Osaka to remove part of business suspension requests from Saturday

Department stores and movies theatres will be allowed to reopen... but..... The prefectural government will also continue to request that residents refrain from nonessential outings. This just doesn't make any sense

Great news! Time to go shopping!

I hope Tokyo will do the same thing!

Designer 02,

You are absolutely right! That doesnt make any sense.

But this is Japan. Many things dont make any sense, ね！

Hope they keep staying ahead of the situation

meanwhile the post office continues it ban on international mail which is killing my business.

@Dango

now I know why eBay intense I sell have not been arriving.

Good news!

Time to reopen the economy from the fear mongers.

@Dango : Until the airlines start flying with any real capacity again - there is very little the Post Office can do.

Fedex/DHL/UPS the only reliable way to shift stuff internationally at the moment.

Especially the ban on postal flights to U.S. and Australia is killing me. The hard part is keeping all customers patient.

Movie theaters but not gyms? The logic escapes me.

Especially the ban on postal flights to U.S. and Australia is killing me. The hard part is keeping all customers patient.

Exactly, trying to explain why something mailed April 3rd is not there yet. This is killing businesses more than the virus.

Fedex/DHL/UPS the only reliable way to shift stuff internationally at the moment.

Fedex has one office in Tokyo and they do not pick up. AND they charge $30 to send a letter.

There is no 'ban' on postal flights to the US or Australia. There is simply no capacity. Regular mail is generally carried by commercial passenger planes - note the National Post Office Marks on many airplane entrances. ANA carry mail to Sydney for example are down to 3 flights a week - and Zero to Perth. Qantas totally suspended. JAL you will have to check, but I can't think its very regular/

@Dango.

Not disputing the economics of using Fedex. Was just making a comment.

But - once you open an account they pick up on demand. They are in our office every day. You are greatly misinformed on that point.

There is no 'ban' on postal flights to the US or Australia. 

The post office is refusing mail to the US and Australia, you don't call that a ban?

https://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/information/2020/0423_03.html

Japan post refuses mail to US

@Dango: If you actually read the link that YOU just sent me. They tell you why! For exactly the reasons I explained. So, no, its not a 'ban' . The page clearly states that due to a lack of capacity they hacve stopped accrpting mail. I apologise for trying to explain to you.

Osaka's targets were fewer than 10 new patients with unclear infection routes

The current testing scheme pretty much bans testing people who cannot state a clear infection route, this criteria seems meaningless.

Time to reopen the economy from the fear mongers.

I often wonder if some commentators would be more amenable to the partial shut down, if there were thousands more dead?

It's precisely because of caution that we don't have the horrific numbers like in the US.

That's funny, because businesses with signs on their doors just Wednesday saying they were closed until the State of Emergency is lifted were open today, convenience stores have returned coffee cup lids to the places everyone can touch them, drop them on the floor, then put them back again, and people are walking around with chin masks more than a few days ago even. I think Japan has decided we're through this already.

@nakanoguy01 Arguably in gyms, people sweat a lot and breathe more heavily which could be a factor.

On the other hand, people feeling sick are less likely to go to the gym and more likely to go to the theater. So both should remain closed.

But again, we are talking about Japan here. In the country where culturally people don't really question the rules and just follow them.