Social distancing

Reckon this wouldn't be a bad auld spot to give it a go.
Any guesses as to where this is?

Another state of emergency

 Last Tuesday, exactly a week ago, primary and secondary schools all across Japan reopened and millions of children went back into their classrooms. On the very same day, Tokyo along with 6 other prefectures, declared a joint state of emergency and closed all their schools. This neatly (perhaps too neatly) sums up the haphazard approach Japan is taking to the pandemic.
'Haphazard', listen to me. 'Half-arsed' is the appropriate technical term.
On Sunday, Sapporo city here in Hokkaido declared a second state of emergency in response to the sudden increase in coronovirus cases in the past week. And so, from today, schools in the city closed again. This morning's online edition of the New York Times highlighted Hokkaido as a case study in the adverse effects of lifting restrictions too quickly.
But of course, dear reader, you already knew that, for when you are not 'oohing' and 'awwing' at the rhetorical and intellectual virtuosity of this blog, you are of course perusing the Gray Lady (though that does sound a tad unsavory).
Cian, understandably, is raging as we live too far away from Hokkaido's 'Big Smoke' to be included in the school closures. Though, as I tell him, it is only a question of time. The numbers across Japan are ticking up at a fair old clip and I reckon we are perhaps at most only a week away before a state of emergency is declared for the entire country.

Japan, the coronavirus and applied linguistics

Yes, I know, an intriguing title. So read on, dear reader, read on.
As of today, April 4th, Japan has 3,139 cases with 77 deaths. What Japan doesn't have as of today is a national lock down, or even a Tokyo lock down, where the majority of new cases are occurring. Nor does it have a strict policy of testing for the virus, enough face masks, or ICU beds for all the potential cases that are about to emerge.
What it does have, however, is a series of new geographical designations based on the number of cases. These are:
1: Warning of areas with increasing infections
2: Area with confirmed infections
3: Uninfected areas
So, unlike other countries who are combating the virus with strict social isolation policies, and legally enforceable stay-at-home rules, Japan is fighting the virus with, yes, ... semantics!
Oh, how us Applied Linguists feel so emboldened. Finally recognition of the vital role we have to play in stopping this pandemic.
This is as good as an example you will ever get of the perils of political administrators deciding health policy. Four days ago the President of the Japanese Medical Association called on the government to officially declare a state of emergency, warning that if the number of daily cases in Tokyo reaches 100, "it is highly likely that the medical system will collapse".
Today, the number of new cases in Tokyo reached 118.
I never studied political policy making but in years to come they are going to have to introduce a new course, based on Japan's approach to the epidemic, called, 'Rolling the dice'.