| This past week, Japan lifted the state of emergency declaration over the coronavirus. It seemed like a big win for a nation that had all the ingredients for a potentially disastrous situation: proximity to and close ties with China, lack of widespread testing, the world's oldest population and dense metropolitan areas. Yet the state of emergency was lifted in less than 2 months. At the end of it, Japan had around 16,000 cases and fewer than 1,000 deaths—by far the lowest out of the G7 countries.  Japan inched toward resuming more activities Tuesday after a dropoff in virus cases led the government to end its nationwide state of emergency. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg Discussing how Japan beat the virus despite avoiding the usual playbook of strict lockdowns or mass testing has become a national pastime. We delved into the possible factors that helped—a local community health system of nurses also trained in contact-tracing, a population that was already healthy with low obesity rates—in a story that was Bloomberg News's most-read story globally this week. The tremendous response from readers reflected how polarizing discussions around the idea of "successful" virus containment policies have become. Some nitpicked the details and wording in our story, or said that the data couldn't be relied on. Others lamented the lack of similar policies and outcomes in their own countries. Lockdowns have been so economically and socially punishing that people seem desperate for other potential solutions. Just as with the global trend of toilet paper being snatched off shelves, people are seeking for any bit of comfort—and feel disappointed when there are no clear answers. But the pandemic is revealing that nothing is black and white and it's the same thing here, even if Japan seems to have successfully contained its first wave. There's no one answer to how it succeeded, and no clarity on whether the same set of factors will work again when the second wave comes.—Lisa Du | 
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