Weekly Update: News on Japan & the Netherlands – Week 5, 2021

With Japan behind other nations rolling out vaccination programs, the government has pledged to start inoculating medical workers at the end of February. NHK reported on Tuesday that approval for the Pfizer vaccine could come as early as 12 February.

Support for Suga’s government has been battered by disapproval of his handling of the pandemic, a situation not helped when several ruling coalition lawmakers admitted to flouting rules by visiting hostess clubs and bars late at night. One resigned his seat on Monday and three others left Suga’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Japan and Myanmar have long had close ties, with Tokyo a major aid donor over the years and scores of firms engaged in business activities there. The Japanese embassy in Myanmar posted a message on the Foreign Ministry’s website, saying that while the situation in the country at this point did not appear to be one that would involve ordinary people, people should exercise caution. “We encourage people to stay inside and refrain from going out unless absolutely essential,” it added.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Burmese protesters holding portraits of Aung San Suu Kyi gathered in Tokyo on Monday to protest against the detention of the country’s leaders. The demonstrators, wearing face masks and carrying flags, stood outside the United Nations University in downtown Tokyo and called on the international body to further condemn the Myanmar military’s actions. One of the protest organizers said nearly 800 people attended the demonstration on Monday.

The bill on the infectious disease law calls for introducing fines of up to 500,000 yen for COVID-19 patients resisting hospitalization and 300,000 yen for those who fail to participate in epidemiological surveys by health authorities.

The government had originally sought to introduce a prison sentence of up to one year or a maximum fine of 1 million yen for people who refuse to be hospitalized after testing positive for the coronavirus, and a fine of up to 500,000 yen for those who do not cooperate with epidemiological surveys.

However last week, Japan’s ruling party agreed to scrap the plan to make it a criminal offense, ceding to opposition criticism that the punishment was too harsh. The introduction of a prison sentence of up to one year had been part of Prime Minister Suga’s efforts to bolster the government’s ability to fight a recent surge in infections.

The other bill on the coronavirus special measures law also calls for fines of up to 300,000 yen for restaurants and bars that do not cooperate with orders to shorten their operating hours under a state of emergency and up to 200,000 yen for those not cooperating in a precursor situation categorized as just below a state of emergency.

The government had been planning to impose fines of up to 500,000 yen in the former scenario and 300,000 yen in the latter. The additional resolution also calls for only requesting businesses to cut operating hours and not to request closures or people to refrain from going outside altogether.

In October, ANA announced a major restructuring plan, having already announced it would halt recruitment for 2021/22, and not replace the approximately 3,000 workers who retire every year. The Nikkei Business Daily said on Monday that about 1,000 Japan Airlines staff are being transferred to companies outside the JAL group as it weathers the effects of the pandemic.

Japan’s airlines had expected a bumper year in 2020, when the Tokyo Olympics were due to be held and tourist numbers were expected to break records. The Games are now scheduled to open in July, but with rising new infections there are doubts about whether that will be feasible and if foreign spectators will be allowed.

On Tuesday, a panel from Japan’s Environment Ministry also resumed talks on carbon pricing, which was the first time the experts have discussed the matter in about 18 months because of the coronavirus pandemic. Carbon pricing is a system under which companies and households would bear the costs based on their carbon emissions.

Environment Minister Koizumi Shinjiro said for Japan to realize a carbon-neutral society by 2050, he thinks carbon pricing that can lead to economic growth is essential. Koizumi added that in-depth discussions are needed to hear views both for and against.

The panel discussed the characteristics and problems of the emissions trading system including a carbon tax. They said if new subsidies funded by the carbon tax are introduced, it would promote corporate technological innovations and lead to growth.

There also said that discussions are needed on the impact the system could have on people’s lives and corporate global competitiveness as economic activities remain slow amid the pandemic. The panel hopes to compile its views on carbon pricing by the end of the year.

“I think it is still a bit early. We are in a very uncertain time and see the same thing in all countries around us: the British variant has a higher reproduction number with the same measures,” pediatrician epidemiologist Patricia Bruijning of University Medical Center Utrecht said to the broadcaster. “With the current measures it is already complicated to get the R-number below 1, let alone if you are going to relax them.”

According to Bruijning, opening primary schools alone and keeping all other measures in place is a better idea. “Primary schools are now opening with a much more extensive package of measures than before,” she said. “The expectation is that we will be able to limit the spread in schools and that the effect on of reopening on the R-number will remain limited, but we cannot be sure. It has to be proven in practice.”

Alma Tostmann, epidemiologist at Radboud UMC, thinks that the government should postpone relaxing the measures by a week or two. “Then you lift it over spring break and you can see how things are going.”

Field epidemiologist and microbiologist Amrish Baidjoe, affiliated with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, also believes the lockdown should remain as-is for a while. “The proportion of the British variant is increasing, the South African and Brazilian variants are additional reason to be careful.”

For more information, please refer to the website of the Dutch government.

A third of all men said they help pay for their female partner’s contraceptives. 40% of the men who do not pay for their partner’s contraceptives said they never even thought about sharing the costs.