A buyer uses a hand sanitizer station at Tokyo’s Ameya Yokocho Market on December 30th.
Photographer: Noriko Hayashi / Bloomberg
Photographer: Noriko Hayashi / Bloomberg
The central government of Japan refrained from declaring a state of emergency in Tokyo and three adjacent prefectures, although local authorities urged Tsar Yasutoshi Nishimura to do so to contain an outbreak that shows little evidence of decrease.
The government will consult experts again before making a decision, Nishimura told a news conference on Saturday after a three-hour meeting with Tokyo governors and surrounding prefectures.
“We agreed that the metropolitan area is in a serious enough situation to highlight the state of emergency,” Nishimura said. The request of the four governors will be studied, he said.
Nishimura said the central government will ask the four prefectures to ask restaurants and bars to stop consuming alcohol at 7pm and close at 8pm. will support stores that comply with the request, he said.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama governors made the request directly to Nishimura on Saturday in the cabinet office, amid renewed records of coronavirus cases. Altogether, the four prefectures account for more than a quarter of the country’s gross domestic product.
“Our response measures have had some impact,” Koike said, in statements to reporters at the same press conference. “But given the number of infections and the state of the health system in our four prefectures, there is an immediate need to suppress people’s movements.”
The Japanese capital recorded 1,337 new cases of coronavirus on New Year’s Eve, as the onset of cold weather fueled infections even after the city intensified its containment efforts. On Saturday, the number of serious cases rose to its highest level since May 3.
Japan’s stance against emergencies seems to change as cases soar
Japan briefly enacted a state of emergency during the months of April and May in response to the initial wave of coronavirus cases. Earlier this week, Nishimura said the country could consider an emergency if infections continue at the current pace. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga posed direct questions on the issue on Thursday evening in statements to reporters.
An emergency declaration allows local officials to take action such as ordering the cancellation of events, restricting the use of facilities such as schools and cinemas, and appropriating land or buildings for temporary medical facilities.
Due to civil liberties enshrined in the post-war Japanese constitution, the government cannot send police to free people from the street, as has happened in places like France, Italy and the United Kingdom.
It has no legal means to force a European-style blockade and its ability to contain the spread of the virus without any of it is now being questioned. In addition, officials have been avoiding strong restrictions as they try to recover the economy affected by the country’s pandemic.
The emergence of the virus in Japan is expected to block citizens
It is likely that the impact of any declaration of emergency is rather a psychological move. Tokyo had already requested that the restaurants be closed at 10pm and the metropolitan government was urging people to stay home with their families during the New Year holidays.
The government is consider changes to a law for virus management to give more power to containment measures. This amendment would allow Japan to penalize bars and restaurants that do not follow instructions to close soon. Parliament should approve the change, which will only begin later this month.
– With the assistance of Sophie Jackman, Max Zimmerman and Kana Nishizawa