> Nearly all have remained open Most places have followed the suggestions. For the last 2 months nearly every bar and restaurant has closed by 8pm. While being

> Nearly all have remained open Most places have followed the suggestions. For the last 2 months nearly every bar and restaurant has closed by 8pm. While being open at all might seem like a problem subtracting 2 to 8 hrs off opening time, especially 2hrs of the busiest times in Japan at least, reduces the number of people exposed reducing the R number. I live in Shibuya (one of the more busy places in Tokyo). I can walk out there right now (8:06pm) and show you that 95% or more of restaurants are closed. Even the ramen places (usually open til 5-6am) and places like Yoshinoya, Matsuya, etc (usually 24hrs) are closed. OTOH if I go walk down at 7:30pm (before they close) lots of places will be fairly full (60-100%) and of course most people have their masks off to eat and drink. Lots of places do have extra dividers between tables and/or between the kitchen area and everything else. As for fewer people using transit, that is not clear to me. You can look at the ridership numbers for the various train lines and compare them to before COVID. The numbers are at 80-90% ridership, at least during commute. Of course even 10% less ridership would lower R but rush hour is insane in Tokyo so I'm surprised the crowded rush out trains have not been a huge vector for spreading. All of this suggests something about Japan is different. It could be mask compliance. It's probably 98-99%. (where as for white foreigners I'd say it's around 75%). It could be that the changes are just enough to keep R low. I could be genetics (Japan is fairly homogenous)? It could relative health level? It could be cleanliness? update: took that walk. My guess is at least 80% of restaurants and bars were closed. I feel like if I'd counted places on the 2nd/3rd/4th/5th floors it would be higher. When the video zoom in on some sign it's to show the "20" for 20 o clock (ie, closes at 8pm). The video is 8:30 to 9pm, tonight, March 10th, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d-gYk1unHU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d-gYk1unHU