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Sakura Selfies: Tokyo Enjoys Cherry Blossoms Despite Virus Warning

Many people decided to make the most of Friday's sunny weather and clear blue skies to snap "sakura" selfies. (AFP)
Many people decided to make the most of Friday's sunny weather and clear blue skies to snap "sakura" selfies. (AFP)
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Sakura Selfies: Tokyo Enjoys Cherry Blossoms Despite Virus Warning

Many people decided to make the most of Friday's sunny weather and clear blue skies to snap "sakura" selfies. (AFP)
Many people decided to make the most of Friday's sunny weather and clear blue skies to snap "sakura" selfies. (AFP)

People in Tokyo flocked to admire cherry blossoms in full bloom at parks, shrines and rivers on Friday, despite coronavirus warnings against holding traditional parties under the delicate flowers.

Annual festivals have been cancelled, fluorescent tape used to cordon off picnic spots, and signs put up urging people to "refrain from gathering to enjoy the cherry blossoms".

But many people, mostly wearing masks, decided to make the most of Friday's clear blue skies to snap "sakura" selfies, stroll down blossom-lined paths or take boat rides under the pink-and-white blooms.

Despite a third wave of Covid-19 infections over the winter, Japan has had a comparatively small outbreak overall with around 9,000 deaths and has not imposed the blanket lockdowns seen in other countries.

The Japanese government this week lifted a virus state of emergency in the Tokyo area but city governor Yuriko Koike has warned residents to "avoid cherry blossom viewing parties" to prevent a resurgence of the disease.

The number of coronavirus cases in Tokyo is gradually rising, with 394 new infections recorded on Thursday.

"We fear there may be a sudden spread of infections -- bigger than the third wave -- if the number of people going out increases, as it does each year with cherry blossom viewing, welcome parties (for new employees and students) and graduation trips," said Norio Ohmagari, director of Japan's Disease Control and Prevention Center, on Thursday.

Japan's sakura or cherry blossom season is feverishly anticipated by locals and visitors alike, although this year foreign tourists have been kept away by virus border restrictions.

Cherry blossoms symbolize the fragility of life in Japanese culture as full blooms only last about a week before the petals start falling off trees.

It is traditionally celebrated with hanami, or viewing parties, with picnics -- and sometimes boozy festivities -- organized beneath the trees.

The season is also considered one of change as it marks the start of the new business year, with many university graduates starting their first full-time jobs and older colleagues shifting to new positions.

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Berliners Jump into the Spree River to Show It’s Clean Enough for Swimming 

People swim in the river Spree to demand the lift of the hundred years old swimming ban at the river in front of the Berlin Cathedral and the TV Tower in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP)
People swim in the river Spree to demand the lift of the hundred years old swimming ban at the river in front of the Berlin Cathedral and the TV Tower in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP)
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Berliners Jump into the Spree River to Show It’s Clean Enough for Swimming 

People swim in the river Spree to demand the lift of the hundred years old swimming ban at the river in front of the Berlin Cathedral and the TV Tower in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP)
People swim in the river Spree to demand the lift of the hundred years old swimming ban at the river in front of the Berlin Cathedral and the TV Tower in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP)

A century after the city of Berlin banned swimming in the Spree River because it was so polluted it could make people sick, there's a push by swimmers to get back into the water.

Around 200 people jumped into the slow-moving, greenish water Tuesday to show that it's not only clean enough, but also lots of fun to splash and swim in the Mitte neighborhood along the world-famous Museum Island.

A group calling itself Fluss Bad Berlin, or River Pool Berlin, has been lobbying for years to open the meandering river for swimmers again.

“For 100 years now, people have not been allowed to swim in the inner-city Spree and we no longer think this is justified, because we can show that the water quality is usually good enough to go swimming during the season,” said Jan Edler, who is on the board of Fluss Bad Berlin and helped organize Tuesday's swim-in.

To circumvent the ban, the group registered their collective swim event as an official protest.

Standing on a little staircase that leads down to the Spree canal, which flows around the southern side of the island, Edler stressed that “we want the people to use the Spree for recreation again.”

He pointed to the fact that the river has been cleaned up thoroughly, and that the water quality has improved in the last decade and is constantly being monitored.

Even city officials in the central Mitte district of Berlin say they'd be interested in introducing river swimming again in 2026.

“There are still many things that need to be clarified, but I am optimistic that it can succeed,” district city councilor Ephraim Gothe told German news agency dpa recently.

Supporters of lifting the swimming ban also point at Paris, where the Seine River was opened up for swimmers for the Olympic Games last year and will be opened this summer for Parisians. Swimming there had been banned since 1923.

In Vienna, too, water lovers can splash into the Danube River canal, in the Swiss city of Basel they can bathe in the Rhine, and in Amsterdam there are some designated areas where people can plunge into the canals.

Only in Berlin, swimming has been continuously prohibited in the Spree since May 1925, when the German capital closed all traditional river pools because the water was deemed too toxic. Some of those pools weren't only used for recreational swimming, but were a place for poor people to wash themselves if they didn't have bathrooms at home.

These days, the water is clean on most days, except when there's heavy rain, which leads to some water pollution.

Allowing swimmers to dive into the river would also mean loosening the historical monument protection on some parts of the riverbanks to install easy access ways to the water and places for lifeguards.

Another problem is the busy boat traffic on the Spree that could endanger swimmers. However, for the time being, the Fluss Bad Berlin group only wants to open up nearly 2-kilometer-long (just over a mile-long) canal where there's no boat traffic.

For what it's worth, the German capital, a city of 3.9 million, could definitely need more places where people can cool off in the summer as regular outdoor pools tend to be hopelessly overcrowded on hot summer days.

“The cities are getting hotter,” Edler said. “It's also a question of environmental justice to create offers for people who just can’t make it out of the city when it’s so hot and can enjoy themselves in the countryside.”