Society

State of emergency lifted, but outings limited

May 28 (NHK) - Mobile phone data shows there was only a slight increase in the number of people around train stations and business streets in Tokyo and four other prefectures the day after the state of emergency was lifted.

The Japanese government on Monday lifted the restriction, which was imposed to curb the spread of infections, from the last five prefectures.

Mobile carrier NTT Docomo is collecting information on people's locations across Japan using base station data, which it says protects privacy.

The survey shows the number of people on Tuesday increased 6 percent around Tokyo's Shinjuku Station and 3.6 percent near Shibuya Station.

There was also a 3.6 percent rise in and around the Marunouchi business district, 2.3 percent in and around the Otemachi business district, and 1.2 percent in and around Ginza.

In areas outside of Tokyo, the figure was up 5 percent around Yokohama Station in Kanagawa Prefecture, and 3 percent around Chiba Station.

The number of people located around Omiya Station in Saitama Prefecture was down by 0.5 percent. In the northern prefecture of Hokkaido, the number increased by 0.2 percent around Sapporo Station.

Compared with the average from mid-January to mid-February this year, before the spread of the coronavirus, the figure was down 56.3 percent around Shinjuku Station in Tokyo.

It was also 52.3 percent lower around Sapporo Station, 48.5 percent lower around Omiya Station, 46.3 percent lower around Yokohama Station, and 27.1 percent lower around Chiba Station.

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