Coronavirus news updates and information in Japan

People visit Sensoji Temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district on Tuesday. | AFP-JIJI — *People visit Sensoji Temple in Tokyo’s Asakusa district on Tuesday. | AFP-JIJI*

Sept. 23: COVID-19 round-up

The government is considering easing its coronavirus-related travel restrictions as early as Oct. 1 to allow entry to foreign nationals for long-term stays of three months or longer.
National parks across Japan have improved internet access and taken other steps to attract teleworkers as the coronavirus pandemic has increased interest in the idea of a “workation.”
IOC President Thomas Bach said Tuesday the recent staging of various sporting events across the world, despite restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, should provide “confidence” in preparing for the Tokyo Games next summer.
Major light-maker Ushio Inc. has recently launched an ultraviolet lamp that can kill the coronavirus without harming human health — the first of its kind in the world.

Full news coverage of COVID-19 in Japan

Latest COVID-19 statistics

Updates on COVID-19 in Tokyo

Tips to staying at home

RELATED PHOTOS

A pedestrian crosses a near-empty intersection in the Shibuya district of Tokyo on Sunday night. | BLOOMBERG
A woman wearing a face mask walks in a park in Yokohama on Sunday amid the coronavirus outbreak. | AFP-JIJI
Employees dressed in maid costumes from several maid-themed cafes in Tokyo's Akihabara district pause after a prayer-meeting for protection against COVID-19 and for an improvement in their business, at Kanda Myojin Shrine on Saturday. | AP
A visitor in a car takes pictures of a horse at a "drive-thru farm" that was launched in response to the coronavirus outbreak, at Mother Farm in Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture, on Friday. | REUTERS
A man walks by restaurants in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
A man wearing a protective face mask, following the outbreak of the new coronavirus, walks past almost empty bars in an alley in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Tuesday night. | REUTERS
A man wearing a face mask stands in Yokohama's Chinatown area on April 9. | AFP-JIJI
A woman wearing a protective mask following an outbreak of the new coronavirus sits on a subway train in Tokyo on March 7. | REUTERS
People surf off Katase-kaigan beach in Fujisawa, Kanagawa prefecture, near Tokyo, Monday, June 8, 2020. Japan lifted its coronavirus state of emergency, ending the restrictions nationwide as businesses begin to reopen. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
People wearing face masks walk in front of a public awareness notice reminding the public to practice social distancing on Aug. 27. | AP
A woman wearing a protective mask walks through Shiba Park in Tokyo on Friday as Tokyo Tower looms in the background. | AP
A woman wearing a facemask walks with an umbrella in Shibuya on June 11. | AFP-JIJI
People wearing face masks hold a portable fan to avoid the heat in Tokyo on Aug. 5. | AP
A woman uses her phone on a JR Yamanote Line train in Tokyo on Wednesday, the first day of a state of emergency covering Tokyo, Osaka and five prefectures. | AFP-JIJI
A face mask and protective googles are displayed on a mannequin outside a shop in Tokyo on Tuesday, a day after the government lifted a nationwide state of emergency. | AFP-JIJI
Students wearing protective face masks clap along instead of singing a song during a music class at Takanedai Daisan elementary school, which practices various methods of social distancing in order to prevent the infection, in Funabashi, east of Tokyo, on July 16. | REUTERS
Pedestrians wearing face masks cross a road in Tokyo on Sept. 17. | BLOOMBERG
A visitor wearing a face mask walks past maneki statues, also known as beckoning cat, at Gotokuji temple in Tokyo on June 10. | AFP-JIJI
An Ainu group pray during a ritual to expel a plague god, amid a nationwide state of emergency following the outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Teshikaga, Hokkaido, on Saturday. | KYODO
A visitor looks at a polar bear swimming in an aquarium at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise theme park in Yokohama on Tuesday. The park was reopened Monday after about two months of closure over concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus. | AFP-JIJI
Two women in traditional kimonos wear face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus as they visit Sensoji Temple in Tokyo on Friday. | AP
A man wearing a protective face mask, following an outbreak of the new coronavirus, walks in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district Saturday during the first weekend after Gov. Yuriko Koike urged residents to stay indoors in a bid to keep the virus from spreading. | REUTERS
A woman wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walks Wednesday, May 20, 2020, in Tokyo. Japan's prime minister has announced the end of the state of emergency for most regions of the country, but restrictions are being kept in place in Tokyo and seven other high-risk areas, including Osaka, Kyoto and Hokkaido. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A customer spends time at a bar in Tokyo's Shimokitazawa neighborhood Friday.
Workers place a mask on a figure representing the Fallas festival in Valencia, Spain, on Wednesday. The festival, which was due to take place on Friday, has been cancelled over the coronavirus outbreak. | AP
Two people with faces masks ride a moped on a street Tuesday in Tokyo. | AP
A man adjusts a protective mask to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus as he walks in the shade of a building Wednesday in Tokyo. | AP
A couple wearing face masks take selfies at Yanaka Ginza shopping street in Tokyo on Aug. 1. | AFP-JIJI
A visitor wearing a protective mask walks by Sensoji Temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district on Aug. 14. | AP
A woman wearing a face mask to help protect against the spread of the coronavirus holds a portable fan to avoid the heat in Tokyo on Wednesday. | REUTERS
An aerial view shows a nearly empty pedestrian crossing in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district Sunday after Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike urged residents to stay indoors in a bid to keep the new coronavirus from spreading. | KYODO
An instructor wearing a protective mask and face shield teaches a student through a plastic barrier during a one-on-one session at Riso Kyoiku Co. Tomas school in the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo on Aug. 13. | BLOOMBERG
The Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo's Minato Ward is illuminated in seven colors to coincide with the complete rescinding of the nationwide state of emergency on Monday evening. | KYODO
A passenger wearing a face mask sits aboard a bullet train at Tokyo Station on Wednesday. | REUTERS
A handful of people wearing face masks to protect against the new coronavirus walk in the rain at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Monday. | AP
Customers are sprayed with disinfectant as they arrive at the partial reopening of the Takashimaya Department Store amid the coronavirus outbreak in Tokyo on Monday. | AP
A man enters a train in Tokyo on July 15. | AFP-JIJI
A woman wearing a face mask walks in heavy rain as Typhoon Haishen approaches in the city of Kagoshima on Sunday. | AFP-JIJI
A man wearing a protective face mask walks on a street in Tokyo's Ginza district on Saturday. | REUTERS
A couple wearing face masks walk on a beach in Kamakura with Mount Fuji in the background on May 7. | AP
A colorful man wearing a mask to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus walks in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Friday evening. | AP
People wearing face masks walk across a traffic intersection in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on Aug. 17. | AP
An attendee browses inside a new Uniqlo store in Harajuku on June 3. | BLOOMBERG
A couple wearing face masks take a selfie with the Great Buddha statue at Kotoku-in temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture on Saturday. | AFP-JIJI
People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus visit Zojyo Temple in Tokyo on Tuesday. | AP
The full moon is seen next to Tokyo Skytree, which is displaying a message reading "Together we can all win" and illuminated in blue to honor first responders and essential workers as the coronavirus outbreak. | REUTERS
Customers spend time at an izakaya Japanese-style pub in Tokyo's Shimokitazawa neighborhood Friday. | AP
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A woman wearing a mask walks with an umbrella to shield from the sun in front of the Taitoku-in Mausoleum gate Aug. 11 in Tokyo. | AP
A man wearing a protective face mask to help curb the spread of the spread of the new coronavirus walks though a narrow back ally in the rain in Tokyo on Tuesday. | AP
The virus-hit Diamond Princess leaves a pier in Yokohama port Wednesday. | KYODO
A mannequin head with a protective face mask and hat is displayed at a clothing store in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward on Sunday. | BLOOMBERG
People wearing face masks amid concerns over the spread of the new coronavirus line up to buy ice cream in Tokyo's Futako Tamagawa neighborhood on Sunday. | AFP-JIJI
Mask-wearing government officials wait as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrives for a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, at Nagasaki Peace Park on Sunday. | AFP-JIJI
A man wearing a face mask walks down a bar street on Sept. 10 in Tokyo. | AP
A couple wearing face masks, amid concerns over the COVID-19 coronavirus, chat at a train station in Tokyo on Sunday. | AFP-JIJI
A man wearing a face mask walks along a tunnel in the Ginza area of Tokyo on Friday. | REUTERS
A customer sits in a reopened izakaya Japanese-style pub in the city of Osaka as the surrounding shops and restaurants remain closed late Saturday amid the state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic. | KYODO
Men wearing protective face masks are seen through traffic signals amid the coronavirus disease outbreak in Tokyo on July 29. | REUTERS
Visitors wearing face masks look at the view from a deck at the Takeshiba Passenger Terminal in Tokyo on Sept. 2. | BLOOMBERG
Acrylic screens used as part of new social distancing measures and prevention of infection against COVID-19 are installed at Jazz Lounge Encounter, in Tokyo's Ginza district, on Aug. 6. | REUTERS
A worker wearing a face mask cleans an escalator at Sendai Station in the city on Saturday amid the coronavirus pandemic. | AFP-JIJI
Local residents take shelter at an evacuation center with space to maintain social distancing at the Yatsushiro general gymnasium in Kumamoto Prefecture on Monday after torrential rains spurred widespread flooding in the area. | AFP-JIJI
Shigeru Omi, member of the Japanese government's expert panel on measures to fight the new coronavirus, speaks about future prospects during a news confernece in Tokyo on Friday. | AFP-JIJI
A man wearing a face mask prays at a temple in Yokohama on May 8. | AP
A man wearing a respirator and googles sits on a train in Tokyo on June 25. | AFP-JIJI
People walk at the domestic departures lobby of Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Saturday. | AFP-JIJI
An employee sets up a medical facility to accommodate coronavirus patients with mild symptoms at the Nippon Foundation Para Arena in Tokyo on Monday. | AFP-JIJI
People wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the new coronavirus line up as they wait for the opening of a drugstore in Tokyo on Friday. | KYODO
A man wearing a face mask walks in front of the Olympic Rings in Tokyo on March 11. | AFP-JIJI
Passengers on a bullet train bound for the city of Okayama leave Yokohama Station on Wednesday, after the government launched its Go To Travel campaign, which offers subsidies and discounts to travelers in an attempt to revive a domestic tourism industry stricken by the coronavirus pandemic. | AFP-JIJI
A train travels along an elevated railway track while pedestrians cross an intersection at night in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, Japan, on Friday, July 10, 2020. Japan is forging ahead with further steps to re-open the economy even as daily coronavirus cases continue to climb, with local media reporting Tokyo posting a daily record of over 240 infections on Friday. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg
A customer wears a protective face mask to prevent infection as she receives hair treatment from the owner of a salon in Tokyo on Tuesday. | REUTERS
People visit Sensoji Temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district on Tuesday. | AFP-JIJI
People arrive at a polling station to vote in the Tokyo gubernatorial election in the capital's Shinjuku area on Sunday. | AFP-JIJI
People wearing face masks visit Kiyomizu Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage wooden structure set in the hills around Kyoto normally teeming with tourists, on Friday. | AFP-JIJI
A sign reminding customers of social distancing rules to help stop the spread of COVID-19 is displayed at Tokyo's Seibu Ikebukuro department store, which resumed business for the first time in 46 days on Saturday. | AFP-JIJI
Customers dine at a Japanese-style pub in Tokyo's Yurakucho district on Friday. | BLOOMBERG
People wearing face masks visit Togoshi Ginza shopping street in Tokyo on Saturday. | AFP-JIJI
People offer a round of applause for medical personnel amid the coronavirus pandemic, in Susuno, Shizuoka Prefecture, last Friday. | KYODO
A man wearing a mask walks through a row of ginkgo trees after attending a morning exercise on May 28 in Tokyo. | AP
Medical staff in protective outfits wait at the entrance of a clinic for fever patients and patients from Wuhan in Fuyang in central China's Anhui Province. | AP
Visitors wearing masks look out to see the cityscape on a rooftop observation deck on Aug. 20 in Tokyo. | AP
Businessmen wearing protective face masks wait on a pedestrian bridge in a business district of Tokyo on Wednesday. | REUTERS
A man wearing a mask in Tokyo is seen though a glass object on May 21. | AP
A Geisha who asked to be identified by the pseudonym "Chacha" rehearses for an online drinking party with clients in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Saturday. | AFP-JIJI
A street in Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district is almost empty Monday evening amid the coronavirus outbreak. | REUTERS
A man wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus takes pictures in Tokyo on Wednesday. | AP
An restaurant employee has his temperature checked before his shift in Tokyo on Friday. | REUTERS
A man wearing a protective face mask sits in a subway train after the government announced a state of emergency for the capital and some prefectures following the COVID-19 outbreak in Tokyo on April 16. | REUTERS
People wear face masks at JR Shinagawa Station in Tokyo during rush hour Monday after the government expanded a state of emergency to include the entire country last week amid the coronavirus outbreak. | REUTERS
A man wearing a face mask, amid concerns of the COVID-19 coronavirus, crosses a street in Tokyo's Akihabara district on Monday. | AFP-JIJI
A staff member holds a sign to remind visitors to practice social distancing before the reopening of Tokyo Disneyland on July 1. | REUTERS
A station passageway is crowded with commuters wearing face masks during rush hour in Tokyo on Monday. | AP
A police officer removes a face mask placed over the statue of famous Japanese dog Hachiko, next to a volunteer distributing masks, amid an outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, at Tokyo's Shibuya Station on Sunday. | REUTERS
People walk through the Shibuya scramble crossing on April 25. | AP
People rest during a sunny day at Yamashita Park in Yokohama on Saturday. | AFP-JIJI
Pedestrians cross an intersection at night in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Friday. | BLOOMBERG
People wearing masks to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus walk in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Saturday. | KYODO
Train passengers wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the new coronavirus walk to work the day before a state of emergency is expected to be imposed, at a rail station in Tokyo on Tuesday. | REUTERS
People drink and eat in an alley of izakaya in Tokyo's Shimbashi area on June 17. | AFP-JIJI
A man prays toward the sea to mourn victims of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami disaster in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on Wednesday, the nine-year anniversary of the disasters. | KYODO
People wearing face masks take pictures in Tokyo's Odaiba area Sunday evening. | AFP-JIJI
Medical workers react as they watch the Blue-Impulse of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force as fly over the Self-Defense Forces Central Hospital to salute the medical workers at the frontline of the fight against coronavirus in Tokyo on May 29. | REUTERS
A medical worker conducts a simulation for drive-thru polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the new coronavirus in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward on Wednesday. | REUTERS
The ultrastructural morphology of by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Illustration from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia.
People dine at the Omoide-Yokocho alleyway in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Sunday. | BLOOMBERG
Visitors walk under a tunnel of mist to cool themselves in the searing heat at a zoo in Yokohama on Wednesday. | AP
A group of mask-wearing women walk in heavy rain as Typhoon Haishen hit the city of Kagoshima on Sunday. | AFP-JIJI
A person wearing a mask walks along the usually crowded shopping arcade near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo on April 23. | AP
Customers toast their drinks through a plastic protector amid the coronavirus outbreak, at a Japanese-style pub in Tokyo earlier this month. | AP
People gather with umbrellas at Zojoji Temple as Tokyo Tower is lit up on a rainy evening in Tokyo on Monday. | AFP-JIJI
People wearing masks visit an observation deck in Tokyo on Aug. 26. | AFP-JIJI
An employee of an electronics retail store wears a protective face mask and a face shied in Tokyo on May 9. | REUTERS
A man wearing a face mask makes his way in the rain on a nearly empty street in Tokyo on April 16. | REUTERS
A worker sprays disinfectant on a travel bag on a conveyor at the international terminal of Soekarno-Hatta Airport near Jakarta. | REUTERS
An electronics store employee wearing a protective face mask and face shield is seen outside the store in Tokyo on Saturday. | REUTERS
The first meeting of a new government subcommittee to replace an expert panel in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak is held Monday in Tokyo. | KYODO
Scores of people walk at Shibuya crossing in Tokyo on Monday. | AFP-JIJI
People wearing face masks walk on a street near Tokyo Tower in the capital on Monday evening. | AFP-JIJI
People enjoy lunch outside a restaurant as passers-by wear face masks in Tokyo on Sept. 15. | AP
Staff members wear face shields next to "Pop up flower" by artist Takashi Murakami during a media preview of "STARS: Six Contemporary Artists from Japan to the World" at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo on July 30. | AFP-JIJI
Staff hand over a concession box containing a face mask, hand sanitizer, and bag of popcorn to moviegoers at a Do it Theater's pop-up drive-in theater in Inzai, Chiba Prefecture, on Saturday. | BLOOMBERG
Visitors wearing costumes of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a North Korean solider pose for a photo Monday as they visit Tokyo Skytree's observation desk following the landmark's reopening after a three-month closure due to the coronavirus outbreak. | REUTERS
A landmark lion statue of a department store placed a protective mask is seen Aug. 12 in Tokyo. | AP
People wearing masks walk on Aug. 19, as Tokyo Tower and Rainbow Bride are seen illuminated in the background. | AP
Passengers wearing masks ride a subway train in Tokyo on July 3. | REUTERS
A means wearing a hat and protective mask sits on a bench at the Takeshiba Passenger Terminal in Tokyo on Sept. 2. | BLOOMBERG
A window that would allow the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to be staged next year is slowly opening, as officials and IOC members appear to be leaning that direction. | AFP-JIJI
Tourists in traditional Japanese kimonos walk in Asakusa district in Tokyo Monday, July 27, 2020. The Japanese capital confirmed Monday more than 100 new coronavirus cases. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
An quarantine officer wearing a face mask and shield works at a station at Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture on Monday. | AFP-JIJI
A man wearing face mask and face shield to prevent coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection, cleans up his father's house after floods caused by torrential rain in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, July 8, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
A worshipper stands around a huge incense burner as he offers his prayers at Sensoji Temple in Tokyo on Friday. | AP
Pepper the robot wears a face mask as it stands in a hotel lobby during the first day the building is used as a new medical lodging facility to accommodate COVID-19 patients in Tokyo on May 1. | AFP-JIJI
A woman wearing a mask sits in front of panda statues in Tokyo on April 22. | AP
Pedestrians wait for a green light on Tuesday at Shibuya's famed scramble crossing in Tokyo. | RYUSEI TAKAHASHI
A masked couple take stroll through Tokyo's trendy Ginza district on Saturday. | REUTERS
Passersby wearing protective face masks walk on the street at Ikebukuro's amusement district in Tokyo on July 9. | REUTERS
Students wearing face shields visit the library in Kinugawa Elementary School in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, on Friday. | AFP-JIJI
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attends a upper house plenary session at the Diet on Friday. | AFP-JIJI
Commuters ride a train in Tokyo on Monday ahead of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's expected announcement lifting the coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and four other prefectures. | AFP-JIJI
A woman wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus stands near a Godzilla's slide at Kurihama flower park in Yokosuka, near Tokyo Wednesday, July 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
A man uses his mask to cover his eyes while taking a nap in Tokyo on Thursday. | REUTERS
A woman walks near an empty departures gate at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Monday. | REUTERS
Japan's Emperor Naruhito declares the opening of an extraordinary session of parliament in Tokyo on Sept. 17. | REUTERS
A woman wearing a face mask to curb the spread of the coronavirus visits Kencho-ji temple in Kamakura near Tokyo, Monday, Aug. 24 2020. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Shoppers maintain social distancing as they walk in line to enter reopened Shibuya 109 on June 1. | AP
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers a speech at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Saturday. | AP
People wearing face masks take selfies in front of Tokyo Tower on May 20. | AFP-JIJI
A mask-wearing couple looks at a mobile phone at the Shibuya Sky observation deck in Tokyo on Tuesday. | AFP-JIJI
A man wearing a protective mask chooses a video game to play at the Mikado game center in Tokyo on Monday. The arcade reopened last Friday after it had stopped business for 65 days amid the coronavirus outbreak. | REUTERS
Mask-wearing police officers head to the site of a construction company that was caught in a landslide in Shiiba, Miyazaki Prefecture, on Monday after a storm passed through the Kyushu region. | KYODO
A woman wearing a face mask walks through Tokyo's Odaiba area on June 18. | AFP-JIJI
A woman wearing a face mask walks past the Olympic Rings installation in Tokyo on August 24. | AFP-JIJI
A woman wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus visits the Great Buddha statue at Kotoku-in Temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Tuesday. | AP
Tokyo Tower, in the capital's Minato Ward, is seen lit up on Friday. | AFP-JIJI
People walk on a beach in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Saturday, during the first weekend after the nationwide coronavirus state of emergency was lifted on May 25. | AFP-JIJI
Mask-wearing pedestrians walk past a quotation board displaying the share price index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Tuesday. | AFP-JIJI
A man walks past Tanabata festival decorations that have letters saying "stop the Coronavirus," in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Monday. | REUTERS
A pedestrian passes through a cooling mist spray in the Tokyo's Marunouchi district on Friday. | BLOOMBERG
On Thursday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office building is illuminated with the Olympic colors on the day marking the one-year countdown to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic that have been postponed to 2021. | REUTERS
A woman wearing a protective mask walks across train tracks Tuesday in Tokyo. | AP
A woman wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus visits a botanical garden in Tokyo on Monday. | AP
People wearing protective face masks walk past a message reading "Thank you to everyone involved in medical care" at a shopping area in Yokohama on Wednesday. | AP
A couple wearing face masks rest at park in Yokohama on July 8. | AP
Employees wearing protective masks and face shields to help curb the spread of the coronavirus attend to customers as the Takashimaya department store partially reopens in Tokyo, Monday, May 18, 2020. Japan's prime minister has announced the end of the state of emergency for most regions of the country, but restrictions are being kept in place in Tokyo and seven other high-risk areas, including Osaka, Kyoto and Hokkaido. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike speaks at a news conference on Tokyo's response to the coronavirus outbreak on Friday. | REUTERS
A woman wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus prays at Kencho Temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Monday. | AP
A security guard wearing a facemask and a vest with a notice of "Please do not touch" stands guard at the Shibuya Sky observation deck in Tokyo on June 24. | AFP-JIJI
People wearing face masks amid concerns of the COVID-19 coronavirus walk on a street in Tokyo's Yurakucho area Wednesday. | AFP-JIJI
A man looks out from his shop toward two children in the Chinatown area of Yokohama on Tuesday after the government completely lifted a nationwide state of emergency over the coronavirus a day earlier. | AFP-JIJI
A man waits at the red light to cross a street in Tokyo's Shimbashi area on Friday. | AFP-JIJI
A visitor wearing a face mask sits on a grid for social distancing at an entrance to Tokyo Disneyland during the theme park's reopening in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, on Wednesday. | AFP-JIJI
A man walks past an electronic 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games countdown clock showing today's date instead of the countdown days outside Tokyo Station in the Japanese capital on Wednesday. | REUTERS
A large display of Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics games are seen in the background in Tokyo on Sept. 9. | AP
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach walks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a ceremony at Tokyo International Forum in the Japanese capital in July last year. | REUTERS
People stroll along Katase Nishihama Beach in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture on Friday. | AFP-JIJI
People practice social distancing while listening to a stump speech during an event for the Tokyo gubernatorial election Saturday in the capital. The sign reads: "Let's keep our distance." | KYODO
Less passersby than usual are seen in Shinjuku on April 8 after the government announced the state of emergency for Tokyo amid the coronavirus outbreak. | REUTERS
A police officer stands near people gathering to protest during a solidarity rally Saturday in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody last month. | AP
Vietnamese volunteers prepare packages of food and protective masks for Vietnamese people in need and living in Japan, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at Nisshinkutsu temple in Tokyo, Japan, May 2, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Staff members wearing protective masks and face shields greet customers as the Nihombashi Takashimaya Shopping Center in Tokyo partially reopens to customers Monday amid the coronavirus pandemic. | REUTERS