Weekly Update: News on Japan & the Netherlands – Week 28, 2020

Recent cases involve a growing number of young people in their 20s and 30s, many of them being traced back to nightlife destinations — primarily in Tokyo’s Kabukicho and Ikebukuro districts. The total cases in the capital rose to 6,973, with 325 deaths.

Despite a recent surge in new cases, a government panel on Monday decided to relax rules for indoor events on condition that measures are in place to curb new infections. Starting Friday, the ceiling on the number of people allowed for indoor exhibitions or music concerts will increase to 5,000 at one time from the current 1,000. The facilities should cap the participants to less than 50% of capacity.

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike has urged residents not to travel beyond the capital’s borders to curb new infections, but so far ruled out an idea of issuing a uniform business suspension request across all industries amid concerns about the impact on the economy.

Nationwide, 176 new infections were confirmed Monday, raising the total number of cases, including those aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, to 20,654 with 991 deaths, according to Kyodo News.

Parts of Nagano and Gifu, including areas known for scenic mountain trails and hot springs, were flooded by massive downpours. Footage on NHK television showed a swollen river gouging into the embankment, destroying a highway, while in the city of Gero, the rising river was flowing just below a bridge.

Flooding and mudslides disrupted parts of a main road connecting Kamikochi and Matsumoto, two main tourist destinations in Nagano, stranding hundreds of residents and visitors, though they are believed to have safely evacuated. In neighboring Gifu, hundreds of others were also isolated in hot springs town of Gero and Ontake. In another mountainous scenic town of Takayama, several houses were hit by a mudslide, their residents all safely rescued.

As of Wednesday morning, the death toll from the heavy rains starting over the weekend had risen to 58, most of them from the hardest-hit Kumamoto prefecture. Four others were found in Fukuoka, another prefecture on Kyushu, Japan’s third-largest island.

At the peak, as many as 3.6 million people were advised to evacuate, although it wasn’t mandatory and the number who took shelter was not known. About half of the advisories have been lifted by Wednesday afternoon. In places where rain had subsided, residents were busy cleaning up their homes and workplaces.

Though the rains were causing fresh flooding threats in central Japan, flooding was still affecting the southern region. And search and rescue operations continued in Kumamoto, where 14 people are still missing. Tens of thousands of army troops, police and other rescue workers mobilized from around the country to assist, and the rescue operations have been hampered by the rains, flooding, mudslides and disrupted communications.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga urged residents to use caution. “Disasters may happen even with little rain where grounds have loosened from previous rainfalls,” he said. Suga pledged continuing search and rescue efforts, as well as emergency funds for the affected areas.

Early July marks the end of the rainy season for the Kyushu region. Compared to the beginning of the rainy season, it is warmer and pressure from the Pacific High to the south increases. Therefore, warmer, more humid air is likely to join the front. An active seasonal rain front was similarly the cause of the deadly torrential rains that struck northern Kyushu in 2017 and western Japan in 2018.

Where heavy rain falls depends on where the front stays based on the power balance between the high-pressure systems in the north and south. It is known, however, that Kyushu is susceptible to torrential rain as it is the first area to be hit by seasonal winds holding large amounts of water vapor from the East China Sea.

Such heavy rains are believed to be occurring more often with increased severity as a result of global warming. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) data recorded at 51 spots across Japan over the last 120 years or so, the number of days in a year which saw 200 millimeters or more rain has been increasing by about 0.05 days per 100 years. Two hundred millimeters of rain in a day is equal to the amount of rain that usually falls in Tokyo for the whole month of September.

When the sea surface temperature rises due to global warming, more water vapor becomes suspended in the air, and when the air temperature rises, air can hold much more water vapor. Hiroaki Kawase, a senior researcher at the JMA’s Meteorological Research Institute, and other researchers used a supercomputer to find that in the 2018 torrential rains in western Japan, rainfall increased by about 6% due to the recent rise in temperature.

Kawase explained, “Western Kyushu is especially prone to the effects of global warming, and there is a tendency for us to see a notable increase in how often the area is hit by torrential rain in July.”

The JMA expects that if carbon dioxide is emitted across the world at the current pace, Japan will see by the end of this century at least twice as many days with daily rainfall of 200 millimeters or more compared to the late 20th century. Kawase said, “There’s no doubt that the amount of rain falling over a single occasion will increase. Measures to control flooding must be altered accordingly.”

“We will look for ways to usher out low-efficiency coal while ensuring there is enough capacity to maintain a stable energy supply,” Kajiyama told a press conference, adding that placing new restrictions on electric utilities could be an option. Japan currently depends on coal to generate 32% of its electricity, compared with just 17% generated by renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power.

Kajiyama said the government will look for ways to promote renewable energy, including by reforming rules on using the power grid. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will set up an expert panel in July to come up with specific steps. Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said at a press conference that it was a “big step toward showing the international community Japan’s commitment to realizing a carbon-free society.”

Under its Strategic Energy Plan, released in 2018, Japan aims to reduce its dependence on coal to 26% by fiscal 2030, while boosting its reliance on renewable energy to 22 to 24%, and nuclear energy from 6% to 20-22%. Kajiyama said the ministry is also considering tougher requirements for firms receiving government support to export coal technology. But he stressed that Japan would not quit such exports outright.

“Some developing countries have no choice but to use coal for their energy needs, for economic reasons or because they don’t have other natural resources,” he said. Of Japan’s 140 coal-fired generators, 26 are considered high efficiency and will likely remain operational past fiscal 2030. A further 16 are currently under construction.

The only member of the Group of Seven industrialized nations still pursuing new coal-fired power plants, Japan last December was awarded the “Fossil of the Day” award from an environmental group during a U.N. climate change conference for refusing to phase out coal.

In March, Japan maintained its target of a 26% reduction in carbon emission from fiscal 2013 levels by fiscal 2030 under the Paris Agreement despite calls to set a more ambitious goal.

Meanwhile, it does not directly refer to the government’s goal of turning around the country’s primary budget balance in fiscal 2025, due to difficulties reducing the fiscal deficit, which has increased substantially because of huge spending on measures in the fight against the virus crisis.

The government has failed to smoothly carry out its blanket cash handout program to distribute ¥100,000 per person as coronavirus relief, hindered by a delay in the issuance of the My Number social security and taxation identification card, highlighting the slow progress in the digitization of various systems in society.

“There is no time to lose” to make up for the delay in digitization, the draft says, showing the government’s plan to establish a new headquarters comprising private-sector experts and officials from related government agencies at the Cabinet Secretariat to promote intensive reforms for digitization. It says that the government “will protect the Japanese economy so that the country will not return to deflation.”

While stopping short of directly touching on the primary balance goal, the draft notes that the government will “steadily carry out” measures included in last year’s policy guidelines, such as the primary budget surplus goal, indicating its stance of attaching importance to fiscal discipline as well.

According to the draft, Japan will protect free trade through international cooperation at a time when protectionism is becoming dominant globally. While mentioning plans to develop risk management rules for infectious diseases relating to cross-border travel, the draft stresses that Japan “will lead efforts to realize free and fair rules on trade and investment.”

To stabilize the financial system, the government will promote capital participation in private financial institutions under the law to strengthen financial functions, the draft says. The government expects the Bank of Japan to advance monetary easing to achieve its 2% inflation goal, it also says.

In the eateries sector, McDonald’s Co (Japan) Ltd and beef bowl chain Yoshinoya Holdings Co continue to offer takeout meals in free bags that use environmentally friendly materials, which are exempt from the government’s regulation for compulsory charging. Bioplastic bags containing 25% or more of plant-derived materials, as well as reusable bags that are 0.05 millimeter thick or more, are not covered by the regulation.

The Japanese government included the mandatory plastic bag charging in its environmental policy package in May 2019, shortly before its hosting of the Group of 20 major economies’ summit in Osaka, where plastic waste was on the agenda.

“Consumers are not sufficiently aware about the overall waste situation in Japan and why the government is introducing a mandatory charging policy,” said Evonne Yiu, a researcher at the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability in Tokyo. “The focus seems to be more on purchasing of eco-friendly bags and other alternatives to plastic bags.”

She said Japan should not limit its regulatory steps to plastic bags but should start debating reduction and reuse of other disposable plastic products, such as bento lunch boxes, straws, bottles and food packages.

“We will overhaul our current work, allowance and welfare framework that is based on the assumption that employees commute to designated offices every day,” Hiroki Hiramatsu, head of the human resources unit, told a news briefing.

Fujitsu has sold or ditched money-losing hardware businesses such as laptops and smartphones in recent years to focus on software services, a business relatively easy to conduct remotely. While reducing office space, the company plans to launch satellite offices in areas where many employees reside and sign up with more shared workspace providers, Hiramatsu said.

“Regrettably, the opening in 2027 is difficult,” the train operator, also known as JR Central, said in a statement, in response to Shizuoka Prefecture’s announcement earlier in the day that it had sent a letter to the company, stating it would not approve the construction work.

The letter regarding the Linear Chuo Shinkansen came after the president of the train operator, Shin Kaneko, held talks with Shizuoka Gov Heita Kawakatsu one week ago.

During the talks, Kaneko sought to obtain approval from the governor to launch the work but failed to receive a clear answer. Kawakatsu told the press after the meeting that the plan cannot be approved, citing concerns over environmental protection.

The objection to the plan will make it almost impossible for the train operator to realize its goal of opening the train line as initially scheduled. The new system, which will have a top speed of 500 kilometers per hour, will connect the two major cities located 286 kilometers apart in 40 minutes, less than half the travel time for existing shinkansen train services.

Under the current plan, JR Central intends to excavate a mountainous area in the prefecture known as the Southern Alps to build a tunnel for the shinkansen. But local farmers are concerned that the construction work would cause underground water to flow into the tunnel and, as a result, reduce water flow in the Oi River, which passes through the central part of the prefecture known for its tea and oranges.

The expected delay in opening the high-speed train service could also push back the schedule of JR Central to extend the line and start operations between Tokyo and Osaka in 2037 at the earliest. The maglev train project is viewed as a second high-speed link for the country’s three key metropolises — Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka — as a backup for when the existing shinkansen line becomes obsolete or is damaged by a major earthquake. There will be no Linear Chuo Shinkansen station in Shizuoka Prefecture.

During a press conference on Friday, Shizuoka Vice Gov Takashi Namba said it “wouldn’t take long” for approval to be reached providing JR Central provides ample explanations to the panel of experts that was established by the transport ministry.

The panel has been acting as a mediator between the prefecture and JR Central and discussions to narrow the differences between the two parties and come up with measures to protect the environment are still ongoing.

The 41% who are hesitant about or against a coronavirus vaccine find it hard to believe that a vaccine that is developed quickly will be sufficiently safe. They are very worried about short and long term side effects. Many in this group said they’d rather see money go into finding a medicine to treat coronavirus patients, rather than a vaccine for the whole population.

Younger people in particular are hesitant about being vaccinated against the coronavirus. 23% of Netherlands residents under 55 do not want to be vaccinated, and 26% are hesitant. They are generally not so afraid of the coronavirus, and therefore prefer not to risk possible side effects of a vaccine. “I am young and healthy. The problem of corona is minimal to me. But with such a vaccine, I think the remedy is worse than the disease.”

Most of the 59% who are eager to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, see the vaccine as a ticket to the “old normal” – living without restrictions on freedom and fear of the virus. Many also said that they want to get vaccinated for the more vulnerable members of society. “My parents are diabetics and I would hate if they get sick from me or anyone else who hadn’t been vaccinated. I find that obvious,” one respondent said.

People who are in a high risk group themselves are also largely up for vaccination. “I have not been able to move freely for months and do my work. Vaccination would be liberation for me,” a respondent said.

A judgment by the Council of State last May has forced ministers to take measures such as cutting motorway speed limits in the daytime in order to comply with European environmental protection laws. Police in Brabant said they would no longer tolerate tractors on the motorway and farmers who defied the order would be fined and ordered to leave at the next exit.

The fines can be increased if the farmers ignore directions from the police. Demonstrators last week blockaded Eindhoven airport and a distribution depot for the Jumbo supermarket chain in Veghel. A 17-year-old protester was charged with attempted manslaughter after driving his tractor at a group of military police during a demonstration on Sunday.

Other rural provinces including Drenthe, Groningen and Friesland have also taken action to ban agricultural vehicles from demonstrations on safety grounds. On Wednesday morning dozens of people were arrested as protesters defied the ban to blockade a waste processing plant in Wijster, Drenthe.

Last Thursday night dozens of farmers in tractors staged an unscheduled demonstration outside the parliament complex in The Hague last week, as MPs voted on new regulations to reduce protein in cattle feed.

Health Minister Hugo de Jonge says that a regional lockdown is one of the possibilities that security regions have, but emphasizes that such a thing will not happen soon and “really is the very last step”. Local measures prevent the entire country from having to be partially locked again.

Locking a city is theoretically possible, says De Jonge, but the measure would be very extreme, and would it even be possible in such a small country? “You can go to another place,” says Bruls. “You can only oblige people to isolate themselves from an infection. You can shut down a company or a home. That is clear, but it is difficult to impose measures locally.” If the coronavirus comes back, it probably starts very locally, as experience in other countries has already shown.

Bruls, who directs all 25 safety regions in the Netherlands, says that the various measures are coordinated with numerous involved organizations. “We do not have a crisis scenario, this crisis is such that no scenario is prepared for it. The GGDs and the police are important advisors. And in The Hague the dashboard is also made with information from a large number of sources.”

That dashboard still has to be filled with all the different information. “We have to show how we will apply this,” says Bruls. “The crisis team still has to make a decision. We are now on hold, but we can move on. We have more experience now. Local situations also show that every situation is different.”

A spokesman for RIVM informs NOS that a regional lockdown is theoretically possible, but it is not very likely. “The Netherlands is such a small country. It faces so many practical objections.” If you close the catering industry in one place, how do you ensure that the residents do not visit the catering industry in a neighboring municipality?

The Cabinet drew up the law, requested by the House of Representatives, but has been under direct fire from the same House since its announcement. The proposal would grant too many rights to the government. Advisory bodies such as the Council of State also expressed strong criticism, as did privacy watchdogs.

The most sensitive points were the corona app and enforcement ‘behind the front door’ by citizens. The app, which was also mentioned voluntarily in the draft law, is now completely removed from the law. “This only suggested that it could become mandatory, although it was explicitly stated in the law that this is not the case,” said an insider. A separate law is being written for the app, which warns if a user has been around an infected person.

In addition, there was much criticism of the plan to regulate through this law that the police can intervene in the homes of citizens. The cabinet wrote that ‘entering’ a home can be ‘necessity’. If the “behaviors” in a home raise fears for “immediate spread of Covid-19,” the police may intervene. Those paragraphs are also deleted.

In the past few months, mayors have intervened in homes in emergencies, for example at ‘corona parties’. They did this on the basis of the municipal law, but there was just debate whether it gave the right to intervene. The law would put an end to that discussion by always allowing enforcement behind the front door, but that went too far for critics. For example, in theory it could also be invaded at a tea party with people in a tight living room. 

The bill will probably be presented on Friday. After that, the House of Representatives and the Senate must still agree.

The cabinet is responsible for 15 million euros. The provinces and municipalities put the same amount on the table together. That is not enough to pay for the construction of charging stations, but that is not the intention either. A large part of the costs will be paid by providers of charging stations, who are commissioned with large-scale tenders to install tens of thousands of charging stations.

If the target of 1.9 million electric cars is reached by 2030, an estimated 1.7 million charging points will be needed. Next year, 213 new charging points are expected to be needed per working day, by 2025 there will be 550.

According to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, there were nearly 56,000 charging points and 1308 fast charging points in the Netherlands at the end of May.

The charging points will be located in residential areas and at business parks, for buses and trucks. The plan also presents ‘loading squares’, for example in parking lots at supermarkets or catering establishments. State Secretary Van Veldhoven (Infrastructure) previously allocated five million euros for the development of 45 such ‘smart loading squares’.

According to the ministry, the extra charging options are necessary for a further breakthrough in electric driving. The cabinet wants all new cars to run without exhaust gases by 2030.

But there are thousands of parents who say they don’t get what they are entitled to, says the Branch Organisation for Childcare, the Association of Parents in Childcare (BOinK). And that while State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment Tamara van Ark promised parents at the beginning of the corona crisis compensation for the continued payment of the unavailable childcare. “Otherwise we run the risk that shelters will have to close. We want to prevent this with compensation for all parents.”

Parents who work in an essential sector and who were therefore able to accommodate their child during the corona closure are also compensated.

The parents of 3300 children who do not make use of childcare allowance have not received any compensation and there is still no arrangement for them. In addition, many parents contact BOinK because they receive less money back than they actually paid.

The first group is now on the state secretary’s radar. “It is currently being examined whether a form of compensation is desirable and possible for this group,” Van Ark wrote to the House last week.

According to the ministry, there is no question of carelessness in the system, as a result of which parents would receive considerably less compensation. “The Social Insurance Bank also receives few phone calls with questions,” said a spokesperson. “We have been in contact with BOinK. They have given us one specific case. Not thousands.” The Ministry is still studying that one case.

The coronavirus crisis brought down demand for petrol and pump prices, CBS chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen told broadcaster NOS. ‘But now that there are signs of economic recovery, traffic is increasing and the rise in demand for energy means petrol prices are going up again.’

A visit to the hairdresser became around 4% more expensive and clothes also went up in price. The Dutch tax increase on tobacco in April was cited as another contributory factor. Bar and restaurant bills did not show a similar increase.

Van Mulligen said prices may go up in the coming months as more people go out and owners look to recoup their losses in the past couple of months. Rising petrol prices are fuelling inflation across Europe, but the increase is much higher in the Netherlands than other countries. Inflation in Belgium and Germany, for instance, is 0.2 % and 0.8% respectively.

The increase in businesses’ confidence that they can survive the coronavirus crisis was particularly visible in business services last month. Compared to May, the number of businesses in this sector confident that they will still exist in a year increased by 16 points to 57%. The travel industry saw the biggest increase, by 41 points to 51%. Confidence also increased strongly among employment agencies, legal services, and security companies.

Businesses in catering, culture, sports and recreation still have a gloomy outlook on the future. Only 25% of companies in the hotel and catering industry expect that they will still exist a year from now. In sports, culture and recreation, it was 38%.

Companies most confident in their survival chances are in real estate, where 75% expect they will still exist in a year, and in retail (69%).