Many People Go Out in Japan after Lifting of Virus Emergency

Tokyo, May 17 (Jiji Press)--Many people went out for shopping and eating in major Japanese cities on the first Sunday since the government lifted its coronavirus state of emergency in most parts of the country. Families spent the weekend visiting stores in a shopping street in the city of Fukuoka, southwestern Japan. "I'm happy to be able to go shopping after a long time," said a 71-year-old man who stayed home almost all day while the state of emergency was in place. Some stores remained closed. "Visitor traffic has been increasing gradually but remains low," said a 60-year-old sundry shop manager. While voicing hopes for more visitors, he also expressed concerns about a possible second wave of coronavirus infections. Fukuoka is among the 39 prefectures where the state of emergency was lifted on Thursday. In the Dotonbori downtown district in the city of Osaka, western Japan, there were tourists even from outside Osaka Prefecture. Osaka Prefecture will gradually open its economy based on its own criteria, though the state of emergency remains in place there. "We thought it became safe to come," said a 22-year-old woman who visited Dotonbori for a one-day trip from Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, accompanied by her boyfriend. But she added, "I'll wash my hands without fail because It's busier than I expected." A 47-year-old woman from Tokyo said, "Because the coronavirus has calmed down, I came by keeping this trip secret." A main street in Tokyo's Ginza district became crowded in the afternoon with people, mainly young. "Visitor traffic is about 20 pct bigger than last weekend," said a 30-year-old restaurant worker. Tokyo also remains under the state of emergency. A 23-year-old corporate employee who visited Ginza for shopping said, "I thought it's already good to come because the daily number of new coronavirus cases has sometimes fallen to single digits in recent days." END