Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the tightening of restrictions last Thursday (July 8), which come into effect from today.

Measures for the capital include prohibiting restaurants from serving alcohol and asking them to close by 8pm.

Tokyo had been under a quasi-state of emergency since June 20, which puts fewer restriction on businesses.

An increase in new COVID-19 cases and concerns over new variants led to the decision to place the capital back in a state of emergency.

The Japanese Government admitted it was hoping to restrict people travelling during the summer break and the Bon holidays until vaccinations rose further.

The state of emergency led to the Government confirming last week that all spectators would be banned from all stadiums and venues in Tokyo.

There had been hopes that up to 10,000 domestic spectators would have been able to attend select events at the Games, but the multi-sport event will now largely take place behind closed doors.

Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori confirmed fans would be banned from baseball and softball matches, while football matches in Sapporo will take place without a crowd.

The public has been urged to refrain from gathering for marathon and race walk events in Sapporo, as well a cycling and triathlon events in Tokyo.

Overseas fans had already been barred from the Games.

Japan reported over 2,400 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday (July 10), with 950 recorded in Tokyo.

A total of 57,350,224 vaccine doses were reported as having been administered in Japan at the latest official update on Friday (July 9).

This comprises of 36 million first doses, while over 21 million people have received both doses to date.

Nearly 17 per cent of the Japanese population have been fully vaccinated.

Vaccine Minister Taro Kono said last week that the country was hoping to have finished vaccinating the elderly by the end of July.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are scheduled to open on July 23 and close on August 8.

A total of 59,000 people will enter Japan for the Olympics, compared to the expected 180,000 from last year.

The number will include 23,000 Games-related officials, including from the International Olympic Committee and International Federations.

Olympic Broadcast Services representatives and rights-holders account for 17,000 people during the Olympics, with 6,000 members of the media expected.

Participants are required to follow restrictions outlined in playbooks produced by Tokyo 2020 and the International Olympic Committee.

This includes quarantine periods and movements being restricted to activity plan for the first 14 days.

According to Kyodo News, the Akasaka Excel Hotel Tokyu has faced criticism only after marking elevators with "Japanese only" and "foreigners only".

The hotel has apologised for a "misunderstanding" and claimed it did not intend to discriminate against foreign people, claiming the intention was to separate Olympic stakeholders from general guests.