COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan: Containment Failed or Successful?

This short article examines key governmental measures against the spread of COVID-19 in Japan from a geopolitical perspective. “Geopolitical” in this article means to see the measures as spatial strategies. At the stage of globalized pandemic, state territoriality or border control is no longer able...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geopolítica(s) : revista de estudios sobre espacio y poder 2020-01, Vol.11 (Especial), p.81-91
Main Author: Yamazaki, Takashi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Containment
Coordination
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Decentralization
Geopolitics
Health care
Local government
Pandemics
Power
State power
Territoriality
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Summary:This short article examines key governmental measures against the spread of COVID-19 in Japan from a geopolitical perspective. “Geopolitical” in this article means to see the measures as spatial strategies. At the stage of globalized pandemic, state territoriality or border control is no longer able to effectively control the spread of the virus. Instead, this article argues, multi-scalar intergovernmental coordination is inevitable to tackle the virus moving along increasing trans-border/local human flows. Using the case of Japan, this article overviews how effective social distancing as a spatial strategy has been and illustrates how the limits to such a strategy to control human behavior can affect anti-virus measures. In conclusion, this article argues that the effective devolution of state power to local governments and the strengthening of state supplementary function to sustain local healthcare system and economy would be more desirable than the authoritative concentration of state power in the state of emergency.
ISSN:2172-3958
2172-7155
DOI:10.5209/geop.69163