Cherry trees tipped to flower early across Japan

Weathernews, a meteorological information company based in Chiba, updated this year's forecast on March 3 for the flowering dates of "someiyoshino" cherry trees in 700 locations across the country.

Weathernews believes that in general cherry trees in wide areas of the country will bloom earlier than its previous forecast, noting that the temperature has been higher than normal since late February.

The company predicted on March 3 that cherry trees will bloom in Fukuoka on March 20 -- the earliest of all 700 locations. On Feb. 18, the firm had predicted that cherry trees would bloom at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine on March 21, the then earliest across the country.