Local authorities in Japan are sacrificing tens of thousands of flowers to deter visitors, as the country attempts to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

Tiptoeing through the tulips or breathing in the scent of roses are popular spring rites in Japan, but there is concern that flower festivals could become the source of new infection clusters.

Last week workers began severing the buds of about 3,000 rose bushes at Yono Park in Saitama, north of Tokyo, in an attempt to keep flower viewers away. The local government had already canceled the annual rose festival, but the park is still open to the public, prompting the decision to rid the venue of its main attraction — 180 varieties of rose bushes that reach their peak from around the middle of May.

“It’s very painful, but we decided to take action after looking at the situation in other cities,” a local official told the Mainichi newspaper, adding that it would take about a week to remove all the buds.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency April 7, encouraging people to avoid unnecessary outings and to observe social distancing. The governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, urged residents in the capital last week to shop for food less frequently to reduce the risk of spreading the virus at supermarkets and shopping arcades, many of which remain crowded.

Koike said the 12 days starting from April 25 — a period that includes the Golden Week public holidays — would be an opportunity for the city’s 13.4 million people to “stay home and save lives.”

The move to prune the roses hasn’t gone down well with some residents.

In Sakura, a town 50 km east of Tokyo, officials razed more than 100,000 tulip stems and canceled its annual festival after crowds defied social distancing guidelines during the coronavirus emergency.

“Many visitors came at the weekend when the flowers were in full bloom,” Sakiho Kusano, a local tourism official, told Reuters. “It became a mass gathering, so we had no choice but to make the decision to cut the flowers.”

Flower lovers will have to wait until next year to see the pink and red tulips carpeting the 7,000-square-meter Sakura Furusato Hiroba venue. The cut flowers have not gone to waste, however. Officials said they had been donated to local kindergartens.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【拱廊】 gǒngláng arcade an arched covered passageway or avenue (as between shops)

【修剪】xiūjiǎn prune cut off branches from a tree, bush, or plant

日本正在努力遏制新冠肺炎疫情。为了阻止游客，地方政府牺牲了数万株鲜花。

在日本，踮着脚走过郁金香花田或呼吸玫瑰的芬芳是春季的热门活动，但是有人担心花卉节会成为新增聚集性感染病例的源头。

为了不让赏花者前来，上周，东京北部埼玉县Yono公园的工作人员开始给约3000株玫瑰剪除花苞。当地政府已经取消了一年一度的玫瑰节，但是公园仍然向公众开放，促使当局做出去除主要景观的决定——180种玫瑰植株将在五月中旬前后迎来盛开期。

一名当地官员告诉《每日新闻》说： “这很让人心痛，但我们观察了其他城市的局势后决定采取这一行动。”他补充说，

剪除所有花苞大约需要一周的时间。

4月7日，日本首相安倍晋三宣布全国进入紧急状态，鼓励人们避免不必要的外出，遵守社交隔离规定。上周，东京都执事小池百合子敦促东京居民减少外出购买食品的次数，以降低在超市和商业街散播病毒的风险。现在，东京的许多购物场所依然人满为患。

小池百合子说，从4月25日开始的12天—— 包括黄金周公共节假日在内 —— 将是东京1340万人口“在家保命”的一个机会。

一些居民不能接受剪除玫瑰的举动。

在东京以东50千米处的佐仓市，官员们剪掉了10万多株郁金香的花朵，并取消了一年一度的郁金香节。此前有许多人去观赏郁金香，不把新冠疫情危机期间的社交隔离指导意见放在眼里。

当地旅游官员草野咲穗告诉路透社说： “郁金香盛开时，周末有许多游客前来。这造成了人员大量聚集，所以我们别无选择，只能决定剪掉郁金香。”

花卉爱好者需要等到明年才能看到佐仓市故里广场7000平方米的花田里开满粉色和红色的郁金香。

不过，剪下的鲜花也没有浪费掉。官员说鲜花被捐给了当地的幼儿园。

(chinadaily.com.cn)