SNA (Tokyo) — The following stories were reported in the last half of July 2020 by the Shingetsu News Agency.

Rolling Coverage: Covid-19

—The total number of new Covid-19 cases reported around the nation today are more-or-less on par with the height of the first wave in April. It’s getting back to those levels, but still no sign of a serious response from the Abe government, perhaps because deaths not rising.

—Having fallen under 700 active Covid-19 cases in June, the number now has crossed more than 4,000 active cases in Japan, and climbing fast. At the peak of the first wave, the number was over 10,000, so still a ways to go for the second wave to pull equal by that measure.

—The number of new Covid-19 cases reported today, 662+, is the second highest figure ever recorded in Japan since the pandemic began. Only April 11, at the peak of the first wave, was worse. Osaka alone recorded 86 new cases today, so its not just a Tokyo problem.

—The Covid-19 second wave has now reached the April heights of the first wave, but only in terms of new cases discovered. At a comparable point in April, about 12 people were dying per day. Currently, the deaths are about 0 or 1 per day. There’s been no real explanation why.

—Kyodo News poll also finds that 2/3 of the Japanese public (66.4%) believe that the Abe government should be issuing a new “state of emergency” declaration over Covid-19, while only 27.7% don’t think that it is necessary at this juncture.

—Covid-19 second starting to show up in the number of seriously ill patients as Japan crosses the 1,000th death attributed to the coronavirus pandemic since the beginning of the crisis.

—The Health Ministry’s Covid-19 related mobile phone app COCOA (Contact-Confirming Application) is having expected difficulties proving itself useful. For several weeks the app even had a bug that prevented users from registering positive Covid-19 test results.

—The Health Ministry has approved Dexamethasone, a steroid, as a possible treatment for Covid-19 infection. This is only the second anti-Covid drug approved for use in Japan following Remdesivir.

—Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike: “The number of coronavirus patients with severe symptoms is increasing. It is especially important for elderly people and those having preexisting conditions to refrain from going out.”

—Today the collective number of Covid-19 cases confirmed in the Tokyo Metropolitan District since the pandemic began will top 10,000 patients. There have also been about 330 confirmed deaths in Tokyo. Of course, the death rate isn’t really 3.3%. Many cases never detected.

—Osaka Prefecture reporting 120 new Covid-19 cases today, by far the most recorded in that prefecture since the pandemic began, and further evidence that it is not only the Tokyo region which is at risk.

—Aichi Prefecture also emerging as a serious Covid-19 hotspot, recording 64 cases and yesterday and a record 96 new cases today. Any shred of hope that the Abe government had about closing its eyes and hoping it would be contained in Tokyo have fallen apart.

—As the final tallies come in, there were almost 1,000 new Covid-19 cases reported around the nation yesterday. At the April peak of the first wave, the highest daily total was around 700. There are now over 6,000 active cases, almost ten times the number from a month ago. Those looking for a silver lining will find it in the fact that Japan is now conducting more Covid-19 tests, and so it is probably doing a better job than in April in recording them. Also, the daily death number remains in the 0-1 range.

—Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the Covid-19 second wave: “We’re doing careful monitoring with a strong sense of tension, but we’re not in a situation that immediately warrants the issuance of a fresh state of emergency declaration. We ask the public to take full precautions.”

—The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Japan since the beginning of the pandemic has crossed the 30,000 level. By comparison with East Asia neighbors: China 86,000+; South Korea 14,000+; Taiwan 450+ cases.

—Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura signals the central government’s first serious reaction to the Covid-19 second wave. The government wants companies to boost teleworking to about 70% of staff and avoid group gatherings, including drinking parties.

—An increasing list of prefectures are recording their highest-ever daily totals of new Covid-19 cases, especially in western Japan. The second wave is now distinctly national in scope.

—As it sees its daily Covid-19 case count growing, some of which are connected to nightlife venues, the Osaka Prefectural Government has asked residents to put a limit of five people participating in a single drinking party.

—Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Edano says that if he had been prime minister at this time, he would have already declared a second “state of emergency” period over the Covid-19 second wave.

—For the first time, more than 1,000 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in Japan today.

—Among the other news from yesterday’s record-smashing 1,264 newly reported Covid-19 cases was that Fortress Iwate has fallen, putting two cases on record and creating a situation in which all 47 Japanese prefectures have now confirmed the presence of the coronavirus.

—Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga repeats once again that the government has no intention of declaring a “state of emergency” over Covid-19, in spite of the fact that the daily confirmed new case totals are now well above the April peak of the first wave.

—Tokyo Metropolitan Government to request all restaurants, karaoke parlors, etc., to close their businesses by 10 pm each evening as a measure to reduce the spread of Covid-19.

—Tokyo Medical Association chief Haruo Ozaki appeals to the Abe government to start taking the Covid-19 second wave seriously, asserting that this is the last chance to prevent a great tragedy from occurring.

—Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki to declare his own “state of emergency” as new Covid-19 cases accelerate in the prefecture, in part believed to be driven by the US Marine bases. Today Okinawa is reporting a record 72 new cases.

—Health Ministry survey finds few if any “excess deaths” in the January-April period. That is, they compared this year’s data to what would be statistically expected based on prior years. This appears to rule out a massive undercounting of Covid-19 deaths in this period.

—As the Abe government stubbornly and without any explanation continues to insist that no “state of emergency” or other new Covid-19 countermeasures are needed, more prefectural governors appear ready to openly break ranks with them, including Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.

—Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reportedly pushed the Health Ministry’s top medical technician, Yasuhiro Suzuki, out of his government job because he refused Abe’s demand to approve the drug Avigan for use. Suzuki insisted that science, not politics, should guide medicine.

—With yet another record setting day of newly confirmed Covid-19 cases in Japan, the number of active cases has climbed back above the 10,000 level, and is now exceeding the April-May first wave by this measure as well. Deaths, however, remain much lower than April-May.

Rolling Coverage: Go To Travel

—Jiji Press reports that both Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga are “at a loss on how to act” after realizing that their “Go To Travel” tourism promotion campaign is yet another self-inflicted political fiasco.

—In a lame attempt to save face, the Abe government now suggesting that they could launch the “Go To Travel” tourism promotion campaign, but make trips to and from Tokyo ineligible. They seem not to notice that the Covid-19 second wave is now growing in all regions of Japan.

—The death throes of the “Go To Travel” fiasco extended further as Tourism Minister Kazuyoshi Akaba (not the brightest bulb) says the old and young should also refrain from using it. So now it is apparently a subsidy program for middle-aged people living outside of Tokyo.

—Another dilemma that the Abe government has boxed itself into regarding the “Go To Travel” fiasco is that many residents of Tokyo are now asking why their tax money should subsidize a tourism promotion campaign that neither helps local businesses nor can be used by them.

—Jiji Press quotes unnamed Abe government official regarding the “Go To Travel” campaign: “Our country would become unable to survive if we stop now just because coronavirus infection cases have increased a little.” If this is the quality of their thinking, Japan is doomed.

—Mainichi Shinbun reports that Governor Yuriko Koike sought Tokyo’s exclusion from the “Go To Travel” campaign, and that tensions between her administration and the Abe government over Covid-19 issues is flaring up again, with Abe’s team becoming increasingly dismissive of Koike.

—Kyodo News poll finds that 62.7% of the Japanese public believes the “Go To Travel” program should be stopped for now and implemented at some point in the future, when coronavirus infection concerns have subsided.

—Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura tries to shield the government’s disastrous “Go To Travel” campaign by declaring that going out on family trips this weekend does not include significant risk of further spreading Covid-19 infection.

—Shigeru Omi, leading medical official of the government’s Covid-19 advisory panel, reveals in the Diet that he had advised to Abe government to delay its “Go To Travel” campaign, but his expert advice was dismissed and Abe’s team stubbornly moved forward anyway.

Rolling Coverage: US Military Bases

—Okinawa Prefecture announces that at one of its newly confirmed Covid-19 cases involves a Japanese national likely being infected by a US Marine. A taxi driver in his 80s is believed to have caught the coronavirus from a passenger from Camp Hansen.

—Defense Minister Taro Kono requests that the US military conduct Covid-19 tests on all of its personnel coming to Japan. Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki wants personnel transfers suspended. So far, the US military has agreed to nothing except to think about it.

—Donald Trump government mulling possibility of withdrawing some troops from South Korea. Japan might be next on the list. A reelection of Donald Trump in November quite feasibly could bring about profound changes in the US-Japan Alliance, while Joe Biden stands for business as usual.

—US military bases in Japan being described as the “black box” of the nation’s Covid-19 outbreak. Under the terms of the Status of Forces Agreement, Japan can’t control its own borders, and the US military argues that giving full data on infection numbers is a security risk.

—US Forces Japan beginning to be more forthcoming about Covid-19 cases after heavy pressure from the Defense Ministry and the media. They are now releasing a breakdown on active cases. Not the best data set, but better than before.

—Stars and Stripes: Marine Corps on Okinawa reports 41 new Covid-19 cases, 27 Marines from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and 14 from Camp Hansen. There have been 196 Marine Corps cases on Okinawa in total since the beginning of the month.

—Lt. Gen. Kevin Schneider, commander of US Forces Japan, says that “cost-sharing talks” (i.e. US President Donald Trump’s effort to intimidate Japan into paying billions more in cash to the US government) will resume later this year, perhaps in the autumn.

Politics

—Abe government effectively giving up on serious efforts to achieve gender equality. The long-stated target of having women compose 30% of the nation’s corporate leaders by the end of 2020 will now become the meaningless goal of “as soon as possible.” No firm timeline.

—Democratic Party For the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki suggests that any opposition merger plan might come undone if using the name Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is a precondition of the merger agreement. He suggests the name should be decided after a merger.

—Rengo chief Rikio Kozu excited about the prospect of a merger between the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party For the People. And why not? It allows his conservative labor union federation to continue to stand for virtually nothing.

—Kyodo News poll finds that 82.7% of the public believes that a reinvestigation of the Moritomo Gakuen scandal is necessary, while only 12.5% agrees with the Abe government that the issue should be simply left alone.

—Jiji Press is reporting that Fumio Kishida may be dropped as Shinzo Abe’s successor in favor of Yoshihide Suga. Many of Abe’s supporters, including Taro Aso, are afraid that Kishida would lose in a contest against challenger Shigeru Ishiba, but that Suga could beat Ishiba.

International

—Japan’s conservative defense tribe has not given up on getting the Aegis Ashore program reinstated. Former Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto has told ruling party lawmakers that the system is “necessary.” Morimoto supposedly served the Yoshihiko Noda government in 2012.

—Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, criticizes Japan’s Defense of Japan White Paper, saying that, in relation to Russia, it is “riddled with distrust and divorced from reality… Japan declined to explain to the regional community its plans to revise the postwar… constitution and has preserved a narrow bloc-based approach to security, while ignoring the long-overdue need to create an inclusive transparent architecture of interaction… We categorically do not accept Tokyo’s claims regarding defense activities on the Southern Kurils. We reiterate the islands are under Russian sovereignty as a result of World War II. This is confirmed in the UN Charter, and we have the right to conduct any activities.”

—GSDF to begin a new curriculum to train troops in electronic and cyber warfare. Defense Minister Taro Kono is clear about the reasons for this step: “China and Russia are strengthening their military’s cyberattack capabilities and practical ability for electronic warfare.”

—Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga growls that a statue in a botanical garden in Pyeongchang, South Korea, that apparently shows Shinzo Abe bowing to a Comfort Woman could “decisively impact” bilateral relations.

—World Trade Organization accepts South Korea’s request to establish a dispute resolution panel over the Abe government’s tightened controls on semiconductor materials exports. The Abe government has been insisting for months that there is no problem to resolve.

—Abe government signals that it will begin letting foreigners who are Japan permanent residents back into the country, though the policy changes will take place “gradually.” Some types of residents will be allowed back sooner than others.

—Effective August 5, the government will supposedly loosen its ban on the return of permanent residents, allowing some businesspeople and students to come back to Japan. Oddly, the announcement is coming from the Foreign Ministry, not from the Immigration Services Agency.

—Rightwing ruling party lawmakers led by Akira Amari are pushing for Japan to join the international trend and put restrictions on the use of China-created mobile phone apps, including TikTok. India is the nation that has been most aggressive in enforcing such policies.

—Prime Minister Shinzo Abe: “President Lee Teng-hui made great contributions to enhancing friendly ties between Japan and Taiwan… Japanese people have special feelings of closeness to him as a person who built the foundation of Japan-Taiwan relations.”

Economy

—The labor union for Uber Eats delivery staff is demanding better injury compensation protection from the company. There are a growing number of serious accidents, but the firm insists the bicycle riders are “independent contractors” not workers, a now common legal dodge.

—Russia’s Novatek ships first LNG cargo to Japan eastbound via Northern Sea Route: “The first ever cargo delivered via the eastbound NSR to Japan was delivered aboard the Vladimir Rusanov under a spot contract and unloaded at the Ogishima LNG Terminal.”

—The Abe government has revised its economic forecast for FY2020. Whereas previously it predicted GDP growth of about 1.4% in the period, it now believes that the GDP of the nation will shrink by 4.5%. They still think that significant growth will return in FY2021.

GreenTech

—Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 42 carries the Emirates Mars Mission’s (EMM) Amal spacecraft, developed by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in the United Arab Emirates, into space from the Tanegashima Space Center.

—Japan’s government planning a major overhaul of its plastic waste collection policies. The new system, which might be launched in 2022, will have all local municipalities ask residents to dispose of all kinds of plastic waste together, which would then be recycled.

Society

—Hiroshima District Court recognizes that victims of the 1945 atomic bombing who face radiation-linked health problems should receive public health benefits even if they were outside the zone arbitrarily set by the government for compensation.

—Supreme Court rules that it is legal to put GPS devices on other peoples’ cars and to track the movements of their vehicles; such action does not constitute illegal spying and does not breach the laws against stalking.

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