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Original title: Japan is quietly New Year’s Eve under the epidemic, and the economic recovery in 2021 and the Olympics can not be waived
Yoshihide Suga described the epidemic as an “unprecedented national disaster” and called on people to come together to create a new society in the “post-epidemic” era.
New Year’s Eve 2021 is a bit deserted for Japanese society, which is experiencing the third wave of epidemics.
On January 1, 2021, as usual, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga delivered a New Year’s message. Unsurprisingly, “epidemic” became the keyword throughout Yoshihide Suga’s speech. At the beginning of his speech, he said that the current new corona pneumonia epidemic is still spreading, Japan’s economic situation remains dire, and the government will do everything possible to prevent the spread of the epidemic. At the same time, he also thanked the medical staff for continuing to fight the virus on the front lines day and night, doing everything possible to contain the spread of the epidemic.
In addition to the epidemic, ensuring that the Japanese economy is on track as soon as possible in the post-epidemic era is also one of the most important tasks of the Japanese government in 2021. In addition, Suga Yoshihide also mentioned the Olympics, which had been postponed. an unprecedented year. He said the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, symbolizing world unity, will be held this summer. To achieve the goal of “security and peace of mind”, “we will make all the preparations constantly.”
Yoshihide Suga described the epidemic as an “unprecedented national disaster” and called on people to come together to create a new society in the “post-epidemic” era.
Quiet in many places
Since November last year, Japan has faced the third wave of “evidence of experience; after December, this situation has worsened. The average daily number of infected people throughout Japan has reached about 2,000, and the number of new people in a single day was updated at the end of December last year. ” Record. At the same time, Japanese society has also detected more contagious mutant strains and the phenomenon of “person-to-person transmission”. This situation led Yoshihide Suga to appeal to the Japanese people at the beginning of the traditional Japanese New Year festival at the end of the year. New Year “quiet”, avoid participating in various meetings as much as possible to avoid the continued spread of the epidemic.
Under this call from Yoshihide Suga, compared to the lively resignation of the old men and the welcome to the new year in previous years, New Year’s Eve activities in various parts of Japan in 2021 are quite deserted. Taking the capital Tokyo as an example, a series of events like the New Year’s Eve countdown around Shibuya Station will attract more than 100,000 people to participate each year, but this year to prevent the spread of the epidemic, all events have been canceled. The large outdoor display screens broadcasting announcements were also closed at 23:00 on December 31, 2020, and all railway companies operating lines connected to Shibuya station also canceled night operations.
In addition, the Japanese government also urges people to use the “cross worship” travel method when going to shrines and temples to pray during the New Year and to cancel all night worship. The main shrines and temples have also taken important risk prevention measures. For example, the Meiji Jingu Shrine in the Shibuya district of Tokyo directly canceled New Year’s Eve visits to avoid close contact between the worshipers. Instead, the door opens at 6 a.m. on January 1.
However, even if all parts of Japan greet 2021 “silently”, the number of infections in a single day will remain above 3,000. According to data compiled by the Japan Radio and Television Station (NHK), on January 1, the number of new confirmed infections in Japan was 3,274; On January 2, the number was 3,059. Japanese media believe that despite the strengthening of containment measures in various parts of Japan, the cold weather still makes the spread of the epidemic out of control.
To this end, the governors of the three prefectures (Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa) belonging to the Tokyo metropolitan area (Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa) met urgently on the 2nd with the Minister of Economic Renaissance of Japan, Yasuhiro Nishimura, requesting the government to issue an “emergency declaration” as soon as possible. The “soft close” was once again opened near the capital to contain the spread of the epidemic.
Under Japanese law, the prime minister has the power to decide on the implementation of a state of emergency throughout the country or in certain areas. Yoshihide Suga had previously been cautious about Japan’s closing the city to combat the epidemic, saying he would seek a balance between economic recovery and fighting the epidemic. Regarding the latest request from the three prefectures, Yoshihide Suga, who did not return home to Yokohama during the New Year holidays, is also paying close attention to the latest developments in the epidemic.
Neither the economy nor the Olympics can give up
On one side is the still severe epidemic, on the other side is the economy that is eager to recover. Yoshihide Suga stated in his New Year’s message that he will continue to dedicate everything he can to prevent the spread of the epidemic and restore the economy to protect people’s lives.
Regarding economic recovery, Suga Yoshihide emphasized that “green” and “digitization” will become the new growth engine of the Japanese economy. “The government will take the lead in supporting bold investments aimed at innovation, concentrating all policy resources and decisively implementing reforms in various fields, in order to bring tremendous changes to the economy and society and lead the next was”.
After taking over as prime minister in September last year, Yoshihide Suga planned to drastically reform the institutions of the Japanese government. Among them, he first advocated the establishment of a “digital room” in an effort to catch up with neighboring countries in the digital field. Nakanishi Hiraki, president of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations, in recent interviews, in response to the lagging state of digitization in Japan exposed during the epidemic, said: “The degree to which real digitization can be achieved is from the perspective of growth. economic and strengthening competitiveness. Appearance is the most important. ”According to the plan, the newly created digital room will be officially launched in April this year.
In terms of green economy, Yoshihide Suga also proposed Japan’s “carbon neutral” target at the end of October last year, which is to achieve zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 at the latest. At the end of December last year, Japan officially launched the “Green Growth Strategy”, which is seen as Japan’s program of progress towards achieving its carbon neutral target by 2050. The Japanese government hopes to use the low-carbon transition as an opportunity to drive a sustained economic recovery.
The strategy involves 14 key areas such as energy and transportation. The Japanese government hopes to attract more private forces to participate in the transformation of the green economy through preferential policies. For example, the sale of fuel vehicles will be banned around 2035, and the share of hybrid and pure electric vehicle sales will increase from 40% in 2019 to 50% to 70%.
It is worth noting that this summer will also usher in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, which have been postponed for a year due to the epidemic. At present, the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee has officially announced the cost of hosting the Olympic Games, which will be postponed for one year: 1.64 trillion yen, an increase of 22% over the previous period. The Tokyo Olympics have obviously become “the most expensive Olympics in history,” and the additional costs are used primarily for epidemic prevention work.
In Japan, when the trend of the epidemic is still unclear, whether to insist on hosting the Olympics has become a subject of intense debate in all walks of life. NHK’s latest survey of 1,200 Japanese in mid-December showed that 63% of respondents believed the Tokyo Olympics should be postponed or canceled altogether, and only 27% of respondents agreed that the Olympics They should be held as scheduled.
In a video address celebrating 2021, IOC President Bach said: “Tokyo remains the most prepared Olympic city in history. We can only thank our Japanese partners and friends for their great commitment and determination, which is in line with our commitment and determination are exactly the same. We will host the Olympics for all participants safely and reliably and make the Olympics right for the post-epidemic world. “
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