People flocked Saturday to a train station popular as a cherry blossom viewing spot in Ishikawa Prefecture, despite it having been hit by the powerful New Year's Day earthquake.
The cherry blossom viewers at Notokashima Station run by Noto Tetsudo, a local railway operator, included many from outside the prefecture. The station in the town of Anamizu resumed operations on April 6, recovering from damage caused by the 7.6-magnitude temblor, which measured up to 7, the highest level on Japan's seismic intensity scale.
The station is also known by the nickname "Noto Sakura Station." Sakura means cherry blossoms in Japanese. Approximately 100 Somei-Yoshino cherry trees line both sides of the station's platforms, creating a stunning sight where their blossoms seem to envelop the platforms. This phenomenon has earned the station the nickname the "cherry blossom tunnel."