The COVID-19 Pandemic and Risks in East Asia: Media, Social Reactions, and Theories

Published in the wake of the global health crisis, this volume serves as an academic investigation into the sociopolitical and media-driven responses to COVID-19 within East Asian contexts. Edited by Nobuto Yamamoto, the collection gathers multidisciplinary insights to examine how regional governments, news outlets, and citizens navigated the uncertainty of the early pandemic period. It was developed to provide a comparative framework for understanding the divergence in public health strategies and social compliance across the region.

The volume is designed as an analytical resource for scholars and policy researchers, focusing on the intersection of risk perception and communication. Yamamoto and the contributing authors prioritize a critical analysis of media narratives, exploring how information flows and social anxieties shaped regional identity and state responses. Upon its release, the work was noted for its grounded, academic approach to contemporary crises, filling a gap in literature regarding the specific localized challenges faced by East Asian societies during the initial wave of the pandemic.