‘Tis the season for hanami once again, with people across Japan looking to admire cherry trees' pale pink petals and celebrate the spring season with family and friends.
This year, Sunday marked the start of the cherry blossom-viewing season in Tokyo, coming just before the final day of COVID-19 quasi-state of emergencies in the capital and 17 other prefectures on Monday.
But even though the quasi-emergency measures have been lifted, between 20,000 and 40,000 daily new coronavirus cases have been reported nationwide in recent days, prompting many people to wonder whether they are allowed to go out and enjoy the cherry blossoms, and if so, to what extent.
Shigeru Omi, chairman of the government’s COVID-19 subcommittee, has urged people to keep up preventative measures, including mask-wearing, when they go to see cherry blossoms and to avoid high-risk parties involving drinking and eating with a large number of people.
Municipalities that operate large parks well known for cherry blossom-viewing are welcoming visitors but in a restricted way.
“Every year, rookie employees are asked to reserve spaces at Ueno Park for hanami,” Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said Friday. “But we want people to avoid holding such parties where people sit down and have food and drink, and simply stroll through" the park to look at the blossoms.
“People may think it should be all right because it’s outdoors. But we have experienced clusters from barbecue parties in the past,” said Koike. “We need to be vigilant about a possible rebound (in cases).”
Before the pandemic, residents and visitors to the capital would often flock to spots with the best cherry trees or picturesque boating lakes and rivers such as Ueno Park and Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, or they would head to see the lighting up of the trees at night ー yozakura ー along the banks of the Meguro River. Organizers would often set up food stalls.
But as was the case last year, those events have been canceled or curtailed.
For instance, Shinjuku Gyoen is limiting the number of entrants between March 19 and April 10. Those looking to visit the park are required to submit an application in advance — online or by postcard or fax. The festival along the Meguro River, including the evening illumination, has been canceled, just like last year.
In Tokyo, cherry blossoms are expected to reach full bloom on Monday.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura has struck a slightly different tone to his Tokyo counterpart, saying people can go out for hanami but not with a large number of people and only with a bit of drinking.
“I won’t ask people not to go for cherry blossom-viewing and not drink alcohol even for a bit,” Yoshimura said Friday. “But I want people to avoid partying hard with a large number of people.”
The cherry blossom-viewing season usually starts in around late March and continues through May, depending on the location.
On Sunday, the Meteorological Agency said Tokyo’s cherry blossoms began blooming earlier that day, four days earlier than the average year, after the agency confirmed that a Somei-Yoshino cherry tree at Yasukuni Shrine in the capital, which is monitored by the agency, had begun blooming.
According to Weather News, cherry blossoms started blooming in Osaka on Wednesday and are expected to do so in neighboring Kyoto on Thursday.
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