Photo/Illutration People walk through a street crowded with bars and restaurants in Tokyo’s Shinbashi district in October 2021. (Shinnosuke Ito)

Even after pre-emergency measures are lifted on March 21, the Tokyo metropolitan government will continue asking certified eateries to restrict tables to up to four customers and limit stays to two hours.

The metropolitan government on March 17 made the decision at its anti-coronavirus task force meeting. The restrictions are scheduled to take effect on March 22.

It will set up a so-called “rebound alert period,” which will end on April 24.

Metropolitan officials explained that they will ask certified eating and drinking establishments to restrict the number of customers per table and the staying time based on expert advice.

An official said that it settled on the two-hour limit after “it took into consideration the National Institute of Infectious Diseases’ data showing that the infection risk will be considerably higher if customers eat and drink at bars or restaurants for more than two hours.”

Metropolitan officials also said at the meeting that they won’t ask the eating and drinking establishments certified by Tokyo for their anti-virus measures to cut their business hours or refrain from offering alcoholic beverages.

But they will ask non-certified eateries not to serve alcoholic beverages after 9 p.m.

In the capital, there are about 108,000 certified eateries out of a total of about 120,000 as of March 11.

All the requests made by the metropolitan government this time are not based on the special measures law on countermeasures against COVID-19. So, there are no penalties for noncompliance by eateries in the capital.

If all customers are confirmed to have tested negative for COVID-19, no restrictions will be imposed on them in terms of the number of customers per table and the length of stay. 

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