An annual cherry blossom festival has delighted crowds in western Tokyo's Tama City, and highlighted those helping victims of the massive earthquake on New Year's Day.

Many visitors took photos of the 300-meter stretch of road lined with cherry trees leading from Seiseki Sakuragaoka station.

A stall set up in Kuzuryu Park offered udon noodles and sweets containing greens from the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. The products were made at a workshop in Nanao City, which suffered extensive damage from the disaster. A display featured photos of local university students working as volunteers in the quake-hit city.

A woman in her 70s said she thinks it is important to keep people suffering in her thoughts, as it would be difficult for her to actually go there to help them.