Trance President Akikazu Yamamura stares at product shelves in front of a deserted store in Hachioji, Tokyo, on Jan. 25, 2021. (Mainichi/Yongho Lee)

TOKYO -- With the spread of the novel coronavirus, apparel and souvenir stores in Japan have been suffering a great deal. Since the declaration of the state of emergency in parts of Japan in January, many stores have been operating under shortened hours, but only food service operators can receive the 60,000 yen (about $574) per day "cooperation money."

As the number of customers dwindles, there are calls to "eliminate the payment gap" with dining businesses. "It's like being told to keep diving without breathing," lamented Akikazu Yamamura, 56, president of Trance, which operates clothing stores and other businesses in Tokyo, Saitama and other prefectures.

The station building in Hachioji, Tokyo, where one of his stores is located, has been closing at 8 p.m. since the declaration was issued. As a result, apart from restaurants, retail stores such as apparel and general merchandise shops have also been forced to shorten their hours.

In past years, ladies' suits for ceremonies sold well at Trance from January to February. However, the number of customers visiting the station building plummeted this year, and there was even a day when only one 400-yen (about $3.83) mask was sold, let alone a suit, even after 10 hours of trading.

Yamamura understands the need for people to refrain from going out, saying, "Now is the time to stop the spread of infections," but he is dissatisfied with the compensation system offered by the national government.

While restaurants in the station building are being paid cooperation money, retailers, who are also operating on shortened hours, are not being compensated satisfactorily. In the city, some apparel stores have decided to close their businesses, while some restaurants are undergoing renovations.

It is expected that small- and medium-sized businesses whose sales have been cut to half or less as people refrain from going out will receive subsidies, but the amount is far less than what restaurants and bars have received after several requests for shorter operating hours.

"I wonder how many companies can survive the coronavirus pandemic without compensation. There should be no difference in payouts to companies that have lost sales, regardless of the type of business," Yamamura said.

Some general merchandise stores, which have been serving tourists, also called for the same kind of compensation as dining establishments.

The Sugamo Jizo-dori shopping street in Toshima Ward, Tokyo, which is popular with elderly people, temporarily regained its liveliness last autumn thanks to the "Go To" travel subsidy campaign aimed at reviving the pandemic-hit tourism sector, but the number of visitors has decreased again since the state of emergency declaration was issued in early January.

"Normally, knitted hats sell well around this time, but this year we have had almost no customers. Sales in January are less than half of what they were last year," said Satoshi Kobayashi, 53, who runs a parasol store.

The impact of the voluntary restraint on going out is significant.

"It's the same for all industries that are seeing their sales drop due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. If it really is the same, I want compensation to be equal," stressed Kobayashi.

Among those similarly affected are game arcades, which are not receiving cooperation money but have been called upon to shorten their operating hours.

Yasushi Fukamachi, 46, general manager of the operation department of Mikado Game Center in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, which is known as a sacred place among game fans, said, "We are close to the limit. I would like to see some kind of compensation, like the cooperation money that restaurants receive."

The company's main arcade, located near JR Takadanobaba Station, used to be open until midnight. The store would start getting crowded with people on their way home from work from shortly after 7 p.m., but after the declaration was issued, it decided to close at 8 p.m. The arcade's income has dropped to about 40% of previous levels.

The store is equipped with about 250 game machines on the first and second floors of the building, and the rent alone reaches several million yen a month. Without monthly sales of more than 10 million yen (about $95,680), it is difficult to run the business. When the previous state of emergency was declared last April, the arcade remained closed until mid-June. At that time, the company managed to make it through with about 37 million yen (some $354,000) donated by fans on the internet, but that money has run out.

"Game arcades may be considered nonurgent and nonessential venues, but I want people to know that there are people who make a living from this work," Fukamachi said.

(Japanese original by Yongho Lee, Machida Resident Bureau, and Toshiaki Uchihashi, City News Department)

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