The pandemic seems to have accelerated a decadeslong effort to decentralize the Japanese political apparatus or, at the very least, demonstrated the myriad pitfalls and shortcomings of that process.
Since the onset of the coronavirus, the balance of power has oscillated between the central government and prefectural governors. While the former retains the authority to declare, expand, extend or lift a state of emergency — and did so unilaterally in the early stages of the pandemic — now it will do so only when requested by regional leaders.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced last week that the country’s third and ongoing state of emergency will be extended until May 31 in Tokyo, Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures, and expanded to Aichi and Fukuoka.
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