Photo/Illutration Pedestrians walk around the Minami downtown area of Osaka on Jan. 30, the first Sunday since pre-emergency measures were put in place. (Jin Nishioka)

OSAKA--Despite new pre-emergency measures and record daily COVID-19 cases, data research shows that pedestrian traffic in Osaka’s downtown areas dropped only slightly at night and remained unchanged during daytime hours.

The Asahi Shimbun compared the foot traffic in the Kita and Minami downtown areas in Osaka on the Jan. 22 and 23 weekends to the Jan. 29 and 30 weekends, which followed pre-emergency measures going into effect on Jan. 27. 

The pedestrian traffic was estimated from analyzing the location data of NTT Docomo mobile phones.

Specifically, foot traffic decreased by about 10 percent around both JR Osaka Station and JR Namba Station between 6 p.m. and midnight on Jan. 29 compared to a week ago.

On the other hand, pedestrian traffic remained almost unchanged at both locations between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Jan. 30 from the previous week.

Around the daytime, foot traffic fell by about 10 percent around JR Sannomiya Station in Kobe. While in Kyoto it was almost unchanged around Kiyomizudera temple, it increased by about 10 percent around the Arashiyama district.

The Asahi Shimbun interviewed people around JR Osaka Station on Jan. 30, the first Sunday since Osaka Prefecture was newly added to the list of pre-emergency measures along with two other prefectures in the Kansai region and 15 other prefectures across the nation.

A female college student, 20, who came to the city from Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, with a friend for shopping, said that she was considering not coming. But she thought that it should be OK.

“Establishments do not stay open during nighttime, so I am planning to go home earlier today,” she said. “I think that it should be OK just to walk around during the daytime.”

Many eateries on the shopping street in the Sonezaki district of Osaka put up posters to inform customers that they will be temporarily closed until Feb. 20, when the pre-emergency measures are scheduled to end.

A male employee, 61, who works at an establishment to serve yakitori, or grilled chicken on a stick, said that the number of customers who came there on Jan. 28 and 29 after the measures were issued was around 40 between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. That remained almost unchanged from the same time a week ago.

“It is true that you cannot drink until late at night now, but how effective will that be?” he said.

He also said that restrictions are now being imposed only on eateries and that vaccines and drugs should be widely distributed to the public to achieve more quickly a society where people can coexist with the new coronavirus.

Ko Matsumura, 52, a taxi driver, said, “Customers disappeared all at once at night.”

There are few customers now who use taxis after they get drunk due to the pre-emergency measures, which ask bars and restaurants to close earlier. The taxi driver changed his work schedule and now mainly works during the daytime.

“I had many customers around the end of the year,” he said. “I am suffering from that loss.”

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