FRONTLINE－YOKOHAMA BAY

Frontline reconstructs the tense and chaotic early days of the pandemic through the real-life events aboard the Diamond Princess, when it became the site of one of the world’s first large-scale coronavirus outbreaks. Over 3,700 passengers and crew were suddenly trapped on board, as Japanese health authorities scrambled to contain the invisible, rapidly spreading threat.

Sekine captures the panic, confusion, and moral dilemmas faced by healthcare workers, bureaucrats and even the media. And he subtly critiques Japan’s systemic weaknesses—its delayed decision-making, its reliance on voluntary compliance, and its under-resourced medical infrastructure—without losing sight of the individual courage and cooperation that emerged in spite of those failures.

Although Frontline provides a Japanese-centric perspective on a global event that changed the course of history, it’s important to note that it’s the first major feature to tackle Covid-19 from the medical workers’ point of view, and is thus a vital reminder of the human toll behind every emergency.