Kat’s Piece #2: Warning Signs

Kat arrived in Japan as the nation was grappling with Covid-19. In this photo essay collaboration with NPR's Claire Harbage, she depicts a nation coming to terms with a pandemic in real time, as tradition confronts new realities.

“The cherry blossom season is normally an economic boom for Japan, drawing upwards of 8 million foreign tourists last year alone. This year's global pandemic has already decreased tourism significantly, at a pace that suggests it may be as bad as after the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in northeastern Japan.”