The first sign of spring in Japan is when the TV weather anchor pulls up the national cherry blossom forecast map. From that point on, every weather report will track the progress of cherry bloom across the country until the last petals open.
Japan sits fairly north-south, so the first of the flowers, known for their exquisite yet fleeting beauty, will appear in the south in late March, then work their way up to Hokkaido by early May (that’s ignoring tropical Okinawa where they bloom long before in January).
