As many across the country continue to spend an unprecedented amount of time at home amid the coronavirus outbreak, parallels are being drawn with another period in history that offered a similar social landscape: the Showa Era (1926-89).
Most Japanese people who are older than 50 are quick to highlight memories of their time as a child before the introduction of modern technology changed life permanently.
It was a time in which sewing machines were common at home, groceries were delivered to a family’s front door and people wore face masks when they caught colds. Right now, that all sounds eerily familiar.