As the コロナ禍 (korona-ka, coronavirus disaster) continues to plague populations around the world, the 記者会見 (kisha kaiken, press conference) has emerged as must-see TV for many.
One aspect of such conferences has been listening to English-speaking world leaders use the language of war when discussing the 新型コロナウイルス (shingata koronauirusu, novel coronavirus). U.S. President Donald Trump referred to himself as a "wartime president," and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson used militaristic language when he said, "In this fight we can be in no doubt that each and every one of us is directly enlisted."
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hasn't loaded his speeches with warlike expressions, but he has referred to the coronavirus as a "見えない敵" (“mienai teki," "the adversary you can't see") and attempted to rally the public with terminology like "コロナウイルスに打ち勝つ" (“koronauirusu ni uchikatsu”, “to overcome coronavirus”). (The latter expression uses the verb 打ち勝つ, which can also mean "defeat," "surmount" and "overcome.")