The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
© Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Japan to lift state of emergency nationwide
By MARI YAMAGUCHI TOKYO©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
53 Comments
Login to comment
snowymountainhell
Should the headline read “… in steps …” ?
Yubaru
Excuse me? Just this AM there was an article stating clearly that restaurants and other areas will STILL be under restrictions!
If this is not clarified, this "follow up" article means nothing!
Not to mention, "entirely free of any emergency requirements" also means no quarantine upon entry as well!
But we all know that isnt true either! So, who made the mistake in reporting, the government or someone else?
Garthgoyle
OMG, yaaas! Finally, I can have some nihonshu. Yes, yes. I could get some at the supermarket or liquor store but I feel stupid drinking nihonshu at home.
Might be tough, tho, telling that to the regular Taro and Megumi san that need to told by the government we're still in the middle of a pandemic.
mrtinjp
Thank ghosh! I hope there is no 6th wave from November.
The US is going thru another wave, Singapore is going thru the second wave, as of now wide spread infections in the community.. let's hope these are the last waves.. and there is no such wave in the Winters..If that happens than these waves hopefully will be thing of the past...
vic.M
YubaruToday 05:16 pm JST
Excuse me? Just this AM there was an article stating clearly that restaurants and other areas will STILL be under restrictions!
blvtzpk
The government must have come to this conclusion "whilst taking sensible precautions."
theResident
So in another few days, the SOEs are set to expire. That, coupled with the vaccination rates, means people will likely be out in full force, last witnessed around January 2020. Masks will become less visible. Crowding will resume plaguing cities. Drunks will be everywhere at night once again as bars and izakayas gradually reopen. Hundreds of thousands of tourists from all around the world will start to enter Japan. Back to normal.
Brilliant - Bar just a few less tourists taking all good Restaurant reservations. Can't wait.
CrashTestDummy
Nice, but are they just going to implement restrictions again when flu season starts? These shutdown regulations is like a roller coaster especially for the businesses.
Sven Asai
Yes, let’s all enjoy the next short intermezzo. It’s of course also clear, if the viruses are given the next inch, they will take the next yard. Not that there any other illusions about that become eventually growing.
Sandip Katuwal
Please, Government of Japan open the border. Since last year I am waiting to join company as a engineer. I am totally frustrated, depressed and exhausted. My degree in vain. After graduating from university I learned Japanese and choose Japan with respect to others country. I have a huge respect for Japanese people but please open border and Japantoday please convey this message. Thank you
dagon
Officials in charge of coronavirus measures got endorsement from experts at a meeting Tuesday, on the condition easing of restrictions will be gradual.
With the lifting, Japan will be entirely free of any emergency requirements for the first time since April.
The sentences seem contradictory, along with previous pronouncements that hours of operation or serving of drinks will be limited to before 9.
One of the tools of self-centered autocracy is to couch their pronouncements in obscurity, so the public is hanging on every nuance or gesture in order to know what is coming next. Fans of Kabuki I suppose.
Michael Machida
I hope this one sticks.
JRO
As I work from home I have basically been staying inside since the pandemic started, and I'm not fully aware of how well all of these rules are actually followed, but what is actually changing? bars get to be opened 1 hour longer?
Yubaru
BUT while the article may have been written by a Japanese person it is an associated press article originally published in English and repeated here with liberal translations by "local" staff!
ShinkansenCaboose
At 10 pm when I go down the block for a cold draft I will let the owner know that soon he can server beer until 9….huh?
Kampai
Mr Kipling
Well according to Mr Suga on the NHK news at 7:00.... "restictions on resaurants will be lifted in phases".
So not a complete lifting.
snowymountainhell
”Reading is Fundamental”. (Apparently, writing as well.) - Just so we can understand the context, by “liberal”, do you mean “abundant”, “prolific”, “on the left side of the political spectrum & societal ideologies” or, … all of the aforementioned?
Richard Gallagher
The commentary is interesting, as it, for the most, lacks any objectivity or reference to actual and proven science concerning the virus and its pathways of infection. Most comments are eiher anecdotal or simply opining and emotive or arise out of some peculiar ideology or politics.
The virus has been slowed by inoculation. All the various vaccines have been tested and proven effective within a specific range for 60% to 95%. Pfizer and Moderna are the two most effective.
Following established protocols such as wearing a mask, physical distancing, use of disinfectants & hand washing along with others are highly effective. Restricting one's social activities to a specific circle or remaining at home, as possible.
Plastic barriers are effective - numerous studies have proven the usefulness and if employed properly, there is absolutely no negative effect. Those who assert the contrary are delusional or simply spreading false information.
Restricting travel is of incredible importance. Containing one's interactions to set habit and routine is also necessary. It restricts and reduces the possibilities for infection.
Lifting the SOE, will lead to another wave. Those who have purposefully ignored protocols and the SOE are beyond selfish.
Zaphod
Finally some sanity returns.
If any of these concocted measures actually had any effect on the virus, nobody knows.
Zaphod
Shinkansen
LOL yeah, there are a couple of places around here too that ignore these stupid "kodo seigen" rules and as a result are crowded. Same as with the 8pm curfew for restaurants.
All that these misguided rules do is compress people into smaller time slots and spaces, thus creating these "superspreader events".
Common sense would say the opposite: spread people out, encourage smaller customer numbers and good ventilation. And encourage people to go outside, instead of closing beaches and parks. And run more trains, not fewer trains.
But dont expect common sense from politicians.
fxgai
I mean, the Games were primarily held in Tokyo. But the upsurge was nationwide more or less.
I don’t care about the Games or for the government, but I don’t see much link to them and the upsurge either.
Are the people who made such claims experts in human behavior, or are they experts in something else and just speculating wildly without scientific basis in this regard?
Fiddlers
Yeah I am off to the pub on Friday !
Stay safe people and if not vaccinated or you have a health issue then please stay home as life must go on.
Oxycodin
The SOE had little impact I think as it’s been business as usual and people still drinking which is not the cause of spreading as the jgovt want you to believe. Once SOE is over everyone might be sung “who let the dogs out “ stay safe.
carpslidy
Got a lines from my regular izakaiya and
"From October 1st Open daily 6pm~midnight"
Cocktail bar
"20:00~04:00 from October 1st"
Looking forward to a good Saturday night
John Noun
@thomas
Couldn't quote and reply to this on the daily virus numbers thread, but can do so here.
I'm not sure why you're getting so defensive. It's a message board where people debate.
kaimycahl
58% of the population is fully vaccinated, and the vaccination minister Taro Kono said Japan is preparing to start administering boosters!!! That means 42% are not vaccinated and all it takes is one person to infect thousands. You would think the best way to do this would be at least getting the numbers vaccinated higher and hope that social distancing would take care of the rest but remember the holidays are right around the corner, and this virus does not sleep! This is just a bandage fix for the economy because again the biggest holiday shopping days are coming up!!
shallots
I wish they could speed up the boosters. They should really pull out the stops if it'll prevent further problems.
ian
They probably plan on starting the boosters around 6months after the first vaccinations were given, or whatever date it is that they had determined the vaccines decline in effectiveness.
In any case boosters are scheduled after end of November, the target date that all who want to be vaccinated have ideally received the shots.
If by speed up you meant to administer more doses than they presently do, I hope so too. It can be done if supplies allow more private companies to join the effort
ian
No problem with preparing, it's actually desirable.
WilliB
kaimycahl
So much wrong here. Firstly, we now know that vaccinated can get and spread the virus just like the unvaccinated, so the whole point about vaccination is now reduced to lessing symptoms for the individual; the vaccination makes no difference for society.
Secondly, why do assume that the 42% unvaxxed had no exposure to the virus? What about natural immunity? You can safely assume that a lot of the unvaccinated by now had exposure to the virus, and natural immunity is both better and longer-lasting than any vaccination.
I comfortable in predicting that a) the virus will hang around, just like influenza, and b) the death rates will go go down, as natural immunity increases and the virus becomes less lethal.
Oxycodin
Not in Tokyo the rush hour thanks to covid is pushed back by an hour as everyone has been told to come a hour later to office to mitigate rush hour crowds which defeats the purpose of social distances lol
cleo
We know no such thing.
What we do know is that a person who is vaccinated is less likely to become infected with the virus; those who do become infected despite being vaccinated can spread the virus.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/the-vaccinated-arent-just-as-likely-to-spread-covid/620161/
That is not the same as 'just like'.
We can assume no such thing.
To develop natural immunity, you need to first be infected, which can involve serious illness, possibly death or long-term damage to the health. Much worse than the side-effects of a little jab in the arm.
Also natural immunity appears to be linked to the severity of the illness; people who were infected but experienced only slight or no symptoms tend to have a weaker immune response that is likely to last not as long as the immune response from the vaccine.
And the natural immune response after infection is boosted by the vaccine..
https://www.immunology.org/coronavirus/connect-coronavirus-public-engagement-resources/covid-immunity-natural-infection-vaccine
Zaphod
jaybeeb
Assuming that is true, that still only leaves it as a question of individual risk. So the vaccine protects you from getting to the ICU. Good, so take it. But you can still catch and pass on the virus (especially since the vaccine is leaky and virus is mutating), so stop the authoritarian drive for force everyone to get the mRNA shot.
Darren Ward
When do you think they would begin accepting international flights again?
Australia's hopefully looking likely around Christmas.....
Im not a Politician, wealthy or an elite sportsman.......so haven't been able......haha
theResident
Assuming that is true, that still only leaves it as a question of individual risk. So the vaccine protects you from getting to the ICU. Good, so take it. But you can still catch and pass on the virus (especially since the vaccine is leaky and virus is mutating), so stop the authoritarian drive for force everyone to get the mRNA shot
Zaphod: You are aware that you can request Astrazeneca here on request? What's wrong with that then? What's wrong with the anti vaxxers like yourself. The vaccine is a 'choice', I get that. But why do you have to deny the risks of Covid constantly. We are all aware that the vaccines are not a magic bullet. But they are keeping people out of hospital AND much more significantly dying. FACT. It's still more dangerous than the flu to older people and can send the immune system against itself in anybody. You know this, so why would you NOT protect yourself from that given the chance? But more disturbingly why would try to put others off and actively discourage vaccine uptake?
Joseph
The FDA recommended a booster for those over 65 and those at high risk. By high risk they mean people with compromised health not a high risk profession such as health care workers. Am I wrong?
Sheikh Yerboaby
"..... Thousands of patients unable to find hospital beds had to recover from the illness at home......"
Again with this inference that there were thousands of people who required a hospital bed but couldn't get one and struggled at home.....where are the stats that play this out?? MOST people who contract covid recover at home because they don't NEED to recover in hospital. Japan is brutal for running to the doctor/hospital for ANY small sniffle and/or ailment. Just because they tested positive for covid did not mean that they needed hospital care.....most people do not ever need hospital care while naturally recovering from covid....
CKAI
Ahh.. good ol- Smoke, fog machines and special effects..
So boring, just cut to the chase. "We won't be undersold! Buying Votes- Cheap!"
Kyo wa heiwa dayo ne
Ah well
Lets hope life becomes more enjoyable .
Its amusing to read so many comments of people who think they know whats going on because of a few words or numbers they read or a vaccine they received thats still only approved for emergency use.
The proof is in the pudding my friends and don't count yer chickens before they're hatched.
iradickle
I'm glad to see things let up but reeaalllly dont want to be flip-floppin in an out of quasi SOEs again.
WilliB
theResident
AstraZenica and J/J are "viral vector", i.e. very similar to the mRNA shots. Both make your own body cells produce the pathogen, which is a tricky and unclean process.
The first product that you can legitimately call a "vaccine" as traditionally understood will be Novavax, but that is not available in Japan yet, afaik.