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Latest coronavirus news Japan
Last updated 30 September, 10:00 GMT
September summary
There has been a slow but steady decline in cases in Japan this month, since the surge in July and August. As a result there have been encouraging steps in easing travel restrictions to Japan, including allowing travel for mid- and long-term visitors, as well as plans to open up the country to visitors from Australia and New Zealand from as early as October. We have the latest news, statistics, travel updates and reports from our team on the ground in Japan.
This page covers the latest news regarding coronavirus in Japan. For the latest Travel Updates visit our dedicated page here.
Coronavirus statistics
Japan coronavirus stats
How does Japan compare to other countries?
What's happened so far in Japan?
Commentary
Did Japan have a lockdown?
Is Japan out of lockdown?
Everyday life
Regional variation
What's open now?
What safety measures are in place?
What's the general attitude among Japanese people?
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How does Japan compare to compare to other countries?
It is important to first point out that comparisons between countries is extremely difficult to do so accurately, as different countries have different amounts of testing, define COVID19 positive cases and deaths differently and release data at different times. To make things more comparable, we've included some graphs from ourworldindata.org using cases per million to help get a better idea of how Japan is faring compared to other parts of the world. Click here to find more comparisons and explanations of the data.
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Country comparison: Daily new cases per million
This first graph really puts into perspective the spike in the above daily cases in Japan graph (on this graph it is the second 'spike' in burgandy). We can see that when compared to other countries that daily confirmed cases per million in Japan are significantly lower than the US and UK, and slightly lower than Australia. We need to bear in mind here that these are confirmed cases only, and actual cases are likely to be higher – this is due to limited testing. As we discuss in the commentary section, Japan has differed from other countries by focussing testing on clusters rather than making it more widely available.
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Country comparison: Daily new deaths per million
Daily confirmed deaths in Japan from COVID19 are also significantly lower than the US, and slightly lower than the UK and Australia when measuring per million people. Again, we need to remember that due to limited testing and decisions on attribution of cause of death, the actual death toll is likely much higher. Countries may also record deaths differently and at different times.
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To try and mitigate some of the issues with counting confirmed COVID19 deaths, analysts have been trying to compare what is termed 'excess mortality'. This refers to the number of deaths above what we would have expected to see under 'normal' conditions. Analysts like using it because it should give us a greater indication of the total death toll rather than the confirmed deaths due to COVID19. It should also avoid discrepancies such as not counting deaths in homes rather than hospitals, untested individuals, inaccurate death reporting systems and increased (or fewer) deaths from other causes due to the pandemic.
Unfortunately, the data here is less easy to come by - few countries have statistical agencies that can or will accurately report the number of people that have died in a given month, week or even day-to-day. The figures for Japan for example, are currently only available up until April 2020. However, the data shows that remarkably, excess mortality in Japan was down on previous years in the first 3 months of 2020 - a 0.7% fall from the average of the same period in the last five years (Japan Times).
By contrast, between 7th March - 5th June, the UK saw a 43% rise in deaths compared to ?normal' levels (BBC News). In the US the number of deaths was 16% higher than average between 16th February - 2nd May (BBC News). (Note that the BBC article reports Japan's deaths as being 0.3% higher than average). An ABC News study found that there was no significant rise in deaths in Australia when taking into account population increases.
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What's happened so far in Japan?
What approach has the Japanese government taken regarding covid19? Was there a lockdown? Are things open now? We go into more detail below.
Commentary
What is most striking from these above statistics are the all-round low numbers. Confirmed cases, deaths, active cases and numbers tested are still all very low in Japan compared with hotspots such as Europe, the United States and Brazil. So why is this?
Numerous theories have been provided so far, from the more reasonable - residents' access to universal healthcare (Forbes), early and effective communication for the public to avoid closed, crowded spaces with close-contact (the three C's), and cultural norms of mask-wearing (Japan Times) - to the more far-fetched, for example that Japanese is spoken more delicately than other languages and therefore speakers emit fewer spit particles! (Japan Times)
The most comprehensive articles we have seen on this are to be found on BBC News and much earlier during the pandemic in the Nikkei Asian Review. In a piece titled "Japan's coronavirus response is flawed - but it works", Kitasato University visiting professor Andy Crump details how Japan's intense focus on clusters has helped the country defy the grim forecasts. Interestingly, Prof Crump highlights that this approach has resulted from lessons learned during the quarantine of the Diamond Princess back in February. Other news outlets have also since pointed to Japan's contact-tracing system as a key reason to it's low numbers (Straits Times).
With the low number of deaths and hospital occupancy and ICU in Japan now well within capacity, the head of the WHO stated on Monday 25th May that the Japanese response to the outbreak has to date been a success (Kyodo News).
A recent report from Nissei Research (Japanese only) that analysed countries' ability to control infections while maintaining economic activity ranked Japan 9th among 49 countries. The report, whose analysis included number of infected people, spread of infection, fatality rate, as well as reduction in GDP, ranked the UK 43rd, the US 41st, and Australia 7th.
It seems therefore at this stage we can be cautiously optimistic that despite the recent upturn in cases in Tokyo the country has managed the initial outbreak successfully. Prof Crump concludes that "It is impossible to predict what will happen now. But an objective, rational analysis of the data indicates that the Japan model for tackling COVID-19 appears to be sound and practical."
This bodes well for tourism and the Japanese economy at large. With countries around the world feeling huge economic ramifications from the spread of coronavirus, the Nikkei Asian Review has reported that Japan has seen a significant rebound in the stock market, along with Taiwan in 'leading the way in Asia'.A great way to learn more about the situation in Japan is this recent podcast from the BBC, "Did Japan get lucky?" (also available overseas).
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Did Japan have a lockdown?
Japan is an anomaly in how they handled the initial outbreak. Instead of enforcing a country-wide or city-wide lockdowns, the government declared a state of emergency in stages across the country. After a worrying rise in cases at the end of March and beginning of April, the government initially announced the state of emergency for seven prefectures (including Tokyo and Osaka) on 7th April, and later expanded this to the entire country on 16th April.
The state of emergency encouraged "non-essential" businesses to shutter their doors, companies to promote more "tele-working", and sports and other live entertainment events to be cancelled. Restaurants and bars were asked to reduce working hours and nightlife venues have received a lot of attention after a number of outbreaks in places such as karaoke bars.
The InsideJapan Tours' Nagoya office team has been working remotely since mid-April and our team reported that during the state of emergency when they used public transport, passenger volumes were down considerably. Recent statistics seem to back this up, with 34% of respondents to a government survey stating they had experienced telework, with this rising to over 55% in the Tokyo region (Japan Times).
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Japan saw strong encouragment to follow guidelines rather than any punitive laws
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Is Japan out of lockdown?
With Boris Johnson's controversial "Stay Alert" slogan in the UK and a decentralized state by state approach in the US, how countries move beyond the first phase of the fight against Covid-19 has certainly been a hot topic and Japan is no exception to that.
The Japanese government has been taking a decentralized approach and leaving much of the decision-making up to regional governors. This has not best pleased many Japanese citizens many of whom feel the government has not been taking responsibility for the fight against coronavirus.
However, with different prefectures having experienced very different levels of the virus, it is understandable that the easing of many restrictions should be handled at a local level.
Most of the focus on reopening is on Tokyo, where the majority of cases have occurred, and where the emergency declaration was in place longest. Tokyo is in its final, third stage of re-opening society, with the following guidelines:- all facilities with no cluster histories will be allowed to reopen
- food establishments will be encouraged to operate until midnight
- public events will be limited to 5,000 peopleThe Tokyo government has also increased testing capacity and will focus more on the capacity of the medical system to handle patients.
Japan launched its coronavirus contact-tracing app on 19th June, designed to notify people who have come into close contact with individuals infected with the coronavirus (NHK World).
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Everyday Life
How has all this affected people's lives in Japan? And what's the general attitude towards coronavirus and the government's handling of it? While blanket news coverage of coronavirus and Japan from Western media often points out numbers and statistics, there is very little information on what life is like on the ground and how people have been affected. Many of our staff, suppliers and friends call Japan home and have been living through the initial outbreak, emergency declaration and return to a more normal life. Below we detail some of the ways that people living in Japan have been affected by coronavirus, and how this changes drastically depending on where in Japan you are.
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Regional Variation
So how has all this affected people in Japan? While this is obviously a very individual question, there are some obvious differences determined by region and how close residents are to large city centres.
Tokyo has seen by far the highest numbers, (over 12,000 confirmed cases on 1st August), and has experienced some of the strictest rules under the longest emergency declaration. As such, the percentage of teleworkers has been higher than the national average (Japan Times), and it has taken longer for many businesses to be allowed to re-open.
In other parts of the country it has been a completely different story. Iwate prefecture in the north-east of Japan had zero confirmed cases until 29th July (The Mainichi) and as of 1st August only had only 3 confirmed cases (Iwate prefectural government). Most of the 47 prefectures in Japan have confirmed a fraction of the cases in Tokyo. The measures implemented by many of these prefectures, aside from the closures of schools and promoting telework, has often been focussed on trying to deter visitors from areas of higher infection rates, including the many Tokyoites looking to move to more rural areas during the pandemic (The Mainichi).
As cross-prefectural travel is now again permitted, many areas are trying to find a balance between reigniting their local tourism industries and maintaining their low infection rates.
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Many areas of Japan with smaller populations have had few coronavirus cases so far
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Shrines have remained open throughout the pandemic
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What's open in Japan now?
Reflecting this regional variance in case numbers, prefectures with low numbers of cases began to reopen from as early as 14th May (Kyodo News), with Tokyo and its surrounding areas being the final prefectures to see the coronavirus emergency declaration lifted around two weeks later. The following have been largely reopened across the country:
- Restaurants and bars have largely returned to normal business hours
- Schools (to get an idea of what school life is like now, see this video - in Japanese)
- Gyms and swimming pools
- Museums (for a full list see TimeOut Tokyo)
- Attractions such as Tokyo Disneyland, Universal Studios Japan, and Himeji Castle (Kyodo News)
- Sports events have had limited-capacity crowds attending since July, with the July Grand Sumo tournament returning after a four-month hiatus (Kyodo News).Even during the state of emergency, there were no restrictions on visiting shrines and temples and these places remained open for people to enjoy. With inbound tourism on hold these have been much emptier than usual. While many wedding venues closed, an interesting cultural point is that there has been no need to delay getting married as all official marriages in Japan are just a formal signing of papers at City Hall. Very different to the west!
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What safety measures are in place?
These re-openings have taken place with a number of measures to protect against further spread of coronavirus, including:
- Hand sanitizer at almost every building entrance, from supermarkets to offices
- Gyms and some shops have followed medical clinics in checking the temperature of anyone entering (NHK in Japanese)
- Many restaurants, cafes and bars aim to keep patrons socially distanced, by spacing out tables and limiting the number of people.For a more in-depth look at what it's like to eat out, travel around and visit museums and attractions, see our page on What is travelling to Japan like now?
The government continues to advise people to:
- Wash hands regularly
- Socially distance 2m from other people
- Wear facemasks in public
- Avoid the 3 C's (mitsu no mitsu in Japanese) of closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings wherever possible.Get more of an idea of what it's like to be in Tokyo right now by watching this short video taken by our Tokyo Department Manager, Tyler, on a recent local trip to Shibuya and the recently-opened Pokémon Store!
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Establishments are coming up with innovative ways to keep customers safe
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What's the general attitude among Japanese people?
With over 1500 earthquakes a year, along with the threats of tsunamis, flooding, mudslides and typhoons, Japanese people are no strangers to adverse challenges. Their collective experience of natural disasters has built up a strong resilience and stoicism among the population, as well as thinking up practical solutions to seemingly overwhelming challenges.
People have generally been very diligent with regards to personal hygiene - Japanese culture places a great emphasis on cleanliness anyway - and adhering to the government's requests.
However there has been large concern when case numbers have risen, particularly back in April just before the government's emergency declaration, and more recently in July as numbers have risen slightly in Tokyo. There has also been criticism of the government regarding low testing numbers, a shortage of available hospital beds, and the timing and effectiveness of the declaration of the state of emergency.
Japanese advertising and PR company Dentetsu recently released the results from a series of surveys which measured how respondents' lives changed at different points between April and May (during which the nationwide state of emergency was introduced). They found that the psychological impact of the coronavirus increased with time, but also that by the end of the state of emergency respondents were starting to see positive aspects of their 'new normal'. They also found that in general younger people reported greater feelings of uneasiness due to the pandemic, and that the thing people most wanted to do after the pandemic was over was to travel around Japan - and we wholeheartedly agree with them!
As presenteeism is highly valued in Japanese culture, many office workers have still gone into work if their company has not supported teleworking, and the prevalence of hanko seals used to sign official documents and fax machines has also been criticised as ?old-fashioned' (NHK).
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While mask-wearing has become a controversial and almost political issue in some parts of the world, it is already culturally-engrained in Japan. During flu-season, but also year-round, people often wear masks to try to prevent one's own germs or sickness from spreading in public places. This is seen as particularly important in Japan's densely-populated cities. Aside from health reasons, people also regularly wear masks as a defence against dust and pollen, to cover up blemishes or the fact they are not wearing make-up, and even to make the wearer's face appear smaller! Therefore, while mask-wearing has become a hot topic in other parts of the world, they have undoubtedly become the societal norm since the spread of coronavirus, and many commentators have argued this has helped keep Japan's infection rate low. From our own observations on the ground, it seems at least 90% of people are wearing masks whenever they are outside.
We loved reading this article by Nikkei Style (Japanese only) that describes the widespread use of masks from as early as the Meiji period (1868-1912), and as a fashion accessory in later years. The spread of coronavirus has given masks an even greater role in Japanese society and there have been all kinds of iterations, from breathable summer masks by popular fashion brand Uniqlo, to masks designed by kimono makers and famous artists such as Takashi Murakami. Even shinkansen (bullet train) masks have been created!
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A shop sign reads "we are smiling under our masks"
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Latest Travel Updates Japan
Are travellers allowed into Japan? When will travel to Japan be possible?
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What will travel to Japan be like now?
Are tourist sites affected? Are restaurants open? Is transport safe to use?
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What will flying to Japan be like now?
Airline covid policies and staying safe on the flight
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