Japan governors urge firmer stance on Golden Week travel in pandemic

Apr 18, 2020 | News On Japan

Apr 18, 2020 (Japan Times) - Prefectural governors on Friday urged the central government to be firmer in asking the public not to travel during the upcoming Golden Week holidays after it expanded a state of emergency to cover the entire country.

During an online meeting, members of the National Governorsâ€™ Association said people should be requested to refrain from traveling during the holidays starting in late April to avoid spreading the coronavirus further.

â€œThere is a high chance that a massive migration will occur during Golden Week,â€ Tokushima Gov. Kamon Iizumi, head of the association, said a day after the state of emergency, which is due to be in effect through May 6, was extended to cover the entire country.

â€œWe are at a critical phase in preventing the virus from spreading. All governors would like to overcome these difficult times by uniting,â€ he said.

Some called for stricter measures, with Tochigi Gov. Tomikazu Fukuda saying, â€œTraveling across prefectures should be strictly limited, and we also need to consider developing legislation.â€

The governors urged the central government to compensate businesses that close and proposed that it also extend special subsidies totaling Â¥1 trillion ($9.3 billion) for local governments as part of steps to financially aid companies complying with requests for operation closures.

After initially declaring a state of emergency for just Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama and Hyogo prefectures on April 7, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe extended the emergency to cover the remaining 40 prefectures on Thursday.

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