Chino, Japan, July 17, 2020—From July 22, 2020, until this fall, what the Abe cabinet brand as the ‘GoTo Campaign’ starts. The $14 billion government program, which encourages the Japanese to go on vacation to help the coronavirus pandemic-distressed hospitality and leisure industries, basically foots ½ of travel expenses and up to roughly $200 a night no matter many nights vacationers stay. It comes right in the middle of surging infection cases, and on July 16, Abe was forced to partially roll back the program – excluding Tokyoites and non-Tokyo residents visiting Tokyo from the program’s qualification and angering the residents of the 12 million city.
That the program, defined as the core undertaking to salvaging the Japanese economy out of the coronavirus recession, omitted 1/10th of the country’s 126 million people itself was a fiasco but the Abe cabinet bungling about the program seems unlimited:
–Tokyo residents are known to account for as many as 1/4th of Japan’s domestic travelers, so their absence at vacation destinations is a big loss to hotels and pleasure businesses, but may help curve the coronavirus spread to other locations, but since Tokyo’s surrounding provinces – Saitama, Kanagawa, and Chiba – qualify for the program, country folks may find accommodations in the three provinces and from there visit Tokyo and go to such attractions like Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea, Sumo wrestling and others, and end up getting infected and bringing back the virus to their hometowns;
–By excluding other big Japanese cities from the program, such as Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto, and Sapporo (Hokkaido), the July 16 program revision left big holes of potential infections. In fact, Osaka’s new cases have been soaring in recent days from zero cases until the fresh surge;
–The revision also sparked criticisms about government spending discriminations against Tokyoites and complaints that Tokyo vacationers who already had paid for travels won’t be refunded for being denied from the program.
The original program, which was revealed during the height of the pandemic, was very confusing and difficult to understand as it was written in bureaucratic language. It had been revised and posted on the government’s Japan Tourism Agency on July 15. It said travelers can receive ½ of domestic travel expenses, and that 7/10th of the subsidy can be used for accommodations and transportation and 3/10th are paid in vouchers to be used in visit areas, as well as that it pays up to $200 per night per person and that the number of stays to be subsidized is unlimited.
Vacationers can submit applications and necessary documents including hotel and transportation receipts to get paid the subsidy or submit necessary documents to the relevant administrative office, according to the agency’s website. Those offices that process applications are expected to be private-sector industry lobbies such as hotel tourism associations. The agency urged them to attend briefings scheduled for July 21 and later. Later!? So, until then, the agency won’t release details how to screen and/or process applications!! Clearly insufficient preparations.
And yet, there’s one thing that has been accomplished: Work for bureaucrats. No matter how clumsy and faulty it can be, government bureaucrats presented the program to Abe and his cronies and the governing lawmakers, many of them formerly bureaucrats, gladly bought it and decided to implement it to squander taxpayer money because it looked complicated and professional.
Bureaucrats who had written the application paper for all Japanese taxpayers to receive $1,000 ‘anti-coronavirus payment’ this spring – which was budgeted for a much smaller expenditure than the GoTo campaign – must have realized that more complex a program is better in disincentivizing the public to apply and rewarding for them for their jobs and career promotions.
–Toshio Aritake