Photo/Illutration Yasutoshi Nishimura, the state minister heading the central government effort against the novel coronavirus pandemic, speaks at a July 8 meeting of the government panel of experts. (Naoko Kawamura)

It took just 24 hours for the government to row back on plans to rely on financial institutions to help convince bar and restaurant operators to comply with COVID-19 emergency curbs following a sharp backlash.

“We will not ask financial institutions for their cooperation,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato stated during his afternoon news conference on July 9.

Only the day before, Yasutoshi Nishimura, the state minister in charge of economic revitalization who also heads the central government effort against the pandemic, drew howls of protest, not only from opposition lawmakers but even within the ruling coalition fearing a backlash from owners of bars and restaurants already reeling from the economic impact of the pandemic.

Nishimura suggested that financial institutions would be asked to lobby customers that operate bars and restaurants to comply with government requests to temporarily close. He also did not deny the possibility of withholding loans to holdouts.

His comment came after the central government decided July 8 to declare a fourth state of emergency for the capital between July 12 and Aug. 22, during which the Tokyo Olympics will have been held. Businesses in the capital that serve alcohol or provide karaoke services will be asked to close during that period.

Not only did Kato say the central government was retracting Nishimura’s proposal, but added he had instructed Nishimura to be more careful about what he says during news conferences in the future.

Prior to his news conference, Kato met with Hiroshi Moriyama, the chairman of the Diet Affairs Committee of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Moriyama asked Kato that care be taken so that the public did not get the wrong impression of what the government was intending to do.

Opposition lawmakers blasted Nishimura’s comment as a “threat” against uncooperative bars and restaurants.

Nishimura, appearing July 9 on a TV news program to answer criticism that his proposal was intended to abuse the hold financial institutions have over their customers, said, “Government agencies will not ask financial institutions to work” toward compliance with government requests on the part of bars and restaurants.

(This article was written by Keishi Nishimura and Kuniaki Nishio.)

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