Hanami in times of Corona

It’s the evening of April 7 and Japan’s prime minister has just announced a one-month state of emergency for several of the country’s prefectures, including Tokyo. However, there’s a chance that this move will bring about little change in everyday life, as there’s no legal basis for enforcing curfew against individuals or mandatory shutdown of private businesses, as summarized in this NHK piece. Nevertheless, we’re trying to stay in as much as possible. The pictures in this post are about 10 days old when the situation didn’t feel quite as dire as they do now.

Meanwhile, the cherry trees are still blossoming all around which makes for spectacular views in some parts of town. Unfortunately, hanami, i.e. the tradition of gathering outside and enjoying this lovely display will largely fall flat this time around.

Other than that, nothing much happening over here. Depicted below are views of the “sakura” I had to recreate in my apartment in order to finish that last role of film. 😉

Stay safe everyone!