Photo/Illutration Yasutoshi Nishimura, economic revitalization minister who also serves as minister responding to the novel coronavirus pandemic, at a news conference on Aug. 2 (Ayako Nakada)

The central government is urging people to think twice about visiting their hometowns for the annual Bon festivities to prevent a further spread of the novel coronavirus.

It is a long-held tradition for many Japanese to return to their hometowns to honor the spirits of their ancestors during the mid-August Bon week. It is also an opportunity for them to check on their aging parents and reunite with relatives and childhood friends.

But any plan involving a visit to elderly parents during Bon “needs to be thought about carefully,” according to Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of economic revitalization and measures to combat the novel coronavirus.

Speaking at a news conference on Aug. 2, Nishimura said he will ask experts to provide travel advice and suggest precautionary measures at a meeting by the end of this week.

Nishimura said people “should take a family trip” so long as it only involves one’s own family and that people take precautions against spreading or catching the virus.

But he cautioned against people returning to their hometowns.

Nishimura said eating with elderly people without taking precautionary measures will “put the elderly at risk of contracting the virus from young people who are asymptomatic (carriers).”

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