Shahennews<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New Year\u2019s Day is the biggest holiday in Japan\u2019s calendar, but this year\u2019s festivities have been subdued following record highs in new coronavirus cases nationwide and calls from the government to stay home.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Japan\u2019s Emperor Naruhito appealed to the public to work together through the pandemic in a videotaped New Year\u2019s Day address to the nation released on Friday.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “I am wishing from my heart that everyone can move forward during this hard time by supporting and helping one another,” he said in the address, which was released in place of an annual public appearance by the imperial family during the New Year holidays. The event was cancelled this year because of the pandemic.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also released a written statement, vowing he would “protect the lives of the people” and promising to work on “virus countermeasures and economic recovery.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \/\/Petra\/\/<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Shahennews New Year\u2019s Day is the biggest holiday in Japan\u2019s calendar, but this year\u2019s festivities have been subdued following record highs in new coronavirus cases nationwide and calls from the government to stay home. Japan\u2019s Emperor Naruhito appealed to the public to work together through the pandemic in a videotaped New Year\u2019s Day address to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":7380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arab-and-international"],"yoast_head":"\n