Hi!
I’m Nathan and welcome to Ninja monkey.
The place for all things related to Japan.
I do the research so that you don’t have to, and put all the readily available information
into one place.
As Japan continues closed to most people, I try to keep you informed regarding anything
that might potentially be of interest, and hopefully help get some insights and help
you answer the question when will Japan’s border reopen?
In this video we will look at …
The vaccine situation in Japan, an area that might become more important now that the booster
program is starting to get priority.
We will also look at case numbers across Japan and in Tokyo and what it might mean in the
short term.
Japan’s Go-to campaign is likely delayed, but what does that mean for you?
And we will also look at potential border discussions that are set to happen next week
But as things escalate will quasy state of emergencies and cases going up have a negative
effect?
Anyway let’s get started...
On the topic of vaccinations, Japan has now administered a total of 201,168,165 doses,
This includes first, second and booster jabs too.
This means that for now, out of the population of around 126 million people 79.8% have now
received one dose of the vaccine and 78.4% have received both doses of the vaccine and
would therefore be considered fully vaccinated.
In terms of booster jabs, 752,799 third doses have been administered nationwide, that’s
actually 221,503 additional third doses administered since my last update and equals around 0.6%
of the population.
The main vaccine drive is obviously coming to an end and will likely stall around the
80% double vaccinated mark.
It is clear that there has been an increase in booster jabs this week, something that
will most likely continue increasing weekly.
And regarding Covid.
With the introduction of community transmission of the Omicron variant, I had been predicting
that numbers would quickly escalate.
In last week’s update I mentioned that Tokyo’s cases reached 76 cases on the 29th of December
and mentioned that with the spread of the variant we would have to keep an eye on things
in the coming fortnight.
Things have actually escalated quite fast, 922 cases were reported in Tokyo on Friday
the 7th of January.
Along with the big increase in Tokyo, other notable mentions are 981 cases reported on
the 6th January in Okinawa and 505 Cases reported in Osaka.
In total, Nationwide 4301 cases were reported on Thursday 6th.
As you can see team, this is probably the start of a new wave but its important to keep
an eye on hospitalizations and bed capacity, and currently in Tokyo there are only 3 people
with severe symptoms out of 553 hospitalized patients and a healthy 6,919 beds are available
with 510 of those secured for severe patients.
The week ahead looks like it might be a rocky one.
During his new year’s address, Kishida said that border measures would remain strong,
but also noted that the policy would be reviewed next week after looking at the effect that
year-end holidays have had on the situation.
He also said that Japan would bring forward booster shots for elderly people and specifically
laid out plans for protecting the health system including the use of new oral treatments.
Team, it’s important to look at the situation currently happening in Japan and how the government
is treating it.
For starters, when it comes to Tourism, one of the clearest indicators is the fact that
the Japanese government will delay its Go To Travel domestic tourism promotion campaign
this month as suggested by tourism minister Saito on Friday.
"We're not at a point where we can announce a specific date for resuming the campaign,"
Saito told a press conference on Friday.
"We're in a situation where we should assume that the spread of (the coronavirus) will
proceed rapidly."
However, it is important to note that the minister stressed that the basic rule for
resuming the tourism campaign is that the infection situation remains calm, therefore
it is my belief that if domestic tourism continues on hold, then international tourism will not
restart until at least Japan’s go-to campaign has launched.
Although as always, its impossible to know how things will pan out in this area, and
these are only my thoughts at the moment, with the information available.
And information and policies can always change.
In regards to the border reopening for students, business people and those apart from their
loved ones, I am hopeful that there will be some sort of mention of the relaxation of
borders, but it’s also important to note that Japan has decided on Friday to place
three prefectures under a quasi-state of emergency, these being Okinawa, Yamaguchi and Hiroshima,
and will be effective from Sunday until the Jan. 31, with measures once again requesting
that dining establishments shorten their business hours and stop serving alcohol.
"We judged that we need to cope with the spread of infections swiftly," Kishida said at a
meeting on the coronavirus response at his office.
"Infection numbers have been rising nationwide through the year-end, New Year period and
community transmissions of Omicron have been reported in parts of the nation," he added.
Although Tokyo, has currently hasn’t been put in any sort of state of emergency Public
facilities, including the popular Ueno Zoo, will be closed from next Tuesday for the time
being as a result of infections.
So team, the reality is that if Kishida had said that border restrictions would be evaluated
next week depending on end of year effects on the virus, and he has since then stated
that the infection numbers have been rising nationwide through the year-end, New Year
period and community transmissions of Omicron have been reported in parts of the nation,".
This is unfortunately quite a big red marker in regard to what might be the outcome of
said border measures being relaxed as Kishida seems to be going for a better than sorry
approach.
I remain optimistic that Japan is in a better place to deal with this new wave, they have
built a much better infostructure in regard to improving of testing, more beds are available
and the experience from the past should hopefully mean that even though there is a new wave
happening and quazy state of emergency, this does not mean that the outcome needs to be
the same.
There are also other things positive things that are at play and that could potentially
help in some sort of relaxation of the border.
Firstly, it has already become apparent that with the correct testing and quarantine measures
most infections are not spread through the border, meaning that there does not necessarily
need to be a connection between the point of entry at the borders and infection.
Not only that but the measures have been criticized as discriminatory by the World Health Organization,
which has urged countries not to impose blanket travel bans, saying they are ineffective in
preventing the virus from spreading and place a heavy burden on people's lives.
Additionally, pressure has started to mount, and a petition signed by over 12,000 people
was submitted by my friend Davie to the Japanese government on Thursday, which is in my opinion
very good timing and will hopefully bring to the forefront the pleads of students and
those stranded out of the country just in time for any decisions on the border to be
made.
Anyway team, I always love to get your opinion on all of this, and if you haven’t got much
to say Just say Hi and where you are from!
I love seeing the community grow and how international the community is becoming.
You can also take the time to encourage each other down there and I continue to encourage
you to send in any information that you might think is helpful or relevant, either via one
of my social platforms or simply sharing with the community in a comment.
I’ve also recently being streaming, sometimes quite last minute and randomly and other times
with a good scheduled warning..
So if you do happen to see me live, come and hang out!
I can try to answer any questions you have and have a nice casual chat.
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So.. that’s all for now,
Stay positive team!
Till next time, I’ll continue researching and keeping an eye on all updates until the
next video!
So.. till then, Arigatou, gracias, thanks bye!