Tokyo Coronavirus Photo Diary: March

Daily life in the COVID-19 Crisis in Tokyo, Spring ‘20

Aaron Paulson
Pandemic Diaries
Published in
7 min readMar 6, 2020

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All photos ©Aaron Paulson. These pictures are available for use under limited license.*

Saturday, March 28

Despite the Governor’s increasingly dire warnings, and the explosive growth of 224 cases in the last six days, there’s still a sense of life as usual as people go about their business, albeit in somewhat fewer numbers than before. The question is, will Japan’s standards of personal hygiene and social distancing, which many ascribe to the relatively low rate of infection compared to its neighbours, save the day, so to speak? Or is Tokyo about to go into crisis?

Friday, March 27

… as do Pachinko parlours. That lineup is waiting for one of the more popular parlours in Shinjuku to open it’s doors.

In general, the food supply situation in West Tokyo is better than in central Tokyo. We even have a fresh shipment of instant rice at our supermarket.

(Photo by Aaron Paulson)
(Photo by Aaron Paulson)
(Photo by Aaron Paulson)

Thursday, March 26

Fresh produce in plentiful supply at local markets, but instant food and rice are still in short supply at the supermarkets. Line-ups for masks, and now instant food, continue… Arcades and entertainment centres remain open…

(Photo by Aaron Paulson)
(Photo by Aaron Paulson)
(Photo by Aaron Paulson)

Wednesday, March 25

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Tokyo expat teacher, librarian, mindfulness facilitator, writer, and photographer. Sometime Top Writer in Art, Travel, and Photography. @aaronpaulson