Did Japan Just Beat the Virus Without Lockdowns Or Mass Testing?

Japan’s state of emergency is set to end with new cases of the coronavirus dwindling to mere dozens. It got there despite largely ignoring the default playbook.

No restrictions were placed on residents’ movements, and businesses from restaurants to hairdressers stayed open. No high-tech apps that tracked people’s movements were deployed. The country doesn’t have a center for disease control. And even as nations were exhorted to “test, test, test,” Japan has tested just 0.2% of its population -- one of the lowest rates among developed countries.

Shibuya’s Scramble Crossing during the state of emergency on April 25.

Photographer: Soichiro Koriyama/Bloomberg

Yet the curve has been flattened, with deaths well below 1,000, by ...