Sudden temporary closure has taken everyone by surprise.

With 770 cases of coronavirus recorded in Japan as of midday on Sunday, including 634 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama, fears that the number of infected will continue to grow has prompted the cancellation of large-scale events and community gatherings around the country.

Now the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo’s Mitaka is taking precautions against the spread of the flu-like virus by announcing that it will be closing for a temporary period from 25 February to 17 March.

As one of the city’s most popular tourist spots, the Ghibli Museum welcomes over a thousand local and international visitors each day, making it a high-risk location for the spread of the coronavirus, which has been officially named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization.

As Japanese officials are now unable to identify the route of COVID-19 infections in the country, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has announced that the next three weeks are being positioned as an important period for preventing the spread of the virus in Japan.

As such, the government has said it plans to postpone or cancel large-scale events in Tokyo, and in response to this position by the government, and following discussions with Mitaka City, the Ghibli Museum has decided to close its doors temporarily.

The Ghibli Museum announced the temporary closure on its official website on 22 February, with an apology that states:

“We apologise to those who were looking forward to visiting the museum, however we will continue to monitor the situation as we move forward in the future, so we would be grateful if you could check our website [for future updates].”

The Ghibli Museum says it will issue a full refund to those who have pre-booked tickets for 25 February to 17 March, with details of the refund procedure to be announced shortly.

Source: Ghibli Museum  
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