On March 26th, Tokyo Governor Koike requested the capital’s 14 million residents to avoid nonessential outings in the wake of a spike in the number of new coronavirus infections. Following her request, the governors of three neighboring prefectures, as well as other nearby prefectures, asked their residents to hold off on visiting the capital or even going out, unless absolutely necessary.
Did people heed the call to stay indoors? According to data reported by the Nikkei newspaper, it seems that many people did refrain from going out, with a noticeable effect on passenger traffic on public transportation and foot traffic at retail stores.
According to JR East, the number of people using the shinkansen and Yamanote lines dropped between 70 and 80 percent year-on-year on both March 28th and 29th (Saturday and Sunday). Retail store visits also saw a year-on-year drop of at least 67% over the weekend, according to separate data reported by ABEJA, a retail market research company. On Sunday, the retail store visits had an even bigger drop, estimated at about 80 percent. Overall, it is estimated that between 60 and 70 percent of Tokyo residents stayed inside this weekend, following Gov Koike’s request.
Tokyo also saw an unseasonably late dusting of snow on Sunday, which may have dissuaded some people from going out. Sunday was the first time in 32 years that central Tokyo witnessed the accumulation of snow measuring 1 centimeter or more in late March, according to the Japan Weather Association.
Train and Subway Ridership, Retail Traffic Down
Passenger traffic on Tokyo’s main loop line, the Yamanote, fell 35 percent compared to the previous week; and fell sharply (about 70%) year-on-year on the 28th and 29th of March.
On subway lines operated by Tokyo Metro, the number of people passing through ticket gates dropped 70 percent on March 28th and 80 percent on March 29th, on a year-on-year basis.
It is thought that it is relatively easy for people to stay in on a weekday, but may be more difficult during the work week and in the evenings after work.
The Japan International Labor Foundation estimates that about 7.8 million people in Japan or about 35% of the workforce is currently working from home, but work-from-home directives are especially difficult for small-and-medium companies in the service to implement.
Many major companies in Tokyo have had work-from-home policies in place for several weeks, for example Apple Japan. On March 30th, Fujitsu, a multinational IT services and equipment company headquartered in Tokyo, implemented telecommuting for its 50,000 employees in the Tokyo metro area. Kobe Steel has also just announced a similar policy for its approximately 1,000 employees in Tokyo.
On Monday, Gov Koike called on residents to avoid outings in the evenings and at weekends as the coronavirus crisis deepens, but said it was up to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to declare a state of emergency to tackle it.
Source: Nikkei newspaper, March 30, 2020 (in Japanese), JapanToday