People walk on Takeshita Street in Tokyo's Harajuku district on the afternoon of June 27, 2021, the first Sunday since a coronavirus state of emergency was downgraded to a quasi-emergency. (Mainichi/Kota Yoshida)

       TOKYO -- Japan's capital saw large numbers of people on the streets on June 27, the first Sunday since the most recent coronavirus state of emergency was downgraded to a quasi-emergency for Tokyo and six other prefectures.

       Many young people were seen on Takeshita Street, a popular shopping avenue in the capital's Harajuku district. Sakura Shigematsu, an 18-year-old university student from Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward who was enjoying a tapioca drink with a friend, commented, "I was surprised because there were more people than I thought there'd be. It's depressing to think that we'll need to wear masks again this summer, but I want to stay careful about infections."

       A 15-year-old junior high school student from Tokyo's Koto Ward was shopping with friends. She said she had kept away from the area since last spring, concerned about the virus, but visited Harajuku after the state of emergency was lifted.

       "I'm scared about the side effects of the vaccine, so I don't intend to get it," she said. "I'll keep on doing things to prevent infections, like by sterilizing my hands and so on."

       A 29-year-old worker at a coffee shop in the area commented, "There are more people here this weekend than during the state of emergency. I want to gradually return to normal life while keeping cautious about infections."

       Cell phone location data from mobile carrier NTT Docomo Inc. showed that the numbers of users out and about as of 3 p.m. on June 27 were up by 23.8% at Shinjuku Station compared to the same month the previous year, and up by 33.3% on Shibuya's Center-gai street. Compared to the average holiday figures from before infections began to spread inside Japan in earnest (from Jan. 18 to Feb. 14, 2020), the number of users on the move was down 6.2% at Shinjuku Station and down 15.4% on Center-gai street.

       (Japanese original by Shintaro Iguchi, Tokyo City News Department)

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