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Tokyo – Japanese official cherry blossom viewers confirmed the first bloom of the country’s favorite flower on Monday, announcing the official start of the Japanese Capital Festival.
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An official from the Japan Meteorological Bureau carefully examined some kind of Gino Mountain specimen tree at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo and announced that more than five flowers (the announced minimum) were blooming.
According to JMA, the opening matches the average year, five days earlier than last year.
Sakura or “cherry blossom” is Japan’s favorite flower, usually peaking from late March to early April, just as the country celebrates the beginning of a new school and business year. Many Japanese people like to take a walk or have a picnic under the trees.
Sakura has deeply influenced Japanese culture for centuries and is often used in poetry and literature, with its vulnerability seen as a symbol of life, death and rebirth.
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In Tokyo’s announcement, enjoying warmer temperatures than the average of 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit), confirmed on Sunday in the southwest city of Shikokoku, the country’s first cherry blossom bloom just one day later.
JMA has tracked over 50 “benchmark” cherry trees nationwide. Trees usually take about two weeks a year from the first bud to the trees where all flowers fall. They are expected to peak in about 10 days.
Cherry trees are sensitive to temperature changes, and the time they bloom can provide valuable data for climate change research.
In recent years, cherry blossom seasons in Japan have tended to be earlier than average, raising concerns about the possible impact of climate change.
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