Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura faced a backlash from experts, local businesses and even his own advisers on Tuesday after he said that, once the central government fulfills his request to declare a state of emergency in the prefecture, business closure requests need to be issued to a wider breadth of private and public establishments than in previous emergencies.
Critics say that calling for the closure of department stores and theme parks — where few cluster infections of the coronavirus have been reported, if any — is unscientific and merely symbolic, and would exact an unnecessary burden upon an already struggling economy.
As the central government reportedly prepares to declare states of emergency as early as Friday in Tokyo, Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, the push and pull in Osaka provides a taste of what happens when a public official tries to take proactive steps in Japan, where virus measures remain largely voluntary.