April 24 2020 – In countries like the Netherlands, stereotypes of ‘authoritarian’ and ‘obedient’ Asian societies have been used to explain why Europeans need more ‘liberal’ responses to COVID-19. In this podcast Kyohei Yamada helps us untangle some of these ideas, detailing Japan’s peculiarly non-intrusive measures, and pointing to the unique historical and constitutional factors that explain their approach. In addition, Kyohei chats yakuza, pachinko- and of course: mascots!