Weekend Zoom gatherings with friends and their families would go on for hours, while my trash bin steadily accumulated empty cans. Cocktail hour would typically start at 5 or 6 o’clock in the evening with little fanfare. As an alternative to going out drinking after work, online parties became a thing as corporate Japan rapidly adopted teleworking to reduce contagion risks.Īs the weeks went by, the novelty of working - and drinking - at home, gradually wore off. Bars and restaurants were asked to shorten operating hours. Yuriko Koike told residents to limit the frequency of grocery shopping to once every three days.
