This year's cherry blossoms reached full bloom at record speed. At famous spots near Palaceside Building in Takebashi, Tokyo — Kitanomaru Park, Chidorigafuchi, Yasukuni Shrine — hanami visitors are already enjoying spring, admiring flowers that blanket the sky. The cherry blossom front is moving north fast; Tokyo's blossoms seem likely to scatter within this month.
Travel agencies that planned cherry-viewing tours for an abnormally early peak are scrambling for countermeasures. Cancellations from booked guests are coming one after another, causing headaches, they say. Companies that used to send new hires to reserve hanami spots are holding hanami earlier or canceling — jokes like "new hires have nothing left to do" are making the rounds.
Tomorrow, the 27th, is "Cherry Blossom Day," established by the Japan Sakura Association. It falls on "Sakura-hajime" (cherry blossoms begin to open) in the 72 micro-seasons that divide each of the 24 solar terms into three periods of about five days, and was set in 1992 (Heisei 4) by the association from the wordplay 27 = 3 × 9 (sakura). The association also plants and protects cherry trees, preserves famous sites, and honors "Sakura Contributors." Among the association's "100 Famous Sakura Sites in Japan," Tokyo includes Chidorigafuchi Green Way along with Ueno Park and Sumida Park.
Most trees covered by the Japan Meteorological Agency's flowering forecasts and full-bloom reports at famous sites nationwide are Somei-Yoshino, but in Okinawa Prefecture it is Hikan-zakura. In Wakkanai, Asahikawa, and Abashiri in Hokkaido it is Ezo-yamazakura; in Nemuro, Chishima-zakura. Peak viewing gradually shifts north; even in Hokkaido, lowlands are mostly finished by May. But Chishima-zakura on the north side of the Asahidake Ropeway parking lot at 1,200 m elevation at Daisetsuzan Asahidake Onsen blooms from mid- to late June — Japan's latest cherry blossom. Growing in harsh cold, it does not grow very tall. Local people enjoy Japan's latest hanami with Genghis Khan barbecue to match the bloom, they say.