Tag - covid-19

 
 

COVID 19

An estimated 835,200 people were due to travel through Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture during the 11-day Golden Week period — about 77% of the number during the same period in 2019, before the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 27, 2024
Travelers flock to train stations, airports as Golden Week begins
Japan kicked off its Golden Week holidays, which run through May 6, on Saturday, with many people heading to resorts or their home towns.
Check-in counters at Narita International Airport are crowded with travelers on Dec. 30, 2023.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2024
Passengers at Narita Airport soar 72% in fiscal 2023
The operator forecast that during the Golden Week holiday period, international passengers would total 835,200, up 33.6% from the same period last year.
A woman in the Tokai region posts her meals on social media and gives advice to young people suffering from eating disorders.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional voices: Chubu
Apr 22, 2024
Woman with eating disorder looks to help young sufferers via social media
The woman is letting people know that a person’s value is not determined by their body shape.
Boxes of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 developed by Walvax Biotechnology and Abogen Biosciences
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health / FOCUS
Apr 20, 2024
China's drugmakers can't sell mRNA shots but haven't quit yet
While Chinese firms are pursuing new targets for the novel messenger RNA technology, they face a tough path, crimped by a lack of revenue.
A microscopic view of the SARS-CoV-2 virus particles.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 20, 2024
It’s taken 100 scientists two years to rename airborne viruses after COVID mistakes
While the discussion may seem trivial, terminology carries important economic and public health consequences.
A new study has found that women with long COVID had significantly lower levels of testosterone compared to those who had recovered from their infection.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2024
Sex differences could be key to the successful treatment of long COVID
New research links testosterone levels to the severity of long COVID in women.
The international departure lobby at Haneda Aiport in Tokyo on April 29, 2023, at the start of the Golden Week holidays.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2024
Golden Week travel plans near pre-pandemic levels as overseas bookings surge
This year's Golden Week marks the first since the government downgraded COVID-19’s classification to the same level as the seasonal flu.
Health minister Keizo Takemi (third from left) attends a preparatory committee meeting to discuss establishing a new expert body to prepare for future infectious disease crises, in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2024
Japan to launch new body for future pandemics next April
The body will be called the Japan Institute for Health Security.
Hong Kong Stadium during the first day of the 2022 Hong Kong Sevens tournament in November 2022
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Apr 5, 2024
Hong Kong holds Rugby Sevens as international visitors return
The three-day competition will be the tournament's first sell-out since the pandemic, organizers said.
A recent decision by a labor office marks a rare case in which a work-related illness has been officially attributed to remote work.
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2024
Yokohama remote worker awarded compensation for work-related mental disorder
The woman developed an adjustment disorder from working overtime excessively, clocking over 100 hours a month in the months leading to her diagnosis.
A woman views the National COVID-19 Memorial Wall, a dedication of thousands of hand-painted hearts and messages for those in the U.K. who have died from COVID-19, in London on Jan. 9, 2022.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 3, 2024
Countries worldwide face extra round of talks to save pandemic accord
A planned final round of negotiations missed its target of finishing the accord ready for its adoption by the World Health Organization at the end of May.
An analysis of all the publicly available viral genome sequences yielded a surprising result: humans give more viruses — about twice as many — to animals than they give to us.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 27, 2024
Humans give more viruses to animals than they give us, study finds
Researchers looked at nearly 12 million virus genomes and detected almost 3,000 instances of viruses jumping from one species to another.
The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 21, 2024
Tokyo clinic director fails to report ¥1 billion COVID-19 subsidy
The director received subsidies to perform PCR tests and outsourced testing services, but an audit showed she had not paid some ¥1 billion to outsourcers.
Japan welcomed 2.79 million visitors in February, a record for the month and the most for any month since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2024
Japan sees record 2.79 million visitors in February due to Lunar New Year boost
The travel industry is getting a major boost from a weak yen that has made Japan a bargain destination for foreign travelers.
Many countries including the U.S. and China are prioritizing domestic production and shortening supply chains to enhance economic self-reliance — but they are doing so at the  risk of fueling systemic instability and intensifying great-power tensions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 10, 2024
Economic self-reliance is a dangerous delusion
Countries around the world have given high priority to shortening supply chains, rebuilding domestic production capacity and diversifying suppliers.
An Upper House budget committee session for questions and answers on the fiscal 2024 draft budget held Wednesday
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2024
Japan's huge draft budget raises questions over fiscal accountability
The government allocates reserves and determines their use at Cabinet meetings, requiring only retroactive approval by parliament.
Health minister Keizo Takemi announces the government's decision to stop subsidizing COVID-19 medical expenses, at a news conference on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 5, 2024
Japan's government to stop subsidizing COVID-19 treatment after March
"Hospitals are making preparations to admit coronavirus patients to general wards and we think that is no problem," said health minister Keizo Takemi.
According to the latest data, new COVID-19 cases reported in the week to Feb. 11 stood at 13.75 per institution.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 24, 2024
Number of COVID-19 and flu cases remain high in Japan
Per-institution new flu cases in Japan came to 23.93 in the week to Feb. 11, up for the fifth straight week.
A building in Tokyo's Akihabara district raided by the Metropolitan Police Department's public security bureau in May last year
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 21, 2024
Chinese 'overseas police station' in Tokyo raided over benefit fraud
According to papers submitted to prosecutors, the raids stemmed from an alleged illegal receipt of COVID-19 subsidies.
CocoDesk private work booths set up by Fujifilm Business Innovation and Tokyo Metro at a subway station in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 20, 2024
Demand for private work booths grows in Japan
The increase in the use of private work booths reflects how working styles have become more diverse since the pandemic.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores