ABSTRACT
This chapter reveals the structure of Japanese anxiety over governance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite Japan’s relatively good control during the first wave, international comparative data demonstrate that Japanese people’s fear of infection and negative economic impact was at its highest, and evaluation of the government’s handling of the pandemic was at its lowest. Not only was there an overperception of risk, but the intensity of fear (risk perception) was positively correlated with a low evaluation of the government’s ability to deal with the crisis. Indeed, the government’s reputation continued to decline, even being referred to as the “corona defeat.” An Internet survey on the first general election of the Kishida administration in October 2021 examined the overall structure of anxiety hypothesized in Chapter 4. Japanese excessive risk perception corresponded to a newly constructed direct measure of anxiety over governance, indicating that indeed it concerned anxiety about the future direction of Japanese politics and political dysfunction. Although anxiety was reduced by perceptions of Japan’s degree of democracy, its high level was explained by the cumulative negative effects of factors such as nonfunctioning social capital, reduced party choice, and inconsistent values, thereby supporting the overall hypotheses.
