August in Japan is usually filled with fireworks, traditional festivals and summer fun. It’s also a time when city dwellers travel to their hometowns for the Obon holiday, a Buddhist tradition when the living honour their ancestors. This year, Obon is from August 13 to 16, and it’s normally peak travel season, with people heading back to their hometowns or taking a good old fashioned summer vacation. Of course, the surge in Covid-19 coronavirus cases in Japan means this Obon is a little different.
NHK reports (in Japanese only) that Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is urging residents to avoid travelling home for the summer holidays and suggests families reunite online or over the phone instead. She is also asking Tokyoites to avoid dining out at night and embarking on unnecessary travel; she is recommending people to stay home if possible during what she called a ‘special summer’. In August, the Tokyo government also asked restaurants and bars to reduce their business hours in exchange for financial compensation.
Meanwhile, the national government is taking a more relaxed approach. The Japan Times reports Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is asking people who plan to travel during Obon to avoid the ‘Three C’s’ – closed spaces, crowds and close-contact conversation. Shigeru Omi, the head of the national government panel on coronavirus, also mentioned disinfecting and wearing a face mask in addition to suggesting people ‘avoid speaking loudly, ventilate frequently and refrain from eating with a large number of people’. The panel emphasises keeping at-risk elderly people safe, especially since many city dwellers are planning to see relatives over the holidays.
Despite the increasing number of coronavirus cases in Tokyo and across Japan, Abe has repeated that a state of emergency is not necessary, although Koike has said Tokyo could declare its own. According to the same Japan Times report mentioned above, Abe said that the recent spike in infections required a different response because ‘there had been far fewer serious and fatal cases recently compared with when the previous state of emergency was declared in April’. He also added that hospitals were more equipped to treat people now than earlier in the year.
Get live updates on the Covid-19 coronavirus situation in Tokyo and Japan here.
More news
Japan will grant easier re-entry to some foreign residents from August 5
Tokyo’s Chiyoda ward plans to provide a ¥120,000 cash handout to all its residents
These are all the countries and regions affected by Japan’s entry ban
Japanese companies are making holographic touchscreens a reality amid coronavirus pandemic
Uber Eats Japan is now offering a monthly subscription delivery service