Shutdown Comments

Japan announced the shutdown of the country to control the spread of Covid-19 back in March/April. From that time until it was lifted at the end of May, Kagoshima was a ghost town. Very little car traffic, and almost no one in Tenmonkan. Even right after the shutdown was lifted, very few people were out and about at all. Part of the issue was that the increase to the 10% sales tax last October had a major impact on household spending. We're also getting into rainy season, and it's getting miserably hot and humid now. But, Saturday was sunny, and EVERYONE was out on the streets. The only difference between the old normal and the new normal is that more people are wearing masks (maybe about 80% of the population in Kagoshima that I've seen). That, and there are still no events going on anywhere here.