Photo/Illutration The rose garden is crowded with visitors at Nakanoshima Park in Osaka’s Kita Ward on May 23. (Tatsuro Kanai)

Crowds of people were out enjoying a local favorite snack and smelling the roses on the first weekend after the state of emergency was lifted for Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures. 

In Osaka’s Minami district popular with young people, Kogaryu, a store selling "takoyaki" (octopus dumplings), served an endless stream of customers grabbing the tasty treat on May 23. 

After a state of emergency was declared for Osaka Prefecture in April, the store cut its operating hours. The shorter hours resulted in daily sales plunging to less than 20,000 yen ($187) on some weekdays, compared with 200,000 yen or so before.

But on May 22, the day after the emergency declaration was lifted, daily sales rebounded to 70,000 yen.

“People are finally coming back,” said Yoshihiro Tanaka, the president of the store. “It is nice to see customers smiling.”

In Nakanoshima Park in Osaka's Kita Ward, roses are at their finest in bloom. Many visitors took pictures of roses in the park, described as an oasis in an urban center. The park was packed with people of all ages.

A 45-year-old company employee who visited the park with three children said, “Being here feels great as we had refrained from going out.”

He said the crowd at the park is as large as before the state of emergency was declared.

A 71-year-old man said he is appreciating being out after having stayed home for so many days.

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