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Coronavirus

Japanese companies welcome new recruits amid coronavirus caution

Toned down ceremonies greet class of 2020 as many join via video link from home

A new employee, left, at The Nishi-Nippon City Bank has her temperature checked before an entrance ceremony in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Chuo Ward, Fukuoka. (Photo by Shinya Sawai) 

TOKYO/OSAKA/FUKUOKA -- With the start of the new fiscal year on April 1, large companies on Wednesday welcomed a new class employees in a time honored right of passage in Japan. But the coronavirus has caused many to suspend or significantly scale back their entrance ceremonies.

Top executives throughout the country welcomed new recruits with shouts of encouragement as an increasingly unclear economic and business outlook weighs on the immediate future. Some employees, however, heard them while watching the events online from home as a social distancing measure to reduce crowding.

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