Japanese Policy Responses to the Spanish Flu Pandemic

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Live Poster Session:
Thursday, July 29th 1:45pm – 2:45pm EDT

Zoom link: https://wesleyan.zoom.us/j/91719445025?pwd=NDdnL053cGc0Y3d6UFl4eXMrbXg4UT09

Ransho Ueno
Ransho Ueno

Ransho is a rising junior (’23) double majoring in Government and Science in Society Program with a minor in Data Analysis from Tokyo, Japan. She graduated from Shibuya Junior and Senior High School. She has a strong interest in the intersection of healthcare, technology, and public policy. Outside of work, she likes to run, cook, watch anime, and play chess. After Wesleyan, she hopes to pursue a graduate program in either public policy or law.

Abstract: Spanish Flu occurred a century ago, bringing 500 million infections and 50 million deaths worldwide. However, it has not been studied globally, and it is known as a “forgotten pandemic.” Thus, this study aimed to understand how public health policies during the Spanish Flu pandemic differed by prefecture and how they contributed to the differences in cases and deaths in Japan. We first created the dataset including monthly cases, deaths, and public health policies by prefecture recorded in the document published by the Home Ministry. Then, five policy variables – prevention awareness, facial coverings wearing, facial coverings supply, treatment, and vaccination – were created by quantifying policies written in the document. We first found that public health policies greatly differed by prefecture, indicating that Japan had a decentralized government at that time. Besides, prefectures with better prevention awareness policies had lower death rates during the second wave (September 1919 ~ July 1920) of the pandemic, suggesting the effectiveness of public health communication. Most importantly, this novel dataset would be beneficial for future studies addressing further policy analysis during the Spanish Flu in Japan.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?url
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