News Restaurants defy regulations with rampant outdoor dining

Photo provided by the Atago police station​

On that night alone, officers warned 15 establishments for violating the Road Traffic Law. Most of these businesses had been warned multiple times before. There are even more violations on weekends, according to the police station. The Metropolitan Police Department has issued 760 warnings and guidance notices over the past two and a half years to restaurants in Shinbashi for similar violations. Local residents have been lodging complaints, citing issues such as blocked roads, difficulties in evacuating during disasters and negative impacts on the local scenery. Officers have been patrolling the bustling district about four times a week, issuing warnings to violators and requesting them to sign a pledge. However, authorities cannot enforce these warnings, and the tables and chairs often reappear the next day. Minato Ward has allocated approximately 33 million JPY (USD 226,000) in its current annual budget to establish a dedicated task force to crack down on street dining, a rare initiative nationwide.

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derekiscool said:

I think they, meaning the police, need to put up a few barriers so they can't expand anymore. The public shouldn't have to pay for a restaurants stupid decisions. While outdoor dining is fun, especially in such a brightly lit and beautiful place as Japan, the sidewalk should be left for the public
Any restaurant owner who thinks it's okay to put up more than maybe two tables with maybe six chairs each is wrong. One or two dining tables outside might be fine, with permission, but more than that is overly excessive with or especially without permission. The public deserves to walk on the side walk and should not be forced to jaywalk, assuming it gets that bad. Japaneses cities are already pretty close squished together, and this is definitely is NOT helping by any means whatsoever.

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