The government minister in charge of education on Friday announced he did not intend to request that schools remain closed beyond the spring break which starts in the final weeks of March.
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Koichi Hagiuda also told reporters at the Prime Minister's Office that he intends to release guidelines, possibly early next week, for reopening schools at the start of the new academic term in April.
At a task force meeting on containing the spread of the new coronavirus held earlier in the day, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed the education ministry to draw up a specific policy for reopening the wide range of schools from elementary up to high school that closed all at once in response to the viral outbreak.
Abe, speaking on the issue of holding major events across the nation, urged organizers to "continue taking due caution to prevent the spread of the virus," after an expert panel called for making careful decisions about whether such events should be canceled or postponed.
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