THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
December 18, 2020 at 19:30 JST
The JR Yamanote Line, which loops around central Tokyo, usually operates all night on New Year’s Eve. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) announced on Dec. 18 it will cancel annual all-night train services on New Year’s Eve as requested by the central and local governments following a surge in novel coronavirus cases.
Six other railway operators in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area also made the same announcement that day. They are Tokyo Metro Co., Keikyu Corp., Keisei Electric Railway Co., Keio Corp., Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit Inc. and the Tokyo metropolitan government's Transportation Bureau.
JR East initially announced in November that it would provide the year-end services as usual on its 12 lines that operate in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area.
Many railway operators run trains all night on Dec. 31 since people flock to shrines and temples from New Year’s Eve through the first three days of the new year to make wishes for the coming year.
But alarmed by a recent surge in new infections, governors of Tokyo and neighboring Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures on Dec. 16 asked railway operators, including JR East, and transport minister Kazuyoshi Akaba to cancel the all-night train services on New Year’s Eve.
Akaba also made the same request to railway operators on Dec. 17.
Odakyu Electric Railway Co., Tokyu Corp., Seibu Railway Co. and Tobu Railway Co. had already announced the cancellation of such train services.
In the Kansai region, West Japan Railway Co., Keihan Electric Railway Co., Hankyu Corp., Hanshin Electric Railway Co. and Nankai Electric Railway Co. also said they will not run trains all night on New Year’s Eve.
In a similar move, Meiji Shrine in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward also decided on Dec. 17 to close early on New Year’s Eve to prevent a further spread of the virus.
In normal years, the shrine keeps its gates open all night on Dec. 31 to allow people to make traditional New Year's shrine visits. Some 3.18 million people visited the shrine between Jan. 1 and Jan. 3 this year.
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