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At Happo-en in Tokyo s Minato Ward on April 29, each table in a wedding venue is complete with boards set up between the seats to prevent droplets from landing on others. (Hiroyuki Yamamoto)
It looked like a typical wedding celebration as about 90 guests raised their glasses when the 36-year-old groom s work supervisor made a toast.
However, the glasses were filled with alcohol-free champagne at the wedding, held in the early afternoon of April 29 at Happo-en in Tokyo s Minato Ward.
The venue was initially preparing to serve the traditional beer, sake, wine and other beverages that wedding-goers usually drink.
But after the 17-day state of emergency covering Tokyo and three other prefectures was issued on April 25, wedding venues in the capital were asked to stop serving alcohol and close their doors by 8 p.m.