Photo/Illutration People stroll down a street filled with bars and eateries in Tokyo's Shinbashi district on Oct. 25. (Shinnosuke Ito)

Dinner for eight is back on the table in the capital, with the Tokyo metropolitan government deciding on Nov. 25 to relax its guidelines on group dining at restaurants and allow that number at the same table.

The loosening of the restriction was decided at Tokyo’s COVID-19 task force meeting earlier in the day. Currently, group dining of up to four people at one table is allowed.

The guideline, which will take effect on Dec. 1, will be applied to certified restaurants that the metropolitan government have confirmed where proper anti-infection measures have been taken.

For group dining of nine people or more, Tokyo will ask that eateries check if the customers have been fully vaccinated.

In addition, the metropolitan government announced the same day that it will resume its Motto Tokyo campaign, a travel subsidy program for Tokyo residents.

As the central government is preparing to restart the similar Go To Travel program in mid-January, Tokyo is hoping to support the local travel industry, which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Motto Tokyo pays 5,000 yen ($43.70) per night to a Tokyo resident for an overnight stay within the capital. It pays 2,500 yen to a Tokyo resident for a day trip in the capital. 

The program started in October last year, but the spread of the novel coronavirus forced it to be suspended the following month.

The supplementary budget that the metropolitan government will submit to the Tokyo metropolitan assembly, which opens on Nov. 30, will include 3.3 billion yen in funding for the Motto Tokyo program, which will subsidize a total of 600,000 overnight stays by Tokyo residents. 

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