翻訳 68 (w)

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%87%AA%E7%B2%9B%E8%AD%A6%E5%AF%9F

The self restraint police (自粛警察, jishuku keisatsu), also known as virus vigilantes, is a Japanese colloquialism and internet slang [1][2][3] that refers to the trend of members of the general public privately “policing” and attacking individuals and stores that do not comply with government requests to exercise self restraint in activities such as leaving the house and operating businesses. These actions are said to be motivated by a biased sense of justice, jealousy or anxiety. It is a social trend that emerged as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), and came after the declaration of a state of emergency based on Article 32 of the Act on Special Measures for Pandemic Influenza and New Infectious Diseases Preparedness and Response. Other Japanese terms with similar meanings used for this phenomenon include コロナ自警団 (korona jikeidan) [4][5][6][7][8], 自粛自警団 (jishuku jikeidan) [9][10][11][12][13][14], 自粛ポリス (jishuku porisu) [15].

The acts of reporting of others and spreading gossip despite the requests for “self restraint” still granting individuals freedom to choose their own actions stirred up associations to historical phenomena, such as the “mutual mass surveillance society” (in which citizens monitor each other while being monitored by the state) that occurred under the National Spiritual Mobilization Movement, as well as the slogan, “Want for nothing until we win,” which was used in Japan during World War Two. The phenomenon became a topic of conversation on Twitter and other social media sites, with users comparing the self restraint police to the wartime tonarigumi, which were neighborhood associations and also police informants [16].

As of July 2020, other terms have also emerged, such as マスク警察 (masuku keisatsu, mask police), 正義中毒 (seigi chuudoku, justice addiction) [17], and 正義厨 (seigi chuu, justice troll).

1 Overview

2 Cases of people being targeted

3 Illegality

4 Psychology

5 Reactions of experts and public figures

6 Cases outside of Japan

6.1 United States

6.2 China

6.3 South Korea

7 Others

Overview

In 2020, many countries in Europe enforced a lockdown in various cities and regions as a measure to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus. As this was legally impossible in Japan, the Japanese government and a number of local governments requested that citizens exercise “self restraint” with regard to going outside. Difficulties emerged when some people developed an excessive interest in the conduct of others and looked to interfere in their decisions.

According to Kyodo News, in Osaka Prefecture, where private facilities had been requested to close, the prefectural call center received over 500 calls relating to shops that were still open as of April 20. In Aichi Prefecture, over 220 calls about problems and complaints related to the coronavirus reached the Aichi Prefecture police headquarters via 110, the police emergency telephone number, in April alone, five times as many as there had been in March, when they received 40. So much information was reported about people not complying with the request for business closures and reduced trips out of the house, with the vast majority being non-emergency calls, that it posed the potential to hinder police work [18]. Identifying individuals and shops that did not comply with the closure request on social media, harassing children playing outside and pasting slanderous posters on the shutters of closed shops at night became known on the Internet as the actions of the “self restraint police” [16][15][19]. In some cases, the behavior went beyond identifying individuals on social media, and resulted in the dissemination of factually incorrect information [2][19]. Nurses became targets of the self constraint police, either because they used cars with license plates from other prefectures or were seen with travel bags on trains and mistaken for being travellers, while there have also been cases of stones being thrown at the houses of health care workers [20]. Combatting these kind of “policing” behaviors, motivated by a distorted sense of justice or jealousy, has been fraught with difficulty [21][22].

The phrase “self restraint police” began to appear on the Internet from early to mid-April, and at its height 500 mentions were recorded a day by Yahoo! JAPAN real time search. After a morning wide show (news and talk show) on April 28 picked up on the story, a number of public figures tweeted about the rising term “self constraint police” and their disapproval of the associated behaviors, and on April 29, the start of golden week, the number of Internet searches for the term exceeded 7,000. The number of searches remained high from that point on. A report on NHK on May 9 broadcast interviews with people who had engaged in “self restraint police” behavior, with one saying “I have no intention of acting like the 'self restraint police,'” while another interviewee said, “People who don't make an effort to prevent the spread of the virus go about their lives freely - it's only the people being careful who are getting worn out. Doing these kinds of things is the only way to improve the situation” [1].

While the government's request for restaurants and other establishments to close was not compulsory, and the judgment as to whether to open one's business or not was left to proprietors, no compensation payment system was provided in Japan, which meant many business owners were confronted with the threat of bankruptcy. In Germany, for example, urgent support payments were offered, with businesses with less than ten employees given a maximum of approximately 1,800,000 yen ($16,900 USD) over three months, while businesses with less than five employees paid a maximum of approximately 1,070,000 yen ($10,100 USD). In addition, there was a short-time work benefit system in Germany, even before the spread of the novel coronavirus. Under the system, employers are required to reduce the working hours of their workers, after which the government compensates workers with a portion of the reduced wages. This system was applied with flexibility in response to the financial implications of the coronavirus. With cases of self restraint police activity continuing, critics have emphasized the insufficiency of legislation in Japan [16].

Cases of people being targeted

There has been criticism of people who do not wear masks, despite the wearing of masks not being required in law [16].

- When a photograph of NHK announcer Kuwako Maho on a date with a man appeared in a weekly photograph magazine, Kuwako became a target of criticism as she was not wearing a mask [16].

Shops have also been targeted for not exercising self control, at times mistakenly [3].

- In Yachiyo in Chiba Prefecture, posters were put up on a dagashiya candy shop reading, “Don't let children congregate. Close your shop,” despite the fact that it had been closed since the end of March [2].

- In Tokyo, posters reading, “Are you really still opening during all this?” and “Restrain your activities. Next time the police will be called,” were put up on izayaka and live bars that had complied with government requests and reduced working hours [2].

- When a restaurant in Yokohama Chinatown displayed a poster reading “Closed today,” it was graffitied with phrases such as, “Stay closed!” “Go bankrupt,” and “Go die” [23].

Notable was uninvited contact with businesses that interpreted government advice to be voluntary and continued to operate. Animosity was particularly directed towards pachinko parlors that continued to open [24]. This is despite the fact that no cases of packinko parlors becoming the source of an outbreak were confirmed until July 2020 [25].

Particularly at risk were people mistaken for travellers [22], people returning home [22], and cars with number plates from different prefectures [2].

- In Tokushima Prefecture, a number of cars with number plates from other prefectures were damaged or tailgated. Stickers reading “Resident of this prefecture” went on sale in various places for use as self defense, and the government even issued proof of prefecture residency certificates. It has been argued however that this may have fostered discrimination [26].

Children playing in parks have also been targeted [27].

A number of letters were sent to The Japan Sumo Association and sumo heya (or stable) during the period when government advice on self restraint applied, informing the authorities that sumo wrestlers had gone outside. Most of these correspondences were anonymous and also groundless, and in one case, a sumo wrestler had only been outside to buy Chanko-nabe (sumo wrestlers' stew) [28].

Illegality

According to lawyer Honma Hisao, behavior of the so-called self restraint police could fall into various categories of criminal behavior [29].

- The Minor Offenses Act, Article 1 Section 33: in cases of posters being attached to stores without permission.

- Forcible Obstruction of Business (Penal code, Article 234): in cases where store mangers are inflicted with physical and mental exhaustion as a result of abusive language written on posters.

- Coercion (Penal code, Article 223): in cases where posters threaten to harm the life, body and property of the recipient in their demands for self restraint.

- Contempt (Penal code, Article 231): in cases of posters containing offensive phrases.

In civil matters, in line with civil law Article 709, in cases where posters lead to a reduction in customers as a result of defamation of character or obstruction of business, or the proprietor and employees experiencing emotional distress, it may be possible for individuals to receive damages for the lost profits due to a reduction in sales as well as compensation [29].

At a press conference on May 3, 2020, in regards to behavior of the so-called self restraint police, Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide said, “I hope that those who violate laws will be dealt with appropriately by the relevant organizations” [30].

In addition to the above, there have been cases of stones being thrown at the houses of people who had been infected with coronavirus or were suspected of having been infected, as well as blades having been scattered in sand pits to dissuade parents from letting their children play in parks.

Psychology

According to Fuji Kazuhiko, researcher at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, it is known in psychology that, “When diligent workers who don't begrudge making sacrifices for others encounter the unreasonable behavior of others, they feel desperate to teach that person a lesson by any means possible, without considering their own losses.” It has also been established that behavior motivated by righteous indignation is linked to the neurotransmitter serotonin, a chemical released within the body. The lower the levels of serotonin a person has in their body, the more altruistic behavior they display, but also the lower their tolerance is of unreasonable behavior. It has been claimed that Japanese people have the lowest levels of serotonin in the brain than of any other people in the world. Fuji argues that it can be said that the phenomenon of “self restraint police” is a negative side of one of the strengths of the Japanese people [1].

Reactions of experts and public figures

The commentator Manabe Atsushi is quoted as having said, “It is a scene of Hell, which has arisen like a voluntary organization that no politician asked for,” and “One can feel the presence of this insidious mutual surveillance of fellow citizens; this mayhem of peer pressure which ignores individual circumstances is rampant” [31].

Miyadai Shinji, sociologist and professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University, explained the mentality of the so-called self restraint police thusly, “These people conform to others around them in an effort to feel safe in a crisis. Like bullying, they feel jealous of those who act differently to themselves, and they attack or criticise in order to reduce their own anxiety.” He also appealed for understanding, saying, “We have to understand that personal circumstances differ among people, and the best way to act in a crisis also depends on the person” [32].

Singer-songwriter Sada Masashi said that it was “cowardly” that the majority of self restraint police remain anonymous, and criticized their actions as one-sided, coercive and overbearing [33].

On “Wide na Show,” in which he appears on as a commentator, Matsumoto Hitoshi, of comedy duo Downtown, said in remarks about the prevalence of the self constraint police, “It's to be expected. We've thought all along that things would be difficult, right?” He went on to say, “Soon there will be a police to police the self restraint police. It's a scramble for the top” [34].

Cases outside of Japan

Contrary to the request for self restraint in Japan, governments in many countries prohibited people from leaving their homes after declaring a state of emergency. This left the police to crack down on people going outside and issue fines to people who violate restrictions, or in some cases, require people to do push ups as punishment [35][36].

United States

Citizens have been anxious about whether other people are abiding by coronavirus counter-measures even in the United States. At a press conference in the White House Rose Garden in response to emerging coronavirus cases, ABC News reporter Jon Karl took and uploaded to Twitter a photo of White House correspondents wearing masks, with only person not wearing a mask being John Roberts from FOX News, which is complimentary towards Trump to the point of ridicule. In response, Roberts tweeted, “Facts - I was quietly seated more than 6' away from the closest person (adhering to CDC social distancing guidelines). When the press conference began, I put mask on. So - what, exactly is the basis for this petty effort at shaming????” Twitter users tweeted photos of people shopping in town centers who, like Karl, were not wearing masks, which led to a flood of messages from others labelling them as hypocrites. Ultimately Karl apologized to Roberts [37].

China

In the People's Republic of China, due to a large increase in the number of cases around the time of the Spring Festival, tipping off the authorities about people returning home from Hubei Province was encouraged in some areas [38], and many properties of people returning home had things like chains and planks attached to them [39].

South Korea

In the Republic of Korea, criticism was targeted mainly at celebrities, with photos of celebrities away from their homes on social media receiving a barrage of critical comments. For example, photos of a family holiday uploaded to Instagram by announcer and host Park Ji-Yoon attracted a large number of critical comments. When her husband and KBS announcer Choi Dong Seok was inundated with comments requesting him to leave his show, Park posted an explanation and apologized. Singers Kahi and Ko Ji-yong also uploaded photos of a walk with their families to social media, only to receive a deluge of comments commanding them to stay inside [40].

Others

In May, a Japanese-style inn at a hot spring in Ishikawa Prefecture began offering a special “self restraint police plan.” The online post advertising the overnight plan garnered over 130,000 likes and over 60,000 retweets. It referred to a righteous organization known as “the self restraint police,” which had been in the news for hunting number plates from other prefectures, attaching posters to restaurants and other forms of harassment, using its special moves, “Stone Throw,” “Poster Cutter,” “Telephone Thunder,” and “Social Media Flaming,” to crack down on the villains not exercising self restraint. The sarcasm-laden advertisement then enticed potential customers, members of the “police,” to refresh their mind and body at their facilities and enjoy a high class banquet, as a way for both parties to set aside their differences. The post ends with a message calling for an cessation of the extreme behavior associated with the self restraint police and a disclaimer that 50% of the accommodation fee advertised at the top would be donated to health care professionals fighting coronavirus within Ishikawa Prefecture and their families [20][41].

It is thought that the term “self restraint police” originated as internet slang, although there are people who consider that, as the phrase “self restraint police” enters common use after being featured on wide shows and other television programs, some people will be lead to believe their actions are justified [42].