January 13 2021: in response to the increasing spread of COVID-19 in multiple regions of Japan, the government has extended the ‘State of Emergency’ (SOE) to a further 7 prefectures. The affected prefectures are: Tochigi, Gifu, Aichi, Kyoto, Hyogo, Osaka and Fukuoka. The SOE will remain in-place until at least February 7th 2021.