Many schools across Japan are at last closed for summer vacation even though it's now already August. Schools had earlier temporarily shut down due to the prolonged effects of the novel coronavirus outbreak, forcing education facilities in many parts of the country to extensively shorten their vacation periods.
According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the most common summer vacation period for public elementary and junior high schools is 16 days this year, and 23 days for high schools.
Children are under various types of stress amid the coronavirus crisis.
The National Center for Child Health and Development carried out polls targeting elementary, junior high and high school students during school closures and after classes resumed. In both cases, 30-40% of respondents said, "I feel down when I think about the corona (outbreak)" and "Recently, I find it hard to concentrate," exhibiting a great deal of stress.
Around 10% said they self-harmed, or physically abused their family members or pets. These are apparently tendencies observed mainly among elementary school students.
When schools were temporarily closed, children felt stressed as they could not see their friends. Now that they have reopened, children are forced to endure inconvenient school lives where, for example they need to always keep a distance from each other and maintain tight class schedules, as schools try to make up for delays in their studies.
We need to keep in mind that children are out of school for the summer after facing these circumstances. It's important that adults understand and mitigate their concerns.
If it were a regular summer, families could have getaways from their everyday lives by going on trips to the seaside or the mountains, among other activities, to improve their communication. This summer, however, people in some areas have been requested to restrict their activities to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
In such cases, families can go out to nearby parks or rivers to observe nature, for example. It's also a good idea to recommend parents' favorite books to their children. These activities will help families share the same experiences and have time to talk about them.
Children becoming addicted to gaming is a further concern. Such behavior will not lead to children having peace of mind and could potentially disturb their sleep cycles.
Parents are also stressed out because of the coronavirus, and there might be times when they feel burdened to take care of their children. Schools and local governments need to establish systems in which adults can listen to children's concerns and not just leave it to households. Local bodies should also put more effort into promoting child care consultation channels.
When a child is stressed about school life, they are said to become mentally unstable soon after long school vacations end. We ask that adults pay attention to children so that they can come back to school refreshed after summer vacation.

Japan has recently witnessed a resurgence in the number of novel coronavirus cases across the country. A government expert panel on COVID-19 has raised the alarm over the current situation, noting that patients are increasing, as reported by many local bodies, and is warning that the burden inflicted on the nation's healthcare system has been accumulating.
The spike in new coronavirus infections initially began in Tokyo and in the western Japan prefecture of Osaka. It then spread to Fukuoka in southwestern Japan, Aichi in central Japan and in the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, among other areas. In more than half of the new cases, the routes of infection remain unknown. In cases where the routes of infections can be traced, it has emerged that there is a rising number of infections among family members, at drinking parties and the like, and among colleagues at work.
Initially, infections had occurred mainly among young people who went out to restaurants and bars in entertainment districts in Tokyo. Now, coronavirus cases have spread across generations and through various locations throughout the country.
After lifting its state of emergency declaration, the government has pushed for the resumption of economic activities. It even brought forward the launch date of the "Go To Travel" subsidy program to spur domestic tourism battered by the coronavirus pandemic.
A resurgence of coronavirus cases had been anticipated to some extent. However, if the situation is left unaddressed, infections could spread among older people and the number of serious cases could increase, possibly triggering a collapse of the healthcare system.
Amid such circumstances, some local bodies have drawn up their own countermeasures. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has urged restaurants and bars to shorten their business hours, while the Osaka and Okinawa prefectural governments have also laid out their own regulations.
Prefectural governors and others are calling on the national government to support them in providing compensation to businesses that are temporarily shutting down at the request of local governments. Medical associations and others on the medical front lines caution that "Japan will burst into flames if no action is taken."
Nevertheless, no sense of crisis can be observed in the central government's response to the current state of affairs. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga is reluctant for the government to declare another state of emergency, saying that the number of severe COVID-19 cases is fewer than that in March and April.
The battle against the novel coronavirus will inevitably be a prolonged one. It is essential for the government to gently step on the gas pedal on the road to economic recovery but apply the brakes through measures to prevent the spread of infections, according to the circumstances. The top priority now is preventing the further spread of viral transmissions.
The government should temporarily suspend the Go To Travel campaign. The exclusion of trips to and from Tokyo from the program due to a surge in coronavirus cases in the capital is irrational considering the current circumstances, where infections have already spread across the country.
Japan has learned a lot from the process of containing a potentially explosive spread of the first wave of the novel coronavirus in the country. During that process, it became clear that the so-called "three Cs" -- crowded places, closed spaces with poor ventilation, and close-range conversations -- as well as people speaking loudly, could raise the risk of infection. At the same time, it has also become clear that we can reduce infection risks while engaging in outdoor activities, shopping, commuting and other activities by taking adequate preventative measures.
It ought to be possible for the government to make use of such knowledge and take well-modulated measures. The government is urged to listen to the opinions of experts and pour its efforts into preventing the spread of infections by bolstering cooperation with local governments.

The Japanese judiciary system for the first time acknowledged an appeal by residents who claimed that it was unjust that they were not covered by the government's health care relief measures even though they were caught in radioactive "black rain" that fell on Hiroshima and surrounding areas in the immediate aftermath of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of the city and later caused health problems.
Eighty-four people who were in an area approximately 8 to 29 kilometers from the A-bomb's hypocenter had filed a class action lawsuit. Due to their locations at the time, which fell outside of the government-designated relief zone based on the law related to supporting atomic bomb survivors, these 84 plaintiffs had not been officially recognized as A-bomb survivors, or hibakusha.
The Hiroshima District Court on July 29 recognized all plaintiffs as hibakusha and ordered the Hiroshima Municipal Government and other parties to issue them hibakusha health handbooks that are needed to receive free health care. In other words, the plaintiffs won a sound victory.
Based on the results of investigations up to this point, the court found that the black rain fell over a wide area beyond the designated zone. It did not find testimonies by the plaintiffs and other parties unnatural and ruled that the plaintiffs were caught in the radioactive rain.
The ruling brought up the point that how the central government drew a line for the relief zone, which only covered a small area, was inappropriate. The Japanese government must take the latest legal decision seriously.
Another contested point in the court battle was whether the health problems were caused by radiation from the black rain. The court pointed out that the black rain could have caused health issues due to the radiation.
The ruling went as far as to conclude that the plaintiffs could have been affected not only by direct exposure to radiation but also internal exposure by drinking water contaminated with radiation and other means.
It has been pointed out that, scientifically speaking, many of the possible effects of the black rain remain unknown. Still, the ruling prioritized giving relief to the victims.
As a formality, defendants in the lawsuit included the Hiroshima Municipal Government, which is in charge of screening applications for A-bomb victim health handbooks, but what was actually being called into question was the administrative relief measures taken by the central government.
The 84 plaintiffs were aged between 4 months and 21 years at the time of the Aug. 6, 1945 bombing. They took their case to court, hoping to be legally recognized as hibakusha, but 12 of them passed away during the trial process, which spanned nearly five years. There were also those who could not join the class action due to financial and other reasons.
This coming August marks 75 years since the Hiroshima atomic bombing. There is no time to waste in providing relief to the victims.
The A-bomb survivors relief law was established to save those who fell victim to "a particular kind of suffering different from other kinds of damage caused by wars." The central government needs to go back to the objective of that law and focus on the real damage that the victims have had to endure.
What needs to be done from now is not continuing the legal battle but to work on expanding the relief measures immediately.

Two doctors have been arrested on suspicion of murder for hire after they allegedly killed a 51-year-old woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by administering lethal drugs to her at her request.
The woman had been confined to bed due to the illness and posted on the internet her wish to be euthanized. She apparently had exchanges with the doctors via social media and paid them a total of 1.3 million yen (approximately $12,346).
The suspects were not her primary doctors. The three only met once in November 2019, when the alleged murder took place. The doctors visited the woman's home pretending to be her acquaintances, and left within 10 minutes.
The doctors did not know about the woman's medical state on a continuous basis, nor did they appear to offer her emotional support. If the physicians indeed committed the crime, what they did was nothing short of neglecting life, and that is unacceptable for doctors.
One of the suspects had made remarks online and other places that he was in favor of euthanasia. He had apparently told the woman to delete their social media exchanges relating to the case.
Suspicions have arisen that the other doctor, meanwhile, illicitly obtained his medical license. We hope that the Kyoto Prefectural Government, which is handling the case, put its utmost effort into uncovering the motives behind and background to the incident.
In the past, there have been other cases relating euthanasia, but they took place at hospitals while the victims who had terminal illnesses were placed under treatment. In the latest case, the woman was not in her final hours, and the doctors did not treat her. The circumstances of this case completely differ from the other ones. Therefore, it should not be directly linked to the debate over legal provisions for euthanasia or death with dignity.
The victim in the latest case had worked at an architectural office after returning from the United States where she studied, but then developed ALS nine years ago. The symptoms progressed, and she had been receiving care from home helpers around the clock. She had written on the internet about her difficulties and suffering imposed by the illness, such as not being able to move her body, speak or eat.
ALS patients are now able to communicate using computers that can be operated via the movement of their eyes. Some progress has been made regarding care services they receive. However, there is no fundamental treatment for the illness, and difficulties in supporting the patients to alleviate their mental pain have been brought into relief.
House of Councillors member Yasuhiko Funago, an ALS patient himself, released a comment after the suspected murder case was reported, saying that he decided to live after learning that his own experience could help other patients like himself. He also noted, "What is more important than anything is to create a society that protects 'the right to live,' rather than 'the right to die.'"
We should not accept a society in which the wish to live that people with intractable diseases have is oppressed.

Local authorities in areas devastated recently by torrential rains focused in the Kyushu region in southwestern Japan are restricting volunteers for the recovery effort to those from their own prefectures and surrounding areas to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Some affected regions, however, have seen a shortage of manpower when it comes to cleaning up damaged houses and buildings or engaging in other recovery work. In Kumamoto Prefecture, which was hit hardest by the recent downpours, over 8,000 houses were damaged. Many people are still staying at evacuation centers, raising concerns about the impact of their prolonged stays on their physical and mental health.
If the current situation is left unaddressed, it may hinder recovery and reconstruction of those regions.
Restrictions on the scope of disaster volunteers follow guidelines released by the Japan National Council of Social Welfare over the management of volunteer centers in disaster-affected regions amid the coronavirus crisis.
The guidelines recommend measures such as requiring volunteers to report their health status before joining recovery efforts, as well as introducing a pre-registration system to prevent volunteer centers being overrun by crowds of people.
Certainly, it is essential to take preventive measures against virus transmissions. But there is also a need to create a system in which the national and local governments, volunteer groups and other parties join hands to enable disaster areas to receive broader assistance while ensuring safety.
One option could be to accept volunteers from other prefectures if they are able to serve as volunteer leaders. It is advisable to make use of the knowledge and skills of experienced volunteers.
Authorities could also expand the scope of volunteer recruitment to neighboring prefectures while placing limits on the number of volunteers who are engaged in operations involving frequent contact with disaster victims.
Some people suggested that volunteers from outside disaster-hit prefectures be accepted on condition that they undergo polymerase chain reaction tests in advance. However, it is impossible for the affected authorities alone to conduct such testing. It is necessary to look at methods to assist this process, examining which parties will implement such testing and shoulder the costs.
As Japan's population decreases and ages, self-help and mutual assistance in times of disasters are no longer viable options. Meanwhile, it has been pointed that public assistance by authorities can only go so far. Volunteers have increased their presence amid such social changes.
Nevertheless, relying on volunteers amid the coronavirus resurgence has its own limits. Authorities should take this opportunity to review how public assistance should look, while reinforcing mutual assistance systems among local bodies, among other options.
While an end to the coronavirus pandemic is nowhere in sight, no one knows where other disasters, such as typhoons and earthquakes, will hit next in Japan.
It is vital to develop an environment where we can provide support for early reconstruction of people's livelihoods in the wake of a disaster while preventing a further spread of infections.

July 23 marks exactly one year until the start of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, which was postponed by a year due to the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games plan to simplify the games. Among at least 200 measures under consideration are reducing the number of people taking part in the games and reviewing related events. However, a detailed policy hasn't been drawn up yet.
In the meantime, problems over simplifying the games are surfacing one after another.
The IOC has stated it does not intend to hold the games without spectators. Tokyo organizing committee head Yoshiro Mori revealed that the opening ceremony cannot be scaled back due to broadcasting rights and airtime.
Currently there are no plans to review the number of athletic events or athletes. As of now, the Tokyo Games will include a record 33 sports and a total of 339 events.
There are also concerns about the budget ballooning once more. While the total expenditure of 1.35 trillion yen (about $12.6 billion) was disclosed at the end of last year, it is expected that additional costs will total over 300 billion yen (about $2.8 billion). This expenditure will likely further swell, as coronavirus prevention measures are now essential at venues and the athletes' village.
The Tokyo and central governments have invested a massive sum of money in coronavirus countermeasures, and have no financial leeway. But if they do not thoroughly cut down on expenses, in the end the Japanese public will have to cover the cost.
During the recent Tokyo gubernatorial election, several new candidates urged for the cancellation or postponement of the Olympics and Paralympics. In opinion polls conducted by various media outlets, those who believe the games can be held next summer are in the minority.
Some athletes have even decided to retire due to the one-year postponement. This indicates how difficult it is for athletes to keep up their motivation while being unable to make predictions on when qualifiers and trials for Olympic berths will be held. Therefore, concrete plans should be made as soon as possible to help athletes feel at ease.
Though limiting the number of spectators will have an impact on ticket revenues, IOC President Thomas Bach has hinted that this scenario must be considered.
Preparations must be made in case the development of vaccines and remedies for the novel coronavirus aren't completed before the Tokyo Games. There is a need to think about placing restrictions on the number of spectators.
Through the use of online interaction and virtual footage, it should be possible to convey the virtue of the Olympics and Paralympics. In times of difficulties, where it is hard to have an outlook of when the infections will come to an end, authorities should present a new image of the Tokyo Games held amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Japanese government's controversial "Go To Travel" campaign aimed at spurring domestic tourism demand to alleviate the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic is slated to begin on July 22. But the lavish project is being launched at a time when the nation is witnessing a resurgence in the number of coronavirus infections, leaving the public feeling disturbed.
In order to strike a balance between preventing a further spread of infections and promoting economic recovery, a measured response to the situation is required. However, the government is scrambling to restore the pandemic-hit economy and abruptly decided to bring forward the start date of the tourism subsidy campaign to make it coincide with the summer holiday season, when travel demand generally rises.
Following a public backlash, the government excluded trips to and from Tokyo from the program as the capital has seen a steep rise in the number of new infections in recent weeks. However, the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has yet to provide a sufficient explanation over whether it's really safe to go ahead with the nationwide program just by excluding Tokyo.
In a recent opinion poll conducted by the Mainichi Shimbun, 69% of respondents called for the Go To Travel campaign to be postponed.
Because the very framework of the travel aid program was altered at the last minute prior to its launch, it has become difficult to draw a clear line between which trips will be subsidized and which will not, making it a half-baked scheme fraught with loopholes.
As it stands, even people who will stay in prefectures neighboring Tokyo and go sightseeing in the capital could get discounts for accommodation under the program as it is unable to identify travelers' destinations when it comes to individual trips.
The government is calling on young and older generations to refrain from joining group tours, but it's unknown how far consumers will follow the request. The government was also thrown into disarray over compensation for people who had to cancel their travel reservations to and from Tokyo following the abrupt change to the program.
The government apparently took an overly heavy-handed approach in bringing forward the launch of the campaign. Even the briefing sessions for business operators in the tourism sector began just the day before the start of the program. The government's response is haphazard and ill prepared.
One is also tempted to wonder whether hotels and restaurants will be able to protect the safety of travelers when it is vital to take adequate measures to prevent viral transmissions.
The launch of the Go To Travel campaign was originally premised on the nation having seen an end to the coronavirus outbreak. Given the current state of infections, however, it is unreasonable to move ahead and implement the program without revising its outline.
It may be necessary to take such measures as initially limiting trips subject to subsidies to those in neighboring prefectures and then expanding areas in stages, after transferring the program's financial resources to local bodies.
If a general mood critical of traveling itself emerges as a consequence of the chaos wrought by the government, the travel aid program would only bring about adverse effects.
We must avoid seeing a state of affairs where the coronavirus ends up spreading to regional areas due to the Go To Travel campaign. Businesses operating hotels and restaurants are urged to exercise their wisdom in providing services that will give comfort to travelers while taking thorough steps to prevent infections.
It is essential to flexibly review the system and transmission prevention measures while assessing the impact that a rise in the number of tourists could have on infection risks.

Japan has seen a rapid resurgence of novel coronavirus infections mainly in Tokyo in recent weeks. Amid this serious situation, one is left wondering if the National Diet is fulfilling its role.
It has been a month since the regular Diet session ended without an extension. Following the closure of the session, out-of-session meetings have been held once every week in principle in both houses of the Diet. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, however, has so far attended none of them. Given his absence, it is obvious that those Diet deliberations have had their limits.
An extraordinary Diet session should be convened immediately in order to prepare the nation for swift responses to day-to-day changes in the coronavirus crisis.
This past week, the budget committees of both chambers of the Diet held their own out-of-session meetings.
While experts summoned to those meetings as unsworn witnesses expressed a profound sense of crisis over the status quo surrounding the coronavirus, economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura went no further than reporting on the current circumstances. The budget panels failed to delve into how Japan will cope with the viral threat.
An issue garnering particular attention is the government's "Go To Travel" campaign, a tourism subsidy program to combat the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The program is slated to begin on July 22 despite the recent resurgence in new coronavirus infections. Just days before its launch, the government made the hasty decision to exclude trips to and from Tokyo, which has seen a spike in infections, from the nationwide program.
This decision, however, came shortly after an upper house budget committee session had wrapped up. At a question-and-answer session during that meeting, government representatives had merely reiterated that they would "look into the matter after hearing opinions from experts."
The sudden exclusion of Tokyo can only be described as a last-minute response -- a consequence of the government making light of the Diet. Concerned businesses and others in various quarters have been thrown into confusion due to this policy U-turn. The government, meanwhile, has failed to provide sufficient explanations over whether the controversial travel aid program can be launched without problems if Tokyo alone is excluded.
The government's fundamental stance in handling coronavirus-related issues -- including not only the travel subsidy program but also the problem of how to best strike a balance between measures to prevent the spread of infections and efforts to promote economic recovery -- is being called into question. It is imperative that Prime Minister Abe, who holds the ultimate responsibility in the government's decision-making process, provide a proper explanation on these issues.
Why the ruling coalition refuses to have Abe attend budget committee meetings is beyond comprehension. His absence even prompts one to suspect that the prime minister is attempting to shift responsibility onto the shoulders of economic revitalization minister Nishimura.
In areas that have recently witnessed a resurgence in coronavirus infections, the possibility of local authorities issuing renewed business closure requests to restaurants and other establishments cannot be ruled out. Governors in some prefectures have even started to call for legal revisions to introduce penalties for business operators that do not comply with such requests.
It is necessary to convene the Diet to swiftly and sufficiently debate these issues.
Issues demanding immediate Diet debate are not just limited to those concerning the novel coronavirus. It is essential to hold Diet deliberations over measures to respond to the damage centered on the Kyushu region in southwestern Japan due to torrential rains. The public will be left anxious if the government is given a carte blanche over the use of the massive reserve funds of 10 trillion yen (about $93.4 billion) allocated in the second supplementary budget.

If Prime Minister Abe and the ruling parties believe out-of-session meetings are enough to cope with the current situation, they are grossly neglecting their duties.

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry's panel of experts has compiled a draft interim report on measures to tackle anonymous cyberbullying in Japan. The objective is to make it easier to identify those behind harmful posts.
Online bullying is a serious problem. At least 5,000 consultation cases had been filed with the communications ministry annually for five consecutive years up to 2019. In May this year, professional wrestler Hana Kimura died after becoming a target of online abuse.
When a cyberbullying victim wants to identify the people behind hurtful posts to demand an apology or claim damages, they generally have to go through two sets of court trials. Many of those cases take at least a year to settle, and expenses are not cheap.
The expert panel suggested that authorities consider procedures in which only one trial is required to get results by introducing a simpler legal system than conventional lawsuits.
Establishing a framework to prevent malicious online posts and provide relief to the victims is an urgent task. The system to disclose information about posters has not been revised for nearly 20 years since it was introduced, and has become unable to respond to the changes in the internet environment.
At the same time, if such legal procedures become simpler, there might be cases where companies abuse the system to identify whistleblowers or those who post negative comments that work to their disadvantage. A system that would intimidate people and stop them voicing valid criticism must be avoided. A half of the expert panel members requested for careful examination, arguing that discussions over the matter have not been sufficient.
Meanwhile, the ruling coalition has separately suggested broader regulations, including making requests to delete hurtful posts filed by the Justice Ministry or local government bodies workable, and introducing tougher punishments against those who post them. The Justice Ministry is also considering revising criminal penalties for such cases.
Online posts that hurt people must not be tolerated. At the same time, consideration must be paid to freedom of expression and secrecy of communication guaranteed under the Japanese Constitution. A full-on debate is required to introduce the regulations.
The establishment of a third-party organization should be considered so that it can be judged whether an online post violates human rights.
Businesses running social media platforms have been introducing rules banning posts that constitute defamation or harassment. They will need guidelines to operate the rules fairly.
While people can take to the internet to comment on matters freely, posts can be spread easily, and it is difficult to completely erase them from cyberspace. To establish a system where no person faces cyberbullying, the issue needs to be addressed by society as a whole.

The Japanese government is poised to start a campaign to subsidize travel expenses for individual tourists on July 22. The launch date of its "Go To Travel" campaign was moved up from the original date in early August to boost tourism demand ahead of a four-day weekend starting on July 23.
The tourism industry consists of a wide range of businesses, from hotels to restaurants, retailers and transportation firms. It is essential to support such businesses as they have been hit by a sharp decline in demand due to the spread of coronavirus infections.
At the same time, Tokyo saw over 200 new coronavirus cases for four consecutive days up until July 12, while the neighboring prefecture of Saitama asked host clubs and other businesses that had failed to take adequate preventive measures to temporarily close. Looking to western Japan, Osaka Prefecture has raised its independent coronavirus risk alert level to "yellow."
Economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura has said the government will "work on preventive measures against infections while maintaining socioeconomic activities." However, it seems contradictory to push for tourism nationwide while raising the alarm over the re-emergence of coronavirus infections.
Some people infected with the new coronavirus are asymptomatic. We cannot deny the possibility of asymptomatic people traveling to places without realizing that they are carrying the virus. There will be no undoing of the damage if infections spread from cities to regional areas and cause local medical care systems to collapse.
The National Governors' Association cautioned in a statement that Japan must not allow the Go To Travel project to become the cause of a further spread of infections.
It will likely take some time for areas hit hard by torrential rain including the southwestern Japan region of Kyushu to recover. Not all areas in Japan will be able to accommodate tourists traveling far from home.
The government's subcommittee on tackling infectious diseases has recommended that tourism campaigns that go beyond prefectural borders should be implemented gradually. Travel from and into the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Kinki region in western Japan especially requires caution.
Tourism support measures should be introduced step-by-step, not all at once throughout the nation. One idea would be to guide people into first traveling to neighboring prefectures or limit the scope of areas subject to such a campaign.
Furthermore, to prevent throngs of tourists traveling at the same time, companies and government bodies need to promote initiatives to enable workers to take vacations in turns. It would also be effective to provide real-time congestion information at tourist spots so people can avoid crowds.
We want hotels and restaurants to thoroughly follow their respective industries' preventive guidelines against infections, which set detailed rules such as rigorous cleaning of shared facilities and limiting the number people using dining halls and public baths.
The government's Go To Campaign was planned as a post-pandemic economic stimulus policy in the first place, but the coronavirus crisis could last a very long time. It requires flexibility, and close attention to measures against infections