May 25 ,2020. 4 hours ago – 17:22 KYODO NEWS
TOKYO – The lifting of the state of emergency imposed on Tokyo and four other prefectures over the novel coronavirus outbreak holds out the prospect of businesses getting back on track and schools reopening.
But some voice concern that fully lifting the state of emergency seven weeks after the initial declaration was issued in early April could trigger another wave of infections.
The government decided to end the state of emergency in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama as well as Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido after it was lifted in the country’s 42 other prefectures earlier this month.
“I’m hoping that the number of customers returns to normal by around the peak summer season,” Takahiro Miura, an employee of a seafood restaurant in Sapporo, Hokkaido, said.
Sales at the restaurant tumbled 90 percent in April from the same month last year as the number of domestic and foreign customers plummeted from late February, he said.
“If our restaurant remains empty for another six months, we’ll be in a severe situation,” Miura added.
Parents are hoping that schools will reopen to make up for lost time and reduce stress on families.
“I can’t take care of my children all day long at home anymore. I need time for myself,” said a 43-year-old mother of a son in fifth grade at elementary school and a daughter in second grade at junior high school, in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Some retailers reopened their outlets or expanded their operations in the Tokyo metropolitan area ahead of the lifting of the state of emergency.
Major department store operator Matsuya Co. reopened the food floor of its store in Ginza, central Tokyo, on Monday.
An 89-year-old man said he came to the store to buy his favorite dish “tsukudani,” a traditional Japanese treat made by simmering ingredients such as seafood or vegetables in soy sauce.
“I had to make do with something else for a month,” he said.
The lifting of the emergency also leaves some people concerned about a second wave of infections, even though they understand the need to buoy the economy.
“I’ve seen an increasing number of commuters on the train. I worry about a second wave of infections if many people go back to life as normal,” said Shizuka Miyakawa, a 61-year-old resident of Sagamihara, Kanagawa, who works for a bank.
Yoshio Hayashi, who lives in Inzai, Chiba Prefecture, said the end of the declaration is necessary for the economy. But “if we take safety into consideration, we could have been more careful about lifting it,” the 78-year-old said.
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