Major shopping districts became quiet on Saturday, after the governors of Tokyo and of prefectures including Osaka, Kanagawa and Saitama called for people to refrain from unnecessary and nonurgent outings on the weekend in the wake of the spread of the new coronavirus.
Tokyo's upscale Ginza district, for example, is usually crowded with shoppers from the morning on weekends and vehicles are not allowed to enter one of its main streets in the afternoons. However, this weekend feature has been suspended in response to a stay-at-home request made by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, and few people were seen in the area on Saturday.
Department store operator Matsuya Co. decided to close its flagship store in Ginza over the weekend in a bid to prevent further spread of the virus, as did the Ginza Six commercial complex, except for some sections. The Mitsukoshi department store in the area shortened its business hours by three hours.
A 62-year-old man from Taito Ward, Tokyo, visited Ginza on Saturday with his wife to buy some food.
"[Ginza] isn't bustling and looks empty, with only about 10% of the pedestrians on a regular Saturday," he said. "Many restaurants also haven't opened today. I hope the spread of infections will be brought under control as soon as possible."
Komei Motoji, president of a local kimono shop, said it is "rare for Ginza to be so quiet."
"We see our sales falling by about 30% this month as many customers have refrained from going out," the 70-year-old president said. "There's a limit [in terms of effectiveness] no matter how much each shop takes all possible preventive measures [against the virus]."
In Osaka Prefecture, Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura on Friday called for residents to refrain from unnecessary and nonurgent outings on the weekend, after his prefecture set a new record with 20 people found to have contracted the virus in a single day.
Osaka's Minami district is usually popular with shoppers and holidaymakers, but it was also calm on Saturday morning. Most of the people seen on a local shopping street were lined up in front of drugstores to buy masks.
At JR Yokohama Station in Yokohama, the number of passengers was only about 40% that of a regular weekend day, according to a station worker, even though trains are running on regular timetables. Takashimaya Co.'s Yokohama store, located near the west exit of the station, is closed over the weekend, but employees stood by the store to deal with customers who visited without knowing about the closure.
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