Websites of Multiple Japan Local Govts Become Inaccessible

Tokyo, Feb. 26 (Jiji Press)–The websites of multiple local governments in Japan have become inaccessible. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a press conference Wednesday that the central government and others are gathering information to identify the cause of the problem. The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry has asked prefectural governments to submit reports on the matter, the top government spokesman said. As of 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, affected local governments included the city of Ebetsu in Hokkaido, the city of Shiojiri in Nagano Prefecture, the city of Hagi in Yamaguchi Prefecture, the city of Dazaifu in Fukuoka Prefecture and the city of Tosu in Saga Prefecture. An error message appears when people try to access the websites of the municipalities. In addition, the websites of Gunma Prefecture, Kumamoto Prefecture, the city of Mito, the capital of Ibaraki Prefecture, the city of Toda in Saitama Prefecture, and the city of Nagasaki, the capital of the namesake prefecture, temporarily became inaccessible. The affected websites are believed to run on systems provided by a company in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan. The company is investigating details of the problem, including its cause, an official said, adding that it remains to be seen when the problem will be resolved. Some of the local governments have started to provide necessary information to residents through social media platforms, such as X, formerly Twitter, according to Kihara. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]