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New coronavirus cases are trending slightly upward in Japan. Some prefectures have even recorded daily highs.
Authorities on Wednesday confirmed nearly 60,000 new cases nationwide. That’s 28 hundred more than a week ago.
A panel of experts reported that cases have risen for three straight weeks.
They said the nationwide tally for the seven days through Tuesday was up from a week earlier, by several percentage points.
The figures were almost unchanged in Tokyo and other places. But the numbers were up sharply in areas that had been relatively unaffected.
In spite of the uptick, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio said he saw no need to re-impose quasi-emergency restrictions.
Kishida said, “The occupancy rate of hospital beds for general COVID patients and seriously ill patients remains low. Eighty-five percent of elderly people who are at high risk of developing serious symptoms have already received their third vaccine shot.”
Kishida added that his government will continue to support the medical system while reviving social and economic activities in the country.
Japan’s stealth reopening: Parents of foreign residents get OK to visit
Japan Times – Apr 14
Japan has begun granting visas to a wider range of people, including family members within the first degree of kinship to foreign residents who want to come to Japan to visit their family, as well as family members within a second degree of kinship to Japanese nationals and permanent residents.
Japan lowers gasoline subsidy to 20.3 yen/litre
marketscreener.com – Apr 14
Japan cut its gasoline subsidy for oil distributors to 20.3 yen ($0.16) a litre for the seven days from April 14, down from 20.7 yen a week earlier, the industry ministry said on Wednesday.
The Tale of Taira no Tomomori・Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura・Part 2 (1748)
Kabuki In-Depth – Apr 14
We continue our exploration of the epic jidaimono play Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura (“Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees”), written in 1747 for the bunraku puppet theatre by the playwrights Takeda Izumo II, Miyoshi Shōraku and Namiki Senryū I, the same team that produced Kanadehon Chūshingura and Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami, the other two classical masterpieces of the kabuki repertoire.
Yen drops to 20-year low against dollar
enca.com – Apr 14
The yen hit its lowest level against the dollar in two decades on Wednesday, extending recent falls as the gap widens between Japan’s ultra-loose monetary policy and Fed tightening.
Dental fees to jump in Japan as palladium prices surge on Ukraine war
Japan Times – Apr 13
The health ministry will raise the government-set dental treatment remunerations that involve “silver” fillings containing palladium in May, as prices of the rare metal of which Russia is a major producer have soared following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, people familiar with the matter said Monday.
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