Earlier this week, toilet paper was widely available nearly everywhere in Japan. Now, it’s selling out at places throughout the country because of coronavirus. Here’s how this happened.
Rumours had been circulating that the raw materials used to make toilet paper couldn’t be imported and would thus cause shortages. With it already difficult to purchase sickness masks (and people lining up mornings when drugstores do get them in) in Japan, the toilet paper rumours seemed conceivable.
マジかww
トイレットペーパーないじゃんww
高いのしかないじゃんww
ウェットテッシュもないし、売り場ガラッとし過ぎだろww#トイレットペーパー売り切れ#熊本 pic.twitter.com/qQXYd9Bq4K— 嘉穂 (@kahoaroma) February 26, 2020
Even more so after photos of shops in Kumamoto Prefecture showed toilet paper sold out—most likely sparked by the rumours! It seemed like a local problem because while images circulated online, it was still possible to walk into many stores earlier this morning elsewhere in Japan and purchase toilet paper. Sell-outs became more and more common by late afternoon and evening. Tissues and paper towels were also vanishing from store shelves. Near where I live in Osaka all the toilet paper is already gone.
Seems everyone is panic buying toilet roll. Barely a single customer in my local supermarket isn’t walking out with a few dozen rolls clutched firmly in their grasp.
After the inevitable apocalypse, toilet paper will become the new currency. Money will soon be no more. pic.twitter.com/2KugRUMVH2— Chris Broad (@AbroadInJapan) February 28, 2020
No tissues or toilet paper here too pic.twitter.com/zamBhtRP0d
— Gaijinhunter (@aevanko) February 28, 2020
Well that escalated quickly. Japanese government closes all schools due to #coronavirus fears, everyone panic buys toilet paper, tissues, and diapers. Shit’s about to get real, folks pic.twitter.com/SRkzYqTwcV
— ᴊᴛQᴜɪɢʟᴇʏ (@JTQuigley) February 28, 2020
I concede pic.twitter.com/iT6hXAUD1H
— Gaijinhunter (@aevanko) February 28, 2020
However, the initial rumours about the difficulty of importing from China are completely unfounded. As Chukyo TV reports, only 2.3 per cent of the toilet paper sold in Japan is dependent on Chinese manufacturing. When these rumours were first circulating, some people uploaded images to Twitter showing domestically-sold toilet paper packaging, which clearly state 日本製 or “made in Japan.”
“None of the member companies have run out of such (paper) products,” a representative of Japan’s toilet paper industry told Mainichi News. Even if they temporarily disappear from store shelves, they can be replenished quickly.” The Japanese government is also urging people not to hoard toilet paper, NHK reports.
Yet…
トイレットペーパーの買いだめで濃厚接触しまくり、こんなに滑稽なことある？？
食料だったらわかるよ？？冷静になろうよ pic.twitter.com/mcqHDeeTsJ— Shin (@sinkansei) February 28, 2020
None of this has stopped panic-buying or unscrupulous people trying to flip toilet paper at a premium.
Oh nice only 50 dollars for this pack that normally cost like 8 on amazon japan, resellers only on amazon like what the fuck pic.twitter.com/Gi1w8dBkCS
— Gaijinhunter (@aevanko) February 28, 2020
トイレットペーパーの転売を阻止したい人たちが注意書きとか怒りとかを出品してる pic.twitter.com/FuLglwmXRe
— 美麗✌️✌️Ｚ✌️✌️ (@mirei178) February 28, 2020
デマのせいでトイレットペーパー、生理用品、ティッシュが売り切れ続出。
今回、新型肺炎よりも怖いと思ったのが「転売屋」。
普段200〜300円程度で買えるものが、ありえない値段……。
火事場の金稼ぎは許したらいけない。
相場よりも高く売っているアカウントは停止するべき！#転売ヤーを許すな pic.twitter.com/68xoz9r4Kk— tally(タリー) | 転勤族ライター @仙台 (@tally19890712) February 28, 2020
This is the 2020 addition to the Toilet Paper Panic scenario: people selling TP on auction sites at ridiculous prices, and other people making fake listings warning that there’s no shortage. (デマです means “it’s a false rumor”) pic.twitter.com/QZ9GjDndVY
— Makiko Itoh (伊藤牧子) (@makiwi) February 28, 2020
This toilet paper panic is not a first for Japan. After the March 11, 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, hoarding caused shortages. But even before that, back in 1973, there were even toilet paper riots in Japan. Here’s Matt Alt, author of Pure Invention, explaining how that went down:
With Tokyoites panic-buying paper products across the city, this seems like a relevant time to revisit a similar moment from 40+ years ago: the 1973 Toilet Paper Riots. I write about this in “Pure Invention,” but here’s the scoop. 1/5 pic.twitter.com/Sd8FQK4PJ8
— Matt Alt (@Matt_Alt) February 28, 2020
In Nov. 1973, a badly worded ad led residents of an Osaka suburb to believe toilet paper was next. It wasn’t, but local housewives battled to snap up 500 packages in an hour. News coverage of the spectacle sparked runs in other cities. Stampedes sent many to the hospital. 3/5 pic.twitter.com/vBaMrkejSJ
— Matt Alt (@Matt_Alt) February 28, 2020
The morning after, a full-fledged toilet paper panic ensued as Americans sieged grocery stores across the US. The Toilet Paper riots are an early, and weird, example of a Japanese trend going viral abroad, even if many Americans didn’t realize the source. 5/5
— Matt Alt (@Matt_Alt) February 28, 2020
Hopefully, unlike in 1973, Japan’s toilet-paper panic-buying won’t spread to other countries.
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