The government hastily withdrew plans to pressure restaurants not to serve alcohol during COVID-19 states of emergency, via lenders and liquor suppliers, but the controversy shows how it has been relying on impromptu steps in the absence of an adequate legal framework for addressing pandemics, experts have said.

The blunder by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's administration is also said to expose the limits of a request-based approach to having businesses restrict their operations a year and a half into the health crisis.

Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of Japan's virus response, ignited the controversy at a press conference on July 8, the day the government decided to place Tokyo under its fourth COVID-19 state of emergency, effective from July 12 through Aug. 22.