It is April 6th 2020 and the central government has finally announced that they will declare a state of emergency. Prime minister Abe has take more than 3 weeks to do this despite being given the power to do since mid March.

Whether the now delayed Olympics had a bearing on this turn of events, no one will ever know conclusively unless it is revealed by the Central Government.

Life in general must go on. I will update tomorrow what will happen after going through the Japanese news.

For now, some of what has already happened in recent times:

-Panic buying of cup noodles, toilet paper and frozen food. A cursory sweep through Seiyu (a large supermarket chain dominant in the west side of Tokyo) reveals that pizzas and other frozen food that panders to the Japanese taste are the ones swept clean first.

-In contrast, no one seems to be buying spicy food (spicy food lovers are in luck, it seems like no one will be fighting with you for your fix of Tantan Men)

-Masks are still largely out of stock. You can buy it online but the prices are mostly inflated despite the government having made re-selling of masks illegal.

-People are still out and about despite repeated pleas from the Tokyo governor for people not to leave the house unless necessary. Either people are being ridiculously complacent or they simply have a death wish, their reasons elude me. Personally, I leave the house only to find necessities (contrary to what one may believe, not everything can be bought online). Case in point, some ready to eat retort packs are not sold on both Amazon JP and the Seiyu Rakuten net store.

I am thankful that my work as a freelancer can still continue as my company has kindly allowed me to teach online (thank you to the staff of Outbrain Japan). This has meant that I still can save money, compared to so many of my ex-colleagues in Gaba who have to dig in deep into their savings due to lessons drying up.

I for one hope that the situation will improve soon for everyone involved, especially with measures being taken by governments worldwide.

Cheers, stay safe and stay home.

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