Category Archives: Japan

Tokyo Olympics: local fans may need to show vaccination proof or negative Covid test

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Games authorities are relying on Japan’s spectators to provide atmosphere but are now in a race against time to inoculate population

Sports fans in Japan could be allowed to attend Olympic events in Tokyo this summer if they have proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test, a newspaper reported on Monday.

While many athletes are expected to have been fully vaccinated by late July, poor planning and staff shortages mean most Japanese citizens will still be waiting for a jab when the Olympics begin in less than two months’ time.

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Japan expected to extend emergency Covid measures less than two months ahead of Olympics

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Medical officials say case numbers in Tokyo need to be much lower to prevent another surge during the Games

Japan is expected to extend emergency coronavirus measures in Tokyo and several other regions by about three weeks, according to officials, as the country struggles to rein in a fourth wave of infections less than two months before the Olympics.

The state of emergency – the third in the capital since the start of the pandemic – was called in late April and was originally due to end on 11 May, but was extended until the end of this month, as restrictions on businesses failed to make a dent in infections. Media reports said the latest extension could last until 20 June.

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Tokyo Olympics: anger in Japan at IOC call to make ‘sacrifices’

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Senior Games figures John Coates and Thomas Bach criticised for attitude amid calls for event to be cancelled

The International Olympic Committee’s insistence that “sacrifices” must be made to ensure the Games go ahead in Tokyo regardless of the coronavirus situation in Japan has sparked a backlash and more calls for them to be cancelled.

John Coates, an IOC vice president, drew criticism in Japan after saying the Games would proceed even if the host city was still under a state of emergency due to the coronavirus. “The answer is absolutely yes,” Coates, who is overseeing preparations, said when asked on Friday if he thought they could be delivered despite the restrictions.

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Japan bullet train driver disciplined for leaving controls to go to toilet

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A conductor, who was not qualified to drive the train, sat in the driver’s seat during his three-minute absence, in breach of the rules

A driver on one of Japan’s shinkansen bullet trains is facing disciplinary measures after he abandoned his cab to go to the toilet while the train was carrying passengers and travelling at 150km/h.

The 36-year-old driver, who has not been named, reportedly had a stomachache and asked a conductor to take his place while he went to the toilet.

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South Korea’s balancing act will test Biden’s plan to get tough with China

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Analysis: Seoul’s navigation of geopolitical landscape in east Asia hints at limits of united front with US

When the South Korean president goes to Washington DC on Friday, his discussions with Joe Biden about China will test the limits of the US president’s rhetoric to “work with [its] allies to hold China accountable”. It will also exhibit the dilemma faced by middle-sized powers such as South Korea.

The White House spokesperson, Jen Psaki, said last month that Moon Jae-in’s visit “will highlight the ironclad alliance between the United States and [South Korea], and the broad and deep ties between our governments, people and economies”.

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Tokyo’s restaurateurs rail against alcohol ban as Covid measures bite

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Owners of izakayas in the Shimbashi district of Japan’s capital are facing an existential threat

A vivid rainbow heralds the arrival of dusk in Tokyo, but the fabled promise of a pot of gold must seem like a cruel joke to restaurateurs in Shimbashi, where office blocks stand in happy proximity to hundreds of watering holes.

In pre-coronavirus days, nightfall would be the cue for the neighbourhood’s neon lights to flicker into action and for touts armed with laminated menus to beckon office workers inside with promises of cheap food and drink.

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Could the Tokyo Olympics still be cancelled? – video explainer

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The Tokyo Olympics are due to begin on 23 July, but calls for the Games to be cancelled are growing due to the worsening Covid-19 situation in Japan. The Guardian's Tokyo correspondent, Justin McCurry, looks at the current state of play. 

A recent spike in coronavirus cases has caused many prefectures to enter a state of emergency, including Tokyo. Japan has been reporting nearly 7,000 daily cases and the surge has put pressure on the country’s healthcare system, with the rollout of its vaccination programme slower than anticipated.

Organisers says tough anti-virus measures, including regular testing of athletes and a ban on overseas fans, will keep the delayed Games safe, but a new poll indicates more than 80% of Japanese people oppose hosting the Olympics this year. In addition, some elite athletes including tennis star Naomi Osaka have expressed their own concerns.

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Tokyo Olympics: more than 80% of Japanese oppose hosting Games – poll

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Japan expanded a coronavirus state of emergency on Friday as the nation battles a fourth wave of Covid infections

More than 80% of Japanese oppose hosting the Olympics this year, a new poll published on Monday showed, with just under 10 weeks until the Tokyo Games.

The latest survey comes after Japan expanded a coronavirus state of emergency Friday as the nation battles a fourth wave of virus infections.

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Heir of desperation as Japan wrestles with looming royal succession crisis

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Experts convened to consider changing male-only succession laws amid preponderance of women in the royal family

A panel of experts has begun talks on addressing the shortage of heirs to the Japanese imperial throne, as a poll showed that four in five members of the public are comfortable with the idea of women becoming reigning empresses.

Solving the succession crisis has taken on greater urgency due to a scarcity of males in the world’s oldest monarchy and the abdication, for health reasons, of Emperor Akihito.

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Hospitals overwhelmed as Covid cases surge in Osaka

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Beds almost at capacity and an estimated 17,000 people with symptoms waiting for treatment

A surge in coronavirus cases in Japan is forcing exhausted medical workers to make “heartbreaking” decisions about treatment as healthcare services are close to being overwhelmed, medics have said.

In Osaka, at the centre of the country’s fourth wave of infections, hospital beds are almost at capacity and reports say an estimated 17,000 people with virus symptoms are being treated at home or waiting to be admitted to a medical facility. In recent weeks more than a dozen have died before they could be hospitalised.

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Why China and east Asia’s ageing population threatens global Covid recovery

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Analysis: Beijing’s census data confirms trend reflected across a region that is looked to as engine of post-pandemic growth

For many years China watchers have been concerned that its ageing population will slow economic growth, causing social as well as political problems. So today’s census data may be an alarm bell for leaders in Beijing.

But it is not just China that is witnessing this trajectory. Most countries in east Asia, even without fertility control policies such as China’s one-child or two-child policies, share the same predicament: how to continue economic growth while encouraging people to have more children?

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The Hut Group strikes complex joint venture deal with SoftBank

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Deal values ‘yet to be formed’ technology division of THG at $6.3bn

The Hut Group (THG), the online retailer empire run by billionaire Matthew Moulding, has struck a complex joint venture deal with Japanese investment giant SoftBank that values a “yet to be formed” technology division of THG at $6.3bn (£4.5bn).

The deal, announced on Monday, values THG Ingenuity, which Moulding described as a “social media influencer platform” used to promote products, at about the same amount that the whole company floated at last year.

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Tokyo Olympics: poll shows 60% of Japanese people want Games cancelled

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  • Limited public support amid surge in Covid-19 cases in Tokyo
  • Time for discussion about staging Games is now, says Naomi Osaka

Preparations for Tokyo Olympics have suffered another setback after a poll found that nearly 60% of people in Japan want them to be cancelled, less than three months before the Games are due to open.

Japan has extended a state of emergency in Tokyo and several other regions until the end of May as it struggles to contain a surge in Covid-19 cases fuelled by new, more contagious variants, with medical staff warning that health services in some areas are on the verge of collapse.

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As the global family shrinks, migrants and the planet benefit

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Figures from the US and Japan reveal sharp declines in birthrates, and even China may have peaked, but there are upsides

Read more: Italy’s birthrate is falling. Can the storks help?

Census data from the US released last week showed the number of babies born in the country in 2020 dropped to the lowest level in more than four decades. The same day, Japan marked Children’s Day by announcing that the number of under-14s in the country had fallen for the 40th consecutive year to a record low.

It is not just in the rich world that the appetite for having children is falling. Also in 2020, China may have recorded its first overall population decline since a catastrophic famine in the late 1950s, the Financial Times has reported, citing unpublished census data.

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Coronavirus live: two members of India G7 team test positive; Tokyo Olympics ‘to go ahead’ after test event

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Delegation self-isolating after members test positive for Covid; Seb Coe says Games in July will be ‘extremely good’ even without spectators

Staff at an Indonesian pharmaceutical company have been accused of washing and repackaging used Covid nasal swabs, which were then sold to thousands of unsuspecting travellers.

Five employees from the state-owned Kimia Farma have been arrested, while the company may also face a civil lawsuit over the claims.

Related: Workers at Indonesian pharma firm arrested over ‘re-used’ Covid swabs

Norway will introduce verifiable vaccine certificates from early June, allowing holders to use them for admittance to events held in Norway, prime minister Erna Solberg has said.

About a quarter of Norway’s population, as Reuters reports, has received a first dose of a Covid vaccine, while 6.8% has received two doses.

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Japanese town spends Covid funds on 13-metre squid statue – video

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The Japanese coastal town of Noto is facing criticism after a giant squid statue was installed using emergency funding intended for coronavirus measures. Crafting the pink-and-white creature with flared tentacles came at a cost of ¥25m (£164,000), with the 13-metre-long statue installed as part of a tourism drive to help the area's virus hit economy

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Coronavirus live news: more countries tighten travel restrictions for arrivals from India

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Spain and Philippines join Cambodia and Fiji in restricting arrivals; England extends vaccines to those aged 42 and over

Brazil’s congress has launched a parliamentary inquiry into what critics call Jair Bolsonaro’s disastrous and potentially criminal response to a Covid-19 pandemic that has killed nearly 400,000 Brazilians.

The politically charged investigation, which rivals of Brazil’s far-right president hope will torpedo his chances of re-election, will be conducted by 11 of the country’s 81 senators, including several of Bolsonaro’s fiercest opponents.

Related: Brazil begins parliamentary inquiry into Bolsonaro’s Covid response

Children who are hospitalised with coronavirus may be at risk of persistent fatigue and other symptoms of long Covid, according to researchers who examined the health of patients months after they were discharged.

Scientists interviewed the parents of more than 500 children who were admitted to a Moscow hospital with Covid between April and August last year. They found that a quarter had ongoing symptoms more than five months after returning home, with the most common ailments being fatigue, sleep disruption and sensory problems.

Related: Children may be at risk from long Covid symptoms, study finds

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Honkaku: a century of the Japanese whodunnits keeping readers guessing

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These fiendishly clever mystery novels have spawned pop culture icons, anime and a museum. And, best of all, honkaku plays fair – you have the clues to solve the crime

After a day of joyous wedding celebrations, a bloodcurdling scream echoes into the night. The newlywed bride and groom are found dead in their bed, stabbed with a katana sword, now thrust into the snow outside. Their bedroom was locked from the inside, and there is no way the murderer could have broken in to do the deed, let alone escaped without leaving a trace. How was this impossible crime committed?

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If it’s safe, dump it in Tokyo. We in the Pacific don’t want Japan’s nuclear wastewater | Joey Tau and Talei Luscia Mangioni

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Japan’s plans to discharge radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean is a callous act that would do catastrophic harm

Earlier this month, the Japanese government announced plans to discharge 1m tonnes of radioactive wastewater accruing since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011 into the Pacific Ocean.

To Pacific peoples, who have carried the disproportionate human cost of nuclearism in our region, this is yet another act of catastrophic and irreversible trans-boundary harm that our region has not consented to.

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Japan to declare targeted state of emergency as Covid cases surge

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Yoshihide Suga under pressure to act after sharp rise in infections in Tokyo, only months before Olympics

Japan is hoping that a short blast of tough coronavirus measures will halt a recent surge in coronavirus cases, with the prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, poised to announce a targeted state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and two other prefectures, just three months before the Tokyo Olympics.

Suga has come under pressure to take action after a sharp rise in infections in the capital, and evidence that new variants of the virus are driving serious outbreaks in Osaka and the two neighbouring prefectures of Hyogo and Kyoto.

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