Sakura expected to reach full bloom earlier than last year in all regions of Japan but one.

Fittingly for such delicately beautiful flowers, the timing with which Japan’s cherry blossoms bloom isn’t a set-in-stone sort of deal. Instead, sakura predictions have to be repeatedly refined as we get closer to the start of spring, and we’re now close enough that meteorologists can forecasting not only when the sakura will appear, but the equally important dates at which they’ll reach full bloom in each part of Japan, which look to be notably earlier than last year, in some places by as much as a full week.

Let’s start at the beginning, though, with a look at Japanese weather forecasting service Weather News’ latest prediction map showing the expected first opening of cherry blossom buds in the country’s major municipalities.

The March 21 forecast date for the first blooming in Tokyo is holding steady, but a few other parts of Japan are now expected to see earlier opening dates, including relatively early bloomer Kagoshima in Kyushu.

Akita (秋田): April 13
Aomori (青森): April 18
Kagoshima (鹿児島): March 25 (2 days earlier than previous prediction)
Kanazawa (金沢): April 1
Kushiro (釧路): May 7
Nagano (長野): April 6 (1 day earlier than previous prediction)
Nagoya (名古屋): March 24
Niigata (新潟): April 5 (1 day earlier than previous prediction)
Osaka (大阪): March 26
Sapporo (札幌): April 24
Sendai (仙台): April 4
Tokyo (仙台): March 21

Zooming in to the regional maps, we see that predictions are holding pretty consistent in many other spots as well, with scattered updates shifting the expected start-of-blossoming dates up or back by a few days. In the chillier areas of Hokkaido and the Hokuriku and Tohoku regions, however, first-blooming predictions have been moved back by about a half week since the last forecast in late January.

▼ Kyushu first-bloom forecast: Fukuoka (福岡), Saga, (佐賀), Oita (大分), Nagasaki (長崎), Miyazaki (宮崎), Kumamoto (熊本), and Kagoshima (鹿児島)

▼ Chugoku/Shikoku first-bloom forecast: Shimonoseki (下関), Hiroshima (広島), Matsue (松江), Tottori (鳥取), Matsuyama (松山), Kochi (高知), Takamatsu (高松), Tokushima (徳島), and Okayama (岡山)

▼ Kansai/Kinki first-bloom forecast: Kobe (神戸), Wakayama (和歌山), Osaka (大阪), Nara (奈良), Kyoto (京都), and Hikone (彦根)

▼ Tokai first-bloom forecast: Tsu (津), Gifu (岐阜), Nagoya (名古屋), and Shizuoka (静岡)

▼ Hokuriku first-bloom forecast: Fukui (福井), Kanazawa (金沢), Toyama (富山), and Niigata (新潟)

▼ Kanto/Koshin first-bloom forecast: Nagano (長野), Kofu (甲府), Maebashi (前橋), Yokohama (横浜), Tokyo (東京), Choshi (銚子), Kumagaya (熊谷), Mito (水戸), and Utsunomiya (宇都宮)

▼ Tohoku first-bloom forecast: Aomori (青森), Akita (秋田), Morioka (盛岡), Yamagata (山形), Sendai (仙台), and Fukushima (福島)

▼ Hokkaido first-bloom forecast: Sapporo (札幌), Wakkanai (稚内), Asahikawa (旭川), Abashiri (網走), Kushiro (釧路), Obihiro (帯広), Muroran (室蘭), and Hakodate (函館)

But while all of Japan eagerly waits for the return of the sakura, the flowers themselves take their sweet time, and it’s not until a while after the buds open that the cherry blossoms reach full bloom and start really turning the country pink. Thankfully, we now have predictions for a number of full-bloom (or makai, as the condition is called in Japanese) dates too! Specifically, these are the predicted full-bloom dates for the Somei Yoshino variety of cherry blossom, the most prevalent and iconic sakura species, in each city, and pretty much all other parts of Japan are expected to reach full quite a bit earlier than they did last year. Tokyo’s projected full-blooms date is March 28, a full week earlier than last year, and Kyoto’s full-bloom forecast of April 2 is earlier than last year too.

● Full-bloom forecast for Kyushu
Fukuoka: March 30 (3 days earlier than last year)
Oita: April 1 (4 days earlier than last year)
Nagasaki: March 30 (3 days earlier than last year)
Saga: March 31 (2 days earlier than last year)
Kumamoto: March 30 (3 days earlier than last year)
Miyazaki: April 1 (2 days earlier than last year)
Kagoshima: April 4 (8 days earlier than last year)

● Full-bloom forecast for Chugoku/Shikoku
Okayama: April 2(3 days earlier than last year)
Hiroshima: March 31 (5 days earlier than last year)
Matsue: April 4 (1 days later than last year)
Tottori: April 4 (2 days earlier than last year)
Shimonoseki: April 3 (2 days earlier than last year)
Takamatsu: April 4 (1 day earlier than last year)
Tokushima: April 4 (2 days earlier than last year)
Matsuyama: April 2 (3 days earlier than last year)
Kochi: March 29 (2 days earlier than last year)

● Full-bloom forecast for Kansai/Kinki
Hikone: April 7 (2 days earlier than last year)
Kyoto: April 2 (3 days earlier than last year)
Osaka: April 2 (4 days earlier than last year)
Kobe: April 3 (4 days earlier than last year)
Nara: April 5 (3 days earlier than last year)
Wakayama: March 31 (3 days earlier than last year)

● Full-bloom forecast for Tokai
Shizuoka: April 2 (6 days earlier than last year)
Nagoya: April 3 (4 days earlier than last year)
Gifu: April 3 (1 day earlier than last year)
Tsu: April 3 (1 day later than last year)

● Full-bloom forecast for Hokuriku
Niigata: April 9 (2 days earlier than last year)
Toyama: April 7 (3 days earlier than last year)
Kanazawa: April 7 (1 day earlier than last year)
Fukui: April 5 (1 day earlier than last year)

● Full-bloom forecast for Kanto and Koshin
Mito: April 4 (4 days earlier than last year)
Utsunomiya: April 6 (5 days earlier than last year)
Maebashi: April 4 (4 days earlier than last year)
Kumagaya: April 2 (6 days earlier than last year)
Tokyo: March 28 (7 days earlier than last year)
Choshi: April 3 (4 days earlier than last year)
Yokohama: March 29 (9 days earlier than last year)
Nagano: April 11 (2 days earlier than last year)
Kofu: April 3 (2 days earlier than last year)

● Full-bloom forecast for Hokkaido and Tohoku
Sapporo: April 28 (4 days later than last year)
Hakodate: April 26 (3 days later than last year)
Aomori: April 22 (4 days later than last year)
Akita: April 17 (3 days later than last year)
Morioka: April 18 (4 days later than last year)
Sendai: April 9
Yamagata: April 13 (3 days later than last year)
Fukushima: April 7

While the earlier than usual forecast might have some people scrambling to move up their cherry blossom-viewing plans, at least those up in the northern parts of Japan have a little extra time to prepare. And even if it turns out that you’re going to miss the full bloom, don’t despair, because the tail-end of sakura season has its own special beauty too.

Source: Weather News
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso (1, 2)
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