Kirk here with a follow up to the post I made earlier today about needing to drive home from Narita due to quarantine rules.
Summary of two key points: 1) Document written in English orders foreigners in CAPS while Japanese version is relatively polite and subdued. 2) Return to Japan Support Group may be supporting business interests of Metroresidences (conflict of interest)
After posting about my experience (https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/5916917411714975), I thought I should double check the manual I was given at the airport to see if it says anything about what to do if one is in the process of driving home. It doesn’t. It just says “You MUST answer incoming HCO video call.” Since it doesn’t say anything about extenuating circumstances such as driving to your pre-approved place of quarantine, the impression given is that you are supposed to answer while driving. You can find that manual here:
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/000806890.pdf
It’s also interesting to compare this with the Japanese version, which you can find here:
https://www.hco.mhlw.go.jp/pdf/20210831-2-jp.pdf
It says “着信があったら必ず 応答してください。” (If you get a call, please be sure to answer.)
Do I detect a difference in tone? Sounds like foreigners need to be ordered around in capital letters while Japanese people (or people reading Japanese) get polite requests (notwithstanding the presence of the word 必ず [definitely, without fail, etc.]).
By the way, I’ve detected what I find to be an interesting twist in the Tokyo vs. regional areas dimension of this issue. The “support group” I introduced in my earlier post is sponsored by (run by?) Metroresidences:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/returntojapan
It seems that the page combines support with a little marketing: “If you need accommodation, Metroresidences is a fully licensed serviced apartment company providing over 600 weekly and monthly apartments in Tokyo. They have 14 days Ride & Stay packages starting from JPY 99,800”
Low and behold, the group also has an official policy of discouraging long-distance travel (in favor of two-week stays with Metroresidences?). I got a comment from the manager of the page implying that I should have known in advance that it wasn’t a good idea to drive from Narita to Kumamoto. Please read my response there. You may find it to be entertaining (but you’ll need to join the group in order to view it).
https://www.facebook.com/groups/returntojapan/posts/1208080356356483/