sign the japanese economy is restarting, clothing chain uniqlo has reopened its flagship store in tokyo's ginza district. it was shut down for a month due to the outbreak. the operator of the chain, fast retailing, welcomed customers to the store on monday, saying it's employed anti-infection know-how at its shops at home and abroad. at the ginza store, customers are required to wear masks and use hand sanitizer at the entrance. they will also have their temperatures checked and will be refused entry if they're found to have a fever of 37.5 degrees celsius or higher. clear plastic sheets are installed at the cashier counters to help prevent possible transmission of the virus. all floors will be disinfected every two hours and staff will limit the number of customers if the store gets too crowded. fast retailing closed 311 or nearly 40% of the uniqlo outlets in japan when the state of emergency was declared in early april. >> translator: we are making thorough efforts to secure the safety of the customers and staff. >> the company plans to resume operations at other stores in japan where prevent

shoppers were let into the food floor at matsuya ginza on monday morning after an extended closure. the rest of the department store is scheduled to reopen next monday. the entire building was closed on april 8th following the government's declaration of a state of emergency. matsuya ginza is taking anti-coronavirus precautions to protect both its customers and employees. hand sanitizer is available at entrances. >> translator: i used to come here once a week. i've been waiting for this day. >> translator: we are ready to adopt new customer services for a new type o of lifestyle ththa deals with c coronavirus infectioion. >> the store will be closed every tuesday from late june to reduce employees' workload. >>> to find out more on the lifts of the state of emergency, nhk world spoke to the president of the japanese association for infectious diseases. >> reporter: he says the government's decision on monday was appropriate given the circumstances. >> translator: i believe it's a good timime to lift the state o emergency. the rate of infections has been on the decline in recent d days anand there is less strain on