Tokyo governor: Scrapping Japan's cherry blossom custom 'like taking hugs away from Italians'

TOKYO (AFP): Preventing Japanese from gathering to enjoy cherry blossom season because of coronavirus would be like 'taking hugs away from Italians', the governor of Tokyo said on Thursday (March 12).

TOKYO : Preventing Japanese from gathering to enjoy cherry blossom season because of coronavirus would be like"taking hugs away from Italians", the governor of Tokyo said on Thursday .

After a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Koike said:"We discussed what to do with hanami. It is open-air. The metropolitan government wants people to admire the flowers.""But we would like to ask people to refrain from, for example, spreading blue tarps and enjoying fun parties at Ueno Park like every year," she added, referring to a large central Tokyo park popular with revellers.

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