Japan To Reopen Museums After Virus Emergency Extended

Above, the National Art Center in Tokyo. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Since Japan has a travel ban in place to keep foreigners from entering the country (this includes the U.S.), this really won't have any affect on us.

But it does seem strange that since the state of emergency has been extended in Japan, they are allowing museums to reopen.

From Kyodo News:

TOKYO - Japan will allow the reopening of parks, museums, libraries and some other public facilities, even in areas with a relatively high number of coronavirus infections, a senior government official said Sunday. 

As part of efforts to deal with public weariness with the prolonged state of emergency, economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said at a press conference that the government will permit those facilities to restart if sufficient measures to prevent the spread of the virus are put in place. 

The government will release a set of guidelines on how to resume social activities on Monday, when it will formally decide to extend the state of emergency, likely by around a month. 

The planned reopening of public facilities will be allowed in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hokkaido, Fukuoka and eight other prefectures that the government has singled out for taking stepped-up measures against the virus, according to Nishimura, who is in charge of issues related to the state of emergency.

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