Following a state of emergency declared by the Japanese government and pressure from prefectural authorities, Starbucks Japan has understandably decided to close 850 of their stores across the country as a countermeasure to the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

While the store shutdowns were put in place on April 9th, a few pictures Japanese Twitter user @iiiikasu recently shared photos of people lining up outside closing Starbucks locations before store hours, hoping to get in their last order for a while.

"Starbucks are closing down today, so last night a bunch of people lined up to go there. Do they understand why they are closing down? lol"

The photos have drawn the ire of many online, particularly those concerned that failures to adhere to social distancing orders will only prolong the state of emergency and endanger others.


By - Big Neko.