Apr 29 (Japan Times) - The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has clarified Gov. Yuriko Koike's statement that all pachinko parlors in Tokyo have complied with requests to suspend business as of Tuesday morning, after at least four were found to still be operating in the afternoon.
"Of the 156 parlors we visited, zero of them are still open," a government official said, adding they are still investigating the roughly 600 other pachinko parlors in the capital.
Koike, who had initially planned to release the names of pachinko parlors refusing to comply after Tuesday, told reporters earlier in the day that there were currently "zero" pachinko parlors in Tokyo still open.
As of Sunday, 156 still remained open, but the number dropped to 22 on Monday, with all agreeing to comply on Tuesday, after 60 metropolitan government officials in 15 teams directly visited noncompliant businesses and requested they close, she said.
But after media investigations revealed some parlors were still open as of Tuesday afternoon, the metropolitan government amended its statement.
The city will deliver a written closure request to those businesses and is expected to publicize the names of those who are noncompliant after Wednesday.
Several officials have already called on and delivered a written closure request to a pachinko parlor in Katsushika Ward found to be operating on Tuesday afternoon. The officials also informed the business that it would be named should it refuse to comply.
Under the nationwide state of emergency, effective through the last day of the Golden Week holidays on May 6, prefectural governments do not have the legal power to force compliance with requests for nonessential businesses to close, but they are allowed to publicly name noncompliant companies in an effort to shame them for not being socially responsible during the crisis.
Source: ANNnewsCH
