It is so disappointing to see the Japanese government wasting hundreds of billions of yen of taxpayer money by pushing the Go To Travel campaign. It's obvious that the effect of the campaign would be marginal in terms of helping small businesses in the tourism industry. People with rational thinking will refrain from traveling under the circumstances where we are seeing a sharp increase in confirmed coronavirus cases not only in big cities but also in provincial prefectures.
The campaign, therefore, will only benefit the contractors who are thought to have a significant influence on and close ties with the officials. This is not the first time the government has used the coronavirus as an excuse to spend taxpayer money on something which only benefits a handful of groups whose identifications are not clarified. The government in April spent tens of billions of yen on Abenomasks only to recall them at the beginning and later to see many people donate the masks they have received to local government offices because they didn’t need them. No lessons learned.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.