The beginning of spring is one of the cultural highlights in Japan. In the ten or so days when the cherry trees (jap. sakura) blossom, many Japanese celebrate the event with a picnic in parks and gardens and enjoy the splendour of the blossoms.
This year, this important moment in the annual cycle will be missed, due to the corona crisis.
This also affects the Japan Mint, which owns one of the most magnificent cherry tree avenues in the country. The 560-meter-long road leading to the mint’s headquarters in Osaka is lined with 336 cherry trees, as Kyodo News notes. The trees are said to be of 136 different cherry species! Usually about 700,000 visitors per week flock to this place during the cherry blossom season. This year, however, the park, which is usually open to the public, has to be closed for safety reasons. The last time this happened was during the Second World War, when the Japan Mint kept its grounds closed for four years from 1943 on. It probably won’t be that long this time, but in order to not deprive the cherry-blossom-loving Japanese of the pleasure, the newspaper Kyodo News (with official permission) sent a drone into the air to film this year’s blossom. Here you can get a vernal insight from the Japan Mint:
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And here is the official website of the Japan Mint.
In our article you can learn more about the long history of the Japan Mint.
