Japan

COVID-19: Japan extends state of emergency just before Olympics

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that although infection were falling they remained high, and that some hospitals were still under strain

Restriction will be in place until 19 June, five weeks before the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics are due to start.

Organisers said they would wait until the emergency ends on 20 June to decide whether to allow local fans to attend.

Overseas fans have already been barred.

Olympic Games could create an 'Olympic strain,' warns head of Japan Doctors Union

Naoto Ueyama has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the Japanese government and International Olympic Committee's decision to hold the Tokyo Olympics in July despite rising cases in the country and an increasingly burdened health-care system.

"It is dangerous to hold the Olympics here in Tokyo this July," he warned in a news conference, saying that with people coming into Japan from over 200 nations around the world, "all of the different mutant strains of the virus that exist in different places will be concentrated and gathered here in Tokyo."

Japan bullet train driver leaves cockpit for loo break

He had asked a conductor, who did not have a driver's licence, to man the train which was travelling at 150km/h (93mph), according to local media.

The Hikari 633 was carrying 160 passengers at the time. The incident reportedly did not affect the journey.

But the railway company has reported it to authorities and apologised.

The Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) said the incident took place on Sunday morning while the train was travelling in the central Shizuoka prefecture.

Japan faces longer state of emergency, casting doubt on Olympics

Officials were leaning toward an extension of the measures in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures beyond 11 May as the country battles a surge in Covid-19 cases, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Wednesday.

Extending the measures, which were imposed on 25 April, would likely fan persistent concerns about whether the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled to begin on 23 July, can be held as planned.

The games have already been delayed once from last year due to the pandemic.

Japan town builds giant squid statue with Covid-19 relief money

The 13 metre-long sea creature lies in the port of Noto, where flying squid is the town's delicacy.

It reportedly used 25 million yen (NZ$320,300) of the emergency funding to build the statue.

Noto officials have told local media it is part of a long term plan to lure tourists back after the pandemic.

Japan is battling another surge in coronavirus cases, and Tokyo is currently under a state of emergency - the third for the country since the pandemic began.

Japan town builds giant squid statue with relief money

The 13m-long (43ft) sea creature lies in the port of Noto, where flying squid is the town's delicacy.

It reportedly used 25m yen ($228,500; £164,700) of the emergency funding to build the statue.

Noto officials have told local media it is part of a long term plan to lure tourists back after the pandemic.

Japan is battling another surge in coronavirus cases, and Tokyo is currently under a state of emergency - the third for the country since the pandemic began.

US and allies promise one billion jabs for South East Asia

The joint commitment was made following the first leaders' meeting of the so-called Quad - a group formed in 2007.

The vaccines - expected to be the single-dose Johnson & Johnson product - are set to be manufactured in India.

The US said the "massive joint commitment" would initially focus on delivering doses to South East Asia.

Powerful earthquake rocks Japan weeks from disaster anniversary

The 7.3-magnitude quake was felt strongly in Tokyo, but a tsunami warning has not been issued.

There are reports of about 50 people injured, officials say, and almost one million homes are without power.

The quake struck near the epicentre of a 2011 earthquake which triggered a tsunami and killed over 18,000 people.

That tsunami caused a nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant - the world's most severe nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

IOC meets to discuss the future of Tokyo Olympics

With less than six months to go until the troubled Games are due to start, the board will instead tackle questions over the vaccination of athletes, international visitors and the attendance of spectators, and safety regulations among other matters.

The Olympic body, which will meet remotely, nevertheless finds itself in a similar situation to March last year, when it was forced to postpone the Games by 12 months as the Covid-19 pandemic shut down sport worldwide.

Vanuatu’s Aelan Chocolate hopes participation in Japan chocolate event will boost exports

“This participation is crucial for us at the moment where we are struggling exporting our products overseas and with the collapse of the tourism industry in Vanuatu, said Sandrine Wallez, Manager of Aelan Chocolate Makers.

Due to travel restrictions brought on by the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the company’s distributor in Japan assisted with participation and promotion of Aelan Chocolate at the event in Tokyo this week.