As discussed in ‘Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic: exploring the analytical approach of multi-level governance’, ‘multilevel’ refers to the increased interdependence of governments operating at different territorial levels, and ‘governance’ signals the growing interdependence between governments and non-governmental actors at various territorial levels. The relationships between the central and local governments define the way public policies respond to the pandemic (Shaw et al., 2020). One particular issue which is attracting interest internationally is the role of technology in helping to combat this virus and control infections, in particular, the use of digital technology such as ‘contact tracing applications’ (apps) to monitor and inform individuals when they have contact with those who have tested positive. Measures to protect privacy in the utilization of these digital tools differ significantly among countries (Harwood, 2020; Sanova, 2020). The use of digital technology in the public health domain also raises many questions about the roles of different actors including policy makers, health professionals, technology developers and adopters, civil servants and citizens as users. Through the development and implementation of COVID-19 contract tracing technologies, in some countries, responsibility and trust in local governments seem to have increased while those for the central government may have decreased.
Whereas much of the rest of the world built its response to the pandemic on “widespread contact tracing, isolation, and testing” strategy, Japan initially adopted a quite different strategy, by trying to identify the “clusters and [determine] their common characteristics.” (Science, 2020). In the early phase of the pandemic in 2020, the Japanese government did not make testing a priority like other countries did. As of late May 2020, Japan conducted 2.2 tests per 1000 people while the rate in neighboring South Korea was 16; and in the United States, 43 (Science, 2020). In terms of the digital contract tracing, the central government launched the national tracing app “COVID-19 Contact-Confirming Application” (COCOA) in June 2020. It adopted a “decentralized” Application Programme Interface (API) that Google and Apple had developed as a tracking platform. COCOA doesn’t store personal information like location data or phone numbers and downloading contact tracing applications is voluntary. In terms of the use of tracing technology, it is generally acknowledged that Japanese people have a rather low tolerance to provide personal data (NRI, 2020). Other countries in East Asia, such as China and South Korea, on the contrary, have taken measures where the governments mandatorily collect location information that can identify individuals who have had contact with infected persons.
Photo taken by Markus Winkler.
The local government system in Japan consists of two tiers: prefectures and the municipalities that make up the prefectures. Prefectures and municipalities are both local public entities of equal status and cooperate in local administration according to their share of duties. There are 47 prefectures, and under the categories of municipalities, there are 790 cities (including “designated cities”), 745 towns and 183 villages in Japan. Since the 1990s, with the decentralization reforms, the autonomy of local authorities has been strengthened.
In Japan, local governments are in charge of implementing the testing strategy through local institutions, Local Health Centres (hokenjo), and local outpatient and testing centres. These are responsible for testing, deploying medical workers, and providing drive-through and walk-through medical care facilities in large tents and prefabricated buildings (Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet, 2020; Government of Japan, 2020).
It is known that, throughout the pandemic, some of the local governments, particularly prefectural governors, took prompt actions and measures to contain the pandemic, displaying leadership that sometimes led to conflicts with the central government. In March 2020, local governments (e.g. Kanagawa prefecture; Tokyo Metropolitan Government) started to use the free messaging application Line to provide consultations about the COVID-19 as the spread of infections was causing a growing sense of unease among their citizens (Mainichi Japan, March 2020). Local authorities have been instrumental in the use of digital tracing technologies, too. By August 2020, eighteen (out of 47 in total) prefectural governments had introduced QR tracing systems in which customers of businesses (e.g. restaurants and hotels) will receive information regarding COVID-19 infections after registering their contact info. By October 2020, 23 prefectures had introduced a QR system in addition to COCOA implemented by the central government. While the central government’s COCOA tracing system focuses on “individual” contacts, the local governments’ QR system focuses on “places” (e.g. public institutions and businesses) where residents may have had contacts with those affected by COVID. A few of the prefectures made it mandatory for businesses to sign up for its registration system. Many municipalities and prefectures have now made their own QR systems promoting both local and national digital tracing mechanisms among their citizens.
Despite the uptake of digital contract tracing technologies at both national and local levels, the implementation has been far from adequate so far. There seems to be an issue of trust in digital technology and digital tracing app in particular. There is very limited willingness among the public to download and use COCOA, stalled by factors such as poor messaging by the government and reports of technical glitches (Japan Times, February 2021). Trust in the app is low, with a rating of “2.8 out of five” on the Google Play Store, and recent media reporting that bugs in the app are leading to users not being notified promptly (The Diplomat, February 2021). Up to the 1st February 2021, penetration of COCOA is less than 20 % of the population. Fewer than 10,000 people registered their positive test status on COCOA – out of a total of 380,000 testing positive so far (Japan Times, February 2021). Few people have responded to notifications to apply for testing at Local Health Centres (Nikkei Asia, January 2021). On the 5th February 2021, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga apologised for the Health Ministry’s failure to discover a technical glitch of the COCOA app since September 2020, which has rendered its digital tracing technology invalid for Android users (Mainichi Japan, February 2021).
Screenshot of COCOA app in Google Play Store.
At the Prefecture level, trust in tracing technology is not high, either. For example, Osaka Prefecture’s QR system only issued 6 alerts in 7 months of operation between the 29th May 2020 and December 2020 (Japan Times, January 2021). More generally, there lies an issue of trust of the government. According to the YouGov Poll in October 2020, Japan had the lowest government approval rating (Guardian, 27 October 2020): 73% of respondents in Japan thought “their government performed ‘very badly’ or ‘fairly badly’” while the equivalent number in the UK was 55%. During the pandemic, with slightly over 400,000 cumulative cases and less than 7,000 deaths as of early February 2021, Japan has had one of the world’s lowest death rates due to the Covid19, much lower mortality rate than that of the UK (see PATH –AI website for comparative statistics). Such figures need to be interpreted with caution, of course –comparing these figures across nations is complex with multi-faceted processes and factors at play.
There remain issues regarding how to coordinate these different tracing systems provided by different levels of governments, and how to create the system that can build data that helps prevent the spread of the pandemic, and that citizens can trust. It was reported that prefectural spending to contain COVID-19 amounted to USD 9.5 billion in July 2020, which drained the reserve funds of most of Japan’s prefectural governments by more than half, limiting their financial resources to combat a second wave. According to an Asahi Shimbun survey, all 47 regions had already used 58% of the total of their reserves (Asahi Shimbun, July 2020). While national, regional and local governments have differentiated responsibilities in health services across different countries, the COVID-19 pandemic calls for a stronger focus on coordination across different levels of governance and on engaging with citizens, businesses and communities alike (OECD, 2020). The COVID-19 crisis, given its scope and magnitude, is challenging all levels of government to reinforce their partnerships – with each other, with the private and third sectors, and with citizens. There seems to be cross-national learning opportunities about different governance arrangements in response to the crisis (Gaskell and Stoker, 2020). The use of digital contract tracing technology, in particular, can be seen as a litmus test of trust and confidence, not only with the technology itself, but also with the coordination and partnerships across the actors.
