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Japan's top sakura cherry blossom viewing spots littered with trash after hanami picnics

Apr 06, 2018 (soranews24.com) - Every year, the cherry blossoms unfurl their pretty petals in spring, and every year local and overseas visitors gather under the sakura trees to admire the beauty of the flowers with a hanami flower-viewing picnic.

However, with so many people laying out tarps and platters of food and alcoholic beverages for large groups of friends and coworkers, these picnics can turn into messy drunken parties by the end of the night, and by the time the sun comes up, it shines a light on the darker side of hanami: unsightly piles of left-behind trash. <p>Japanese netizens have been sharing images of the garbage situation at various sakura spots throughout Japan, saying they’re appalled at the amount of trash people leave behind after admiring the blossoms. In a country where people are taught not to litter from a very young age, and are used to taking their trash home with them when they can’t find a trash can, these photos showing leftovers strewn about some of the country’s prettiest sakura spots have angered people in Japan. And now they’re urging everyone to mind their manners and show more regard for other people wanting to share these popular public spaces.

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Japan’s World Cup campaign ended in the cruelest possible fashion on June 29, as Gabriel Martinelli scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time to give Brazil a 2-1 victory over the Samurai Blue in their knockout match in Houston. Japan had led in the first half and were still level at 1-1 in the final moments, but Martinelli’s late strike sent Brazil into the Round of 16 and eliminated Japan from the tournament.

Strong earthquakes have continued to shake parts of Japan in recent weeks, with 11 temblors measuring lower 5 or above on the Japanese seismic intensity scale recorded across the country since April 2026.

A Kintetsu Railway train derailed inside Kyoto Station on the morning of June 29, forcing partial suspensions on the Kintetsu Kyoto Line for the rest of the day and causing long delays that hit commuters, students and tourists.

A section of stone wall at Hikone Castle, one of Japan’s few surviving original Edo-period castles and a National Treasure whose main keep remains intact more than 400 years after its construction, collapsed after heavy rain caused by Typhoons No. 7 and No. 8, Hikone city officials said.

Japan advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup after a 1-1 draw with Sweden on June 25, finishing second in Group F and setting up a Round of 32 clash with Brazil in Houston.

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