Cherry blossom festivals cancelled as Japan leaves lockdown

In normal years, the appearance of the delicate pink flowers is the cue for friends to spread out picnic blankets and lose their inhibitions in a ritual that often involves copious quantities of food and drink, and a nodding recognition of the floral spectacular. But the lifting of the state of emergency, announced earlier this month by the prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, will not be celebrated beneath the sakura.
In Tokyo parks that would normally be filled with picnicking families, signs warn that flower-viewing parties are forbidden. Popular spots have been roped off and festivals cancelled or scaled down. Illuminations will not be switched on and security guards will be on the lookout for anyone grabbing a furtive beer and bento. Instead, blossom viewing will be restricted to masked strolls in designated areas.
And the end of the state of emergency in Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures on Sunday will not be quite as liberating as it sounds – the ban on boozing beneath the blossoms is only one of several restrictions that will remain. Bars and restaurants that have been asked to close at 8pm will be allowed to stay open for one more hour, and residents are encouraged to avoid non-essential outings. Japan’s ban on virtually all inbound foreign travellers will stay.
While Suga said the improved availability of hospital beds had made it possible to ease restrictions, the governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, warned that the overall situation in the capital remained severe and asked people to avoid non-essential outings.
While daily cases are much lower than in early January, the end of the emergency measures has drawn criticism for coming at a time when infections in Tokyo are creeping back up. Its daily tally remains far higher than Koike’s target of reducing the seven-day average by 70% or more than the preceding week. The city reported 342 cases on Saturday – compared with an all-time peak of 2,520 on 7 January – but this was higher than the previous four Saturdays.
- theguardian.com

channelnewsasia.com - Jul 07
People found guilty of cyberbullying in Japan now face up to a year in prison under rules implemented on Thursday (Jul 7), which were toughened up after the suicide of a reality star who had been trolled online.

Japan Today - Jul 06
Nagoya prosecutors on Tuesday indicted a 27-year-old woman for killing her three daughters aged 5, 3 and nine months, in February.

Japan Today - Jul 06
Police in Kyoto have arrested a 47-year-old dentist on suspicion of violating the prefecture’s public nuisance ordinance after he allegedly took voyeuristic images of a junior high school girl during a medical examination in Okayama last year.

Japan Today - Jul 05
Police in Tokyo have arrested a man in his 50s on suspicion of causing property damage after he broke the glass on a connecting door during an altercation with another man on a train operating on the Tokyu Den-en-toshi line.

soranews24.com - Jul 05
On 21 June workers at a recycling plant in Adachi, Tokyo were given a shock when, mixed in among the refuse that had arrived, they found a human skull and jaw bone.

NHK - Jul 05
NHK has learned that three abstract paintings have been found that are thought to be unknown early works of the late Japanese artist Okamoto Taro. He is known for numerous works, including the "Tower of the Sun" monument and the "Myth of Tomorrow" mural.

NHK - Jul 04
A Japanese couple has asked a family court to let them register their marriage under separate surnames in Japan as they did in the United States.

Japan Today - Jul 04
Police in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, have arrested a 29-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder after he allegedly stabbed two sisters in a taxi early Sunday morning.

Japan Today - Jul 03
A man and a woman were found dead in an apartment in Yokohama on Friday, in what police believe was a murder-suicide.

CBC - Jul 02
Randy Bachman has performed many times on Canada Day, but the event he played this year is like no other.

asiaone.com - Jul 01
Japanese porn actress Rina Arano was reported missing on June 8 this year.

Japan Today - Jul 01
Police in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, on Thursday arrested a former member of KAT-TUN, an all-male idol group, on suspicion of violating the Stimulants Control Law, just nine days after he was convicted and given a suspended sentence for a similar crime earlier this year.

VICE - Jul 01
In Japan, gay marriage is not legal. The national government has maintained that only a man and a woman can be wedded, a position backed as recently as last month by a court in Osaka.

soranews24.com - Jul 01
Two weeks ago, investigators arrested Mitsunobu Hino, a 72-year-old resident of Matsudo, on charges of property damage after Hino was seen on security camera footage carrying a wara ningyo at a shrine shortly before one of the dolls was found nailed to the ground’s sacred tree.

Japan Today - Jun 29
Police in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, said a 92-year-old man was found dead at his home and his son was lying nearby, bleeding from a knife wound.

Japan Today - Jun 28
Police in Fukuoka have arrested a 59-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of attempted murder after he stabbed a 49-year-old doctor multiple times at a hospital.