The area around JR Tokyo Station -- the gateway to the capital -- was deserted Saturday morning, on the first weekend after a state of emergency was declared following the widespread outbreak of the new coronavirus.
A wide range of businesses were asked to close under a government measure, creating an extremely unusual start to the weekend.
However, joggers in protective masks were still spotted around the Imperial Palace. A female company employee, 58, from Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, said she came to the area to run because "I cannot miss jogging to stay healthy."
"But I keep enough space of 5 to 10 meters from other joggers and hold my breath for a while when I pass them," she said.
Very few people were seen at 9 a.m. on Saturday at the plaza in front of Tokyo Station, although the area is usually crowded with people taking photographs of the retro station or waiting to meet people. Inside, the station was also quiet and few people were seen carrying suitcases to board the Shinkansen. No one was seen lining up in front of the JR ticket offices that are normally crowded with travelers. The screens above ticketing machines showed rows of green circles indicating "seats available."
"The train was almost empty inside," a 79-year-old man from Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, said. "The space created personal distance, and it actually wasn't bad, being different from usual."
The station's Yaesu Exit is a departure point for expressway buses heading to Narita Airport and other places. Many bus services are being viewed warily due to the virus spread, and only five or six buses were seen parked there. There were almost no lines waiting for buses, and drivers looked to be at a loose end. Shops and restaurants in the Yaesu Exit underground shopping arcade have all been shuttered, save for a few, instead displaying signs reading, "We are temporarily closed."
Saturday was also the first day after the Tokyo metropolitan government asked businesses to close or to shorten their hours, and many shops were shuttered in downtown areas in Tokyo.
In Tokyo's Shibamata district -- which is a shooting location for the long-running movie series "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" (It's Tough Being a Man) -- many stores were shut or had "Temporarily closed" signs on Temple Street in Shibamata, which is full of shops and restaurants.
Drugstores were all that was open in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district, which is lined with luxury brand shops and department stores, many of which displayed signs reading, "Temporarily closed."
A 71-year-old part-time worker from Koto Ward, Tokyo, said she was on her way to a beauty salon in Ginza after learning that barbers and beauty salons are excluded from the list of businesses asked to close by the metropolitan government.
"I felt the town looked lonely with so few people," she said. "I hope that the infections will end soon and that Ginza will return to being crowded.
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