Last cherry blossoms of the season announced in Hokkaido; It took four months for the flowers to spread across Japan

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 at the observation sites monitored by the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The first blossoms of the year were observed on January 5 on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture. Over the next four months, they spread across the country before reaching Kushiro this week.

An employee at the Kushiro office confirmed around 3:30 PM on Friday that more than five flowers had opened on a designated cherry tree in a park in the city.

This is 13 days earlier than usual for Kushiro and marks the second-earliest last bloom since 1972, when sightings began in the city. The earliest was last year, when flowering took place on May 1.