A large number of surfers gathered at Tsurigasaki Beach, the venue for the surfing competition at the Tokyo Olympics, in the town of Ichinomiya, Chiba Prefecture, early on Saturday morning.
The license plates of the vehicles at the municipal parking lot near the beach indicated a number of visitors from Tokyo and prefectures neighboring Chiba Prefecture.
"We are thinking about the prevention of the spread of infections -- including buying food at a convenience store -- as I am trying to avoid contact with other people as much as possible," said a 46-year-old company worker from Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture.
In Sapporo, a number of commercial facilities resumed operations the same day. Sapporo Factory, a large commercial complex that houses about 160 shops, restaurants and movie theaters, reopened at 11 a.m.
Disinfectant was placed at all of the complex's 20 entrances, and two staff workers routinely patrolled and wiped down handrails and other equipment.
On the other hand, in the city of Kitakyushu, in which the city government has decided to keep in place requests for closures for certain types of businesses because of newly confirmed virus infections, fewer visitors than normal were seen in front of JR Kokura Station in Kokura-Kita Ward. People passing through were seen making an effort to socially distance on escalators and stairs.
"Recently, I see people not wearing masks. It seems some people have lowered their level of vigilance," said a 49-year-old company worker from the city's Moji Ward, adding, "Each person has to change their mind-set."
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