News On Japan

Japan cherry blossom forecast 2019! Sakura coming earlier than usual to Tokyo

Jan 17 (soranews24.com) - Japan’s most beloved flowers are often associated with April, but they’ll be at their most beautiful in Tokyo before that, says forecast.

With Christmas and New Year’s over, it’s time to start looking forward to spring, and in Japan, that means looking forward to cherry blossoms. Sure, we got a sneak preview thanks to some unusual weather back in October, but the true sakura season doesn’t start until April…or wait, is it March? May? As beautiful as Japan’s cherry blossoms are, they’re also tremendously fickle as to when they’ll make their appearance. Thankfully, though, the Japan Meteorological Corporation has just released its forecast of when the flowers are expected to bloom this year, with March 18 being the first predicted date for sakura to bloom (outside of tropical Okinawa Prefecture).

That March 18 debut date, however, is for Kochi, on the island of Shikoku. If you’re looking to get your sakura fix in Japan’s capital, March 22 is when the cherry blossoms will start to bloom in Tokyo, Japan Meteorological Corporation says, which is four days earlier than average for the city. On the other hand if you want to see sakura in Japan’s previous capital, Kyoto, you’ll need to wait until March 25.

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