People in Japan enjoyed outside activities on Saturday, as the country marked the first weekend since its state of emergency over the COVID-19 epidemic was fully lifted on Monday.

Colorful windsurfing sails appeared off a beach near Enoshima Island in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo.

"During the stay-at-home period, we put a pool on the balcony, but the sea is much better," said Naoko Yamanoi, 42, who came from Yokohama, Kanagawa's capital city, with her 8-year-old daughter.

"I hope she (the daughter) will play to her heart's content before her school is reopened" after being closed for the epidemic, Yamanoi said, adding that the school's summer break is expected to be shortened due to the closure.

Kazuma Fujiwara, 24, an employee of a seafood restaurant in Enoshima, said the number of visitors on the day was about 40 pct of normal-year levels. "We hope more customers will come back, but the outlook is uncertain," he said.

The Owakudani hot spring district in the town of Hakone, Kanagawa, was reopened on Saturday, with parking areas there fully occupied as of around 2 p.m. (5 a.m. GMT) while about 50 people lining up before a local specialty shop.

"I feel refreshed in this natural environment," said a 44-year-old corporate employee from the neighboring prefecture of Shizuoka. "I want to make longer trips, so I wish the epidemic will end soon."

Mount Takao in the city of Hachioji, western Tokyo, saw many climbers on the day.

According to a local mountain railway operator, around 10,000 climbers visit the mountain every weekend day in normal years. The number of visitors is "gradually recovering but still staying at around 20 pct of the usual level," stationmaster Shinya Machida said.

A company employee, 47, from Tokyo's Nakano Ward said he chose to visit the nearby mountain, refraining from traveling out of Tokyo.

The man said he took an early-morning train to come to the mountain, and saw drunk passengers in the train. "I'm worried that infections may increase again," he said.

JIJI Press