Coronavirus pandemic tops Japan's domestic news stories of 2020

KYODO NEWS

- Dec 23, 2020 - 17:31 All,Japan,Coronavirus

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2nd from R) declares a nationwide state of emergency in response to a surge in coronavirus infections at a meeting of the government task force on combating the virus in Tokyo on April 16, 2020. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A Tokyo Olympic countdown clock set up near JR Tokyo Station shows the current time and date on March 25, 2020, rather than the number of days remaining to the games. The clock reading changed after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach agreed to postpone the Summer Games for about one year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows after announcing his intention to resign at a news conference in Tokyo on Aug. 28, 2020, citing a flare-up of his long-running intestinal illness. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Elementary school pupils head to school in Tokyo on Feb. 28, 2020, a day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government will request all elementary, junior high and high schools in Japan to close from March 2 until the end of the annual spring break amid concern over the spread of the new coronavirus. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Photo taken Feb. 27, 2020, shows one of about 1,600 elementary and junior high schools in Japan's Hokkaido that will be closed for the time being in an effort to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Photo taken at a souvenir shop at Nagoya Castle on Dec. 19, 2020, shows a signboard promoting the Japanese government's travel subsidy program. The central Japan city was suspended from the program on Dec. 14 amid an unabated rise in coronavirus infections. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on July 4, 2020, shows inundated houses in Hitoyoshi in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, after the Kuma River overflowed following torrential rain. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Combined photo of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wearing so-called Abenomask (L) on July 11, 2020 and new cloth mask on Aug. 3. (Kyodo)

Former Japanese Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai (L) and his lawmaker wife Anri, seen in this combined file photo, were arrested on June 18, 2020, on suspicion of giving out cash to local politicians and supporters during the wife's 2019 upper house election campaign. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

People gather outside the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Oct. 3, 2020, to protest against Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's decision not to appoint academics who have been critical of the nation's security and anti-conspiracy legislation to a science council that makes policy recommendations to the government. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Photo taken in April 2019 shows then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addressing a cherry blossom viewing party in Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in Tokyo. (Kyodo)

TOKYO - The novel coronavirus pandemic has been picked as the top domestic news story of 2020 by senior editors of Kyodo News and its member or subscriber newspapers and broadcasters.As the number of coronavirus infections spiked in Japan, especially in urban areas, then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared on April 7 a state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and five other prefectures, calling on people to reduce contact with others by up to 80 percent.The nonbinding declaration, which did not involve the kind of hard lockdown seen in some other countries, was expanded to cover the entire nation…READ FULL ARTICLE

Coronavirus pandemic tops Japan's domestic news stories of 2020

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