Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga visited Okinawa Prefecture on Sunday to exchange views with the prefecture's tourism industry, economic organizations and financial institutions. He said the government will support them to minimize the impact of the spread of the new coronavirus infections.
"[The government] will take proper measures to prevent the loss of the industrial base centered on tourism," Suga said at a meeting with economic organizations.
He also visited the Naha Kokusai Dori shopping street in central Naha, where many souvenir shops are located.
His trip to Okinawa coincided with a ceremony to celebrate the opening of the second runway at Naha Airport.
There were some government officials who held a cautious view about Suga leaving Tokyo as he is responsible for crisis management. But the Liberal Democratic Party member decided to make the visit to place an emphasis on Okinawa ahead of the Okinawa prefectural assembly election in June, a source close to Suga said.
The ruling LDP's Policy Research Council Chairman Fumio Kishida also visited the prefecture the same day.
"We want to compile economic measures as soon as possible and put them into action," Kishida told reporters in Naha.
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