Startups in Tokyo abandon offices amid coronavirus upheaval

TOKYO -- The operator of Machimachi, a social network for neighbors, on April 17 gave its landlord the required three-month notification that it intends to vacate an office near Tokyo's Shibuya Station.

Like other Japanese startups, Machimachi finds itself at the vanguard of a cost-cutting trend that centers around office space, made superfluous to some businesses by society's response to the novel coronavirus.