I also saw an article claiming "no" to the japan ivermectin stuff, but it was extremely unconvincing. I'll edit this post from a different pc where I can see a chrome history and post a link to it - it was written in the vernacular and personality of a 3 yr old, which left me quite unpersuaded.
Yes, I know that one japanese doctor (chairman of tokyo association) could have been misinterpreted - and that he does not represent the government (though I have no idea why I would care what the gov thinks, however I do care what japanese doctors are actually doing) - the 2 main claims that these articles (yours and the one I spoke of) are using to say it is 'false'.
Honestly, after reading both AB's article, the one Moke posted, and the one I referenced, I think the fairest assessment of this topic, based on the information I've seen so far, is kind of back to the 'middle' for me, and could be stated as: We have no idea whether Japanese doctors are actually, in fact, using ivermectin to treat covid patients. Those who say "they are" have offered little evidence to support it, and those who say "they are not" have offered no evidence to support that - other than the fact that the government's little "list of covid treatments" does not explicitly call for it to be used, as well as offering a bunch of other interesting but irrelevant facts, such as their vaccination rates.
Now wouldn't it be fun to go to tokyo myself and interview 25 doctors selected at random. I could come back and put this issue to bed.
Anybody want to finance me?