KYODO NEWS - Apr 25, 2020 - 23:45 | All, Japan

Japan will review its long-standing administrative custom requiring seal stamping on official documents as it has proven a major bottleneck in containing the coronavirus spread, sources close to the matter said Saturday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will instruct related government ministries to review laws at Monday's meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, as the practice has prevented telework from being fully introduced with employees needing to go to offices to put seals on documents.

Private-sector members of the governmental council will also make an emergency proposal to review such a custom at the upcoming meeting, as they have found that most of the economy-boosting measures implemented in Japan require "hanko" stamps on documents to apply for them, the sources said.

In Japan, "hanko" or seals are widely used for signing contracts, business transactions and administrative procedures.

The council will also review another administrative custom of requiring a resident to report to a city office to directly request a service, as such a face-to-face procedure is also a hindrance to encouraging people to stay home.

On April 10, a survey by a think tank showed that about 60 percent of company employees in Tokyo and six other prefectures were still commuting to their offices despite the state of emergency declared for those areas to curb the coronavirus pandemic.

The declaration was later expanded nationwide as Japan aims for an 80 percent reduction in person-to-person contact to contain the epidemic.

As of Saturday, Japan has confirmed more than 13,900 cases of coronavirus infection and 373 deaths as a result of COVID-19.