The Japanese government declared a quasi-state of emergency in Okinawa, Yamaguchi, and Hiroshima prefectures on Friday in light of rising new infection case counts of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in those prefectures.
Yamaguchi reported 180 new cases, while Hiroshima reported a record 429 on Thursday, and Tokyo reported 922 on Friday.
Japan only recently ended a full state of emergency in 19 prefectures in September last year.
That state of emergency started in July (though Okinawa had then already been under a state of emergency for four months).