TOKYO: Operators of restaurants as well as their trading partners in the Tokyo metropolitan area drooped their heads with disappointment when they knew the current coronavirus state of emergency would be extended by two weeks from Sunday.

Many complained that the extension was a blow to their businesses and expressed doubt over the effectiveness of the emergency measure in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama.

“Business is usually booming around this time thanks to farewell and welcome parties,” said Kyo Matsuyama, the 49-year-old manager of “Naniwaya Torizo” yakitori bar in the city of Chiba. “It is the first time that we have seen so few customers in this season.”

“We want to operate normally as soon as possible, but coronavirus cases haven’t declined much and it can’t be helped,” said Toru Shimizu, 46, chief of “Okonomiyaki Gion” savory Japanese pancake restaurant.

“Ah, it (the state of emergency) will go on and on,” Tsutomu Inuzuka, 54, senior managing director of wet towel rental firm FSX Inc., said sadly.

His company has already reopened its factory since clients resumed placing orders in anticipation of the lifting of the emergency as originally scheduled.

“I’m sick and tired of seeing my company make wasteful spending,” Inuzuka said. “Our industry doesn’t get any compensation.”

“I want the government to present a prospect, not just respond ad hoc,” he stressed.

Kazuhiko Kawashima, 58, who manages a strawberry farm in the city of Isehara, Kanagawa Prefecture, was disappointed that the extension overlaps with the strawberry-picking season.

“The strawberries are growing fast because it is so warm,” he said. “It is tough that customers won’t return during the season.”

The farm, which is continuing operations by limiting the number of pickers, only has a fifth of its usual number of visitors. Kawashima said he desperately hopes that people will come back again.

Some have voiced skepticism toward the effectiveness of the emergency extension.

“It can’t be helped, but many people have become less cautious (about the virus),” Hozue Hida, 73, said. “We all must protect each other.”

“Even under the state of emergency, there are people who have dinner with others,” a 45-year-old male care worker said. “The extension will not change the situation.”

A self-employed 26-year-old man said that he agrees with the extension, as he believes lifting the state of emergency would help coronavirus cases increase again.

“It should not be lifted until stronger measures bring down the cases,” he added.

JIJI Press