Tokyo’s restaurateurs rail against alcohol ban as Covid measures bite

Tokyo’s restaurateurs rail against alcohol ban as Covid measures bite

A vivid rainbow heralds the arrival of dusk in Tokyo, but the fabled promise of a pot of gold must seem like a cruel joke to restaurateurs in Shimbashi, where office blocks stand in happy proximity to hundreds of watering holes.

In pre-coronavirus days, nightfall would be the cue for the neighbourhood’s neon lights to flicker into action and for touts armed with laminated menus to beckon office workers inside with promises of cheap food and drink.

But as Tokyo begins the fourth week of its latest coronavirus state of emergency, the usual post-work bonhomie that spills out on to Shimbashi’s narrow backstreets has been replaced by anger and despondency.