A lot of parents in Japan were shocked that due to the coronavirus, all schools nationwide were closed as decided by Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. It was a powerful decision by Prime Minister Abe because he wanted to control the spread of the coronavirus in Japan. The decision made Japan one of the few countries to close schools nationwide. Prime Minister Abe wanted to show the Japanese people that he was ready and is finding ways to control the spread of the virus.

As per https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00752/, there was a survey done of 18-year-olds conducted by Nippon Foundation in late May 2020 on the topic of school education. The survey was to find the most common problem caused by the closures of physical schools and transferred to online learning. It was cited that the most common problem was the negative effect on schoolwork (confusion, lack of communication, and no motivation).

The closure of the schools affected 13 million students. The Prime Minister of Japan stated, “This is to prioritize the health and safety of the children and take precautions to avoid the risk of possible large-scale infections for many children and teachers who gather and spend hours together every day.”