The thing is, in Japan there is a lot of fluff happening. You can't just get tested unless you meet fairly stringent requirements, or pay for a private clinic. Private clinics aren't required to report numbers, or the government isn't reporting the numbers from private clinics.

So if you're living in Japan, you're basically flying blind, it's very hard to ready what's really going on and assess the situation.

It's also worth noting that he number of tests performed each day wildly fluctuates between 2000-9000 in Tokyo, so again, it's very hard to read. Weekend testing is far lower than weekday etc.

See https://covid19japan.com/ for more information.

My guess is, Western countries have much more transparent agencies and government watch dogs which help keep things honest, whereas Japan is a grey area when it comes to Government influence over the situation and the perception surrounding it.