Japanese actor Yano Koji (left) helps pack protective masks he donated to Wuhan. The actor, who worked in China, donated 500 boxes carrying a total 130,000 masks. [Photo/Xinhua]

As a Japanese citizen, Yano Koji, 46, has seen cherry blossoms numerous times in his home country. But now what he longs to see are the cherry blossoms in Wuhan, central China.

"When the novel coronavirus epidemic is over, I will go to Wuhan and enjoy the cherry blossoms while sipping my Japanese seishu (a kind of clear liquor)," he says.

Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province, is the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Yano has appeared in many Chinese TV dramas and is one of the most popular Japanese actors in China. After the outbreak began, he donated 130,000 protective masks to Wuhan. The news went viral and thousands of Chinese web users expressed their gratitude on Sina Weibo.

"I learned about the epidemic from news reports and was very worried," he recalls. He has some friends in Hubei, and his wife's family is in the adjacent Chongqing municipality.

He made the decision to do something to help in the battle against the virus. He met with a friend in Japan who bought protective masks, and helped facilitate their donation to those hardest hit by the virus.

Due to the size of boxes and relevant regulations in Japan, they used as many as 500 boxes to ship the 130,000 masks.

Packing was a hectic endeavor and it took 10 people almost 20 days to complete. He volunteered to help pack the masks whenever he was not working.