Japan and beyond: The Week in Pictures - May 16-22
As of 11:30 p.m., Monday, May 25 (Japan time)
- The end of Japan's state of emergency over the coronavirus crisis has sparked hopes among the country's citizens living in Beijing that their families and colleagues may be able to return to the Chinese capital in the not-so-distant future.
- Japan is expanding its entry ban to visitors from India and 10 other nations as part of border control steps to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday.
- Japan on Monday released a phased road map for reopening the economy as the government fully lifted the state of emergency the same day, with plans to relax by August restrictions imposed following the novel coronavirus outbreak.
- A mysterious two-headed bird depicted in a Japanese diary dating from more than a century ago has caught the attention of people yearning for an end to the novel coronavirus pandemic, with its image going viral online and inspiring merchandise from rice crackers to T-shirts.
- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Monday that the state of emergency declared over the novel coronavirus crisis is over in Japan, ending curbs on economic activity in Tokyo and four other prefectures as experts judged the spread of infections is now under control.
- The lifting of the state of emergency imposed on Tokyo and four other prefectures over the novel coronavirus outbreak holds out the prospect of businesses getting back on track and schools reopening.
- Japan's professional baseball season will begin on June 19 behind closed doors, Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Atsushi Saito said Monday, after the season was postponed for close to three months because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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With Japan's bars and restaurants largely empty of revelers during the coronavirus pandemic, craft beer consumption dried up and left owners needing a near-miracle to stop them from having to pour their valuable stocks down the drain. That was when a long-established microbrewery northeast of Tokyo came to a Jesus-like water-into-wine rescue, in this case discovering a technique to turn soon-to-expire craft beer into gin.
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From June, All Nippon Airways Co. will require all passengers to wear face masks inside airports and aboard aircraft, as the aviation industry shifts toward operating in a new coronavirus pandemic normal.
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The Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies, or CEATEC, one of Japan's major annual electronics shows, will be held online in October due to safety concerns arising from the novel coronavirus, organizers said Monday.
- The Orix Buffaloes held an intrasquad scrimmage on Monday, with Nippon Professional Baseball targeting a late-June start for its coronavirus pandemic-delayed 2020 season.
- The number of foreign tourists staying at hotels in the normally thronging tourist destination of Kyoto plunged 89.5 percent in March from a year earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a recent survey.
As of 10 p.m., Sunday, May 24 (Japan time)
- An Osaka Prefecture-based toothpick manufacturer has released a new product to help people reduce the risk of contracting the novel coronavirus through contact with surfaces -- wooden sticks for pressing buttons in elevators and other public places.
- With the coronavirus pandemic interrupting professional baseball in Japan, the United States and elsewhere around the world, some diehard fans of the sport are getting their fix from an unlikely source.
- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned Sunday that the United States is spreading a "political virus" vilifying China, urging Washington to cooperate with Beijing to ease the negative effects of the new coronavirus on the global economy.
- The health ministry is considering providing up to 200,000 yen ($1,900) for each medical worker at hospitals treating coronavirus patients across Japan, ministry sources said Sunday, aimed at supporting doctors and nurses facing risk of infection while working on the frontline.
Useful resources for foreign residents and visitors in Japan
- Tokyo Metropolitan Government's "Tokyo Coronavirus Support Center for Foreign Residents (TOCOS)" multilingual hotline
- Available in Simple Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Nepali, Indonesian, Tagalog, Thai, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Khmer, and Burmese, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays except national holidays.
0120-296-004 (toll free) - AMDA Medical Information Center's "Multilingual Consultation Service Regarding COVID-19"
(April 10~May 20, 2020)
- Available in English, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends and national holidays. Also available in Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Thai, Spanish, Vietnamese and Portuguese on designated weekdays. Check schedule here.
03-6233-9266
- Available in English and Chinese on weekdays only, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
090-3359-8324 - Tokyo Metropolitan Government's COVID-19 info
https://stopcovid19.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/flow/ - Tokyo Metropolitan Government hotline
- Available in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
0570-550571
- Available via fax for those with hearing impairments
03-5388-1396 - Japan National Tourism Organization's "Guide for when you are feeling ill"
- Multilingual clinic/hospital search available in English, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese
https://www.jnto.go.jp/emergency/eng/mi_guide.html - JNTO's "Japan Visitor Hotline"
- Available in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese 24 hours a day
050-3816-2787
+81-50-3816-2787 (from overseas)
http://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/001328767.pdf - Japan's health ministry hotline
- Available in Japanese only, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
0120-565653 - World Health Organization's "Q&A on coronaviruses"
https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses