Japan experienced its first weekend after the state of emergency was lifted in 39 prefectures, where restaurants and shopping streets enjoyed a semblance of normalcy for the first time in about a month.

While many people joyously headed out to hit downtown streets and bars, others confessed that their spirits were not fully lifted yet, sobered by the prospect that a full-fledged return to the pre-COVID way of life still seemed a long way off.

The state of emergency was lifted even in some of the 13 prefectures designated as needing special vigilance, including Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Gifu, Aichi and Fukuoka.