Today's Close-Up

Shop Owners' Struggle: Surviving the State of Emergency (2020x27)

Air date: Jun 12, 2020

An NHK team chronicled the efforts of shop owners in Osaka's Tenjinbashisuji Shotengai, the longest shopping arcade in Japan, to weather the enormous financial impact of the state of emergency. Even after the government-imposed measure went into effect in early April, the arcade continued to attract crowds of shoppers, making it a target of the so-called "self-restraint police." We watched as the pandemic reshaped the community and forced store owners to adapt to a new way of doing business.