Japan
Japan searches for dozens missing in resort town mudslide
Rescue workers slogged through mud and debris Monday looking for dozens feared missing after a giant landslide ripped through a Japanese seaside resort town, killing at least three people.
Eighty people were still unaccounted for, according to Shizuoka prefectural disaster management official Takamichi Sugiyama. Officials were preparing to release their names in hopes of reaching some that might not have been caught in the landslide. Initially, 147 of those people were unreachable, but that number was revised downward after city officials confirmed some had safely evacuated or were away when the disaster struck, it said.
Read: 2 dead, 20 missing after mudslide rips through Japan town
The disaster is an added trial as authorities prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, due to start in less than three weeks, while Japan is still in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
At least 20 were initially described as missing. Adding to confusion over casualties is that Atami is a vacation city, with many apartments and homes unoccupied for long parts of the year, their listed residents living in other places.
Others may be away visiting relatives or friends or not answering the phone, officials said. They hope to get in touch with more of those unaccounted for on Monday.
The landslide occurred Saturday after several days of heavy rains. Witnesses heard a giant roar as a small stream turned into a torrent, carrying black mud, trees, rocks and debris from buildings.
Bystanders were heard gasping in horror on cell phone videos taken as it happened.
Like many seaside and mountain towns in Japan, Atami is built on steep hillsides, its roads winding through bits of forest and heavy vegetation. With other parts of Japan expecting heavy rains in what is known as Japan’s rainy season, authorities elsewhere were also surveying hillsides. NHK carried a program Monday about risk factors and warning signs that might precede a landslide.
Three coast guard ships, and six military drones were backing up the hundreds of troops, firefighters and other rescue workers toiling in the rain and fog in search of possible survivors.
Read: It’s Olympic month for Japan
The mudslide struck Atami’s Izusan neighborhood, known for its hot springs, a shrine and shopping streets. Atami is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tokyo.
Naoto Date, an actor who happened to be visiting the Izusan area after a filming session, woke up to sirens in the neighborhood when he was in his house, which is next to his mother’s. Both of them were safe, but he made sure his mother walked to a nearby community center to evacuate, and he called all his friends and schoolmates and made sure they’d survived.
“I grew up here and my classmates and friends live here. I’m so sad to see my neighborhood where I used to play with my friends is now destroyed,” Date told The Associated Press in a video interview from his home in Atami.
So far, Date said his friends all had safely evacuated, and his mother moved to a hotel in a safer location. Date, who lives in Tokyo, said he was staying away from evacuation centers due to concern about the coronavirus.
Even though his house was located in a hazard area, he said he never imagined it would be hit by a disaster.
“I used to take it not so seriously and I regret that,” he said. He filmed scenes in his neighborhood with muddy water gushing down and rescuers wading through knee-deep mud.
He also went to the sea where toppled cars were floating with debris from destroyed homes. “Many people saw their homes and belongings and everything washed away. They won’t be able to return home, and it must require an unimaginable effort to recover.”
Three people had been found dead as of early Monday, Fire and Disaster Management Agency and local officials said. Twenty-three people stranded by the mudslide were rescued, including three who were injured.
Read: Companies give vaccines to workers, boosting Japan’s rollout
Shizuoka’s governor, Heita Kawakatsu told a news conference Sunday that land development upstream may have been a factor in the mudslide. Citing a preliminary examination by drone, Kawakatsu said massive amounts of soil that had been heaped up in the construction area had all washed down.
Kawakatsu said he will investigate the land development. Media reports said a planned housing development was abandoned after its operator ran into financial problems.
At least 19 missing as mudslide west of Tokyo hits houses
A powerful mudslide carrying a deluge of black water and debris crashed into rows of houses in a town west of Tokyo following heavy rains on Saturday, leaving at least 19 people missing, officials said.
Dozens of homes may have been buried in Atami, a town known for hot springs, said Shizuoka prefecture spokesman Takamichi Sugiyama.
Public broadcaster NHK gave the number of missing people at 20, but Sugiyama said the prefecture confirmed at least 19, although he said the number may grow.
Also read: Floods and mudslides kill 4, another 7 missing in Sri Lanka
Torrential rains have slammed parts of Japan starting earlier this week. Experts said dirt had been loosened, increasing landslide risks in a country filled with valleys and mountains.
Shizuoka Gov. Heita Kawakatsu told reporters that the Coast Guard had discovered two people who had been washed into the sea by the mudslide. Their hearts had stopped, but their deaths were not yet officially declared, he said. Other details of their identity were not released.
“I offer my deepest condolences to everyone who has suffered,” he said, adding that utmost efforts will be made to rescue lives.
Both Kawakatsu and Sugiyama said it had been raining hard in the area all morning. Self-defense forces will join firefighters and police in the rescue operation, and a minister from the national government had also arrived, they said.
Japanese media reports said Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called an emergency meeting for his Cabinet.
Also read: Hope for more survivors ebbs in Brazil area hit by mudslides
Evacuation warnings were issued for a wide area, including the so-called “Level 5,” which is the highest possible alert.
The landslides appeared to have struck multiple times, about as fast as a car. Footage showed a powerful, black mudslide slither down a mountain, knocking over and crushing houses and sweeping away cars in its path. Helpless neighbors watched in horror, some recording on their phones.
Also read: Heavy rains in Kenya cause flooding, mudslides that kill 17
NHK TV footage showed a part of a bridge had collapsed.
Atami is a quaint seaside resort area in Shizuoka prefecture, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tokyo. The area that was hit by the mudslide, Izusan, includes hot springs, residential areas, shopping streets and a famous shrine.
It’s Olympic month for Japan
The calendar has flipped over in the Land of the Rising Sun, marking the beginning of Japan’s Olympic Month. The 2020 summer Olympic Games are supposed to kick-off on July 23 with a watered-down grand opening at the newly built national stadium in Tokyo.
Japan had won the bid to hold this sought-after event in Tokyo in September 2013 and since then the metropolitan government as well as the central administration had taken a number of bold measures to ensure a successful holding of this grand sporting celebration on a global scale. Everything was moving almost in a seamless manner well until the unfolding of a great tragedy that the world started encountering in the form of coronavirus, which eventually had upturned many of our plans; including the 2020 Olympic Games. As a result, the Olympic Games that Tokyo was looking forward to, was postponed for a year and the dates and schedules for all related events were shifted to 2021. The organizers, though, kept the old name of Tokyo 2020 unchanged.
During the subsequent year-long period of slow down and emergencies, the organizers of the games were busy finding ways that would allow the events to go ahead and also would not pose any serious health threat to participants, officials, spectators, as well as people of the host city. At the height of the infection during the second half of last year, nobody was able to foresee convincingly about the future of the Games in Tokyo. There were wild card calls for a blanket cancellation or indefinite postponement, as the virus started travelling all over the places causing rampant devastation and increasing the fear that a large-scale gathering like the Olympics might turn out to be suicidal. It should be noted that a second postponement would have virtually killed Tokyo 2020, as the busy window of international sporting events would probably have little option to allow the game to be held at different times other than the following year, and thus killing Tokyo 2020 altogether. Fortunately, this did not happen, though uncertainty remains over the important question of how the events are eventually to be held.
Also read: Olympic Day 2021 observed in Dhaka
For Tokyo, the Olympic debacle is not something completely new. We all know Japan not only successfully staged the 1964 summer Olympic Games, but did it with a tremendous success that raised the profile of the country and also that of the Asian continent, to the extent that the successful holding of 1964 Summer Olympics became synonymous to Japan’s miraculous economic progress. The bullet train Shinkansen is a product of 1964 Tokyo Olympic games, so are many of the country's industrial and consumer products with which the name of the country later became closely associated. The 1964 Tokyo Olympics, thus, marked Japan’s rise as a dominant force in the global economy. The country since then has been playing an expanded role not only in fostering a balanced global growth, but also in finding ways for helping nations that are still in need of help. In the subsequent decades since the 1964 Olympic Games, Japan has become more involved in global issues like combating global warming and environment pollution, disaster reduction and mitigation, public health, urbanization, sustainable development, as well as peace-keeping.
Compared to that, Tokyo 2020 had a real rough ride. The name of the game had been tainted right from the beginning with a number of scandals, ranging from the initially approved logo and scrapping of the already decided plan for a new national stadium to the forced resignation of a number of high officials who were closely involved in the handling of preparations of the games. However, right at the moment when it looked as if Japan had successfully managed to overcome most of the difficulties, the advent of coronavirus dealt a severe blow and the games prospects once again turned extremely bleak. Though a number of issues, including how many spectators will be allowed to each of the Olympic Venues and how to ensure that the incoming flow of athletes and guests from overseas will not fuel further the spread of virus, it now looks like a definite conclusion that Tokyo 2020 will mark the start on July 23.
Japan in general seems to be not lucky enough for what accounts to be hosting the Olympic Games. The rocky road that Olympic preparations had to go through during the last two years speaks all about that. But this is not the first time that Japan’s Olympic luck came across formidable obstacles.
Also read: Tokyo shapes up to be No-Fun Olympics with many rules, tests
Tokyo’s first successful Olympic bid was for the 1940 games, the right Japan had won during the controversial 1936 Berlin Games. The country was earnestly looking forward to the arrival of the game in Asian soil for the first time ever, and a number of new venues were already underway when the start of World War II in European soil in September 1939 effectively put an end to that ambitious dream of Tokyo.
For Japan, the year 1940 was earmarked as 2,600th anniversary of Emperor Jimmu’s accession to the throne as the first emperor in Japanese history and the government planned a number of events coinciding with the hosting of the 1940 Olympic Games. But all that eventually turned out to be shattered dreams and as the consequences of the war for Japan had been extremely devastating, Tokyo for a number of years did not have any opportunity to revive that lost hope and go for another bid. However, the country eventually could realize that dream within two decades.
The Olympics are also a time for hope for many of the athletes who participate. A near empty venue is not what they would expect and welcome. However, at the time of distress, it is definitely better than dumping the hope for good. Let this spirit of Olympic participation remain high, not only until the flags are raised, but also throughout the whole period of two games – 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
Tokyo shapes up to be No-Fun Olympics with many rules, tests
The Tokyo Olympics, already delayed by the pandemic, are not looking like much fun: Not for athletes. Not for fans. And not for the Japanese public. They are caught between concerns about the coronavirus at a time when few are vaccinated on one side and politicians who hope to save face by holding the games and the International Olympic Committee with billions of dollars on the line on the other.
Japan is famous for running on consensus. But the decision to proceed with the Olympics — and this week to permit some fans, if only locals — has shredded it.
“We have been cornered into a situation where we cannot even stop now. We are damned if we do, and damned if we do not,” Kaori Yamaguchi, a member of the Japanese Olympic Committee and a bronze medalist in judo in 1988, wrote in a recent editorial published by the Kyodo news agency. “The IOC also seems to think that public opinion in Japan is not important.”
Support for going ahead seems to be increasing, but there’s persistent opposition with small street protests planned on Wednesday, one month before the July 23 opening. Much of that concern stems from qualms about the health risks. While the number of new cases has been receding in Tokyo, only about 7% of Japanese are fully vaccinated — and even though the government is now supercharging its vaccine drive after a slow start, the vast majority of the population still won’t be immunized when the games start.
Read:Japan’s vaccine push ahead of Olympics looks to be too late
That’s left the IOC and the Japanese government going through contortions to pulls this off. Dr. Shigeru Omi, the government’s top COVID-19 adviser, called it “abnormal” to hold the world’s biggest sports event during a pandemic. He also said the safest Olympics would be with no fans.
He was overruled on both counts by the government of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and organizers.
The official cost of the Tokyo Olympics is $15.4 billion, but government audits suggest it’s twice that. All but $6.7 billion is public money. The IOC chips in only about $1.5 billion to the overall cost.
The pressure to hold the games is largely financial for the Switzerland-based IOC, a nonprofit but highly commercial body that earns 91% of its income from broadcast rights and sponsorship. Estimates suggest a cancelation could cost it $3 billion to $4 billion in broadcast rights income.
Beyond financial concerns, putting on a successful Olympics is also a major source of pride for the host country. Some economists compare it to throwing a big party. You overspend but hope your guests go away bragging about the hospitality.
“It’s a bit like a gambler who already has lost too much,” said Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University in Tokyo. “Pulling out of it now will only confirm the huge losses made, but carrying on you can still cling to the hope of winning big and taking it all back.”
Before the postponement 15 months ago, Japan was on track to host a well-run if expensive Olympics. It had a beautiful new National Stadium by architect Kengo Kuma, meticulous organization, and a grand stage for a country that mounted historic games in 1964 — just 19 years after defeat in World War II. IOC President Thomas Bach called Tokyo the “best prepared Olympics ever” — and he still says it repeatedly.
But now, worries that the games will be become an incubator for the virus hang over them. For now, the rolling averages of deaths and cases have stabilized in a country that has reported more than 14,000 deaths — good by global standards but worse than many of its Asian neighbors.
While the games may still end up wowing television audiences who will tune in around the world, the pandemic has removed any sense of celebration. Athletes are meant to stay in the village or venues. Most others entering Japan for the Olympics can only shuttle between their hotels and venues for the first 14 days, must sign a pledge of follow the rules, and could have their movements monitored by GPS.
Read:Torch relay for Tokyo Olympics kicks off its 121-day journey
There will be no public viewing areas in Tokyo. The few fans who can attend venues must wear masks, social distance, refrain from cheering, and go straight home afterward. No stopping off at the local izakaya for beer and skewers of grilled chicken.
With spectators from overseas ruled out months ago, there’s little business for hotels. Local sponsors have paid more than $3 billion to be involved, and some have complained about lost advertising possibilities. Others have expressed concern about being tied to an event that’s unpopular at home.
In perhaps a last-ditch effort to save some of the festive spirit, organizers said Tuesday they were looking into selling alcohol at the venues.
Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa indicated financial concerns were at play: Japanese brewer Asahi is one of the sponsors and has kicked millions into the local operating budget.
But after immediate pushback, organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto reversed the decision at a Wednesday news conference.
“We decided as Tokyo 2020 not to sell alcoholic beverages and to ban drinking alcoholic beverages in the venues,” she said.
And athletes who might want a drink to celebrate have been told by organizers to “drink alone” in their rooms.
Alcohol is otherwise banned in the athletes’ village.
This village will also have a fever clinic, the first stop for anyone who fails a daily test — and the last place anyone wants to go.
Read:What drives possible boycott of Beijing Olympics
“We are hoping that there won’t be so many people,” Dr. Tetsuya Miyamoto said, director of medical services for Tokyo 2020. “This is an infectious disease we are talking about. It has the possibility of spreading. So once that happens, the numbers could start to explode.”
Details of the opening ceremony are always kept a secret. But this time the questions aren’t about which celebrity will light the cauldron but rather will athletes social distance and wear masks as they march through the venue? And how many will march at all?
One of the symbols of the celebratory atmosphere of the Olympics has long been its notorious policy of handing out condoms. At the games in Rio de Janeiro, officials distributed 450,000 through vending machines with signs that read, “Celebrate with a Condom.”
This time there will be 150,000 — but only given to athletes as they leave for home.
Asian shares track rebound on Wall Street
Asian shares have rebounded from their retreat a day earlier, tracking Wall Street’s recovery from the Federal Reserve’s reminder it will eventually provide less support to markets.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 2.8% in morning trading to 28,785.24. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 1.4% to 7,336.30. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.6% to 3,260.11. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.1% to 28,522.78, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.9% to 3,559.32.
Read:WTO talks on Trips waiver from June 30
Although the latest bout of jitters over a possible easing of help from the Federal Reserve and other central banks appears to have passed, analysts said rising coronavirus cases in the region remained a concern.
“Much of the region is dealing with renewed waves of COVID-19 infections. These waves, especially in the case of India, Indonesia and some other countries in Southeast Asia, are the most severe yet,” said Venkateswaran Lavanya at Mizuho Bank in Singapore.
On Monday, the S&P 500 snapped 1.4% higher, to 4,224.79, recovering nearly three-quarters of its worst weekly loss since February. Oil producers, banks and other companies that were hit particularly hard last week led the way.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.8% to 33,876.97 and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.8%, to 14,141.48.
Investors are still figuring all the ramifications of the Fed’s forecast that may start raising short-term interest rates by late 2023. That’s earlier than previously thought. The Fed also began talks about slowing programs meant to keep longer-term rates low, an acknowledgment of the strengthening economy and threat of higher inflation.
Read:Australia says it’s reached a free trade deal with Britain
The market’s immediate reaction to last week’s Fed news was to send stocks lower and interest rates higher. Higher rates would make stock prices, which have been climbing faster than corporate profits, look even more expensive than they do already.
But it’s not like the Fed said it will hike rates from their record low of nearly zero anytime soon.
“If markets are worried about a march back to more normal monetary and fiscal policy as the economy recovers, it will be a very long march,” Barings chief global strategist Christopher Smart said in a note. In the meantime, support from both the Federal Reserve and the U.S. government should continue to help stock prices, even if they do look expensive compared with history, he said.
Companies whose profits are the most closely tied to the economy’s strength and inflation were among the market’s strongest on Monday.
Hess, Marathon Oil and Devon Energy all rose at least 6.9% as energy stocks rallied with the price of oil. Banks were also strong, with Bank of America up 2.5% and Wells Fargo climbing 3.7%.
High-growth companies able to flourish almost regardless of the economy lagged behind in a reversal from last week’s trend, when investors rattled by the Fed piled back into the biggest winners of the pandemic.
Amazon slipped 0.9%, and the lagging performance for tech meant the Nasdaq trailed other indexes.
Read:Odds of settling US-EU trade rifts? Hope may outrun progress
More bumps may be ahead for markets, which had been mostly quiet for weeks before the Fed’s announcement. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak before a House subcommittee on Tuesday about the Fed’s response to the pandemic.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude picked up 13 cents to $73.25 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It jumped $1.83 to $73.12 on Monday. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 23 cents to $75.13 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 110.39 Japanese yen from 110.31 yen. The euro rose to $1.1918 from $1.1914.
Companies give vaccines to workers, boosting Japan’s rollout
Thousands of Japanese companies began distributing COVID-19 vaccines to workers and their families Monday in an employer-led drive reaching more than 13 million people that aims to rev up the nation’s slow vaccine rollout.
Yuka Daimaru, among the Suntory workers getting the shot on a sprawling office floor, was visibly relieved after spending more than a year worrying about the coronavirus.
“I was nervous, but it didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would,” she said. “Now I don’t have to worry as much on commuter trains or at meetings.”
Read: China's comical picture 'The Last G-7' raps Japan's Fukushima water
The Tokyo-based beverage maker plans to inoculate 51,500 people, including part-time workers and employees’ families, with the Moderna vaccine.
About 3,500 companies have signed up for the free vaccines, and that number is growing. The companies must present a plan to inoculate at least 1,000 people per site. But they decide whom to include, such as families, affiliate companies and suppliers.
Universities are also eligible. Smaller companies can apply through organizations, such as the local merchant association, so ideally no one falls through the cracks, according to the health ministry.
Among those taking part are major automaker Toyota Motor Corp., planning to vaccinate 80,000 people at its plants and offices.
Read:Japan’s vaccine push ahead of Olympics looks to be too late
Fast Retailing, behind the Uniqlo clothing chain, is inoculating 18,500 people, including part-timers and cleaning and cafeteria staff, starting July 1.
Online retailer Rakuten said it’s vaccinating 60,000 workers and their families.
Company applications for the vaccines are accepted through February 2022.
Japan is relying totally on imported vaccines for a campaign that started in February with medical professionals. Only about 6% of Japanese are fully vaccinated. Japan has had more than 14,000 deaths from COVID-19.
Local governments and Japan’s self-defense forces are also leading the vaccination campaign, but the employer-led efforts are helping accelerate the pace.
Read:Japan opens mass vaccination centers 2 months before Games
Daisuke Sen, a human resources senior general manager at Suntory Holdings, said the vaccinations at his company will be completed by the end of August.
The first day for the vaccinations came after weeks of work, especially scrambling to find doctors and nurses to carry out the shots, he said.
“Getting here means so much for me,” he said.
Big-B Initiative to bring more investment to Bangladesh: Shahriar
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam has said the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (Big-B) Initiative of Japan will accelerate cooperation for development of quality infrastructure and create more investment opportunities in Bangladesh.
These, he said, will also strengthen regional connectivity.
Japanese Ambassador Ito Naoki met the state minister on Tuesday and comprehensively discussed the bilateral relations and issues of common interests.
Read: COVAX Facility: Japan to provide 30mn vaccine doses to other countries
They also reviewed the progress of the Japan-funded major development projects.
Recognising Bangladesh’s leadership role in the climate change discourse, the Ambassador said the Japanese investors are willing to invest in clean energy.
Bangladesh and Japan agreed to work together to tackle the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Both sides recalled Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s groundbreaking visit to Japan in 1973 which laid the rock-solid foundation of the bilateral relations.
The state minister conveyed his deep appreciation for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s participation at the event celebrating Bangabandhu’s birth centenary and the Golden Jubilee of the Independence of Bangladesh.
Read:COVID-19 Response: Japan provides ASEF equipment to Bangladesh
The two sides agreed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations in 2022 in a befitting manner, including through exchange of high-level visits.
State Minister Shahriar Alam stated that the Covid-19 pandemic posed an unprecedented challenging time for all and thanked the government of Japan for the Covid-related assistance.
He briefed the Japanese envoy on the initiatives taken by the government to combat the pandemic and sought support from Japan to continue its fight against the virus.
Japanese Ambassador highly appreciated the socio-economic progress of Bangladesh, even during the pandemic, under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and assured of continued support to Bangladesh to deal with the Covid situation.
Read: One step closer to completing historic Metro Rail project in Bangladesh: Japan
Alam underscored that if 1.1 million Rohingyas were denied the opportunity to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhaine state of Myanmar and it could have ramifications for regional and international security and stability.
He also urged Japan to use her influence to persuade Myanmar and the international community to create a conducive environment within Myanmar for safe and dignified return of the Rohingyas.
The Ambassador reiterated Japan’s commitment of continued support for Rohingya repatriation.
COVAX Facility: Japan to provide 30mn vaccine doses to other countries
Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has expressed his country’s intention to provide around 30 million vaccine doses manufactured in Japan to other countries and regions, including through the COVAX Facility.
Prime Minister Suga who co-chaired the COVAX AMC (Advance Market Commitment) Summit virtually with Gavi Board Chair José Manuel Barroso on Wednesday said Japan will provide the vaccine doses at an appropriate time when the circumstances allow.
Read: UK recognises Bangladesh's Dr Jara as 'Vaccine Luminary'
The Japanese Prime Minister explained that Japan has always supported the efforts by the COVAX Facility, including through its financial contribution, amounting to US$ 200 million and announced Japan’s additional contribution of US$ 800 million.
In this context, as one of the largest contributors to the COVAX Facility, Japan welcomed the arrival of 106,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine to Bangladesh on May 31, which was made possible through the COVAX AMC.
Read:1 lakh-plus Pfizer vaccine doses reach Dhaka
Japan will continue to cooperate with Bangladesh to suppress the spread of the Covid-19 and overcome this unprecedented crisis, said the Japanese Embassy in Dhaka.
The Summit, held on Wednesday, was organised to raise additional funds to secure necessary vaccines for developing countries by the end of 2021, in order to ensure through the COVAX Facility equitable access to safe, effective and quality-assured vaccines thereby overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read: Bangladesh approves emergency use of Pfizer vaccine
Participants in the Summit include leaders and ministers from about 40 countries, including Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States of America, as well as António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General and other heads of international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and representatives from the civil society and the private companies such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Prime Minister Suga called for further solidarity and commitments from the international community in the fight against Covid-19, and expressed Japan’s full support for ensuring equitable access to safe and effective vaccines for as many people as possible with a view to achieving Universal Health Coverage guided by the principle of human security.
Japan’s vaccine push ahead of Olympics looks to be too late
It may be too little, too late.
That’s the realization sinking in as Japan scrambles to catch up on a frustratingly slow vaccination drive less than two months before the Summer Olympics, delayed by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, are scheduled to start.
The Olympics risk becoming an incubator for “a Tokyo variant,” as 15,000 foreign athletes and tens of thousands officials, sponsors and journalists from about 200 countries descend on — and potentially mix with — a largely unvaccinated Japanese population, said Dr. Naoto Ueyama, a physician, head of the Japan Doctors Union.
With infections in Tokyo and other heavily populated areas currently at high levels and hospitals already under strain treating serious cases despite a state of emergency, experts have warned there is little slack in the system.
Read: Japan's Olympic chief marks pride week with LGBTQ event
Even if the country succeeds in meeting its goal of fully vaccinating all 36 million elderly by the end of July — already a week into the Games — about 70% of the population would not be inoculated. And many have dismissed the target as overly optimistic anyway.
To meet it, Japan is vowing to soon start administering 1 million doses daily. It currently is only giving 500,000 per day, already a big improvement after Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called on military doctors and nurses and started making legal exceptions to recruit other vaccinators in order to boost the drive.
“Vaccinations under the current pace are not going to help prevent infections during the Olympics,” Tokyo Medical Association Chairman Haruo Ozaki said. “The Olympics can trigger a global spread of different variants of the virus.”
The International Olympic Committee says more than 80% of athletes and staff staying in the Olympic Village on Tokyo Bay will be vaccinated — and they are expected to remain largely in a bubble at the village and venues. On Tuesday, Japan started vaccinating athletes who will go to the Games, the Japanese Olympic Committee said.
But vaccination rates are not clear for others involved in the Games who are coming from abroad, including hard-hit regions, and experts warn that even strict rules won’t prevent all mingling, especially among non-athletes. Spectators from overseas have been barred.
Prominent medical journals have questioned the wisdom of pushing ahead with the Tokyo Games and the Asahi Shimbun — the country’s second-largest newspaper — has called for them to be canceled, reflecting widespread opposition to holding the Olympics now among the Japanese population.
But the government has said it’s determined to push ahead, with the viability of Suga’s leadership and geopolitical competition with rival Beijing, the next Olympics host, as well as the health of millions, on the line.
“By using a new weapon called vaccines and taking firm preventive measures, it is fully possible” to hold the Olympics safely, Suga told a parliamentary session Tuesday.
Officials are now desperately trying to think of ways to increase the shots at a time when medical workers are already under pressure treating COVID-19 patients. Many say they have no extra resources to help with the Olympics, if, for instance, the boiling Japanese summer causes widespread cases of heat stroke. Some local leaders in and around Tokyo have rejected the Olympics organizers’ requests to set aside beds for athletes.
Read:Torch relay for Tokyo Olympics kicks off its 121-day journey
Dr. Shigeru Omi, former World Health Organization regional director and a head of a government taskforce, said it is crucial to start inoculating younger people, who are seen as likely to spread the virus, as soon as possible.
More than three months into Japan’s vaccination campaign, only 2.7% of the population has been fully vaccinated. The country started its rollout with health care workers in mid-February, months behind many other countries because Japan required additional clinical testing here, a step many experts say was medically meaningless.
Inoculations for the elderly, who are more likely to suffer serious problems when infected, started in mid-April, but were slowed by initial supply shortages, cumbersome reservation procedures and a lack of medical workers to give shots.
But there are signs of improvement. The vaccine supply has increased and despite earlier expectations of a hesitant response to vaccines in general, senior citizens fearful of the virus are rushing to inoculation sites.
Since May 24, Japan has deployed 280 military doctors and nurses in Tokyo and the badly hit city of Osaka. More than 33,000 vaccination sites now operate across Japan, and more are coming, said Taro Kono, the minister in charge of vaccinations.
In Sumida, a district in downtown Tokyo where boxing events will be held, vaccinations for its 61,000 elderly residents began on May 10, and within two weeks, 31% of them had gotten their first shots, compared to the national average of 3.7%. Sumida is now looking to start inoculating younger people later this month, well ahead of schedule.
Close coordination among primary care doctors, hospitals and residents, as well as flexibility, have contributed to smooth progress, Sumida district spokesperson Yosuke Yatabe said.
“It’s like a factory line,” Yatabe said.
Ryuichiro Suzuki, a 21-year-old university student in Tokyo, said he is frustrated with Japan’s lagging vaccination campaign.
“I saw that some of my friends overseas have been vaccinated, but my turn won’t come until later this summer,” he said. “The risk-averse government took extra caution even when our primary goal was to get back to normal as soon as possible.”
Read: Tokyo Olympic organizers to meet March 20 on fate of overseas spectators
Kono, the vaccine minister, said more large-scale inoculation centers are getting underway, including at hundreds of college campuses and offices to start vaccinating younger people from June 21.
Beyond the concerns about the Olympics and despite the fact that Japan has seen fewer cases and deaths compared to the United States and other advanced nations, the country’s slow pace of vaccinations and its prolonged, often toothless state of emergency could also delay its economic recovery for months, said Masaya Sasaki, senior economist at the Nomura Research Institute.
And despite repeated expressions of official government confidence in the Games being safe, there are fears here of what might happen if vaccinations don’t pick up.
“The Olympics, billed as a recovery Games, can trigger a new disaster,” said Ueyama, of the Japan Doctors Union.
COVID-19 Response: Japan provides ASEF equipment to Bangladesh
The government of Japan will provide over 340,000 items including isolation gowns to Bangladesh to fight Covid-19, which are part of the Asia-Europe Foundation’s stockpiled items financed by Japan.
There will be 30,000 isolation gowns, 2,500 safety goggles, 100,000 gloves and 208,000 masks as the assistance for COVID-19 response, Japan announced on Wednesday.
These goods will be delivered by Japan International Cooperation System (JICS) to Bangladesh from the warehouse in Singapore in coordination with the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia (SEARO).
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Japan has provided various kinds of support, including emergency budget support loans, grants of medical equipment, and other support through international organizations to help Bangladesh suppress the COVID-19.
Japan will continue to cooperate with Bangladesh to overcome this unprecedented crisis, said the Japanese Embassy in Dhaka.
Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) was founded in 1996 in Singapore as a permanent body of Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). It has been engaged in multiple activities with a focus on the socio-cultural field.