With Tokyoites panic-buying paper products across the city, this seems like a relevant time to revisit a similar moment from 40+ years ago: the 1973 Toilet Paper Riots. I write about this in “Pure Invention,” but here’s the scoop. 1/5 
The Toilet Paper Riots weren’t caused by viral fears, but economic ones. The world was reeling from an Arab oil embargo. It led to price hikes on all sorts of goods — what Japanese call kyoran bukka, “out of control prices.” Fears of shortages gripped the nation. 2/5
In Nov. 1973, a badly worded ad led residents of an Osaka suburb to believe toilet paper was next. It wasn’t, but local housewives battled to snap up 500 packages in an hour. News coverage of the spectacle sparked runs in other cities. Stampedes sent many to the hospital. 3/5
Then something even stranger happened. American newspaper reports about the riots in Japan sparked unfounded rumors that similar shortages were inevitable Stateside as well. They grew so prevalent that Johnny Carson cracked a joke about them. 4/5
The morning after, a full-fledged toilet paper panic ensued as Americans sieged grocery stores across the US. The Toilet Paper riots are an early, and weird, example of a Japanese trend going viral abroad, even if many Americans didn’t realize the source. 5/5
