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Japan Lifts State of Emergency in Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo Prefectures

The Japanese government announced on Thursday that it will lift the state of emergency early in the prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto, and Hyogo. All three prefectures have met the government's target of 0.5 or fewer new infections per 100,000 people in one week.

Tokyo and neighboring Kanagawa prefecture have not yet met the above criteria, but Chiba and Saitama, its other neighboring prefectures, have met the criteria. Nevertheless, these prefectures, as well as Japan's northernmost Hokkaido prefecture, will remain under a state of emergency.

Japan prime minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo, and Fukuoka from April 7 to May 6. Kyoto Governor Takatoshi Nishiwaki asked the Japanese government on April 10 to add Kyoto to the state of emergency. Aichi Governor Hideaki Ōmura similarly asked the Japanese government on April 16 to add his prefecture to the list, and then independently declared a state of emergency on April 17. Hokkaido had lifted its own three-week state of emergency on March 19, only to declare a second state of emergency on April 12.

Abe then announced on April 16 that the national government expanded the state of emergency nationwide until May 6. As required by the newly enacted law that allowed for this declaration, Abe met with the government's COVID-19 task force of experts before formally announcing the expansion. The government later extended the state of emergency to May 31, but last week lifted it from 39 out of 47 prefectures, with Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Chiba, Saitama, Kanagawa, Hyogo, and Hokkaido remaining in a state of emergency.

As of Wednesday, Japan has reported 16,385 cases of the virus (not including 712 cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship), with 771 deaths (not including 13 deaths from the Diamond Princess cruise ship).

Source: NHK World