Japan's government plans to include Tokyo to travel campaign from October

Reuters
·1 min read
Japan's Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura attends a joint news conference with Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike in Tokyo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday the government plans to include people living or vacationing in Tokyo in a subsidised domestic tourism campaign from October, having initially excluded the capital as a coronavirus hotspot.

But he added the government would review the plan later this month based on the COVID-19 situation.

"It is not the situation where we press on the accelerator strongly," Nishimura told reporters. "We need to make sure that the coronavirus prevention steps take root among people and expand the economic and social activities."

Nishimura also said the government would ease restrictions on holding events from Sept. 19 until the end of November.

The government will then review the situation as there are usually many events at year-end and there may also be a seasonal influenza epidemic.

(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Alex Richardson and Catherine Evans)