Perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan with respect to cultural, information, disaster and social issues

Abstract

A questionnaire survey was distributed via the Internet to 600 respondents. Preliminary results revealed that most Japanese people regularly washed their hands and had low resistance to wearing masks even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Internet news was the most common source of information. Half of the respondents said they would "stay at home evacuation" if a disaster occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting the strategy promoted to reduce crowding in evacuation shelters. If a state of emergency must be reinstated, one-third of respondents said they could bear it for a few months and another one-third for a few weeks.