COVID-19 overshadows Japan’s New Year’s Day festivities

New Year’s Day is the biggest holiday in Japan’s calendar, but this year’s festivities have been subdued following record highs in new coronavirus cases nationwide and calls from the government to stay home.

Japan’s Emperor Naruhito appealed to the public to work together through the pandemic in a videotaped New Year’s Day address to the nation released on Friday.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga  released a written statement, vowing he would “protect the lives of the people” and promising to work on “virus countermeasures and economic recovery.”