Prime Minister Abe decided to cancel the viewing of the cherry blossoms in April 2020 after criticizing the waste of public funds.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government plans to use public funds to hold a cherry blossom viewing party next April in Tokyo's Shinjuku Gyoen National Park. This is an annual event held since 1952 to honor those with outstanding political achievements.

However, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said yesterday that Prime Minister Abe ordered the cancellation of the cherry blossom viewing party in 2020, after opposition politicians accused the government of inviting too many supporters. Attend events, increase costs.

The Japanese government aims to invite 10,000 guests to the flower viewing event, but the number of visitors this year to 18,000. The opposition said 850 of them were members of the Yamaguchi prefectural delegation, living 1,000 kilometers away from the event venue.

The total cost for the flower viewing event in 2019 increased to 55 million yen ($ 504,000), much higher than the cost of 30 million yen 5 years ago.

Prime Minister Abe denied allegations related to the guest list, arguing that the government, especially the Cabinet Office and the Secretariat, decided the guest list was based on proposals from ministries.

However, some Cabinet members, including Education Minister Koichi Hagiuda and Health Minister Katsunobu Kato, admitted to inviting a number of supporters to attend the flower viewing event.

See the cherry blossoms, which usually bloom only about two weeks in the spring, is a popular cultural activity in Japan. People throughout Japan often go to the park to see flowers and enjoy a special dish about cherries on this occasion.