Society

Crowds back to pre-pandemic levels outside Tokyo

Nov 17 (NHK) - An analysis of big data has shown that crowds are returning to near pre-pandemic levels around major train stations outside Tokyo.

NHK has estimated the number of people at specific locations across the greater Tokyo area during the day, based on mobile phone data gathered by IT firm Agoop with users' consent. Privacy was protected.

Analyses were conducted from the initial stage of the coronavirus outbreak at the beginning of this year.

Results showed that the number of people at entertainment districts in Tokyo has been increasing since April, when the government issued a state of emergency, but the average remained below pre-pandemic levels.

On Friday, the level stood at 62 percent near Tokyo Station and 60 percent at a major crossing in front of Tokyo's Shibuya Station.

But crowds at two major stations in prefectures neighboring Tokyo were nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.

The number of people at Yokohama Station in Kanagawa Prefecture returned to 96 percent that of pre-pandemic levels, and 95 percent at Omiya Station in Saitama Prefecture on average between Monday and Friday.

Meanwhile, the number of people at Chiba Station in Chiba Prefecture, neighboring Tokyo, averaged 85 percent on weekdays last week.

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