Here are the latest COVID-19 updates from Japan and beyond:
Photo taken on Sept. 30, 2021, shows sake bottles on a Japanese restaurant counter in Tokyo's Shimbashi area ahead of the Oct. 1 resumption of liquor service at the restaurant following the lifting of the COVID-19 state of emergency at the end of Sept. 30. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
As of 11 p.m., Friday, Oct. 1
- Although businesses got the go-ahead to ease coronavirus restrictions when the Japanese government fully lifted its state of emergency on Friday, experts are still unsure why infection numbers have receded from their peak, bringing concern a resurgence may follow.
- Major Japanese companies formally offered jobs Friday to students set to graduate from universities and other schools in the country next spring, welcoming them in online ceremonies amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- Business confidence among major Japanese manufacturers improved for a fifth straight quarter as the economy emerges from the COVID-19 downturn but component shortages weighed, the Bank of Japan said Friday.
- Japan's COVID-19 state of emergency was fully lifted on Friday, making it the first time since April that the entire country is not under the measure to curb infections.
As of 11 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 30
- China asked Thursday for the cooperation of Japan, the host of this summer's Tokyo Olympics, to run the Beijing Games safely, a day after a decision was made that no spectators from overseas can attend them amid the pandemic.
- Tokyo Disney theme parks and Universal Studios Japan will increase the maximum number of visitors they admit every day from 5,000 to 10,000 starting Friday, as Japan's months-long COVID-19 state of emergency expires, their operators said.
- Japan will experience price hikes in some food and tobacco products as well as services from October, partly due to a spike in global raw material prices, dealing a further blow to households hit by the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
- The Tokyo Game Show started Thursday east of the capital, with a physical exhibition open to a select group of guests for the first time in two years and a virtual setup for game enthusiasts who wish to attend remotely.
- The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday unveiled a basic slate of preventive measures against the spread of the novel coronavirus at the Beijing Games next February, including a ban on all spectators except residents of mainland China.
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - September 18~24
People line up to watch a dolphin show on the last day of Keikyu Aburatsubo Marine Park in the Kanagawa Prefecture city of Miura, eastern Japan, on Sept. 30, 2021. Since its opening in 1968, the aquarium drew a total of 24 million people but ended its 53-year history amid dwindling visitor numbers in recent years. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
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)
https://www.seikatubunka.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/chiiki_tabunka/tabunka/tabunkasuishin/0000001452.html - AMDA Medical Information Center's "Multilingual Consultation Service"
- Available in Simple Japanese and English, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. Also available in Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese on designated weekdays. Check schedule here.
03-6233-9266 - Tokyo Metropolitan Government's COVID-19 info
https://stopcovid19.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/ - Tokyo Metropolitan Government hotline
https://stopcovid19.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/contacts
- Available in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. (including weekends and holidays)
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"
https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/hotline/
- Available in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese 24 hours a day
050-3816-2787
+81-50-3816-2787 (from overseas) - 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
