News On Japan

The latest changes to Japan’s quarantine measures: July 15

Jul 15, 2021 (Japan Times) - As the coronavirus situation continues to evolve worldwide, Japan has again revised its quarantine measures by tightening measures for some arrivals and relaxing them for others.

With the change, which will take effect on Sunday, people traveling from Moscow will be required to spend six days in government-designated facilities as part of the mandatory 14-day quarantine period. Those travelers will also need to undergo tests for COVID-19 upon arrival and on the third and sixth day of their stay. Only those who test negative will be allowed to self-isolate for the remainder of the two-week period in facilities of their choosing.

Currently travelers from several other regions in Russia ーMoscow Oblast, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Republic of Karelia, Saratov Oblast, St. Petersburg ー are required to stay in government-picked facilities for three days. From Sunday, Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, as well as Costa Rica, Dominica and Namibia, will also be covered by this rule, which also requires an additional test for the coronavirus on the third day.

Meanwhile, as the situations in Latvia, Switzerland and Vietnam have begun to stabilize, people arriving from those countries will no longer need to stay in government-designated facilities after entering the country. The change will take effect on Sunday.

However, strict policies with an entry ban on foreign nationals, including residents of Japan, remain in place for India and several neighboring countries and regions where infections with the more transmissible delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 are believed to be rampant.

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Japan began applying a new numerical alcohol threshold for dangerous driving offenses on July 21, introducing a clearer standard for cases involving impaired driving that could lead to fatal accidents.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government approved its first annual basic economic and fiscal policy on Tuesday, pledging "responsible and proactive fiscal policy" and envisioning about 370 trillion yen in public- and private-sector investment in strategic industries through fiscal 2040.

A covert network of shuttle tankers is carrying crude through the increasingly dangerous Strait of Hormuz as renewed fighting between the United States and Iran disrupts shipping and raises concerns over how Japan will secure the oil it needs.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has criticized moves by Japanese and Ukrainian companies to cooperate on drone technology, warning that such ties would be regarded by Moscow as a "clear hostile act."

The rainy season ended in the Kanto-Koshin and Tokai regions on July 20 as strengthening high pressure brought intense heat across Japan, with temperatures forecast to reach 38 C in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, and Kofu.

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A police officer fired a warning shot into the air after a 42-year-old woman approached officers while pointing a kitchen knife at them on a street in Eniwa, Hokkaido, on July 17.

A 45-year-old man was arrested early July 20 after allegedly crashing a passenger car into a convenience store in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and walking around the parking lot carrying a kitchen knife and a golf club.

A 42-year-old man was arrested after allegedly driving under the influence and intentionally ramming a motorcycle in Togitsu, Nagasaki Prefecture, leaving its rider seriously injured.

More than a dozen people were injured after a massive rope suddenly snapped during a tug-of-war at a festival in Kitami, Hokkaido, sending participants falling backward onto an asphalt road.

A public housing complex in Aichi Prefecture where about 70% of households are occupied by foreign residents is showing signs of improvement after introducing multilingual communication, foreign-led neighborhood activities and a 3,000-yen fine for residents who skip community cleaning duties.

A fire that broke out at the long-established Echigo Tsurukame sake brewery in a densely populated residential district of Niigata City on July 19 destroyed the brewery and spread to at least six nearby homes, with firefighters still unable to declare the blaze fully extinguished by noon on July 20.

Two people found dead in a collapsed home following a landslide in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, have been identified as a married couple in their 60s who lived at the property, city officials said.

Bacteria found in excrement on the uniform of a former nurse arrested on suspicion of killing a hospital patient by contaminating his intravenous drip matched bacteria detected in the victim's blood, investigators have found.