly would not only blow a hole through the economy,

  • but also just a devastating blow for the national spirit, I think.

  • Y'know, Japan is very good at overcoming the many disasters that gets thrown at it,

  • whether it's a tsunami, earthquake, nuclear disaster, a typhoon - I mean, just next week is the anniversary of the Tohoku tsunami.

  • But to cancel the Olympics would be a huge blow, and I really hope that that doesn't have to happen.

  • I really hope the situation improves in the coming weeks and months.

  • So to those of you visiting Japan or considering visiting this year, should you cancel your trip or should you postpone it?

  • Right now, as of today, on the Japanese mainland, there are 157 confirmed cases,

  • which is a tiny proportion of the population, given there's 126 million people.

  • And you can look at that in one of two ways: wow, that's a lot of potential people that could get infected,

  • or wow, that's a really small proportion of 126 million people.

  • Though it is important to point out the actual number of unconfirmed cases is probably a lot higher than that.

  • For me personally, I'll just be travelling around in March as per usual between Tokyo and Sendai.

  • I'll be washing my hands, being a bit more careful.

  • I can't say I'm gonna wear a face mask because I don't see how this is gonna stop a 200 nanometre virus from getting through it.

  • Though if I do contract the coronavirus then I will be wearing one, like this.

  • Fun fact: this is the first time I've ever worn a face mask

  • and...

  • I don't like it.

  • My students - when I was a teacher, my students used to wear this even when they weren't sick.

  • Just because they could kind of keep hidden and keep, kind of, away from answering questions.

  • So they're a big fan of these masks to be honest.

  • I think the main risk in coming to Japan isn't necessarily catching the coronavirus,

  • but being potentially quarantined when you return back to your home country.

  • At this moment in time, I don't know of any countries that are doing that, but obviously,

  • if the situation gets worse then that might become a thing and you might have to be in a room.

  • You'll have to assess that on your own personal situation.

  • But at this moment in time, Japan has a level 2 warning from the Centre for Disease Control in the US

  • which means practice enhanced precautions, which is a step below South Korea and China where it's a level 3

  • where people are being told to avoid non-essential travel.

  • I've actually got 5 unrelated friends all coming to Japan in April from the UK,

  • and at this moment in time, none of them have cancelled their trips.

  • On the contrary, many of them are excited by the prospect of cheaper air fares, cheaper hotels, and a more relaxed atmosphere,

  • because there's just fewer tourists in general at the moment.

  • But obviously, if there is a spike in the number of cases in the coming weeks, then I may urge them to reconsider it.

  • It's something I'll be monitoring and following along closely.

  • As for the disease itself, I've read mixed reports - some say there's a mortality rate of 1%, some say it's 2%

  • but obviously if you factor in the global population, that is still quite a large number.

  • And if you have elderly relatives in particular, it's a little bit worrying,

  • and my thoughts go out to everyone who's actually been affected by the virus or lost any loved ones or relatives.

  • However, it seems likely that the worst effect for most of us will just be a combination of inconvenience and fear,

  • and we can only hope as the temperatures warm up and winter becomes spring,

  • that the number of cases begins to drop - that's what I'm hoping for.

  • Until then though, I'm gonna start work on my toilet roll castle.

  • While I intend to wait for all of this to blow over.

  • I will be posting more updates on Facebook and Twitter which you can find in the description box below,

  • but for now guys, as always, many thanks for watching.

  • I'll see you next time.

  • Right!

  • Time to get on with this toilet roll castle.

  • I think we're gonna need more toilet rolls.

  • See, if I was a good Youtuber, I would actually build a toilet roll castle,

  • but instead, because I'm not a good Youtuber,

  • I'm just gonna pretend like I am.

  • Genius!

  • ... Maybe it can go higher.

  • Let's see...

  • if it...- no.

  • That's- That's it.

  • That's where the fun ends.

  • ... Wait a minute.

  • [Chris sings the James Bond theme]

  • ... Yeah, I need to get out more.

So I wasn't going to make a video on the coronavirus.

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