Japan has had extremely limited response, only restricting travel from China and South Korea, with no legal means of internal quarantine. The fact that their numbers are similar to countries with strict measures indicates that strict measures have not been more effective than lax measures.
Measures are being taken, and the Japanese government believes that the rate of infection is still very much growing [1]. Schools have been shut down in Japan. And while the government is not actively enforcing quarantining, that may be due to bureaucratic roadblocks. [2]
