By keeping the masks on public transportation this is essentially maintaining a defacto mask mandate. This is because many people will likely just keep their masks on as they walk from the subway or bus to wherever their destination is:

The most recognized emblem of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the one likely to persist, is about to lose some of its clout in Japan.

New mask guidelines from the government take effect Monday, three years after face coverings became a universal fashion accessory across the country, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s website.

The ministry will recommend individuals decide for themselves whether to wear masks in public. Never an actual mandate, mask wear persists in Japan as the pandemic wanes. 

The coronavirus continues to infect an average 9,500 people per day, a declining number. Japan on Jan. 14 experienced its highest one-day pandemic death toll, 503, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Under the guidelines revised in February, the ministry recommends wearing masks only in medical facilities and on crowded trains and local buses but says nothing about masks on Japan’s iconic shinkansen trains or long-distance buses.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It will soon be official that troops that score over a 540 on the ACFT will not need to weighed or taped:

Soldiers who earn a high enough score on the Army’s fitness test will be exempt from body fat standards under a new policy that will go into effect immediately, Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston announced Thursday. 

Service officials said they believe those exemptions will help reduce the error rate of the Army’s body fat measurement method to almost zero. 

Body fat is only measured on soldiers who fail to meet the service’s weight standards for their age and gender. The Army did not provide how many of its nearly 1 million active, National Guard and Reserve soldiers are failing the standard each year. 

The policy change came from a body composition study that also recommended the service simplify its tape measure method for calculating body fat for those soldiers who exceed weight requirements. A second recommendation would allow for a biometric screening on approved devices to calculate body fat if the soldier fails after a tape test. Those two recommendations are still pending approval from the Army, Grinston said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but the number of highly fit Soldiers who have trouble passing a tape test in my prior experience is very low. They are usually very large muscular people who just have weirdly shaped bodies that don’t pass the tape test well. This new regulation is going to really help out this small number of people. Most people that tape overweight in my prior experience are just that, overweight.

This disapproval of group tours is largely seen as payback against South Korea for restricting Chinese travel during China’s COVID crisis this past winter:

China on Friday shunned South Korea in its second batch of countries allowed for Chinese group tourists, a move widely seen as a form of political complaint.

The Chinese culture ministry added 40 foreign countries, including France, Italy, Denmark, Portugal and Iran, but not South Korea, to its list of officially permitted destinations for group tour packages for Chinese people, starting Wednesday.

China gave South Korea the cold shoulder in its initial batch of 20 such countries released on Jan. 20. The United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Russia and Indonesia were among the list.

Friday’s move is widely viewed as an expression of Beijing’s unresolved feud against Seoul’s previous anti-COVID-19 measures on entrants from China, Hong Kong and Macao during the virus’ surge in winter.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Unsurprisingly Koreans are not fond of the forced labor compensation plan with Japan:

Nearly 60 percent of South Koreans are against the government’s plan to compensate victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor on its own without involving Japanese firms, a poll showed Friday.

In the poll of 1,002 adults conducted by Gallup Korea on Wednesday and Thursday, 59 percent said they oppose the plan as it does not require Tokyo’s official apology and compensation.

Some 35 percent said they support the compensation plan for the sake of national interest and Korea-Japan relations, while 6 percent were unsure.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

These COVID cases are so low now this should give the government sufficient reason to lift the mask mandates on public transportation:

The country reported 10,009 new COVID-19 infections, including 15 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,625,389, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Saturday’s tally is slightly down from 10,335 a day earlier and from 11,246 a week earlier, KDCA data showed.

South Korea added three COVID-19 deaths, the lowest daily figure in about eight months, with the death toll rising to 34,096.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.