It's unlikely that you would ever confuse a Japanese person with the editor of National Geographic. I've faced more than one awkward silence after asking people: Where in the world is Canada? It got downright distressing the time I was told Canada, with its perpetual winter and domesticated polar bears, was located south of the United States. So you can imagine the uphill battle I usually faced when trying to explain the location of Toronto, my hometown. Saying it's near the easternmost of the five 'Big Seas' and 'Niagara' generally elicited a look of enlightenment and we we're able to move along from there. However, since April I would barely finish telling my junior high school students that I'm from Toronto when an anxious chorus of SARS - severe acute respiratory syndrome - would break out. A feigned cough in their direction later and they'd scurried away to put some extra space between themselves and their potentially contaminated teacher.

This Pavlovian response to my hometown is probably a reason why my family recently reported that the typically tourist-infested areas of downtown Toronto and Niagara-on-the-Lake have become virtual ghost towns. My mother insisted that there were exactly zero Asian-filled tour buses, a healthy barometer of any prominent tourist site, on her latest trip to the Shaw Festival. Amid reports that the southern Ontario tourism sector was losing $10 million (CDN) per day I decided to do my part and have begun evangelizing the marvelous features of a trip to Canada this summer to friends, colleagues and random bar staff. As a side activity I also decided to take the pulse of the Japanese nation with regards to SARS.

A highly unscientific survey of random and not-so-random people in the Kansai area revealed that all of them would jump on a free trip to Toronto, Hong Kong or Vietnam, but chose more caution when mainland China was offered. One teaching colleague's eyes lit up and he said, 'Sure! Of course! I want to visit Toronto! (His enthusiasm faded a little when he realized it wasn't an invitation I was giving him, but rather a theoretical question for my story.) So what's holding back the tourists? Well, when some of the country's largest travel agencies suspend their tours to SARS-hit areas; it's bound to have an impact. Until early June, JTB Corp., Kinki Nippon Tourist Co. and Nippon Travel Agency Co. were all unwilling to take a chance that Japanese tourists would bring back SARS on their account, so they sensibly restricted their package-tour operations until the Foreign Ministry eased its travel warnings. It is unlikely that Japanese travelers, who are usually meticulous planners, could arrange and embark on trips to these locations within a month or two. In addition, other areas also felt an impact from the outbreak with the Australian Tourism Commission reporting a 15-20% drop per week in tourist arrivals during the crisis' peak. Combined with an already wary outlook of North America because of the Iraqi war and it's only natural that Japanese are staying closer to home. It looks like tourism is going to take some time to get back on its feet this year.

Now, what about a trip to Japan, you ask? Good question. Well, staff at the Japan National Tourist Organization noted that, 'This year tourist numbers are noticeably reduced compare to last year. But they also added that the biggest drop has occurred among American tourists which leaves open to speculation whether SARS, the Iraqi war or the economy is the primary factor. However, Kyoto City Tourist Information also noticed a drop-off in the usual influx of travelers from SARS-hit Asian countries and an increase in the number of inquisitive Japanese phone calls related to the disease. So on behalf of cautious travelers everywhere I decided to at least check if any SARS-related fears are justified.

It seems as though it was simply a stroke of good luck that prevented Japan from being subjected to its own SARS outbreak. Obviously far more intertwined with its Asian-Pacific neighbours than Toronto, it somehow survived 40 suspected cases and the incident of the Taiwanese doctor who was diagnosed with SARS after returning home. While Kansai International Airport's quarantine station and the government's initial response to the case left a lot to be desired, it looks like the need for vigilance has sunk in. A friend, John Inglis, reported in late May that upon his arrival in Tokyo from Toronto he was greeted with posters up around [Narita International Airport] saying that if you've been to any of these SARS-affected areas or have any of the usual symptoms not to travel and to go see a doctor. There was [also] a person who had a thermal body-imaging scanner. The scanners are part of new government regulations requiring their use, in addition to the presence of qualified medical personnel at airport quarantine stations. However, if you have any questions about the quarantine procedures you're better off going to the government or airports' websites because trying to get any information by phone without any Japanese-language skills is like trying to drive around Tokyo without a GPS map-system. You might find what you're looking for, but there will be plenty of trial-and-error along the way. I went through three people saying, 'Sorry, I don't speak English,' before using my rudimentary Japanese skills to confirm Narita's procedures.

Japan's earnest health-care workers are also readying themselves for any eventuality with an eye toward next winter's flu season. I visited Dr. Seiko Ohno of the Infection Control Department at Kyoto Red Cross Hospital and came away with mixed feelings. Hospitals are also equipped with highly visible SARS posters (Japanese-only), timely updates of the global situation for staff and a plan to handle suspected cases. This plan has been modeled on the highly successful approach of Vietnam, which reined in its SARS outbreak faster than any other affected area, using designated hospitals for identification and treatment of cases. These centers are funded and equipped with all the materials and expertise needed to treat affected patients. And other hospitals with experience in infectious diseases are likewise well-prepared. That's the good news.

Unfortunately, there are some holes. The first is that hospitals without dedicated Infection Control centers like Kyoto Red Cross, will not have the resources necessary to protect their staff. The second is that doctors do not have the power to quarantine suspected cases. Dr. Ohno remarked, 'I cannot stop a patient from going home. I would like to do that, but it's against current laws.' Recently, the national government has devolved some powers to the prefectural level, but the actual front-line workers still seem to be lacking significant authority in this famously hierarchical society. And despite widespread calls for a national SARS chief, nothing has come to fruition yet.

The immediate threat of SARS has receded from the average Japanese psyche, but clearly affected travel plans this year. I'm sure traditional Japanese hotspots like Niagara Falls and the Gold Coast are hoping it's only a temporary condition and that the World Health Organization's recent announcement that SARS has been contained will encourage people to travel during this summer's break. And while it was belated, Japanese officialdom has taken measures to ensure it remains SARS-free. Whether they have gone far enough (and critics point to the vulnerability of the sealed and tightly packed public transport facilities as Exhibit A) remains to be seen.

The following websites provide information about SARS in Japan and worldwide:

WHO (World Health Organization)
www.who.int/csr/sars/en

Infectious Disease Surveillance Center
www.idsc.nih.go.jp/index-r.html

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
www.mhlw.go.jp/english/index.html

Airports
www.kansai-airport.or.jp/english
www.narita-airport.or.jp/airport_e/index.html

Japan National Tourist Organization
www.jnto.go.jp