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In April 2020, the Japanese government issued its first state of emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic. When the then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lifted it the next month, Abe attributed Japan’s success in keeping infections and deaths lower than in other major industrialized countries to what he called the “Japan model” of dealing with the crisis. The “Japan model,” however, can properly be declared a model only if its efforts to bring infections under control work in tandem with its efforts to stabilize the economy. In consideration of this, during the first half of 2020, what were the effects of Japan’s countermeasures? Which policies did not work? What remains uncertain?

To review Japan’s preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asia Pacific Initiative (API), an independent global think tank, launched the “Independent Investigation Commission on the Japanese Government’s Response to COVID-19 (API/ICJC).”

API originally published the Japanese-language version and submitted it to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on October 8, 2020. The commission conducted 102 interviews with 84 government officials and experts, including PM Abe; PM Suga, who was chief cabinet secretary prior to becoming prime minister; Katsunobu Kato, who was health minister prior to becoming chief cabinet secretary; as well as numerous other senior government officials who provided insight on the background of the events.