Tokyo to offer up to ¥500,000 for bars to close

The Tokyo metropolitan government intends to offer up to ¥500,000 in benefits to host clubs and hostess bars if they shut their doors amid the coronavirus epidemic, according to sources.

Tokyo plans to make payments on a case-by-case basis to operators who accept the closure request, aiming to minimize the impact on metropolitan finances that would come with blanket offers of payment.

The Tokyo metropolitan government, in a soon-to-be announced supplementary budget proposal, plans to include a maximum payout of ¥500,000, according to the sources.

Since July 1, about 300 people in Tokyo have been infected with the virus at host clubs and hostess bars in the Shinjuku and Ikebukuro nightlife districts.

Wards and municipalities are to submit an official request for the closures of such clubs and bars, while the metropolitan government will bear the entire amount of the benefit payment.

Tokyo plans to implement the measure in Toshima Ward, which includes Ikebukuro, ahead of other areas. The ward said it was to provide free PCR testing for about 100 host club employees. In addition, Tokyo’s Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health will likely upgrade the status of the infectious disease control section to that of a department.

This is part of the plan to establish a department similar to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike proposed in her gubernatorial campaign, with the number of staffers expected to increase from the current 30 to about 100.

Tokyo also plans to enhance liaison and coordination functions with health centers, hospitals and research institutions, the sources said.