COVID 19 Toilet Paper shortage: No shit update from Izu, Japan

Actually there is shit.  
It's shit of the bull variety. 
It's coronavirus toilet paper shortage bullshit!

Yesterday I wrote of the rumors spreading on social media. We saw news reports of people lined up for toilet paper in Tokyo then sure enough the little girl child and I went out to get kitty litter and kid's play clay (only the bare pandemic combatting necessities for us) and Whoa look't that!  Toilet paper at the home store sold out.  
Silly people.

Not much else to report from these parts; I pretty much took a break from watching news today. It's good to do from time to time to keep peace of mind in check methinks. 

As luck would have it the local 函南桜 Kannami early blooming sakura festival wasn't canceled. It was far, far smaller today than in past years but still had taiko drummers and Shinto folk dancing seniors. We watched that, visited with some neighbors then bought some sakura mochi and pop at the little festival booths that were there braving the virus panic selling goodies. The mochi was a present for the mommy lady; we stopped to enjoy our bottles of pop under the blossoms on the way back. That was the highlight for me. A dad and his favorite little girl in the whole wide world sipping soda under blossoms. Perfect eternal moment bar none. 

That's pretty much this day in coronavirus-panicked Nippon. I made up for lazing around on the sofa with a nice evening blossom run and some karate kata at my private dojo (the shrine atop nearby ShiroYama). Once home I farted around with iMovie. You can watch my not dwelling on cononavirus video of some nice moments of this day on Izu below.

2/28 Coronavirus view from Japan update

Well it's official! 

medical masks sold out everywhere

Not 24 hours ago came the first announcement that I wrote of yestery--the closure of public junior high, high and elementary schools in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus.
"No way" I thought. 

Way!

Our 6th grade middle boy came home loaded down with everything from his school desk this afternoon. He'll go back for a half day on Monday then Th-th-th-th-that's all folks! No word yet on if there'll be a graduation ceremony for him.
Same goes for older 8th grader boy. Half day Monday then that's it. No club activities planned so that's two of three kids' here on unexpected-till-yesterday prolonged vacations. They're old enough to fend for themselves at least. It'll definitely be harder on parents with younger elementary school kids. 

So far we haven't been informed that youngest girl child's kindergarten will close. Earlier today we were informed, however, that one of the five kindergartens we have a contract to teach English at is canceling English instruction up through March. Fingers crossed we're hoping the rest of them don't do the same as that'd be a pretty good hit to our monthly income.  So far the government hasn't recommended closing nursery schools and kindergartens. If that does come to pass the local economy will get hit even harder to say the least. Older kids can take care of themselves but moms or dads will definitely have to take off work to care for children if kindergartens close as well. 

So schools shutting down early is the biggest change in Japan for us personally since my last entry yesterday. That's a very proactive approach and while it's caused a lot of confusion and ringing of hands for us parental types it's still being met with an attitude of しょうがない  
"shoganai"  "that's life!" 

The only changes or preparations we've discussed, besides some arrangements for kids while we're working now that they're out of school, is to stock up on dry foods and instant ramen and the like just in case. Masks and alcohol spray have been sold out everywhere for sometime now with no idea when they'll become available again, then just tonight was news that they're selling out of toilet paper in Tokyo as well.  What the? It seemed odd to me, why toilet paper? So I took it to the googles only to learn all the butt wipe buying binge was due to folks falling for  a fake news story. There ya go! 

Besides that the most negative news I've come across over how Japan is dealing with  coronavirus has been the strict standards imposed on testing patients, which has led some to go to two or three hospitals before finally being treated.  That's no bueno to say the least. On a more positive note researchers here have developed a test that can detect the virus in 10 to 30 minutes.  Back to a more worrisome note, Hokkaido has declared a State of Emergency and the first case of coronavirus has been detected here in Shizuoka Prefecture. (link to Japanese news there can't find it in English yet.) 
Oh joy! 

That's no big surprise though. We've assumed that it's already here and just not detected yet. Oh yeah, and no mousekateering in Tokyo for a while. The Happiest Place on Earth is closed. That too is expected though. Like I wrote yesterday, they don't F'#%k around with this kind of thing in Japan. I won't be the least bit surprised if news comes out about Olympics being canceled as well.

So that's that. We're here and the virus is just outside our door.  Folks in these parts are bracing for the worst and hoping for the best with more and more proactive measures for combatting it going into effect each day. 

And back in home sweet USA home? 
Whistleblower complaint the Trump administration sent in unprotected, untrained HHS workers to receive Americans who were quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship hereabouts.
The Trump White House has instructed this guy to not speak publicly about the virus without clearing what he's going to say with them first. Now I'm not disease expert but if back home in California and knowing there's already been a "community-acquired" case there, someone who's been head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Disease; who's been at NIH since 1968 and heading NIAID since 1984 is exactly the kind of guy I'd want to be hearing direction from. Not some idiot who says the USA could have zero cases in a "few days".  But hey that's there and we're here so just making note of it and hoping for the best in both places. That said based on what I'm seeing and hearing about how they're combatting it here verses the same for back home...

Well again no expert, but with the criticism that I have read of Abe's response I could only imagine how much more it'd be if he'd done the same as Trump. No scratch that. I can't even imagine the disease experts here saying one thing and Abe saying the exact opposite, double not imagine him following with "stock market starting to look very good to me" like Trump recently tweeted. 
Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to tear down what the President Obama built up after all? 

Coronavirus here: Thoughts on it there

Hand sanitizer and coronavirus warning info at entrance of town gym

No school until April? Seriously?   

Maybe, maybe not? My wife just arrived home as I was getting ready to hit "Publish" on what I wrote below.  Apparently Kannami, the town we're in, has not announced school closures just yet. I'm guessing they will soon. We'll see. 

For now our parakeet is chirping, the kids are fighting, no wait laughing, no wait fighting again. All are fed. All clothed. All healthy. That's what counts. Cat is stretching on the sofa. 

"Tadaima" (I'm home) came my wife's lively call when she got in. 

"Okaeri" (welcome home) I called back. 

We started talking and so I add the addendum above this time. Extra hugs for everyone tonight.  It's not going to be okay. It is okay. But life is doing like life often does. Monkey wrenches are getting thrown into plans. Adapt or go the way of the dinosaurs.  

Breath in this moment. Smile in this moment. Love in this moment. 

Extra hugs for everyone tonight. Yes even you Lucy cat. 

So then, now that you've read the end, here's my report on coronavirus here and thoughts on what I’ve heard of it there.

Just finishing up a Thursday workday; sit down at the table and fire up the computer. Click on Facebook, first post I see is one from Japanese doctor friend here. There were a couple of kanji that I wasn't sure if I understood correctly, but what I did understand was enough to make my heart skip a beat.  I go to the googles to check...  Yep, I read it right.

All schools in Japan ordered closed 

until April over virus outbreak

Holy shit this is getting serious! 

My wife and I run a small English school here. She's off teaching a class at our Numazu (spare room at my in-law's house) classroom. I fired off a quick text asking if she'd heard. 

たいへんです！Was her reply. 

Yep, she's heard. 

Two working parents raising three kids ain't easy to say the least. Them home from school will make life even more hectic. Okay take it as it comes. We’ve gotta make some changes. What the hell are we going to do?

Maybe start with the easy stuff.  What are we not going to do?  We're probably not going to attend middle boy's 6th grade graduation ceremony; I doubt there's going to be one now, and doubt youngest girl child will get a kindergarten graduation ceremony either. Those are both real big deals in these parts but oh well, しょうがない as the locals say. That's life! 

As I sit here typing, still digesting news of schools closing and other life changes as Japan combats coronavirus, I can at least take some comfort in the fact that people here take this very seriously. You see it everywhere. There are signs posted next to hand sanitizer alcohol spray as you enter stores, businesses, schools and public places. The office lady approached me with a bottle of hand sanitizer spray as I entered a nursery school to teach this morning. Apparently they want to be sure that everyone gets their hands sanitized before entering the building. At the town gym a sign was posted next to two bottles of alcohol on a table set up in road block fashion to be sure nobody missed it.  It's the same at one big company I teach at--hand sanitizer and a box of masks at the reception desk as soon as you enter the building. The Health and Safety guy there told of half the workforce staying home and  telecommuting this week. Over the weekend a cleaning company will come in and sanitize the entire building then the other half of employees will telecommute next week. Just one step of many in order to prevent the virus's spread. Japanese news tells of countless other companies taking similar proactive measures, a lot of big events have already been canceled, and Prime Minister Abe has asked organizers to cancel or postpone other large events for the next two weeks, which is a critical period for containment of the virus. 

 They aren't f**king around with this thing!

So life has changed. It's here, and it's not going to be okay.
It is okay. 

What’s more is if any one of us gets sick, be it infected with coronavirus or something else, we've got good healthcare. It’s basically the kind of healthcare that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren my fellow Americans to have. We can choose which doctor to see. We can be tested and it will all be affordable. That's "Medicare for all". That's National Health Care. It's accessible to all. 

That's the status as of this 27th day of February, 2020.  During my 18 years here I've gone through at least one pandemic that I can recall and quite a few big flu seasons and other viruses. I've seen enough to know they take it seriously and the government, while never doing it perfectly, by and large is competent and does a good job keeping the public healthy. I can't help but wonder though, how will this unfold back in the States? I wonder as much because of more reasons that I'm willing to take the time to list. 
Here are just a few:

In 2018 the Trump administration made huge cuts in CDC budget. The top White House official in charge of combatting pandemics stepped down; the global health security team he oversaw was disbanded. It's gone. 

Last week Americans on the quarantined Princess Cruise ship off the Yokohama coast were flown back to America. Infected Americans were flown back on the same plane as non-infected ones against the CDC's recommendation.  Then a couple of days ago Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease at the CDC, said: "It's not so much a question of if this will happen anymore but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness" the same day Trump's Economic advisor said their containment of it is "pretty much airtight" and Trump tweeted it is "very much under control". Fast forward to today. Trump held a press briefing and said "We have a total of 15 people and they're in a process of recovering...
... the 15 people within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done." 

Uhm...  The total number of Americans infected is 60, with the latest being the first case of "community spread" on US soil. 

That latest one's in Northern California. Will they take similar precautions as those I described being taken here?  Trump said "soon it will be zero" number of people infected. What's he going to say when that number goes up? Will his supporters care about him talking out of his ass about this then?  Will they start caring if the virus really takes off like it has elsewhere? 

Stuff like that makes me wonder. There are times when you want good government with good scientists and people who will tell you the truth. This is one of those times. 

American expat's take on non-American meddling

I just read this and am about to share it on Facebook, but with my love and hate relationship there for all I know my account may go dormant again someday and want to keep this where I can find it so I'm posting it here as well. 

The article I shared it with is this: 

Fear Of Foreign Interference In U.S. Elections Dates From Nation's Founding

"Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence ... the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government."
~ George Washington, September 17, 1796, Farewell Address

There's a link to his farewell address in this article that I just came across while trying to put a dent in my ignorance about America's Founding Father's take on foreign interference American affairs. It's my chosen Saturday night reading assignment, or one of them at least. I don't watch TV so stuff like this happens. Perhaps deciding to share it is a lonely American expat in Japan kinda thing to do? Lonely in the sense of Kurt Vonnegut's observation: 
"if you make use of the vast fund of knowledge now available to educated persons, you are going to be lonesome as hell." 
But share anyway in light of recent events in my homeland. 

US Intelligence briefs congress; tells that Russia is meddling in US elections again. Trump's response was to fire the Acting Director of National Intelligence Adm. Joseph Maguire. 

I read a bit about Maguire; he doesn't come off as some "never Trumper" tree hugging liberal to say the least. Likely one thing I'll remember about him is he's a freak'n badass since reading he completed Navy SEAL training with a broken leg. Damn! 
It makes me wonder though... how can folks support pardoning of a SEAL accused of war crimes only to applaud (or at least turn a blind eye to) firing a SEAL because one of his aides relayed Intelligence to congress that the president didn't like? The only logical conclusion is propaganda freak'n works. 
Works well! 

Meanwhile many of the same trash another fellow American, a Presidential candidate who was briefed that Russia is trying to help him too, only he did something Trump has yet to do. He told Putin to go to hell. (in so many words)

Two men's very different reactions to being told a hostile foreign power is interfering in American affairs in an attempt to help them. 
Two Very different reactions. 
I could live as an expat till I'm 100 yet doubt I'll ever lose the "Hell yah kick ass" feeling that comes upon seeing a fellow countryman or woman tell a meddling foreign power "Don't f#@k with us! 

But while I've never been shy about pointing out how she can do better, as an American expat I have and continue to proudly tell folks in the land I'm in of all the great things about my country.  Maybe that's why I never did get the whole "again" bit. 

Anyhow... interesting read this is.