Right now I am in voluntary self-quarantine after returning from overseas. When I flew into Kansai International Airport from the island of Bali on March 23, Indonesia wasn’t on the list of countries with known coronavirus infections, and local authorities had not yet asked returnees from abroad to self-isolate for two weeks. Although I am back home in Japan, I have checked into a hotel to self-isolate because I feel I pose too much of a risk to the community of 450 people, most of them elderly, where I live.

When I left Japan on Dec. 4 last year, few people had ever heard of the novel coronavirus. I flew to Europe with my husband to drive from Frankfurt to Madrid, a rambling road-trip during which we watched the crisis unfold via the TV news.

“It’s ridiculous,” said my Hungarian friend when we caught up with her in Austria. She works at a Suzuki factory in Esztergom. “The Japanese managers have removed the handles from all the doors in the plant and you have to sterilize between each room.”