Cherry blossoms reach full bloom in Tokyo

March 28, 2019

Tokyo--A Somei-Yoshino cherry tree monitored in Tokyo came into full bloom on Wednesday, becoming the first such sample tree to do this in Japan this year, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The tree, located at Yasukuni Shrine in Chiyoda Ward of the Japanese capital, started flowering last Thursday, along with monitored Somei-Yoshino trees in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, and the southwestern city of Fukuoka.

This year, the monitored tree in Tokyo reached full bloom on the fifth-earliest date since statistics began in 1953, seven days earlier than usual and three days later than in the previous year.

The earliest date of the tree's full bloom was March 21, 2002.

The cherry tree at the shrine was "in half bloom two days ago," Rumi Sasaki, a 47-year-old nurse from Tokyo's Taito Ward, said. "I came here, expecting that it would be in full bloom today. It's so beautiful," she said with a smile.

Masayuki Okuyama, a 50-year-old resident of Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, who was taking pictures of cherry trees near the shrine, said, "It's good to see the tree bloom beautifully in the last spring of the current Heisei era."

Heisei is set to end on April 30, when Emperor Akihito abdicates, and the next era is scheduled to start on May 1, in line with the enthronement of Crown Prince Naruhito, the eldest son of the current Emperor. The name of the next era will be announced on Monday.

A 22-year-old Yokohama man, a member of the Self-Defense Forces, said, "I hope that we'll continue communicating the attractions of Japan to the world through cherry blossoms in the new era," noting that many foreigners are coming to Japan to view cherry blossoms. Jiji Press