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Suga visits Haneda airport for briefing on anti-virus border measures

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"We must continue implementing anti-virus measures while remaining highly vigilant," Suga told reporters. "If necessary, we will quickly take additional steps."

Best "anti-virus" measure? Cancel the damn Olympics!

37 ( +42 / -5 )

Best "anti-virus" measure? Cancel the damn Olympics!

Yubaru, that is what a COMPETENT PM would do, which Suga is not.

31 ( +34 / -3 )

How is it that Suga is wearing a mask?

In the G7 meetings in Cornwall the mask became an afterthought for him and his wife.

But in the airport with Suga’s photo op in progress, it appears

There is a level of duplicity about Suga and he lacks credibility.

27 ( +29 / -2 )

kurisupisuToday  04:22 pm JST

How is it that Suga is wearing a mask?

In the G7 meetings in Cornwall the mask became an afterthought for him and his wife.

But in the airport with Suga’s photo op in progress, it appears

There is a level of duplicity about Suga and he lacks credibility.

It's just for show. Perception is everything, regardless of how wrong it is.

18 ( +22 / -4 )

Wow! Prime Minister Suga pops up at Haneda Airport. That must have turned some heads and made some hearts flutter. Nice job PM!

-17 ( +6 / -23 )

Looks slightly awkward or uncomfortable? … or just Out off touch with the common man?

- Recalls former Pres. George H. W. Bush trying to scan a carton of milk at the checkout line and wasn’t aware of actual prices of groceries. -

Plus, Why would Suga stage a photo op like this during peak hours at Haneda on a Monday?

(The attending person looks a little like JOC chief Seiko Hashimoto although she’s not mentioned in the article.)

9 ( +11 / -2 )

And it looks like Suga has the wrong bag according to the receipt!

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Nice, so when you collect your luggage, identity thieves can read your name on the big LCD, wonderful.

11 ( +14 / -3 )

Suga visits Haneda airport for briefing on anti-virus border measures

The kind of thing that should have been done a 1,5 year ago, considering the direct flights from Wuhan.

Now its just theatre, pretending something is being done...

14 ( +17 / -3 )

Good to see Suga out an about demonstrating to the public and press that Tokyo, and indeed the whole of Japan will indeed be a very safe place in 3 1/2 weeks time for all those fortunate (VIPS etc) enough to gain admittance for what will truly be a sporting spectacle.

-14 ( +2 / -16 )

Suga: “So, what measures are we taking to ensure that corona is kept out of Japan?”

Bureaucrat: “We ask them, “do you have coronavirus?”, and if they say no, we let them in”.

Suga: “Will that be thorough enough?”

Bureaucrat: “Of course. Who would ever lie to a public official?”

Suga: Very good. Carry on.

14 ( +17 / -3 )

Funny @kurisupisu 4:54pm also thought that was an enlarged image of the scan but it’s just a display.

- “And it looks like Suga has the wrong bag according to the receipt!” -

Btw: How’s things there?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Agreed, expected another *‘Snafu’ @*CarlosTakanakana 4:55pm but ‘Check the date’. it’s just a display.

(Perhaps the editor or moderator can amend this post with a simple clarification before* others continue to misinterpret the image?)

1 ( +3 / -2 )

so...... baggage transmits Covid-19? i didn't know that.

or is the message that we shouldn't travel with heavy suitcases because they may make us breathe more deeply, thereby heightening our chances of inhaling the deadly droplets?

or what?

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Suga hopeless : virus already on Japanese soil, no need to pretend doing something while tourists are not allowed and people diying at home.

Now more deaths everyday than in France, where like many European countries, figures have not been fiddled.

That means a lot about the situation.

12 ( +13 / -1 )

Receive customer baggage receipt

Sounds like a shopping mall :D

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Empty gestures, empty declarations. The experts already said what was the safe thing to do and Suga choose to ignore them, trying to appear responsible and on top of things now is not going to do him any good.

8 ( +12 / -4 )

"We must continue implementing anti-virus measures while remaining highly vigilant," Suga told reporters. "If necessary, we will quickly take additional steps."

Nobody believes any of this, nobody at all. Pointless performance, pointless waste of time, money and energy.

16 ( +18 / -2 )

Well, color me relieved!

/s

6 ( +8 / -2 )

To little, To late..

4 ( +7 / -3 )

"We must continue implementing anti-virus measures while remaining highly vigilant," -Suga

You know what would be a good measure to take?

Probably not sending a busload of athletes who are close contacts to an infected person jaunting across the country. They whole group should have quarantined at the port of entry, and if Japan lacks the facilities to do that, then they shouldn't be flying in athletes at all.

That seems pretty obvious to me.

9 ( +12 / -3 )

I don’t understand the blind support for this man that pops up here occasionally.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

“Must do photo-op, ratings are falling.”

4 ( +6 / -2 )

He’s wearing a mask. That’s a start.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Good to see Suga out an about demonstrating to the public and press that Tokyo, and indeed the whole of Japan will indeed be a very safe place in 3 1/2 weeks time for all those fortunate (VIPS etc) enough to gain admittance for what will truly be a sporting spectacle.

They could have started last week. It’s a bit late for the bus driver who picked up the Uganda team.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

@snowymountainhell doh nice catch. Funny!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The Japan Prime Minster, needed to just give a deep bow to the dedicated staff

Why in hells name, did Suga san advisers insist he play pin ball with the anti-virus border measures?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

He went overseas but did not have to face the border measures. Not even a PCR test.

Now, he has to confirm that. PR

3 ( +5 / -2 )

The PR world referees to it as “*optics” **@CarlosTakanakana 7:03pm. **With its glossy exterior & magnified imagery, this photo looks like Mr. Suga is about to walk thru that body scanner from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1990’s Total Recall***.

Like @AlfieNoakes pointed out last week, it’s another “forced” perspective, perhaps* to give the image that Tokyo is prepared with significantly advanced “measures” in preparations for ‘Their Games**’:*

Yet, the display & receipt illustrates ‘all this has been waiting around since last year’ and is ‘nothing special, or NEW’ in the way of enhanced safety measures

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

With a nod to @AlfieNoakes here a re-post explaining ‘forced perspective’:

“Here's a simple video explanation of how this stuff works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMiKyfd6hA0

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga visited Tokyo's Haneda airport Monday and was briefed on border measures to prevent COVID-19 from being brought into Japan ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, set to begin in less than a month.

So covid-19 wasn't already in Japan?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Japan's border measures have been under scrutiny since a member of the Ugandan Olympic delegation tested positive for the coronavirus upon arriving at Narita airport near Tokyo on June 19. The rest of the team was allowed to travel by chartered bus to Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture, where another member was later found to be infected.

Thousands of Japanese have come in from abroad and travelled by public transport without quarantine and it wasn't ever mentioned by the media, two Ugandan athletes have tested positive and it is as if they brought in

a strange variant from outer space. As usual the gaijin is always is bad and cannot be trusted.

Weren't the argument for the low testing being that testing was a resource that could not be wasted testing anybody seeking a test, with many foreigners coming in for the Olympics testing is no longer a resource when it involves testing foreigners but a resource when Japanese are concerned. Talk about double stands and Internationalization.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Hype , tripe n garbage, makes no difference in the real world to people working and traveling everyday to pay your damn taxes suga, do something meaningful for once in your entitled life will you for gods sake !

2 ( +3 / -1 )

While I do like to refer to the facts, and perhaps canceling isn't as easy as 123. But the article is about him being briefed of the boarder measures then mentions nothing of what are the specific measure. It mentions what can be done but not what is being done. The only current measure it mentions is vaccination for companies, doesn't sound like a border measure to me.

Doesn't bode well for ones confidence.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

“Border measures to prevent COVID-19 from being brought into Japan ahead of the Tokyo Olympics”

Last week in Japan:

-number of coronavirus directly related to incoming Olympics athletes and delegations: two (2). Out of over 100,000 people tested every month at Narita and Haneda. All cases traced and isolated according to specific protocols (hotel quarantine, chartered transports, etc.)

number of domestic coronavirus cases, unrelated to the Olympics: over eight thousands (8,000+). Barely any tracing, most direct contacts - and likely thousands of asymptomatic positives - going around at work, train, stadiums (yes, public has been allowed in thousands at football and baseball matches for over a year now).

Maybe they should have been checking measures to avoid COVID being brought OUT of Japan.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Let them go through all the optics. It won’t change a thing.

They have a few more weeks to milk this Olympic distraction. Once it passes, all eyes will be turned on the LDP on the matter of managing Japan. That will be interesting.

Lets hope a snap election snaps a few geriatric necks.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Look up pathetic pr stunt in the dictionary and the is the example under the title most uncreative idea! Awalena desu be!

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Interesting that the baggage receipt on the screen in the photo is dated May, 2020. Bit out of date, isn’t? Seems it was designed for a normal Olympics last year.

Yet again this is another pre-Covid system only now being put into place in 2021 for the delayed Olympics.

There’s no suggestion at all that this system has anything to do with Covid, but the photo op provides an opportunity to give the image that anti-Covid measures are in place.

This machine ain’t one of them.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

If necessary, we will quickly take additional steps

I laughed

4 ( +5 / -1 )

letsberealisticToday  06:35 am JST

I still don't get this focus of 'bringing in' the virus including the Delta variant when it is already spread throughout Japan already. (?!)

Can anyone explain?

Could be that we are not aloud to talk about that. Like you hardly hear about Long Covid here.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

"We must continue implementing anti-virus measures while remaining highly vigilant," Suga told reporters. "If necessary, we will quickly take additional steps."

I nearly choked on my coffee and couldn't read past this point.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

This is just pretence as if PM efforts something.

Japan's quarantine is still loose and insufficient, far from "safe and secure".

Japan's government has learned nothing from even misstep about "Diamond Princess".

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Made me chuckle. Suga taking a leaf out of VP Harris' playbook and going to the airport to look into border restrictions. Is it a crisis yet?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Don't bother reading the daily number of cases or deaths in Japan, they will never ever tell you the truth!

Without mass testing those numbers are irrelevant.

By the way, Suga san in case you did not realise yet, the Delta strain is already present in Japan, science tells us soon it will be predominant and therefore this mentioning of the Delta strain is just propaganda.

Get on with the vaccination, that would be a better way to spend your morning, rather than a trip to Haneda. A total waste of tax payers money. Come on Japanese people, vote these inefficient, old elite out of office!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

"If necessary, we will quickly take additional steps."

"Quickly" is relative. I am sure in Suga's mind Japan will quickly take steps but to the outside world, it is about as quick as a slug. Japan has always been about "wait and see" yousu wo miru 様子見る.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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