This is life in Tokyo, March 19th 2020.
So a lot of people have been messaging me on Instagram and commenting in the YouTube comments
and asking what life is like in Tokyo.
So in this video
I kind of want to take the time out and show you exactly what's going on from my perspective.
If you don't already know, I've actually created a Discord community where people have been talking about what's been going on in Tokyo,
so if you're interested in talking with the community then let me leave links in the description
so you guys can follow the Discord community as well and join.
And if you guys want more regular updates of what's happening here in Tokyo,
let me know by hitting that Like button. Maybe if we get 20,000 likes then I'll do another video.
Otherwise, probably don't want to hear any more updates, so I'll leave it at that.
So without further ado, let me show you what's happening in Tokyo.
So first of all, let's talk about masks.
Because of masks shortages in Japan, resellers
especially online, have been taking advantage of the situation and selling masks at exorbitant prices,
but since March 15th, the Japanese government has passed a law
banning the reselling of masks at higher prices punishable by up to one year imprisonment
and up to a 1 million yen fine, which is about 9,350 U.S. dollars.
Also, the government announced that on March 17th it will be distributing
2.5 million government-owned masks to medical institutions and
15 million additional masks will be distributed the following week.
Now what a lot of people don't know is that
wearing masks is a very common thing here Japan for many many years now.
It's not out of the ordinary to see people wearing masks.
A lot of Japanese people, when they're sick, are almost expected to wear a mask
so that they don't transfer any of their sickness to other people.
And on the other hand, a lot of people will wear masks because they don't want to get sick themselves.
In fact, it's almost considered rude or bad manner not to wear a mask if you are sick.
In fact, there's been some cases recently where people have not been wearing masks on the train
and they're sneezing or coughing and other people have called them out and almost started fights because of it
Just because people think you're being rude or you're not being considerate of others
because you're not wearing a mask.
But things have changed a little bit because there's been kind of a run on masks here in Japan.
So although Japanese people want to wear masks in Japan in order to be considerate,
they actually can't because a lot of drugstores like this and a lot of other places
don't have any in stock anymore because they've been all sold out.
As you can see here, they have a sign in front of the store saying that they're all sold out of masks,
but what you'll find is that a lot of the grocery stores and convenience stores here in Japan are still fully stocked
so there's no real like worry about not having any food.
As you can see, there's still plenty of food on the shelves.
And convenience stores (conbini) have plenty of food too. Look!
So what you'll find in Japan, especially in Tokyo,
is that, because of the current situation,
a lot of workers are working from home these days.
A lot of employers actually have allowed a lot of their staff to do most of the work remotely.
It does make it a little bit difficult for some people
because their family is home as well and
it might be a little bit harder for them to do work.
So as you can see,
there's just a lot less people on the streets, including office areas.
And what you'll find right now
is that not a lot of people are taking the trains.
It's supposed to be a rush hour right now and there's not a lot of people.
People are generally more cautious about riding trains and public transit these days
as it's a closed environment.
So people tend to wear masks to protect themselves and others
especially when compared to when they're walking in the open air.
So what you'll find is that amusement areas like Disneyland, Tokyo Skytree,
concerts, museums are closed at the moment and you really really need to check
before you go there if you really want to go to those places.
Even places like this as Sensoji and Nakamichi just right behind me
are seeing drops in visitors.
You can actually see that there's not a lot of people
compared to what the usual crowds would be at this time during the day.
Let me show you around this area a little bit.
Honestly, I've never seen Sensoji this empty during the day at this time of year.
It really appears that Japanese citizens are taking the situation more seriously
and avoiding unnecessary travel.
Also, other tourist spots like there's a fish market, historical sites, zoos, and aquariums
have temporarily closed down.
While sports events like professional baseball have delayed the start of their season.
So what you'll see just walking around is that there's still people here.
People are still shopping. They're still doing their thing
But in fact, there's just not a lot of people.
So even small amusement parks in Tokyo like the one behind me
Hanyashiki is also closed at the moment.
In fact, this being hanami season or cherry blossom season at the moment,
a lot of official hanami festivals have been closed down.
So you really need to be careful if you're planning on going to one of these places.
Another interesting thing is that all schools have been closed down.
So you would think that a lot of elementary school kids,
of middle school kids, high school kids would all be at home
but that may not be the case.
Let me show you.
In general though,
obviously with some outliers, most adults are taking the current situation seriously.
On the other hand,
it appears that Japanese youth
especially junior high and high school students
are not taking it as seriously.
These days you'll often find them in places like harajuku
during the day gathering with friends.
So schools have been closed in Japan since February 27th,
but due to the closures, the parents have been having trouble
taking care of their kids, as many of them work.
Some parents have been forced to take paid leave or hire babysitters.
One silver lining to all of this is that the government has decided to provide
support up to 264,000 yen (about 2,500 U.S. dollars) per kid for a babysitter.
However,
in order for parents to receive support,
their company must be certified for the support
and only designated babysitter services can be used.
And unfortunately,
this doesn't cover freelancers and workers who work for unconfirmed companies.
One thing though:
you'll find a lot of restaurants, businesses, and stores still open.
Let me show you.
In Shibuya, at this time, you can see most shops and restaurants are still open,
but many of them are reducing their business hours.
While a few shops have temporarily closed.
Also,
many shops and businesses have set out hand sanitizers at the entrance
for customers to clean their hands before they enter.
Also, it's not uncommon to see restaurant staff wearing masks these days.
Usually, it's considered rude in Japanese culture for store staff to hide their face when serving customers,
but these days it's viewed as considerate, given the current situation.
So as you can see,
life in Tokyo has changed.
It's not the same as it was several months ago.
At the the end of the day people are doing what they can
based on the current situation.
A mask being one way to be considerate of others.
So again, if you liked this video, help me out by hitting that Like button.
If you get 20,000 likes, maybe I'll continue
and you should also remember that things are changing on a daily basis these days.
So definitely keep up-to-date with all the news.
I'll leave some useful links in the description, so definitely check those out.
And also remember I have a Discord channel
where people are already talking about what's going on here in Tokyo.
There are some locals that live in Japan that are on the community.
So definitely check out that server.
And if you want to see more Japan guides and videos like this
hit that Subscribe button and the bell button and I'll catch you guys in the next one.