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TOKYO: Exotic dancer Aya Yumiko has been living off her savings since March, waiting for the bars and clubs in Tokyo, where she performs in burlesque shows, to reopen.
But a decision by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this week to extend the state of emergency to deal with the coronavirus pandemic until the end of May means that Yumiko could use her last cash reserves before she can return to work.
“I had already saved enough to last me two or three months,” the 40-year-old dancer acting under the name of Aya Mermaid told Reuters before Abe’s decision.
During her unexpected break, she uses a sewing machine at home to create new feather costumes, faux fur, and other materials, and tries to keep fit with spring races at a nearby park.
Japan’s blockade has been less severe than many other countries, with bars, restaurants, and other entertainment venues being asked to remain closed rather than being ordered to do so.
Despite a $ 1.1 trillion stimulus package, the Japanese economy is slowing, with factory output slumping and consumer prices in Tokyo dropping for the first time in three years.
Freelancers like Yumiko, who have less access to government financial aid and have already seen their income evaporate and their savings decrease, will be among the most vulnerable.
Yumiko says she earns as much as $ 3,000 a month with two performances a week. Most of that, though, comes from advice, which means you have no way of showing how much you usually earn if you ask for government help.
“People like me cannot trust those guarantees,” he said.
Under Abe’s stimulus package, freelancers can claim up to 1 million yen ($ 9,355) if they can show that their earnings have been cut in more than half.
Raised in Ishikawa prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast, Yumiko dropped out of high school and moved to Tokyo when she was 16 with less than $ 20 in her name.
She worked various jobs and traveled abroad before becoming an exotic dancer five years ago after watching a burlesque show, and longs to return to the stage.
“I wonder if I’m going to wear this,” he said as he sat in his apartment in one of his new suits.
