The death of actor-comedian Ken Shimura in late March made Japanese people keenly aware of the danger of the new coronavirus, according to a recent internet survey.
The survey was led by Yoshiaki Hashimoto, a professor at Tokyo Women's Christian University in information social psychology, from April 15-17 and received responses from about 3,200 people.
Asked to cite one or more incidents that made them realize the danger, the largest number of respondents, at 61%, said the death of Shimura. Next was the government's state of emergency declaration at 42%, and the daily number of confirmed cases in Tokyo surpassing 100 at 41%.
In late February, fake news that toilet rolls would soon be in short supply because it had become impossible to import them from China started spreading online. Of the respondents, 35% said they had heard this fake news. When asked where they heard it, 34% said on TV and 32% said on the internet.
Those who believed the information and subsequently bought toilet paper made up 6%, while 4% of respondents believed the news and ran out to buy some but couldn't. On the other hand, 13% said they did not believe the news but bought toilet rolls anyway, and 11% did not believe the news but tried to buy some anyway to no avail. The survey shows there were quite a few people who rushed out to buy toilet paper even though they did not believe the information, which probably led to the shortage in shops and the ensuing confusion.
"When people who saw the fake news on TV but didn't believe it went to a supermarket, they found that there were indeed very few toilet rolls on the shelves. Their mind-set of purchasing spare rolls in advance probably contributed to more confusion," Hashimoto said.
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