Amid the recent surge in new coronavirus cases, popular places for outings across the country were crowded Sunday with people enjoying the fine autumnal weather. But the impact of the spread of infection is being felt elsewhere, such as restaurants and hotels that are being flooded with cancellations.
In Tokyo's famous Ginza district, a "pedestrians' paradise" was set up as usual, in which a main street is closed off to traffic. Crowds of people wearing masks strolled by each other.
"I am afraid of infection, but I would get depressed if I don't get out at times," said a company employee in her 20s from Saitama Prefecture, who said she stayed at a hotel in central Tokyo with a friend the previous night, making use of the government's "Go To Travel" domestic travel support campaign.
A child care worker in her 40s from Tokyo said she came to Ginza to buy school supplies with her daughter, a first-year high school student. "I'm surprised by the sudden rise in infections, but I hope we don't have the situation where we have to practice self-restraint in everything we do, as we did before."
In Yokohama Chinatown in the city's Naka Ward, the streets were filled and long lines formed in front of the more popular Chinese restaurants. A 46-year-old housewife from nearby Kawasaki said she anguished over whether to even go out as infections were surging. "To shorten my stay here, I will get butaman (pork buns) to go and eat them at home," she said with a smile.
Many tourists also flocked to "Shin-Sekai," an amusement district in Naniwa Ward, Osaka. But the 40-year-old manager of a kushikatsu (deep-fried skewered meat and vegetables) restaurant couldn't hide his gloom. "My impression is that we have been gradually losing customers since about a week ago." he said. "We hope we can hold on by showing customers we are doing everything we can to prevent infections, including using disinfectants and partitioning the seats."
The Hakodate Motomachi Hotel in Hakodate, Hokkaido, said that three schools have canceled reservations for school trips this month, and there have been individual cancellations as well. Likewise, the Toba Seaside Hotel in Toba, Mie Prefecture, has had a rush of cancellations daily from around Nov. 10. "If the infections spread further, there will be no way to avoid it affecting our business." said a concerned Takeo Okunishi, head of sales of the hotel.
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