Cherry Blossom at Ueno Park, Tokyo.
It’s only the start of the year, and the Japan Meteorological Corporation is already thinking about spring, and they just dropped the first Cherry Blossom official forecast for 2024. According to their early predictions, cherry blossoms across most parts of Japan will show up around the usual time, but in some spots, they might see them a few days earlier.
Blame it all on the warmer-than-usual fall temperatures – they messed up the crucial cold period needed for Japan’s cherry blossoms, delaying the bud development by about a week. But don’t worry because the warmer temperatures from January to March should help speed things up.
In Tokyo, cherry blossoms are expected to start showing off on March 23 and reaching full bloom by March 30 – a day earlier than usual. Meanwhile, in Kyoto, the cherry blossoms are expected to start on March 23, three days earlier than the usual schedule, with the peak bloom anticipated around April 1.
Now, Osaka is most likely to start flowering around March 25, with full bloom syncing with Kyoto on April 1. As for the northernmost Hokkaido prefecture, they will be the last to see cherry blossoms. Sapporo is anticipated to start seeing on May 2, with full bloom expected on May 6, right on the usual schedule.
Next update from the Japan Meteorological Corporation is on February 25, so stay tuned for more details. Until then, you can continue enjoying snow getaways this winter!
Source: https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/the-official-japan-cherry-blossom-forecast-for-2024-is-out-now-011124