Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Are you ok? - No, I am worried what we will do for the upcoming rent at this rate.

  • It's rare for Japanese people to speak up. That's why we managed to get ¥100,000 ($1,000)

  • Hey guys and girls on Ask Japanese it's Cathy Cat and today I am joined by...

  • Hi I am her friend Hiroko from Hiroko TV.

  • Hiroko does street interviews, I do street interviews but right now we're doing completely different

  • things and I thought to ask Hiroko this time...

  • How Japanese people have dealt with the Corona Situation, maybe some good and bad things

  • that Japanese people are doing right now in Japan.

  • So let's find out. Let's go. - Let's go.

  • What Japanese reactions have you seen these days?

  • Many think it only concerns some strangers. Japanese seem to think they're gonna be ok.

  • "Some people are getting it? Bad for them." they think.

  • "Abroad is struggling. They got it tough abroad" but they're thinking THEY will be ok anyways.

  • I think there are a lot of these kind of people in Japan.

  • Looking how people are acting now, many are still going outside, even though less than before.

  • I understand that they can't do a lockdown. If we were told to never go outside....

  • I wouldn't feel good about it even though I am not going outside.

  • I am not leaving the house, that is why I don't know anything but what I hear on TV

  • I am scared of it, and I don't want to pass it on to my family members.

  • There are good and bad things in Japan right now.

  • The bad thing is that many Japanese are starting flame wars on the internet.

  • There are still some people who upload "I am having fun with friends!" on Instagram...

  • So some people will copy that and complain about that in Twitter without saying it to these people.

  • I think they should tell them directly.

  • Influencers are getting the stick for playing outside too much right now.

  • They are? Why?

  • Well those who are still going to the beach and stuff. - They SHOULD get the stick for that now.

  • "What the heck are you doing?" The term influencer means you got the power to INFLUENCE people.

  • That's exactly why they shouldn't do that kind of reckless behavior and stay at home.

  • I was shocked to see how some people in Japan reacted. We are told to avoid the 3Cs

  • But some people don't seem to understand what that means.

  • At supermarkets they put down tape every 2 meters to space out people.

  • They do? - That was at my supermarket, but some people still came SUPER close.

  • I was like "Whaaaat? Please give me some space!"

  • I was so scared. - I was shocked too!

  • There might be a spaced out area in front of the till, but in the store, customers get up super close.

  • I have the feeling some people don't understand the danger right now.

  • Many are not self aware enough....

  • My mother told me a lot to think more and be more conscious of the situation.

  • And I am lucky to have many friends abroad. They told me

  • "Hiroko please don't go outside! It can get really bad!"

  • "You might get the same situation in 3 weeks!" I heard their plea a lot.

  • Even if I might not get sick... but I might pass it still on to someone outside.

  • I realized that. So I stay indoors.

  • But sometimes you really wanna leave the house in the mornings right?

  • Then I get up at 5am and run around the nearest park.

  • I don't want to run when there are people.

  • I do this every 3 days.

  • But there is a good thing. Japanese people genrally don't voice their opinions, especially political ones.

  • True, in one of our interviews, everyone said that too! - Exactly

  • Japanese people said "I don't get politics!"

  • But thanks to this situation, everyone is experiencing politics on a personal level.

  • "I might not be able to pay bills!"

  • "What kind of welfare can my country offer me when I struggle?"

  • Japanese people now see politics as something that concerns their lives.

  • Japanese people, who don't generally voice opinions, are now speaking up!

  • ... about the government and such.

  • People who say "that's not right!" or "I want this to happen" have emerged now.

  • Thanks to this crisis.

  • That's a good thing. People are saying what's on their mind.

  • Japanese people are changing for the better I think.

  • But on the contrary, because people are voicing opinions now,

  • some people are just adding fuel to the fire and only complain.

  • There are some people who ONLY complain about EVERYTHING now.

  • That makes it hard to please anyone.

  • But many Japanese learned to speak their minds now due to this. - Looks like.

  • Thanks to the SNS world, we can even reach the higher ups of our society.

  • If someone says on YouTube "This is wrong" and the video gets 1,000,000 views, the higher ups might see it.

  • So people are speaking out in Japan.

  • The opinions of the people of Japan are now able to get heard.

  • And thanks to that, we are getting better results from the government too.

  • What I am curious about...

  • Japan is a country known to be strong at enduring things.

  • Why then are there still so many people going outside???

  • Why do you think that is?

  • They don't feel there is an immediate danger.

  • No matter what it is they think they'll be ok. "I won't get it"

  • There are some who think it doesn't concern them at all.

  • How can people see images of New York struggling and are not concerned?

  • Because it is not in Japan.

  • And some might think "only old people die of corona right?"

  • It's not like this virus equally targets all age groups the same way.

  • So some people think they will be ok anyways.

  • This Golden Week holiday week is the "Stay at Home week" right?

  • How much do you think people will actually do that?

  • I think some people will still go outside even when told to stay inside.

  • A week before we got told to stay inside, I have already started self-quarantining.

  • But the reason I could do this... my house has a large rooftop.

  • At my mansion the 6th 7th and the rooftop are all my house.

  • If I REALLY want to go outside, I can go to my rooftop.

  • But houses like that would be very expensive to rent in Tokyo.

  • I don't think other people are as lucky.

  • If people in Tokyo have kids...

  • Telling them to stay inside all day is tough.

  • But for everyone to be healthy, that is top priority.

  • Not having money is tough... I lost my freelance work too.

  • But this is the time for me to think about making an extra income indoors.

  • As long as we keep moving, there is always some way.

  • In these times is important to think positively and still try your best.

  • Endurance, staying inside all of this is important now.

  • Let's all try our best to stop the spread and end this as fast as possible - Let's do our best!

  • Stay healthy Hiroko. The most important thing for us is health! - True true!

  • Next year or after that, let's hang out again!

  • Once things are better, let's hang out! - Let's do that!

  • Thanks for the call! - Thank you toooo

  • She's got a YouTube channel too guys, don't forget to go over to Hiroko TV

  • check out what she's doing. She's doing an inside the home fitness challenge right now so

  • be sure to check it out! And thank you guys for tuning in! Stay safe, stay home

  • Let's keep our spirits up, we can get through this and I catch you soon for more stuff on Ask Japanese.

  • See you guys! Bye! - Byeee

  • Don't forget to subscribe! - Subscribe!!

  • Subscriiiibe.

Are you ok? - No, I am worried what we will do for the upcoming rent at this rate.

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it