Japan Tries to Head Off Toilet Paper Panic Stoked by Iran War Fears

Japan’s government urged citizens not to panic-buy toilet paper as social media posts suggest people are starting to stockpile daily necessities out of concern over the war in the Middle East.

Hoarding toilet paper became a phenomenon in Japan at the time of the 1973 oil shock, which triggered the country’s first postwar economic contraction. More recently, the devastating earthquake and tsunami of 2011 and the Covid pandemic triggered similar behavior patterns.