Coronavirus terms you might need to know in Japanese
For all those who need or want to stay in Japan during this era...
Abenomask (アベノマスク)
Abenomask means "Abe's mask" that has been announced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would distribute two reusable cloth face masks per household amid growing concern over medical shortages as the country faces a worsening coronavirus outbreak.
You can see the picture of Abenomask in the below.
Cluster (クラスター)
A disease cluster or infection cluster is a group of similar health events that have occurred in the same area around the same time. In Japan, cluster response section ("クラスター班") was organized to identify clusters of infection, track them to their sources — and then trace and isolate people who may have been exposed.
Close contact (濃厚接触:noko sessyoku)
People who were at a distance of one meter, enough to touch by hand, from an infected person for 15 minutes or more without taking infection prevention measures, such as wearing a face mask, two days before the person started to display symptoms or later are regarded as those with close contact with the patient.
COCOA (新型コロナウィルス接触アプリ: COVID-19 Contact-Confirming Application）
COCOA is an application to notify users of close contact with COVID-19 positive users, officially provided by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan (MHLW). Approximately 25 million times downloads are confirmed as of February 5th, 2021.
On February 3rd, 2021, MHLW announced that it has not been sending information on contact with infected people to users with the Android operating system version since Sept. 28 last year,
Cough etiquette (咳エチケット:seki etiquette)
It refers to the way you cover your mouth and nose with a tissue, handkerchief, or the edge of a sleeve to avoid spreading germs to other people. An illustrated description is available here.
Diamond Princess (ダイアモンドプリンセス)
Diamond Princess is a cruise ship registered in Britain, and owned and operated by Princess Cruises. Positive cases of Coronavirus disease 2019 linked to the COVID-19 pandemic were confirmed on the ship in February 2020.
Go-To Travel (Go To トラベル）
The Go-To Travel is a Japanese government subsidy encouraging domestic travel to help boost the economy. It also aims to bring business back to local tourism and hospitality operators, many of whom were forced to close during the first coronavirus state of emergency. It was started on 22nd July 2020 and suspended on December 28th, 2020 due to the spread of the coronavirus.
Go-To Travel Official Website
It is not well known that there are three Go-Tos "Go-To"s. Go To イート (Go-To Eat), Go To イベント(Go-To Event), and Go To 商店街（Go-To Shotengai: local shopping district).
Go-To Eat Official Website
Go-To Event Official Website
Go-To Shotengai Official Website
Holding steady (持ちこたえている:mochikotaete iru)
On March 9th, the expert meeting on the novel coronavirus disease control explains the understanding of the situation. You can see the summary here.
Japan's situation as of today is not moving toward an explosive spread of infections, and appears to be somewhat holding steady.
本日時点での日本の状況は、爆発的な感染拡大には進んでおらず、一定程度、持ちこたえているのではないかと考えます。
Lockdown (ロックダウン／都市封鎖:toshi fusa）
A situation in which people are not allowed to enter or leave a building or area freely because of an emergency. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was used for actions related to mass quarantines. Since Japan's law emphasizes protecting personal rights, a lockdown like in other countries is impossible.
Mambo (まん延防止等重点措置 manen-boshi tou juten sochi)
"Mambo" is a special measures law for Covid-19, enabling a local authority to apply pre-emergency measures. The difference between the state of emergency and the pre-emergency measures are followings;
Target area - The governor of the prefecture can be decided which city the measures are applied whereas the state of emergency is applied to the prefecture.
Criteria - The pre-emergency measures can be applied at stage 3 whereas the state of emergency is applied at stage 4.
Other than that, basically, these two measures are the same.
https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/document?lawid=424AC0000000031
Since "Mambo" is used to call globefish in Japanese, Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture expressed concern over this short name. In Kesennuma city, globefish is one of the regional goodies.
Net cafe refugee (ネットカフェ難民:netto kafe nanmin)
Net cafe refugee is a class of homeless people in Japan who do not own or rent a residence and sleep in 24-hour Internet cafés or manga cafés. In a recent study, the number of Net cafe refugees in Tokyo is around 4,000. Some of them were now kicked out from the cafés due to the state of emergency.
New lifestyle (新しい生活様式:atarashii seikatsu yoshiki)
New lifestyle has been announced by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on May 4th. Basically, it encourages self-restraint. Lifestyle guidelines by industry will be created by each organization later on.
Not necessary, Not urgent (不要不急:fuyo-fukyu)
Unless it's "不要不急", we all should stay home.
Novel coronavirus (新型コロナウィルス:shingata coronavirus)
A novel coronavirus is a new coronavirus that has not been previously identified. The virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is not the same as the coronavirus that commonly circulates among humans and causes mild illnesses, like the common cold.
Osaka Model (大阪モデル)
The governor of Osaka says the prefecture has determined its own criteria for gradually lifting restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic in the wake of the central government's extension of the state of emergency, it is the so-called "Osaka model".
Overshoot (オーバーシュート)
Overshoot means an explosive spike in coronavirus infections in which the number of patients doubles within two to three days. Although there is no such meaning in original English, you can find this new term in the summary published by the expert meeting on March 19th. "overshoot" is translated as "explosive spread" in the English version.
If there is an increase in the number of infections for which the link of transmission in clusters is not identified, an explosive spread of infections may occur in any area at some point, thus resulting in an increase in patients with serious symptoms.
クラスター（患者集団）の感染源（リンク）が分からない感染者が増加していくと、いつか、どこかで爆発的な感染拡大（オーバーシュート（爆発的患者急増））が生じ、ひいては重症者の増加を起こしかねません。
Overwhelm hospitals (医療崩壊: Iryo hokai)
"医療" ("Iryo") means medical "崩壊" ("Hokai") means collapse. It indicates that the situation of COVID-19 patients overwhelms hospitals, doctors, and nurses.
Pandemic (パンデミック)
A pandemic is a worldwide spread of disease. On March 11, the WHO declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic.
Panic buying (買い占め:kaishime)
Panic buying occurs when consumers buy unusually large amounts of a product in anticipation of, or after, a disaster or perceived disaster, or in anticipation of a large price increase or shortage. In February, there was a big panic buying on toilet rolls and tissues.
PCR Test (PCR検査: PCR kensa)
PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction:ポリメラーゼ連鎖反応) is a technique used in the lab to make millions of copies of a particular section of DNA.
Refrain Police (自粛警察:jishuku keisatsu)
"自粛: Jishuku" means self-restraint. Refrain Police supervise people or stores who are not following self-restraint and take some actions if they think needed. For example, make a poster saying "Close the store" or throw a stone to the car with a number plate from other prefectures. They've gone too far in some cases and we can't ignore this issue.
県内在住 ("I live in this prefecture") sticker becomes popular to prevent unwanted claims from Refrain Police for the drivers with a number plate from other prefectures.
Rebound (リバウンド)
リバウンド:rebound is used when you put the weight back on after you successfully lost some weight in Japanese. When this term is used about the coronavirus, it means the novel coronavirus spread once again after you successfully contained the spread of the coronavirus. Hence, we hear more often around the end of the year 2020, which we had been experienced the 2nd or 3rd big wave of the spread of the coronavirus. You can see the suggestion to prevent "Rebound" from the expert meeting in the below document.
Source: 緊急事態宣言解除後の地域におけるリバウンド防止策についての提言 (新型コロナウイルス感染症対策分科会)
San Mitsu (３蜜)
"San" means three and "Mitsu" means close in Japanese. These are something we should avoid.
・Closed spaces（密閉空間: Mippei kuukan）
・Crowded places（密集場所: Misshu basho）
・Close-contact setting（密接場面：Missetsu bamen）
"Mitsu Desu" (蜜です) Tokyo governor, Yuriko Koike, uses this phrase to ask the press to keep social distance inspires the game ("Mitsu Desu").
Severe sense of fatigue (強い倦怠感:tsuyoi kentaikan ／だるさ:darusa)
倦怠感 or だるさ means extreme tiredness. It was introduced as one of the symptoms of Coronavirus. Later on, a new symptom such as a taste disorder (味覚障害:mikaku shogai) was introduced.
State of emergency (緊急事態宣言: kinkyu jitai sengen)
1st time (2020/04/07～2020/05/07)
The move allows regional governments to urge people to stay inside without punitive measures or legal force in Japan. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a state of emergency on April 7th, 2020 following Hokkaido's initial announcement in late February. The nationwide state of emergency was extended until May 4th, 2020.
2nd time (2021/01/07～2021/03/21)
On Jan. 7, 2021, due to the coronavirus's rising cases, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga officially declared a second state of emergency for Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa prefectures. On Jan. 13, he expanded the state of emergency to include Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Aichi, Fukuoka, Tochigi, and Gifu prefectures. On February 2nd, the Japanese government decided to extend its COVID-19 state of emergency that is set to expire on Feb.7 for another month to March.7 for all prefectures currently covered except Tochigi prefecture. Again it was extended until March 21st, 2021.
3rd time (2021/04/25～2021/05/11)
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has declared the nation's third state of emergency. It takes effect on April 25th in Tokyo and the western prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto, and Hyogo.
4th time (2021/7/12～2021/8/22)
Olympic host city Tokyo entered a new state of emergency, less than two weeks before the Games begin amid worries about whether the measures can stem a rise in COVID-19 cases. Opinion polls have consistently shown the Japanese public is concerned about going ahead with the Games during the pandemic.
Tokyo alert (東京アラート)
On June 2nd, the first Tokyo alert was issued to call on residents to exercise caution. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and the rainbow bridge are illuminated in red when it's issued. On June 11th, the governor decided to suspend.
Ｖariant (変異株: Henni kabu／変異種: Heni shu)
Variants of COVID-19. The Mainichi reported over 600 people infected with COVID-19 variants in Japan, mostly UK-origin on March 25, 2021.
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