The Tokyo metropolitan government reported three new cases in the capital on Friday, the lowest since Abe first declared a monthlong state of emergency for urban areas on April 7.
But amid a downtrend in daily infections, the emergency has already ended in 42 prefectures, with Abe on Thursday lifting the measure in Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo in western Japan with big urban populations.
The number of new COVID-19 infections in Tokyo started to increase rapidly in late March and peaked in mid-April.
Yuriko Koike laid out a three-step plan to ease virus restrictions in the event the emergency is lifted in Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures.
The second step of the plan can be implemented about two weeks after the first but can be brought forward depending on the number of confirmed virus cases.