SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.

RocketNews24 Japanese

Featured

Ibaraki Prefecture health center warns to “not eat with foreigners” to prevent spreading COVID

Yikes.

Japan has enacted a lot of strange measures to try and deal with the spread of the coronavirus, such as banning screaming on rollercoasters and giving out traditional fans at restaurants for customers to cover their mouths with.

But on May 19 and 20, the Itako Health Center in Ibaraki Prefecture sent out a document containing probably the most offensive COVID-prevention advice yet: to not eat with foreigners.

▼ Because as we all know, Japanese people can’t spread the virus???

According to the health center, the document was aimed at foreigners working as farmers, and they sent it out to agricultural cooperatives and the city hall in the area.

The document said that: “There are many patients infected with COVID that likely caught it from foreigners.” In addition to warning people from eating with foreigners, they also recommended: “To please wear a mask when speaking with foreigners.”

Immediately after being sent out, the document was met with backlash calling it “inappropriate,” and on May 21 the document was retracted.

▼ The health center claimed that they “had no intention of discriminating against
foreigners” and apologized for the “wording that caused misunderstanding.”

Despite that apology and retraction, it’s still mind boggling where the original wording came from. All of this could’ve been easily avoided if the health center had just advocated for people to not eat out together in general, and to just wear a mask in general, not specifically pointing out foreigners.

Japanese netizens mostly had similar reactions:

“Casual discrimination.”
“Just tell everyone to wear a mask and not eat out. Doing otherwise is discrimination.”
“This just causes more discrimination against foreigners who lived in Japan before COVID, and Japanese people with foreign relatives.”
“I mean, by foreigners, they’re not including Westerners.”
“This is the country that’s going to be hosting the Olympics soon?”

In an age where ridiculous misinformation about foreigners can spread easily, and taking back that misinformation and replacing it with the truth can be incredibly difficult, it’s at least good to see a somewhat happy ending here. Let’s hope that unfortunate notices likes these won’t need to be retracted in the future, since they just won’t happen in the first place.

Source: NHK NEWS WEB via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso (1, 2)
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Like this:

Like Loading…

Related Stories

Trackbacks

  1. There are no trackbacks yet.
  2. Trackback URL

Trending Today

  1. Starbucks Japan unveils new winter drinkware collection with limited-edition Stanley cups
  2. Pokémon doughnuts pop up at Mister Donut, with a new gathering that’s bigger than ever
  3. Pachinko parlor operator arrested for not obscuring the act of gambling well enough
  4. Japan ends tax-free shopping system for foreign tourists, new refund request system now in effect
  5. Discount retailers known for massive bargains releases massive Japanese egg sandwich
  6. Japanese government hires leading comedy agency to explain national defense spending
  7. First-ever cafe on Tokyo Imperial Palace Garden grounds is now open
  8. Liquid croissant coffee is coming to Japanese stores this month
  9. Japan’s free stock image site of muscular men doing whimsical and mundane things reveals rankings
  10. Beautiful Ghibli diorama kits lets you build anime characters’ homes inside yours [Photos]

© SoraNews24 —Japan News— / SOCIO CORPORATION

Powered by WordPress VIP

%d