COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

The Japanese government confirmed the country's first case of the disease on 16 January 2020 in a resident of Kanagawa Prefecture who had returned from Wuhan, China.^[3] The first known death from COVID-19 was recorded in Japan on 14 February 2020. Both were followed by a second outbreak introduced by travelers and returnees from Europe and the United States between 11 March 2020 and 23 March 2020.^[4][5] According to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the majority of viruses spreading in the country derive from the European type, while those of the Wuhan type began disappearing in March 2020.^[6][7][8]


On 5 October 2020, the number of confirmed cases in Japan exceeded the number of confirmed cases in China, and at the end of the month, the number of confirmed cases in the country crossed the 100,000-mark. The number of confirmed cases in Japan also crossed the 200,000-mark on 22 December 2020, the 300,000-mark on 14 January 2021, the 400,000-mark on 6 February 2021, the 500,000-mark on 11 April 2021, the 600,000-mark on 3 May 2021, the 700,000-mark on 21 May 2021, the 800,000-mark on 2 July 2021 and the 900,000-mark on 30 July 2021. At the end of 2020, there were about 230,000 COVID-19 cases in the country, nearly 2.7 times the number of COVID-19 cases in China.^[9] On 16 January 2021, the first anniversary of the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan was commemorated. It was two days after the number of confirmed cases in the country exceeded 300,000. On 27 April 2021, the number of deaths in Japan crossed the 10,000-mark. The number of confirmed cases in the country exceeded the number of confirmed cases in Portugal on 6 August 2021 and crossed the one-million-mark the following day.^[10] By the time the 2020 Summer Paralympics ended, there were more than a million cases in Japan. On 25 September 2021, the number of confirmed cases in the country exceeded the number of confirmed cases in the Czech Republic. More than a week later, on 5 October 2021, the first anniversary of the day when the number of confirmed cases in Japan exceeded the number of confirmed cases in China.


Tokyo is the most affected prefecture in Japan, with nearly 380,000 cases. The country also joined the list of 40 countries with the most COVID-19 cases on 9 January 2021, a few months after becoming the most affected country in East Asia by overtaking China in terms of the number of infections. About seven months later, on 14 August 2021, Japan joined the list of 30 countries with the most COVID-19 cases, a week after the number of confirmed cases in the country exceeded a million. On 15 September 2021, Japan joined the list of 25 countries with the most COVID-19 cases. Five weeks later, on 20 October 2021, the country left the list of 25 countries with the most COVID-19 cases. On a global scale, cases in Japan constitute about 0.7% of global cases.


The COVID-19 vaccination in Japan began on 17 February 2021, more than a month after the first anniversary of the beginning of the pandemic in the country was commemorated. As of 22 October 2021, about 96.4 million people in Japan received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while about 86.9 million were fully vaccinated.


The Japanese government adopted various measures to limit or prevent the outbreak. On 30 January 2020, former prime minister Shinzo Abe established the Japan Anti-Coronavirus National Task Force to oversee the government's response to the pandemic.^[11][12] On 27 February 2020, he requested the temporary closure of all Japanese elementary, junior high, and high schools until early April 2020.^[13] On 7 April 2020, Abe proclaimed a one-month state of emergency for Tokyo and the prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo, and Fukuoka.^[14] On 16 April 2020, the declaration was extended to the rest of the country for an indefinite period.^[15] The state of emergency was lifted in an increasing number of prefectures during May 2020, extending to the whole country by 25 May 2020.^[16]


On 7 January 2021, Suga declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and the prefectures of Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa, effective from 8 January until 7 February.^[17] Japan's death rate per capita from coronavirus is one of the lowest in the developed world, despite its aging population. Factors speculated to explain this include the government response, a milder strain of the virus, cultural habits such as bowing etiquette and wearing face masks, handwashing with sanitizing equipment, a protective genetic trait, and a relative immunity conferred by the mandatory BCG tuberculosis vaccine.^[18] In December 2021, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reported the number of excess deaths through July. The excess death toll was 12000 in COVID-19 and 11000 from natural causes due to the aging of the population, but the death toll from pneumonia fell by 5000 as a result of infection control measures taken by people.^[19]


The pandemic continued to be a concern for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Although the Japanese government and the International Olympic Committee negotiated its postponement until 2021, reports concluded that a cancellation of the games was still an option – although prime minister Yoshihide Suga dismissed the idea of it happening.^[20] In the end, the Olympics went ahead, with sports events running between 23 July and 8 August 2021 and multiple restrictions in place to avoid the breakouts of the virus.^[21]