The Tokyo Metropolitan Government building (Mainichi/Makoto Ogawa)

       TOKYO -- The Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Dec. 10 advised a court that 85 restaurants in the capital be fined up to 300,000 yen (about $2,600) each for disobeying a temporary closure order during a coronavirus state of emergency.

       According to the metropolitan government, the 85 restaurants were ordered to temporarily shut down if they were not going to stop serving alcohol between July 12 and Sept. 30, when the capital was under a state of emergency, but they didn't comply. The order was based on a special measures law to tackle new types of influenza and other infectious diseases.

       During the state of emergency, eateries were also requested to shorten their business hours, but none of the 85 restaurants complied with the request and stayed open beyond 8 p.m.

       It is the fourth advisory of its kind issued by the metropolitan government to a court in connection with the capital's coronavirus countermeasures. The latest move has brought the total number of eateries subject to such notices to 155. Among them, the court has ordered four establishments to pay a fine.

       (Japanese original by Shinji Kurokawa, Tokyo City News Department)

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