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| Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga speaks during a House of Councillors Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2021, with a transparent acrylic screen set in front of him to prevent coronavirus infection. (Photo by=Kyodo) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga apologized Wednesday in parliament after executives of the ruling coalition were reported to have visited hostess bars in Tokyo's posh Ginza district late at night, defying a state of emergency that urges people to avoid unnecessary outings, especially in the evening.
Kyodo reported that Jun Matsumoto, acting chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Diet Affairs Committee, and Kiyohiko Toyama, acting secretary-general of Komeito, the junior coalition partner of Suga's LDP, both admitted to visiting such bars last week. The news comes when the government is considering extending the state of emergency, which includes asking restaurants and bars to shorten their opening hours, by about a month from its current scheduled end Feb. 7.
"As we have asked the people to refrain from going out, I am extremely sorry," Suga said at the House of Councillors' Budget Committee. According to a report published online by the weekly magazine Shukan Shincho, Matsumoto on Jan. 18 left a restaurant before 9 p.m. and went to two hostess bars in Ginza until around 11:20 p.m. Another weekly magazine, Shukan Bunshun, reported Toyama made a visit to a hostess bar in Ginza late Friday evening.
