THE JAPAN NEWS



 

The flow of people in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures on Saturday — the first weekend day since the state of emergency was declared — was higher than the foot traffic on April 11, the first Saturday after the first declaration was issued last year, it has been learned.

Data from NTT Docomo Inc. showed the number of people at major stations and shopping areas in Tokyo and Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures as of noon Saturday, compiled from mobile phone spatial statistics, which estimates foot traffic based on location data from smartphones and other devices.

The government called for “refraining from nonessential and nonurgent outings” this time as well under the declaration, but observers believe the effect has been limited.

Docomo used the method to calculate how many people were out in Tokyo’s Shinjuku and Ginza districts and Shibuya Center-gai, as well as areas around Yokohama, Chiba and Omiya stations as of noon Saturday. It also compared Saturday’s figures with those from Jan. 11 last year, which was before the coronavirus outbreak.

In the Ginza, Shibuya and Shinjuku districts, foot traffic decreased by about 70% when the first declaration was made last year, compared with the figure before infections spread. On Saturday, however, foot traffic decreased only by about 30%.

At Yokohama, Chiba, and Omiya stations, foot traffic decreased by 60% to 70% after the previous declaration, but this time the figure decreased only by 10% to 30%.

According to data from Agoop Corp., an affiliated company of SoftBank Corp., the flow of people on the first day of the state of the declaration on Friday was 20% to 30% less in Shibuya Center-gai, and 10% to 20% less in the Kabukicho district of Shinjuku Ward from the previous day.

Compared with the weekdays after the declaration in April last year, however, the flow of people in all places increased on Friday.