Not tryng to shit on your point, but Japan fudges the shit out of numbers, particularly those related to death. Find a guy shot in the face at home, no gun to be found? Have two days gone by without finding a suspect? Suicide!

Are their real numbers still lower per capita? Yes, probably, but that owes to many factors, probably the greatest of which is a lower number of Chinese nationals visiting Japan from Wuhan. Hell, statistically, they were most likely infected from an American who got infected in San Fran from a Chinese national.