Cherry blossom season arrives in Tokyo, 5 days earlier than average year
Cherry blossoms appeared on Thursday in central Tokyo, five days earlier than in the average year, the weather agency said, Kyodo reports.
It usually takes about a week for the blossoms to reach their peak, but blooming could accelerate if temperatures remain high.
A Japan Meteorological Agency official confirmed dozens of blossoms blossoming in a 2 p.m. inspection of a sample tree of the "Somei Yoshino" variety at Yasukuni shrine, which serves as the agency's blooming reference in the capital. It needs more than five or six blooms to make the announcement.
Private weather service company Weathernews Inc. predicts that cherry trees across eastern and western Japan will flower within this month. Blossoms will appear in the southern part of the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan in early April and in Hokkaido by late April.
Earlier, it was reported that the first cherry blossom of 2026 was confirmed in Japan’s Kofu, Gifu, and Kochi.
