At a hastily called news conference Saturday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had two hurdles in mind that he was determined to take on. Both had a common theme: invisibility.

The first, and most obvious was Japan's growing COVID-19 outbreak — which he described as an "invisible and unknown enemy" terrorizing the country. The second, and less apparent, was the surging criticism of his leadership that he had been "invisible" for an entire month since the virus' first case on Japanese soil was confirmed in late January.

In the rare 36-minute weekend broadcast from the Prime Minister's Office, Abe made an unusually emotional appeal for public cooperation and attempted to soften the blow of his government's abrupt and disruptive containment measures.