The virus is thought to have spread widely at February’s Sapporo Snow Festival, which attracts thousands of visitors

Brown bears stalk the countryside and residents live in a perpetual state of high alert over five active volcanos and summer monsoons.

The people of Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan, thought that they could strike Covid-19 from their list of worries when quick action in late February stamped out new infections in three weeks.

The virus returned with a vengeance, however, when governors reopened schools and sent people back to work on March 18. A new state of emergency was declared in the prefecture last week after cases rose from one or two a day to more than 300.

Hokkaido is a world away from Scotland, in air miles and in culture, but in terms of population size and density, economy, politics, and