A 77 year old man in Kobe died today due to complications from H1N1, marking the second total death in Japan. Both deaths occurred in the last week, with both patients suffering other ailments in addition to the H1N1 flu. The Kobe man who died also reportedly had liver trouble, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other ailments.
The first death to H1N1 in Japan befell an Okinawa man, aged 57.
Newzjapan reported on the H1N1 virus as it broke in Japan, and over-reacted to. There have since been several minor scandals in Japan including the number of patients being underestimated in the Kansai region, criticism of the mass closings of schools in Hyogo and Osaka (and subsequent week of H1N1 partying and karaoke), and criticism of the quarantining of certain international flights while others were allowed to return home.
When H1N1 began to spread wildly it was traced to a high school boy in Kobe city who had never even been abroad, thus leading to a dead end, and making all the quarantining and thermo-imaging moot.