Edited BY
G P Kennedy
Today we have a feast of photos to support and illustrate our Stories from Tokyo, Japan ands Milan, Italy. It is interesting to see Ian and Minako's experience, from a place where the virus has been well contained, side-by-side with Ellie's perspective from a virus-ravaged Italy as it starts to emerge from its deep lockdown.
Ian & Minako – Tokyo, Japan
We are both very well, sheltering from the rain and trying to stay cool in this muggy season!
The number of daily reported cases for Tokyo has increased slightly as society has opened up more to a 7-day average of 18. A significant proportion of the new cases can be traced to nightlife destinations in Shinjuku. In total, there have been 314 deaths in Tokyo so far.
Nationally there have been over 17,454 cases and 927 deaths. 47 new cases in Tokyo today, Sunday! That’s worrying. The Tokyo governor has said she will consider business closures if cases go above 50. Again, many of the cases were traced to nightlife establishments.
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| Ian and Minako |
The Tokyo Metropolitan government has hastily moved on to the 3rd and final phase of the road map for the relaxation of measures to combat COVID-19. This means that now even karaoke and pachinko places and amusement parks can re-open, bars can open until midnight and live event audiences are limited to 1000.
They have also slightly eased restrictions on foreign travel allowing at least a few people to return if they’ve had to go abroad for medical emergencies, funerals and such.
So not completely back to normal, the virus is still there and there's no vaccine yet so it's a case of learning to live with it. It seems many people are still working from home, not traveling to other prefectures, keeping 2 meters apart when possible and, of course, wearing masks.
The kids in the neighborhood are spending more time at school now though still not full time. The park is much quieter, shops are not fully open yet but gradually opening up more. A lot of shops and supermarkets have clear plastic sheets across the counters and checkouts for virus protection, restaurants have clear screens between each table if they don’t have room to spread out more.
All our neighbors are fine, and some have returned to work. They are taking their small children to the nursery again.
We still haven’t been on a train since the lockdown but it seems they are pretty near to normal levels now. We’ll wait a while to how things go before we venture far.
We enjoy every day even though every day is similar. We did a good walk to a shrine that we haven’t been to for quite a while, there are many shrines in the area and this one has lovely gardens and a small bamboo grove as well as a huge bell that is struck 108 times on New Year's Eve. It was a peaceful sunny day.
There is a new challenge now that the rainy season has started and the weather is very hot and humid, which makes it difficult to keep masks on. This is the time when places normally close doors and windows and run the air-conditioning to keep cool and dry but to help avoid the spread of the virus places have up to now been keeping doors and windows open for the air to circulate. So, what to do?
As the restrictions are relaxed and a relaxed mood is in the air, we find ourselves feeling less nervous and maybe a false sense of security sometimes when we go into a shop, for example. Then the news about the sudden surge in the number of cases, which brings us back to reality. It’s a reminder for us to be vigilant but also it is about time for us to formulate our own plan to rejoin the outside world safely!
Ellie – Milan, Italy
1.
This is the official end of winter. It is marked by mon cheri chocolates, which are a winter treat only. They disappear from stores as the weather gets warmer.
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| Summer chocolate |
But, with the lack of an actual spring, I kept the very last one to celebrate the beginning of Phase 3, the official end of the pandemic in Italy, for logistic purposes. I will savor it next week, right at the threshold of summer.
2.
We are now free to wander across regions!
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| Long and winding road |
Not that there are crowds trying to do that, but, as we are located right at the border between Lombardy and the Piedmont, it feels like significant threshold crossed.
3.
Because of my professional involvement, I've been especially worried about the reopening of museums and cultural institutions. They are very slow to reopen. Appointments must be made, guided tours are not available and only some parts of it are actually accessible.
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| Museum of contemporary art |
This museum of contemporary art has its sculpture garden only open to visitors. And since art and cultural heritage is at the heart of Italian identity, I fear what it will become as the museum experience shrinks and art loses its central place in the Italian psyche.
4.
Travel, too. This travel agency in the mall nearby, once one of the most coveted locations, commercially speaking, has reopened its doors, but not for long. Travel is now open among the countries comprising the European Union, but not beyond.
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| Divine light at the mall? |
5.
Italians are not particularly flag-flaunting people. Italy has existed as a unified country for a relatively short time. A regional sense of belonging is much more significant and stronger.. But flags have become very popular in the last three months.
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| il Tricolore |
They have given us solace in a symbolic space that feels new and unfamiliar. As a newly adopted country for me, this dark moment was perhaps the first season in which I felt I belonged. Sappy, I know, but it's true.
6.
I think I can declare myself ready for summer, and for Phase 3, and the sign for that is this purchase of a new plant.
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| Ready for summer |
It is my reward for having survived so far. but I am still left with the feeling that this florist creation is an ominous symbol. The best, of course, would have been an actual wild plant that I have succeeded to transplant to a pot. But oh well, I will take it for the time being.
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