#BocconiCorrespondents. From Nagoya, Giorgio Colombo

Greetings from Nagoya, Japan!
Life in Nagoya is going on almost normally. Most people are wearing face masks, but this in Japan is normal, especially during the winter or allergy season. The idea has always been that when you are sneezing or coughing you should protect others.

With a few exceptions, shops are still open, it is still possible to get out and do physical exercise: notwithstanding a nation-wide declared national state of emergency, the Government is basically just recommending avoiding "unessential outings" and social gatherings.

Japan was one of the first countries to be affected by the COVID-19 outbreak in late January 2020, but the Government had put an enormous effort in controlling (or, according to some, downplaying) the situation: an old-school, intensive contact tracing carried out through investigative techniques helped containing the first clusters.

However, recently things became more serious, and now Japan is experiencing a series of outbreaks which cannot be clearly traced. Also, the country had decided already early on to deviate from WHO guidance, and limited testing to the bare minimum: this of course kept numbers low, but also prevented the authorities to get a clear picture of the situation.
Now the number of registered cases went from less than 1,000 to more than 9,000 in a few weeks, and the pace is accelerating. Still, both the central and local governments are insisting on soft social-distancing. This is a huge bet, and the risk is very high: anyway, let us hope Japan is still able to contain the problem.

University life has been of course affected: all classes were moved online, and, albeit with some resistance, also administrative meetings do not take place in person anymore. Now we are all catching up with videoconferencing software, but things are going reasonably smoothly.

Travelling abroad has always been one of the key components of my work. My university has several projects going on in Cambodia, Myanmar, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and other countries. Now that international traveling has come to a grinding halt, the academic community is also grounded, and I deeply miss the freedom and the deep sense of belonging to that international environment. But let us not give up, and let us find new and creative ways to continue our cooperation and exchange!

In closing, I would like to convey my greetings to the Bocconi community, my fellow Alumni, and my beloved city of Milan. Stay strong and be safe: this will end, and once is over we will need to be energetic and creative!