Photos: Cherry Blossoms bloom early in Japan as climate warms
Japan sees the earliest cherry blossoms on record this year, linking the early sakura season to the world's warming climate.
Japan sees the earliest cherry blossoms on record this year, linking the early sakura season to the world's warming climate. In the ancient capital of Kyoto, cherry blossoms hit their peak on March 26 -- 10 days sooner than average and the earliest since the government started taking records in 1953. Most of these designated trees are of the best-known and beloved Yoshino variety -- known for its white-pink flowers that bloom for about two weeks then fall in showers of small confetti-like petals. Japan's sakura or cherry blossom season is traditionally celebrated with hanami, or viewing parties, with picnics -- and sometimes boozy festivities -- organised beneath the trees. But this year gatherings have been discouraged to reduce the spread of coronavirus cases.
Children play next to a blooming cherry tree at a park in Tokyo, Japan, on March 31. According to the Japanese national weather agency cherry trees in the country are reaching full bloom in record time this year, linking the early sakura season to the world's warming climate, AFP reported.(Kim Kyung-Hoon / REUTERS)
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Visitors take pictures on a bridge as cherry blossoms bloom over Meguro River, in Tokyo, on March 28. "Our studies have shown that the start of cherry blossom season is closely linked with the average temperature in February and March," Shunji Ambe, a Japan Meteorological Agency official, told AFP.(Kiichiro Sato / AP)
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Cherry blossoms and the Tokyo Skytree, Japan's tallest structure at 634 meters (2,080 feet), in Tokyo on April 1. "Our observations of plant life show that spring phenomena (such as cherry and plum blossoms) tend to take place earlier, while autumn phenomena are delayed," Ambe added.(Charly Triballeau / AFP)
A woman wearing a face mask carries a dog while she photographs it under cherry blossoms in Tokyo, on March 26.(Eugene Hoshiko / AP)
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Commuters walk under cherry blossoms, in Tokyo, on March 26. On average, Tokyo's cherry trees reach full bloom on April 2. This year the capital's cherry blossom peaked on March 22, a day slower than the earliest logged in 2002, AFP reported.(Eugene Hoshiko / AP)
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Before crossing over the border at Attari-Wagah border check post, a Pakistan woman (R) bids a teary goodbye to her baby, an Indian citizen, after she was not allowed to accompany her following curbs imposed at the border in wake of Pahalgam terror attack.
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Pakistani citizen Sarita Kanwer consoles her mother, Priya Kanwer, who is an Indian citizen and who couldn't accompany Sarita and her father, as they prepare to leave India after India revoked visas issued to Pakistani citizens.
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US First Lady Melania Trump, center, and US President Donald Trump walk on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, April 25, 2025. The Trump administration is putting pressure on Europe to ditch a rulebook that would compel developers of advanced artificial intelligence to follow stricter standards of transparency, risk-mitigation and copyright rules. Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg
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Agra: US Vice President JD Vance with wife Usha and their three children, sons Ewan and Vivek and daughter Mirabel, during a visit to the Taj Mahal, in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (PTI Photo) (PTI04_23_2025_000089B)
