Sakura season officially begins in Tokyo as cherry blossoms bloom at Yasukuni Shrine

Early start for Japan’s favorite springtime event.

There’s nothing about spring that Japan loves more than cherry blossoms, and with the flowers only staying on the trees for a short time after opening, there’s always a buzzing anticipation for when the sakura season will get underway. So on Sunday Tokyoites were happy to receive the official declaration from the Japan Meteorological Agency that sakura are now blooming in Japan’s capital city.

【速報】気象庁　東京できょう｢桜の開花｣を発表https://t.co/sQa8dz3AZU

気象庁は20日午後、東京の桜の開花を発表しました。
午後2時の観測で、千代田区の靖国神社にある桜の標本木に、5輪以上の花が咲いていることが確認され、気象台の職員がその場で「桜の開花」を発表しました。 pic.twitter.com/yMm3T4T6NU

— 日テレNEWS (@news24ntv) March 20, 2022

If you’re wondering what the technical criteria is for declaring the start of sakura season, the agency has a designated cherry blossom tree on the grounds of Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine that it uses as its standard. The tree is a Some-yoshino tree, the most popular (though not the only) kind of cherry blossom, and once a total of 10 buds on its branches open into flowers, the tree is considered in bloom, and its benchmark status is then applied to Tokyo as a whole.

▼ The sakura standard tree at Yasukuni Shrine

桜が開花！でも寒い
何で最近寒いのかなぁ#桜#靖国神社#標本木#開花 pic.twitter.com/72rLnY6FHW

— Snow (@Snowsmow100t) March 21, 2022

This year’s Tokyo blossoming comes four days earlier than average, and six days earlier than 2021’s later-than-usual opening. That doesn’t mean that all the sights of Tokyo are framed in pink petals just yet, though. Like a metaphor for a relaxed spring picnic, the cherry blossoms take their time going from just opened to full bloom, and the agency is currently estimating that they’ll reach full bloom in six to nine days from now.

Source: The Sankei News
Top image: Pakutaso
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