Japan to review top obstacle to telework — the personal seal www.japantimes.co.jp

Japan will review its long-standing administrative custom requiring official documents be stamped with personal seals — a tradition that has been a major bottleneck in containing the spread of COVID-19, sources close to the matter have said.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will instruct related government ministries to review the laws at Monday’s meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy.
The practice requiring hanko personal seals has prevented telework from being fully implemented as it requires employees to visit offices to get documents stamped, the sources said Saturday.
The council will also review another administrative custom of requiring a resident to report to a city office to directly request a service.
As of Saturday, Japan had confirmed more than 13,900 cases of coronavirus infection and 373 deaths as a result of COVID-19.