Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo prefectures seek state of emergency

first time I've seen it referred to as a "limited" S of E. an odd notion.... a slight emergency?

There's something weird about this. Either your city is in a state of emergency or it isn't. How come these cities are "seeking" a state of emergency?

I saw on the news last night that Hyogo has the percentage of ICU beds occupied in Japan and seems to be in worst shape than anywhere by all of the metrics. I am surprised Hyogo is not under the SoE now.

There's something weird about this. Either your city is in a state of emergency or it isn't. How come these cities are "seeking" a state of emergency?

"Seeking" means asking for formal recognition from the central governement that you are in a State of Emergency. If that formal recognition is made, federal money can come your way is what I'm guessing.

I live in Hyogo and anything that will stop gatherings would be welcome. Our local shrine is having it’s annual festival this weekend, I naively thought it would be cancelled, but no, the area is jammed packed with people visiting, local roads blocked off for the stalls. Idiotic.

Being considered?

Yet more dithering by the inept lot of "professional" politicians in Kasumigaseki.

Yes, they should, to prevent being in an actual emergency

It seems these other prefectures want some of that government money coming soon.

Is it me or is the Osaka Governor an idiot?

@Luddite: I have a friend that goes to the Ebesan (Ebisu shrine) for business every year. He is Japanese and it is kind of a big deal for him. That may be what you are referring to.

Today is supposed to be one of the "official" days to go but my friend said they extended the dates and hours this year due to Covid. He told me he is going Tuesday during the day when it is supposed to snow. Interestingly enough he predicted this would happen (even though they have made accomodations to reduce crowding) - I disagreed with him as I thought people would use the extended hours. Guess he was right and I was wrong......crazy stuff...

Unfortunately, without a state of emergency, many people will just go out as if they are invulnerable. Numbers of covid19 deaths in Osaka (605) is close to that if tokyo (629). This is not a joke.

(Osaka) case numbers have been going down for months 

Osaka Prefecture is facing record daily infections and record numbers of seriously ill COVID-19 patients.

The occupancy rate of hospital beds for those suffering serious cases in Osaka has been hovering around 70 percent since December, with the western prefecture logging a record 171 such patients earlier this month. (it's 168 such patients today.)

Hospitals have been moving to increase their coronavirus wards, including Osaka City General Hospital, which closed four wings last spring and reassigned doctors and nurses to support medical care for COVID-19 patients.

However, the surge in cases continues to grow and the prefecture has been unable to secure necessary beds. "We don't have any more staff to spare and are barely dealing (with the pandemic). It is even becoming increasingly difficult to accept people in need of emergency care" for other reasons, said Michinori Shirano, the head doctor at Osaka City General Hospital.

https://japantoday.com/category/national/focus-coronavirus-third-wave-puts-many-japanese-hospitals-on-overload

Suga said he was told to 'wait for a few more days' by his expert panel of economists who are monitoring the trend of infections.

'Leadership' with no back bone waiting to be told what to do. I remain convinced Japan will be the very last country to see the end of the Pandemic, possibly years after the rest of the world has moved on.

Why are economists deciding what to do about public health issues?