Retailers open doors in Tokyo but caution voiced

Many shops and businesses began reopening in Japan on Monday, after a slowdown in the rate of coronavirus infections, but a leading expert cautioned that the battle is "far from over".

Nobuhiko Okabe, a member of Japan's coronavirus task force, issued the warning as the nation considers lifting a state of emergency that remains in eight prefectures.

On Monday, Takashimaya, a high-end department store opened its doors at the retailer's major outlets in Tokyo and Osaka, where a state of emergency to contain the coronavirus is still in place.

In its flagship store in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district, staff wore face shields and limits were set on the number of customers who could enter at any one time in order to prevent infections.

Takeshi Iizuka, the head of the Nihonbashi store, said Takashimaya had closed all its stores, except for its floors where food was sold, after the emergency was declared in April. But now it was reopening to meet the needs of communities and preserve employees' jobs as well as those of its business partners.

In Kyoto, which is also under the emergency order, World Heritage site Nijo Castle reopened on Monday, but only to Kyoto residents.

The reopening businesses and attractions are reacting to a big drop in the number of newly reported cases in cities such as Tokyo, which saw just five fresh infections on Sunday. That was the lowest figure since the capital was locked down in April.

In the metropolitan area of Osaka Prefecture, no positive tests were recorded among the 310 carried reported on Sunday.

Okabe, who is also director general of the Kawasaki City Institute for Public Health, said: "Falling infection rates are good news but the battle is far from over."

Okabe said that even after any lifting of the emergency declaration, people should remain on alert and adhere to strict social distancing.

"Hokkaido is an example. The situation seemed to be under control once, but they had a second wave. We don't want a second wave," Okabe said.

Okabe's panel is due to meet on Thursday to decide whether to lift the emergency conditions in the eight prefectures still subject to them, NHK reported.

On May 14, the emergency order was lifted in Japan's other 39 prefectures. Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan's minister in charge of the coronavirus response, said that day the panel needed to carefully determine in coming to its decision if infections are continuing to decline. The minister added that people should continue to exercise caution.

Kyodo News contributed to this story.