Spring officially arrived in Tokyo yesterday as Japan’s weather agency declared the start of the cherry blossom season, prompting viewers to party under the trees with cherry-related items flooding the capital.
Forecasters watching trees at Yasukuni Shrine said the city’s first blossoms had appeared, marking the beginning of two weeks in which Tokyo’s parks, temple grounds, schools and streets will explode in pinks and whites.
The meteorological agency said this year’s first blossoms appeared nine days earlier than average. “Warm temperatures in late February and early March hastened the growth of buds,” an agency official told reporters to the cheers of visitors at the shrine in central Tokyo.
The story hit the headlines with Jiji Press reporting it as breaking news, while weather forecast companies compete to give the most accurate prediction on major cities’ first
blossoms.
Early blooming cherry blossoms are seen in Tokyo, yesterday.
