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Latest Coronavirus News From Japan
Last updated 27 July 2021, 09:00 BST
July summary
Japan has been experiencing a “fourth wave” of positive cases. Japan is currently seeing a daily average of 5,000 positive cases nationwide.
At the time of writing, Japan had recorded over 880,000 positive cases of coronavirus during the course of the pandemic (Covid19Japan).
The state of emergency which was issued gradually into 10 prefectures from early January has now ended which the exception of the Okinawa and Tokyo Prefectures, which have been extended to August 22nd (Asahi Shinbun).
The Japanese government has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in Japan on February 14th (Nikkei Asia). They began rolling this out to the general population on April 12th, starting with ages 65 and over. Until then, only frontline healthcare workers were being vaccinated.
Prime Minister Suga has announced that the government will be able to secure enough doses for the population by the end of September 2021 (Japan Times).
On May 21st, the Japanese government also approved the use of the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines (NHK World).
Prime Minister Suga has also announced that Japan hopes to vaccinate all those who want to be innoculated by the end of November (The Mainichi).
Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Norihisa Tamura announced that vaccines will be available to all under 65s from the middle of June, with priority still given to those with underlying health conditions (Kyodo News).
Foreign travel to Japan is currently not permitted except for circumstances such as attending a funeral abroad, and no indication has yet been given as to when this will change (Japan Travel).
The Olympics are scheduled to go ahead on the 23rd of July, without any spectators (Kyodo News).
We have the latest news, statistics, travel updates and reports from our team on the ground in Japan.
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Are Japanese people being vaccinated?
Yes, finally! Due to a particularly strict approval process, Japan has been slower than most developed countries to approve and roll out vaccines. The Pfizer-BioNTech jab was the first to be given the go-ahead on February 14th, with healthcare workers at the front of the queue. Further good news is that the government has enacted a law to make coronavirus vaccines free to residents. Vaccine rollout began for the general population on April 12th starting with the over-65s.
As of May 21st, Japan has approved the use of the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines. Those over the age of 18 will be eligible for the Moderna vaccine but the Japanese government has decided to initially pause the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine until they understand better the side effects. This is of particular importance to the government as they have put in place a law to treat for free any potential health problems coronavirus vaccines cause.
Prime Minister Suga has announced that the country will be able to secure enough doses for the entire population by the end of September 2021.
Several state-run mass vaccination centres have opened in May: one at the Osaka International Convention Center (Japan Times) and others in Tokyo (Reuters), with the hope that all prefectures will eventually have one of these centres (Japan Times). Medically trained Self-Defense Forces (SDF) personell will assist in delivering the vaccines. The current projection is that these centres will be able to inncoluate up to 10,000 people per day over a period of several months. Bookings are now being accepted online for those eligible (NHK World).
The government has also announced that it plans to accelerate its vaccine rollout to innoculate all of its 36 million eligible residents aged 65 and over by the end of July (Japan Today), with availability increasing to all under 65s from the middle of June (Kyodo News).
On June 9th, Prime Minister Suga announced that it is the government's plan to innoculate all those who wants to be vaccinated by the end of November (The Mainichi).
Eligiblity of locations where vaccinations can be administered have also been relaxed, prompting many private companies and universities to apply as a vaccination centre. The purpose of this is to accelarate the speed of vaccinations by allowing private companies and universities to vaccinate their own employees and students (Kyodo News).
Japan has also announced a long-term plan to develop its own vaccines (NHK World).
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What’s happening with the Olympics?
On March 20th, Japan announced that the Olympics would go ahead in July, but that spectators (both international and domestic) will not be allowed to attend the Games.
Athletes will not be required to have a vaccination to attend, but they will be asked to submit a 14-day travel plan ahead of their stay, and to provide a negative Covid-19 test within four weeks of arrival. There are also plans to innoculate most of the athletes attending the games. Those attending have also been issued with an evolving playbook of guidelines, which includes (amongst other things) the encouragement of clapping instead of singing or chanting.
For more on the updates to the playbook, visit the Tokyo Olympics Playbook website.
For more information, please visit our dedicated page on the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Games.
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What are Japan’s coronavirus restrictions?
The Japanese constitution prevents the government from enforcing a hard lockdown, which would be considered an infringement on personal freedoms. Until February 2021, its only recourse was to declare a “state of emergency” in regions where cases were surging. This meant that restrictions on movement and working hours could be suggested, but not be enforced. Since new laws were passed in February 2021, local governments now have the power to impose its own restrictions to localised areas.
Nevertheless, due to the recent surge of positive cases across the country, the national government declared a fourth state of emergency, and this means:
- Bars and restaurants are asked to stop serving alcohol and close by 8pm.
- Venues that only serve alcohol are requested to close completely.
- Karaoke has effectively been banned in venues offering this service.
- Residents are asked not to go out unless deemed necessary. The hope is to reduce commuters by 70%.
- In general, larger venues such as department stores, shopping centres, and theme parks have been requested to close, though some have been allowed to reopen as long as they close by 8pm.
- Spectator events are allowed but must be capped at 5,000 people and finish by 9pm.
- Cross-prefectural travel is strongly discouraged.
Despite the extension of the current state of emergency, many large outlets, theme parks, and other businesses that were closed are reopening from June 1st on reduced hours.
The state of emergency has now ended in Japan with the exception of Okinawa and Tokyo prefecture, while a handful of other prefectures have quasi-states of emergency in place.
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What is life like in Japan at the moment?
For the most part, day-to-day life in Japan has changed little during the pandemic — though this has varied from region to region. Osaka, for instance, has seen the highest numbers and the strictest guidelines, while rural preferences such as Iwate have seen almost zero cases and very few restrictions.
As in most of the world, there have also been some small but noticeable changes to daily life. The majority of establishments now have dedicated entrances and exits with alcohol sanitisers, and most will also check your temperature as you enter. Local train operators operate with open windows and plastic sheets and dividers are commonplace at restaurants and cafés. It’s rare to see anybody without a mask, whether inside or outside.
Though shrines and temples have remained open throughout the pandemic, major tourist sites have been noticeably quieter across the board. Restaurants have seen near-normal numbers of visitors (though with restrictions in certain areas). People are still commuting to work on public transport despite some efforts to normalise working from home, and businesses are generally operating normal hours. Cross-prefectural travel is currently heavily discouraged and the government’s controversial Go To Travel campagin, which was aimed at rebooting domestic tourism, has been temporarily suspended after the recent rise in cases.
For more on what life is like in post-pandemic Japan, check out the "On The Ground" reports from our Insiders at the bottom of the page.
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How is Japan doing compared to other countries?
Due to the huge number of variables, it is notoriously difficult to draw conclusions about different national responses to the pandemic. Different countries test, record and release data in different ways, and this can easily distort statistics — sometimes wildly. The bottom line is this: take everything you hear with a big pinch of salt.
With that said, here are the official statistics: Japan has seen over 800,000 cases of Covid-19 since the pandemic began, and over 14,000 people have died following a positive test result.
On their own, these numbers don’t really tell us very much. A better way to put it in perspective is to look at the daily cases and deaths per million.
Another useful comparison is to look at “excess deaths”, which means the number of deaths above what would have been expected under “normal” conditions. This can be more revealing than just looking at deaths from Covid-19, since it takes a more holistic view of the effects of the pandemic on mortality.
During 2020, The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine reports that the UK had a cumulative excess mortality rate of 10.5% above the five-year average, while the USA recorded a 12.9% increase. By contrast, countries such as South Korea, Iceland, Denmark and Norway saw reductions in excess deaths of up to -4.3% over the same period. Though Japan was not included in this study, Japan Times has reported that it, too, saw a net decrease in excess deaths between January and August 2020 compared with the previous two years.
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Why has Japan fared well over the pandemic?
What is most striking from these above statistics are the all-round low numbers. Confirmed cases, deaths, active cases and numbers tested are still low in Japan compared with other hotspots around the world. So why is this?
Numerous theories have been provided so far. These range from the more reasonable — access to universal healthcare (Forbes), early and effective communication to avoid closed, crowded spaces with close contact, and cultural norms of mask-wearing (Japan Times) — to the more far-fetched. For example, some have argued that Japanese is spoken more delicately than other languages and therefore speakers emit fewer spit particles! (Japan Times)
Whatever the reasons for Japan’s overall success, it seems that we can be cautiously optimistic. Something they’re doing is clearly working.
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On The Ground: Osaka
Insider Robert Kodama took this snapshot of the mass vaccination centre in Osaka on June 9th. Here's a quick rundown on what he saw: "Shuttle buses from Osaka Station were bringing those who are elgibile and booked a slot to the vaccination centre. As advanced bookings are required, everything seemed to be running smoothly without crowds gathering outside. In true Japanese fashion, many lunch "bento" stalls had also been setup around the vaccination centre!"
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On The Ground: Tokyo
Tyler found this fantastic workaround for the cleansing stations found at shinto shrines. Instead of the usual sharing of ladles, separated pipes have been set up so visitors can still get purified safely before entering the shrine.
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On The Ground: Kyoto
Insider Van recently took his bike out for a ride around Kyoto. "The state of emergency definitely seems to have had an effect on the city. People are out but in noticeably less numbers. Historic sites are also incredibly quiet!"
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On The Ground: Nara
Insider Robert recently took this shot of Nara Park and the National Museum. "It was surreal to be outnumbered by the sacred local deers in Nara!"
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