Her era cherry blossomthe traditional sign of the start of spring Japan, is increasingly early in recent decades. Systematic records of the start of cherry blossoms in Kyoto began 1,200 years ago. Records from Kyoto date back to 812 AD. in documents and diaries of the imperial court.

This year, 2023, in the city of Kyoto, the cherry blossoms fully bloomed on March 24th, marking the earliest cherry blossoms in Kyoto since records began in 812 AD. Two years ago (2021), the second earliest bloom on record was recorded on March 26, 2021. The increasingly earlier blooms in recent decades are linked to the increasing temperature of the planet, and the Far East region in particular.

In the graph below (see figure 1) prepared by Climatebook with data from the Japanese National Agency “Japanese Global Environment”, all the records of the start of cherry blossoms in the city of Kyoto since 812 AD are presented. until today. The black curve shows the 50-year rolling average, and the movement of the flowering period towards March is characteristically seen.

The sakura blossoms

The blossoms, “sakura” in Japanese, only last a few days, but their appearance is very important, both economically and culturally. Friends and families meet under their shade, and the internet is flooded with photos every year as hundreds of thousands of tourists visit Kyoto.

“In Kyoto, records of the timing of cherry blossom festival celebrations dating back to the 9th century reconstruct past climate and demonstrate local warming associated with global warming and urbanization,” according to earlier work published in the scientific journal Biological.

Yasuyuki Aono, a researcher at Osaka Prefectural University, tracked the data back to 812.

“I have searched and collected the phenological data for the full flowering date of cherry (Prunus jamasakura) from many diaries and chronicles written by emperors, aristocrats, governors and monks in Kyoto during the historical era,” he wrote.

Phenology is the study of seasons and recurring biological events. Since about 1800, the data suggest that the start date of flowering in Kyoto gradually moves from mid-April to the beginning of the month.

Cherries Japan