https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56574142 BBC Homepage * Skip to content * Accessibility Help * BBC Account * Home * News * Sport * Reel * Worklife * Travel * Future * Culture * MenuMore Search * Home * News * Sport * Reel * Worklife * Travel * Future * Culture * Music * TV * Weather * Sounds Close menu BBC News Menu * Home * Coronavirus * Video * World * US & Canada * UK * Business * Tech * Science * Stories * Entertainment & Arts More * Health * In Pictures * Reality Check * World News TV * Newsbeat * Long Reads * Asia * China * India Japan's cherry blossom 'earliest peak since 812' Published 11 hours ago Share close Share page Copy link About sharing Related Topics * Climate change Couple pose for pictures with cherry blossoms in full bloom (Tokyo, 28 March)image copyrightBEHROUZ MEHRI The cherry blossom season, Japan's traditional sign of spring, has peaked at the earliest date since records began 1,200 years ago, research shows. The 2021 season in the city of Kyoto peaked on 26 March, according to data collected by Osaka University. Increasingly early flowerings in recent decades are likely to be as a result of climate change, scientists say. The records from Kyoto go back to 812 AD in imperial court documents and diaries. The city has experienced an unusually warm spring this year. The previous record there was set in 1409, when the season reached its peak on 27 March. The blossoms, "sakura" in Japanese, last only for a few days, but their appearance is tremendously important, both economically and culturally. Friends and family get together, and Instagram is awash with pictures. * Japan cherry blossom season wilted by coronavirus The dataset for cherry blossom season in Japan is especially valuable because it goes back so far. "In Kyoto, records of the timing of celebrations of cherry blossom festivals going back to the 9th Century reconstruct the past climate and demonstrate the local increase in temperature associated with global warming and urbanisation," according to an earlier paper published in the scientific journal Biological Conservation. Graphic of peak cherry blossom day in Kyoto from 812 to 2021 1px transparent line Yasuyuki Aono, a researcher at Osaka Prefecture University, has tracked the data back to 812. "I have searched and collected the phenological data for full flowering date of cherry tree (Prunus jamasakura) from many diaries and chronicles written by emperors, aristocrats, governors and monks at Kyoto in historical time," he wrote. Phenology is the study of seasons and recurring biological events. Since about 1800, the data suggest the peak date in Kyoto has gradually been moving back from mid-April towards the beginning of the month. Women in Tokyo during cherry blossom season (file pic - 2018)image copyrightGetty Images image captionCherry blossom season is a national highlight in Japan The progress of the cherry blossom season is closely monitored, with the Japanese Meteorological Agency issuing forecasts of the first flowers and the peak of the season. This year, the season began in Hiroshima on 11 March, eight days earlier than the previous record, which was set in 2004, according to Japan Forward. You may also be interested in: media captionPicnicking in Tokyo's Ueno Park to mark Japan's cherry blossom season Related Topics * Japan * Climate change More on this story * Japan cherry blossom season wilted by coronavirus Published 20 March 2020 Top Stories * Teenager apologises to Floyd 'for not doing more' Derek Chauvin's trial hears gripping testimony from young witnesses to George Floyd's death. 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