Japan cherry blossom forecast shows early April as best viewing period

Japan's cherry blossoms are expected to come out in Tokyo, Nagoya and Kyushu around the last week of March this year, with the best viewing in early April, weather information company Weather Map Co. has predicted.

Due to a slightly warmer winter in the Kanto region and areas further west, which slows the dormancy break, the growth of blossom buds appears to have been a little slower than normal. The effects of the warm winter appear to be particularly pronounced in western Japan. As a result, cherry blossoms are expected to come out in a single burst in late March in the Kanto region and further west, the company predicted on its website.

Weather Map predicted that blossoms would come out around March 26 in Tokyo, March 27 in Nagoya, March 29 in Kyoto and March 26 in Fukuoka, and be in full bloom around April 2 in Tokyo, April 5 in Nagoya, and April 6 in Kyoto and Fukuoka.

In the south of the Tohoku region, the blossoms are expected to come out around the same time as normal, in early to mid-April. Predictions for the north of the Tohoku region and Hokkaido were to be announced later in February.