TOKYO: Somei-Yoshino cherry trees monitored in Tokyo, Kyoto in western Japan and six other cities in the country started to bloom Friday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The sample tree in Tokyo, at Yasukuni Shrine in the capital’s Chiyoda Ward, began to flower five days later than the average year. Blossoming came later than the average year for the first time in 10 years.

Last year, the tree at the shrine started flowering March 14, the earliest on record along with 2020 and 2021. This year, flowering came 15 days later than last year.

On Friday, flowering began in the cities of Kagoshima, Saga, Shimonoseki, Takamatsu, Tottori and Kofu, in addition to Tokyo and Kyoto.

The western city of Kochi saw the earliest cherry tree blooming in Japan this spring, on Saturday last week. In the country, blossoming this year was initially expected to come early due to warm winter, but many places saw flowering start later than last year or the average year as cold weather returned this month.

Among major cities, cherry blossoms started blooming Wednesday in Fukuoka and Thursday in Nagoya.

JIJI Press