Japan Prefecture Home to Toyota Seeks Emergency Declaration
Japan Prefecture Home to Toyota Seeks Emergency Declaration
(Bloomberg) -- The governor of the central Japanese prefecture of Aichi, home to major manufacturing companies including Toyota Motor Corp., asked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to place it under a state of emergency due to the coronavirus.
Governor Hideaki Omura told a news conference the prefecture will declare its own emergency from Friday and urged residents to avoid going out or traveling unnecessarily to limit the spread of the infection. This move will not have a legal basis.
Aichi was not included in the central government’s list of seven prefectures placed under emergency this week, which limited the governor’s power to curb the virus. It has one of the world’s largest concentrations of automotive and automotive-related companies, according to the Japan External Trade Organization.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters the government would have to consult experts before deciding whether to add Aichi to the list.
In what Abe said was the country’s greatest economic crisis since the end of World War Two, he declared a one-month emergency period from April 7 that covered Osaka, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Hyogo and Fukuoka prefectures as well as the capital, Tokyo. The move handed powers to local governments to try to contain the spread of the virus, including by urging residents to stay home.
The original areas covered by the declaration represent about half of Japan’s economy, deepening fears that output will plunge by as much as 20% in the current quarter. With Aichi included, the hit could be even greater.
An emergency declaration enables local officials to take measures such as ordering the cancellation of events, restricting use of facilities such as schools and movie theaters and appropriating land or buildings for temporary medical facilities. Due to civil liberties enshrined in Japan’s postwar constitution, the government cannot send police to clear people off the streets, as has happened in places including France, Italy and the U.K.
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