2021 Volume 5 Issue 1 Pages 20-24
The government's response to the prevention of the spread of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) was designated as a "Historic Emergency" for the first time under the Public Records Management Act (March 10, 2020). Although the creation and preservation of records was mandated, the minutes of the Expert Committee on Infectious Disease Control, which advised the government from a medical point of view, were not produced. This revision of the Public Management Act Guidelines was introduced all in June 2012 as a remedy for the failure to keep minutes of major government-sponsored meetings related to the Great East Japan Earthquake. However, the subsequent change of administration and the enactment of the Special Secrets Protection Law by the second Abe administration, among other political factors, led to the widespread use of discussion summaries rather than minutes which specifically should have described the speakers and content of their comments.
