Tokyo and other major cities in Japan were unusually quiet on Wednesday with many stores closed and fewer people out and about a day after a state of emergency was declared over the COVID-19 outbreak.
Aside from supermarkets, drugstores and others providing critical services, many businesses in Tokyo, Osaka and the five other prefectures for which the emergency was declared have decided to stay closed through May 6 in line with the government's request for people to stay home and limit social contact.
Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. closed all of its six Mitsukoshi and Isetan department stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area, while Matsuya Co.'s store in the Ginza shopping district was also closed. At some other department stores, however, sections selling food continued to operate.