RE: Japan has still not approved ivermectin for Covid.
Yes, but we do know that the Japanese health authorities, unlike those in the west, do not actively suppress any doctors who prescribe Ivermectin for their patients.
Unfortunately, We don’t know how prevalent these Ivermectin prescriptions are given country-wide. It’s not being tracked unlike vaccinations.
True, we don’t know how many people in Japan are actually using ivermectin. We simply don’t know. It looks like they were warning against ivermectin use back in February:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/02/21/national/drugs-import-coronavirus/
This article suggests people who were taking it were getting it from importers rather than by prescription. Perhaps that changed in the meantime, but given they are having trouble recruiting participants for the clinical study, it appears the Japanese are not overwhelmingly enthusiastic about it.
It stands to reason only a fairly small percentage of the total population are using it, too few to affect overall Covid case rates. But again, we do not know the actual numbers. Nothing can be proven either way.