Last Cherry Blossoms Of The Season Announced In Hokkaido; Flowers Took Four Months To Spread Across Japan

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:07 JST, May 4, 2024

The local meteorological office in Kushiro, Hokkaido, announced the appearance of cherry blossoms in the city on Friday, May 3, marking the last bloom of the season among the observation sites monitored by the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The year’s first blossoms were spotted on Okinawa Prefecture’s Miyako Island on Jan. 5. Over the next four months they spread across the country before reaching Kushiro this week.

A staff member at the Kushiro office confirmed at about 3:30 p.m. on Friday that more than five flowers had opened on a designated specimen cherry tree at a park in the city.

This is 13 days earlier than usual for Kushiro and marks the second earliest final bloom since 1972, when observations began in the city. The earliest was last year, when blooming occurred on May 1.