Here are the latest COVID-19 updates from Japan and beyond:
<May 30, 2022>
- Shanghai will lift its two-month-long lockdown from midnight on Wednesday, the municipal government said Monday, allowing most of the city's citizens to leave home.
- Total global production by eight major Japanese automakers in April fell 20.1 percent from a year earlier to 1.66 million vehicles, industry data showed Monday, reflecting a worldwide semiconductor shortage and supply disruptions caused by a COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai.
- Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday its global sales in April dropped 11.1 percent from a year earlier to 763,708 vehicles, declining for the eighth straight month, hit by a worldwide semiconductor shortage and a COVID lockdown in Shanghai.
<May 29, 2022>
- COVID-19 movement restrictions were lifted in North Korea's capital of Pyongyang Sunday, weeks after the first novel coronavirus case was reported in the country, an informed source in Beijing said.
<May 27, 2022>
- The sails of the Sydney Opera House were illuminated with a vibrant display of Australia's First Nations culture on Friday, as the city welcomed the return of the Vivid Sydney light festival for the first time since 2019.
- Japan will ask foreign tourists to wear face masks and follow other precautions against COVID-19 when they visit the country, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday.
<May 26, 2022>
- Japan will resume accepting foreign tourists from June 10, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday, as the country continues to ease its COVID-19 border controls.
<May 25, 2022>
- The Japanese government is making final arrangements to resume accepting foreign tourists in June, further relaxing its border controls imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic, sources close to the matter said Wednesday.
- Two Japanese living in Shanghai died during the lockdown of the Chinese city that began in late March amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the Japanese government said Wednesday, but the causes are unknown.
- Japan began offering fourth coronavirus vaccine shots Wednesday to older people, and those with underlying medical conditions.
- The government said in a monthly report Wednesday that the Japanese economy is recovering from the pandemic, with the word "coronavirus" not included in its assessment for the first time in more than two years.
- Japan came out ranking highest on a list of destinations in a 2021 travel and tourism development report by the World Economic Forum, despite the country being closed to foreign tourists due to restrictions against the coronavirus.
<May 24, 2022>
- Seven people from the United States arrived in Japan Tuesday as part of the first small-scale test tours in the government's planned gradual reopening to inbound tourists from June.
- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday that China had reached out to congratulate him on his appointment, despite recent bilateral tensions after Canberra called for an inquiry into the origins of the novel coronavirus.
- A western Japanese town that mistakenly sent 46.3 million yen ($363,000) in COVID-19 relief money to a resident has legally recovered about 43 million yen, or about 90 percent of it, the mayor said Tuesday.
- Japanese business circles, particularly those in the tourism sector, are unsettled by what appears to be overly cautious government policy toward resuming tourism from abroad as the Asian country's economy struggles to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - May 21~27
Useful resources for foreign residents and visitors in Japan
- Health ministry call center
COVID-19: 0120-565-653 (toll free)
COVID-19 Vaccines: 0120-761-770 (toll free)
-Interpreters available for English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; for Thai 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; for Vietnamese 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. - Health ministry's COVID-19 Vaccine Navigation website
https://v-sys.mhlw.go.jp/en/ - 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)