Japan drops most of its remaining COVID-19 related restrictions this month, and the country’s national sport is following suit.
As mask mandates and travel restrictions were being removed around much the globe in early 2022, the full force of the pandemic was just hitting these shores, with three massive waves of infections — and record numbers of deaths — occurring in the 12 months up to February 2023.
Now, however, with case numbers having subsided and relaxed guidelines from early spring causing no huge rebound in numbers, the government is following through on plans to remove what few coronavirus-related restrictions remain.
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