KAS Japan Weekly COVID-19 Updates

On Monday (May 25th) the Government of Japan lifted the state of emergency off from the remaining areas including Tokyo. In a press conference, PM Abe was proud to announce that “Japan model” showed its strength. Key messages are: (1) The general public had frustrations with the GOJ’s responses (i.e. late declaration of state of emergency, lack of PCR tests) (2) Asahi Newspaper reported that only 29% of the public support the Abe government. (3) GOJ will decide its 2nd economic package on May 27th. 1st and 2nd economic packages combined will make some 200 trillion yen in business scale. (4) Effectiveness of the economic and containment measures will be the key to a true success