Pedestrian Traffic Almost Unchanged From Last Week
Pedestrian traffic was 40 to 70 percent lower than in pre-pandemic levels on Monday in most parts of Japan where the coronavirus continues to spread. The figures were largely unchanged from a week ago.
Mobile carrier NTT Docomo released pedestrian traffic data collected from its base stations without identifying users.
It says foot traffic around Tokyo's Shinjuku Station, as of 3 p.m. on Monday, was down 70.2 percent compared to the middle of January through mid-February.
The figure was also down 73.1 percent near Umeda Station in Osaka, 67 percent around Kyoto Station, 65.6 percent around Yokohama Station, and 62.9 percent around Nagoya Station.
The decline was smaller elsewhere, at 53.1 percent around Sapporo Station in Hokkaido, 48.4 percent in central Hiroshima, and 46.9 percent around Sendai Station in Miyagi Prefecture.
Compared to Sunday when the number of pedestrians fell by more than 80 percent in some areas, Monday's figures indicate that commuter traffic is making it harder for urban area crowds to decline on weekdays.
