[July 2023] Return to Japan for the First Time In One Year – Changes In the Atmosphere of the City

In late June, I temporarily went back to Japan for work for about 10 days for the first time in a year. A year ago in Japan everyone wore masks, however wearing a mask has been based on individual judgement since 13 March 2023. The attitude towards COVID-19 in Japan has changed since 8 May 2023, and the National government no longer requests the uniform basic measures for preventing the spread of COVID-19 and individuals and businesses independently make a decision.

Although the government’s policy has changed, I personally thought Japanese people would be cautious, and continue to wear masks in the city. Therefore, I was a little surprised to see that more people than I expected didn’t wear masks. I visited several prefectural governments and municipality governments, and many of the staffs I met were not wearing masks.

I was working for the Kagoshima prefectural government during the outbreak of COVID-19, and was involved in the measures of preventions against infections. We requested residents to wear masks, to disinfect their hands thoroughly and to avoid the three C’s（closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings）, and asked restaurants to close or shorten their business hours according to the inflection status. Since then we faced challenges about balancing socioeconomic activities and preventive measures against COVID-19.

What I saw in the cities of Japan the other day felt like a different world to me. I believe that the Japanese society finally entered the after COVID-19 phase.

We hope face-to-face interactions between Japan and Australia/New Zealand will become more active in the future.