Japanese government doubts effectiveness of any emergency declaration
The government is eager to prioritize the planned revision to the special measures law for tackling the pandemic in order to enhance the effectiveness of infection prevention measures, according to informed sources. The law revision, which the government hopes to enact by the end of the month, is likely to be aimed at introducing penalties on businesses that fail to follow authorities’ requests to shorten operating hours.
“The government’s decision to declare a state of emergency, if any, will come after the effectiveness of related measures is ensured under the revised law,” an official close to Suga said.
Following a meeting with the four governors Saturday, economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is leading the government’s coronavirus response, said the government “will consider the request” for an emergency declaration. But at the same time, the minister indicated the government’s position that it would carefully judge whether to make the declaration after hearing the opinions of experts at a meeting of a government subcommittee on the coronavirus response that will be held shortly.
The governors made the request for an emergency declaration as the COVID-19 outbreak in the Tokyo metropolitan area is showing no sign of abating. The declaration, based on the special measures law, would give prefectural authorities the power to take stronger measures, including issuing business suspension requests.
Since the beginning of a third wave of infections in the country, the government has been cautious about declaring a state of emergency, as the step would stop social and economic activities and have an impact on economic recovery.
In an example of the government’s cautious stance, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga stressed during a Dec. 25 news conference that people can change their behavior without an emergency declaration.
- Japan Times

The Sun daily - Jul 01
Japan’s energy “interests must not be undermined”, Tokyo said Friday, after Moscow issued a decree transferring operations of a key oil and gas project to a new Russian company.

Sun Daily - Jun 30
Japan’s electricity grid creaked on Thursday under the strain of Tokyo’s hottest June since records began, with the unexpected shutdown of a power plant raising fears that tens of millions of people could be deprived of power on another scorching day.

NHK - Jun 30
Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says his government and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will work out a new document on their cooperation.

inquirer.net - Jun 29
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol for the first time in Madrid on Tuesday evening at a gala dinner hosted by Spain’s King Felipe VI.

Kyodo - Jun 28
Britain on Wednesday will lift import restrictions on some Japanese food products imposed in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday during his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

NHK - Jun 27
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has said the Group of Seven nations should further strengthen their unity to protect the lives of people affected by soaring prices amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

NHK - Jun 27
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has announced additional sanctions against Russia, including a ban on imports of Russian gold.

Kyodo - Jun 26
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Saturday he will seek to confirm unity with his fellow Group of Seven leaders in responding to Russia's war against Ukraine, inflation and other global challenges.

NHK - Jun 23
The city of Amagasaki in Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, has lost a USB device containing the personal information of more than 460,000 residents.

UNI - Jun 22
A Japanese woman living in Belgium has become the mayor of Suginami, a district in Tokyo after she gained prominence through her online campaigning during the pandemic.

Al Jazeera - Jun 22
Campaigning for Japan’s upper house election kicked off with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida fighting off criticism of the ultra-loose monetary policy he continues to support despite worries that it’s accelerating price increases.

NHK - Jun 21
Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has said he is planning to roll out a package of measures to fight inflation.

NHK - Jun 20
The Japanese government has kept its overall assessment of the economy unchanged for the third straight month. Officials say there are signs of an upturn, but called for caution against rising raw material prices amid the prolonged conflict in Ukraine.

Japan Today - Jun 19
Japan's House of Representatives Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda on Friday filed a damages suit against the publisher of a popular weekly magazine that recently ran reports about his alleged sexual harassment of female reporters, according to his lawyer.

Nikkei - Jun 17
Japan's top court on Friday dismissed claims that the government should pay damages in cases involving around 3,700 people whose lives were seriously affected by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, absolving the state of responsibility for mass evacuations in the crisis.

Sky News Australia - Jun 17
Australia and Japan have agreed to elevate defence cooperation between the two nations during in a meeting between the Defence Minister Richard Marles and his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo.