Japan cuts 100,000 tulips to keep the coronavirus distance
A man wearing a mask sits at a bench near uncut tulips after over 100,000 tulips were cut off to avoid people visiting the Sakura Furusato Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Sakura, Chiba prefecture in Japan, April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Flower lovers in Japan will have to wait until next year to tip-toe through the tulips after a park razed more than 100,000 stems to comply with social-distancing rules to help control the coronavirus.
Officials in the city of Sakura, 50 km east of Tokyo, mowed the tulip beds at "Sakura Furusato Hiroba" and cancelled an annual tulip festival to discourage people from congregating after a coronavirus emergency was declared last week.
"Many visitors came on the weekend when the flowers were in full bloom. It became a mass gathering so we had no choice but to make the decision to cut the flowers," said Sakiho Kusano, a city tourism official.
Children run past an empty field after over 100,000 tulips were cut off to avoid people visiting the Sakura Furusato Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Sakura, Chiba prefecture in Japan, April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Japan's tally of coronavirus infections stood at 11,500 on Wednesday.
Despite the absence of the pink and red flowers that usually carpet the 7,000-square-metre tulip gardens at this time of year, the park is drawing a smattering of visitors.
"It's very, very, very unfortunate. My mood sank when I saw this," 77-year-old visitor Misako Yonekubo said on Wednesday.
A woman takes photos of a field in the Sakura Furusato Square after over 100,000 tulips were cut off to avoid people visiting, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Sakura, Chiba prefecture in Japan, April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
The cut flowers were donated to kindergartens.
(Reporting by Akira Tomoshige, Akiko Okamoto; Writing by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Robert Birsel)
A worker dismantles a pathway in a field in the Sakura Furusato Square after over 100,000 tulips were cut off to avoid people visiting, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Sakura, Chiba prefecture in Japan, April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-HoonStalks of tulips are seen on the ground in the Sakura Furusato Square after over 100,000 tulips were cut off to avoid people visiting, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Sakura, Chiba prefecture in Japan, April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-HoonA lone stalk stands in a field in the Sakura Furusato Square after over 100,000 tulips were cut off to avoid people visiting, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Sakura, Chiba prefecture in Japan, April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-HoonStalks of tulips are laid on the ground in the Sakura Furusato Square after over 100,000 tulips were cut off to avoid people visiting, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Sakura, Chiba prefecture in Japan, April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-HoonA girl runs past a lone tulip in the Sakura Furusato Square after over 100,000 tulips were cut off to avoid people visiting, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Sakura, Chiba prefecture in Japan, April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-HoonStalks of tulips lie on the ground in the Sakura Furusato Square after over 100,000 tulips were cut off to avoid people visiting, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Sakura, Chiba prefecture in Japan, April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-HoonTwo lone tulips are seen in the Sakura Furusato Square after over 100,000 tulips were cut off to avoid people visiting, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Sakura, Chiba prefecture in Japan, April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
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