A few days ago, the Meteorological Agency finally announced its forecast of when the cherry trees will come into bloom in this year. It’s March 20 in Tokyo, the agency expected. It’s a pleasure to watch the buds of cherry trees becoming bigger day by day from now on. It’s still cold in February, but spring is just around the corner.
I took a picture of cherry blossom buds in the ground of my apartment yesterday. It still seems to be tightly closed. My town is located 40 km north-east of Tokyo, near Narita International Airport. It’s a bit cooler than downtown Tokyo, so flowering is usually a few days later. I’d like to report the situation of cherry blossom buds now and then.
In this season, my tours in Tokyo, Kamakura, Hakone, and Nikko include some great cherry blossoms viewing spots. If you are planning to travel around Tokyo from the end of March to April, please contact me. Let’s enjoy cherry blossom viewing together walking around popular spots. By the way, flowering forecasts in other areas are as follows. Kamakura, the end of March; Hakone, the first of April; Nikko, the end of April.
In conclusion, the flowering dates in those areas are decided by the goddess of cherry blossoms, not by the Meteorological Agency, and as you know she is often capricious.
