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Forecast shows you might need to move your cherry blossom plans in Japan up by a few days<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019ve got close to two months left to go until cherry blossom season<\/strong> starts in Japan, but we\u2019re already keeping our eyes on the sakura. That\u2019s because in addition to being some of Japan\u2019s most beautiful flowers, the sakura only bloom for a short time, so knowing when this year\u2019s batch will first appear is a key piece of information for floral fans making plans to go see them.<\/p>\n The first sakura forecast for 2026<\/a> came in from Japanese meteorological organization Weathernews earlier this month, but the timing of the fickle flowers\u2019 blossoming is easily affected by changing weather patterns, and now an updated forecast, complete with more detailed, zoomed-in prediction maps, has been released<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Starting with the nationwide map, we can see that the predicted starting dates of sakura blooming have been moved up in many parts of southern and western Japan<\/strong>. Though there\u2019s still no city forecast to have sakura buds opening earlier than Tokyo<\/strong> on March 21<\/strong>, the flowers are now expected to start blossoming that very same day in Fukuoka<\/strong>, the largest city on Japan\u2019s southwestern island of Kyushu.<\/p>\n The other cities listed on the above map are: Also, while not indicated on the above map, the predicted date for Kyoto<\/strong> is March 26<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Putting a finer point on the predictions, Weathernews has also released specific forecasts for some of Japan\u2019s most famous, popular, and beautiful cherry blossom viewing venues<\/strong>. Of particular note, the sakura in Ueno Park, Tokyo\u2019s most famous cherry blossom spot, aren\u2019t expected to appear until March 22.<\/p>\n Maizuru Park (\u821e\u9db4\u516c\u5712)<\/strong> (Fukuoka City): March 21 While major metropolitan areas disrupt the pattern here and there, for the most part cherry blossoms start blooming in the southwest, where the climate is warmer, and gradually make their way northeast towards the comparatively cooler parts of Japan. The zoomed-in regional maps<\/strong> included with the new predictions let you track the progression of the so-called sakura front, helping you time your visit to coincide with the cherry blossoms or even chase the front across Japan.<\/p>\n \u25bc Kyushu forecast: <\/strong>Fukuoka (\u798f\u5ca1), Saga, (\u4f50\u8cc0), Nagasaki (\u9577\u5d0e), Kumamoto (\u718a\u672c), Oita (\u5927\u5206), Kagoshima (\u9e7f\u5150\u5cf6), and Miyazaki (\u5bae\u5d0e)<\/p>\n \u25bc Chugoku\/Shikoku forecast:<\/strong> Shimonoseki (\u4e0b\u95a2), Hiroshima (\u5e83\u5cf6), Matsue (\u677e\u6c5f), Okayama (\u5ca1\u5c71), Tottori (\u9ce5\u53d6), Matsuyama (\u677e\u5c71), Kochi (\u9ad8\u77e5), Takamatsu (\u9ad8\u677e), and Tokushima (\u5fb3\u5cf6)<\/p>\n \u25bc Kansai\/Kinki forecast: <\/strong>Kobe (\u795e\u6238), Wakayama (\u548c\u6b4c\u5c71), Osaka (\u5927\u962a), Nara (\u5948\u826f), Kyoto (\u4eac\u90fd), and Hikone (\u5f66\u6839)<\/p>\n \u25bc Tokai forecast:<\/strong> Tsu (\u6d25), Gifu (\u5c90\u961c), Nagoya (\u540d\u53e4\u5c4b), and Shizuoka (\u9759\u5ca1)<\/p>\n \u25bc Hokuriku forecast: <\/strong>Fukui (\u798f\u4e95), Kanazawa (\u91d1\u6ca2), Toyama (\u5bcc\u5c71), and Niigata (\u65b0\u6f5f)<\/p>\n \u25bc Kanto\/Koshin forecast: <\/strong>Nagano (\u9577\u91ce), Kofu (\u7532\u5e9c), Maebashi (\u524d\u6a4b), Yokohama (\u6a2a\u6d5c), Tokyo (\u6771\u4eac), Choshi (\u929a\u5b50), Kumagaya (\u718a\u8c37), Mito (\u6c34\u6238), and Utsunomiya (\u5b87\u90fd\u5bae)<\/p>\n \u25bc Tohoku forecast: <\/strong>Aomori (\u9752\u68ee), Akita (\u79cb\u7530), Morioka (\u76db\u5ca1), Yamagata (\u5c71\u5f62), Sendai (\u4ed9\u53f0), and Fukushima (\u798f\u5cf6)<\/p>\n \u25bc Hokkaido: <\/strong>Sapporo (\u672d\u5e4c), Wakkanai (\u7a1a\u5185), Asahikawa (\u65ed\u5ddd), Abashiri (\u7db2\u8d70), Kushiro (\u91e7\u8def), Obihiro (\u5e2f\u5e83), Muroran (\u5ba4\u862d), and Hakodate (\u51fd\u9928)<\/p>\n When poring over these sakura predictions, keep in mind that all of the dates listed above are for the first opening of the flowers, and specifically for the Somei Yoshino variety of sakura, the most common and iconic version of the flower. After their first opening. the blossoms usually take anywhere from a half week to a week and a half to reach full blooms, and from that point they remain on the branches for about one week more.<\/p>\n Source: Weathernews (1<\/a>, 2<\/a>)<\/em> Forecast shows you might need to move your cherry blossom plans in Japan up by a few days. We\u2019ve got close to two months left to go until cherry blossom…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4233\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/soranews24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/01\/sf-2-1.jpg?w=640\")
<\/p>\n
\nAkita (\u79cb\u7530)<\/strong>: April 13 (approximately 4 days earlier than average)
\nAomori (\u9752\u68ee)<\/strong>: April 17 (5 days earlier)
\nHiroshima (\u5e83\u5cf6)<\/strong>: March 22 (3 days earlier)
\nKagoshima (\u9e7f\u5150\u5cf6)<\/strong>: March 25 (1 day earlier)
\nKanazawa (\u91d1\u6ca2)<\/strong>: March 31 (2 days earlier)
\nKushiro (\u91e7\u8def)<\/strong>: May 7 (7 days earlier)
\nNagano (\u9577\u91ce)<\/strong>: April 9 (2 days earlier)
\nNagoya (\u540d\u53e4\u5c4b)<\/strong>: March 22 (2 days earlier)
\nNiigata (\u65b0\u6f5f)<\/strong>: April 6 (2 days earlier)
\nOsaka (\u5927\u962a)<\/strong>: March 26 (1 day earlier than average)
\nSapporo (\u672d\u5e4c)<\/strong>: April 25 (7 days earlier than average)
\nSendai (\u4ed9\u53f0)<\/strong>: April 5 (3 days earlier than average)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/soranews24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/01\/sf-3-1.jpg?w=640\")
<\/p>\n
\nTsurumai Park (\u9db4\u821e\u516c\u5712) <\/strong> (Nagoya, Aichi): March 21
\nUeno Park (\u4e0a\u91ce\u6069\u8cdc\u516c\u5712)<\/strong> (Tokyo): March 22
\nKumamoto Castle (\u718a\u672c\u57ce)<\/strong> (Kumamoto City): March 22
\nKochi Park (\u9ad8\u77e5\u516c\u5712)<\/strong> (Kochi City): March 22
\nSunpu Castle Park (\u99ff\u5e9c\u57ce\u516c\u5712)<\/strong> (Shizuoka City): March 23
\nHiroshima Peace Memorial Park (\u5e73\u548c\u8a18\u5ff5\u6765\u3046\u3093) <\/strong>(Hiroshima City): March 23
\nArashiyama (\u5d50\u5c71) <\/strong>(Kyoto City): March 27
\nTakato Castle Park (\u9ad8\u9060\u57ce\u5740\u516c\u5712) <\/strong> (Ina, Nagano): April 5
\nShiroishikawa Riverbank (\u767d\u77f3\u5ddd\u5824\u4e00\u76ee\u5343\u672c\u685c) <\/strong>(Ogawara, Miyagi): April 5
\nHirosaki Park (\u5f18\u524d\u516c\u5712)<\/strong> (Hirosaki, Aomori): April 15
\nGoryokaku Park (\u4e94\u7a1c\u90ed\u516c\u5712) <\/strong> (Hakodate, Hokkaido): April 23<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/soranews24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/01\/sf-4-1.jpg?w=640\")
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<\/p>\n
\nTop image: Pakutaso<\/a><\/em>
\nInsert images: Weathernews (1<\/a>, 2<\/a>, 3<\/a>, 4<\/a>)<\/em>
\n\u25cf Want to hear about SoraNews24\u2019s latest articles as soon as they\u2019re published? Follow us on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"