Restaurants in Tokyo move step closer to a new normal

Tokyo restaurants were among the city’s establishments that stayed open a little later recently.

Some other businesses also resumed operations after staying closed during the central government’s state of emergency, which covered the capital and the prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama.

The hope is this marks the beginning of a new normal in Japan’s efforts to get the economy going while preventing a rebound in infections.

Shortly after 8 p.m. on March 22, a regular showed up at Kushiage Dongara-Gassyan, a deep-fried skewered food restaurant in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, after it extended its closing time by an hour to 9 p.m.

The 48-year-old man used to go to the restaurant three or four times a week before the coronavirus outbreak, but he had rarely been able to make it during the emergency period.

“I’m glad that the restaurant is open longer, even by an hour,” he said. “I want to continue to support this place.”

“We’re now able to serve alcohol for an hour longer,” owner Yoko Shirono said. “This will expand opportunities for our customers to visit us more often.”

The central government’s new request to close at 9 p.m. will remain in place until the end of this month for restaurants in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Each outlet that cooperates with the request will receive about $370 per day.

The Tokyo metropolitan government is calling for each eatery to register a staffer in charge of infection prevention measures.

“We’ll do whatever we can and prepare the environment so that our customers feel they’re glad that they came,” said Shirono, who plans to register with the project.

Meanwhile, the Isetan Shinjuku department store is again open until 8 p.m. after closing at 7 p.m. during the emergency period.

“With so many people on the trains and in the streets, I’m worried that there might be a rebound in infections,” said a 27-year-old female company employee from Nerima Ward, Tokyo. “I want to get back to normal life without letting my guard down against infection.”

Ikka Dining Project in Chiba Prefecture, which runs 71 izakaya pubs and other establishments in the Tokyo metropolitan area, resumed business last week at most of the about 60 eateries it had closed in late January.

The decision to close those outlets had been made because the company concluded it would not be profitable to comply with the request for shorter operating hours. The company’s sales in February were down by 93% compared with the same month last year.

“We can reopen our restaurants, so our employees are in high spirits about getting back to work,” said a person in charge at Ikka Dining Project. “However, we don’t know how many customers will actually come back when we open for another hour.”

The Japanese-style pub Izakaya Sen in front of Shibuya Station in Tokyo also opened its doors for the first time in a while. After the state of emergency was declared, the number of customers plummeted to one or two groups a day. It decided to temporarily close because its business losses would only increase if it stayed open.

“I’m worried, thinking how long this pandemic will last,” said Izakaya owner Yuki Nagasawa, 52. “But I just have to do my best, believing customers will return.”

A number of the 32 eating and drinking establishments that had not complied with the request to shorten hours that were subsequently issued orders to do so by the Tokyo metropolitan government continued to remain open after 8 p.m., The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

The revised special measures law to cope with new strains of influenza allows local governments to impose fines on business operators that do not conform to orders after notifying a court. The metropolitan government will consider its next move after confirming the details.