Japan

Each May in Japan, around the anniversary of the Constitution, the question of whether to revise it becomes a topic of debate. The document hasn’t been altered since it came into effect 73 years ago, and some people believe an update is long overdue. The focus is often on Article 9, which states that Japan renounces war and will never maintain the potential for war. But this year, amid the coronavirus outbreak, the focus has been more on the granting of emergency powers.

Schools around the world have been forced to close their doors during the coronavirus pandemic, keeping an estimated 1.5 billion students out of classrooms for weeks or even months. In many countries, educators have begun offering lessons online, but Japan’s public schools have been slow to adopt that model.

As coronavirus cases rise in Japan, emergency crews say it’s hard to find hospitals willing to accept patients.

This paper is on Inbound Tourism, Regional Productivity, Cashless Payment and FIT (Foreign Independent Tours). In order to make public as quickly as possible the results of theoretical research and policy analysis, discussion papers will be posted on our web site. We hope that this will stimulate further discussion on matters of policy and policy research.

A surge in coronavirus cases in Japan is leading experts to be wary of the summer holiday period.

Many emotive and inspiring photographs were taken when covid-19 turned our lives upside down – here are some of the best pictures from the past five years