As Japan fights COVID-19 with shutdowns, rats emerge onto deserted streets
28 April, 2020
As more Japanese restaurants turn off and people stay home through the country's state of emergency to fight the coronavirus, experts say rats may be expanding their search for food to deserted streets once crowded with humans.
In Tokyo's Kabukicho nightlife district, where many bars and adult entertainment venues have closed, rats scurried through mostly empty streets one recent evening.
An identical scene was aired on public broadcaster NHK on Monday (Apr 27), showing a large number of rats dashing about a deserted street, racing between buildings and feeding from garbage bags within an entertainment district in the southwestern city of Kitakyushu.
"Restaurants are closed and the garbage (rats) ate is fully gone, so they are looking for food," said Rat Extermination Association official Tsutomu Tanikawa.
"There are fewer people, and when rats are hungry, they become less cautious with humans," he said. "This is not just a Japan problem, it is happening everywhere."
Japan doesn't have a mandatory lockdown like some countries, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared circumstances of emergency for seven prefectures, including Tokyo on April 7, giving governors authority to ask business to close and persons to stay home. That is expanded nationwide.
Kitakyushu City health official Takao Koezuka said that up to now, there was no increase in complaints about rats in the town.
"We need to consider this more to understand the situation," Koezuka said.
Rats can carry diseases. However the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said there is absolutely no evidence that animals play a substantial role in spreading the coronavirus.
Worries about rat infestations in Japan grabbed attention prior to the October 2018 shutdown of Tokyo's Tsukiji market, the world's oldest fish market and a major tourist attraction.
The closing sparked predictions that hordes of rodents would flee, including to the upscale Ginza shopping area. In response, merchants and authorities conducted an enormous extermination operation that officials said was largely successful.
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