UPDATED: Cherry Blossom Schedule Forecast in Japan 2013 桜開花スケジュール

March Update: CHERRY BLOSSOMS PREDICTED TO START BLOOMING 3/23 IN TOKYO

Due to the recent unseasonably warm weather around the eastern seaboard and snowstorms in the north, the cherry blossoms are expected to bloom earlier in some places than previously thought, and later in others.

The private site Weathermap had the first cherry-blossom forecast up this year, but the most reliable site is the official Japan Weather Association’s tenki.jp and the Japanese WeatherNews’s weathernews.jp. Both of the latter of recently updated their forecasts due to the recent weather events.

According to Japan Weather Association’s tenki.jp：

Tokyo: 3月23日 (blossoms open), 4月1日(full bloom)
Osaka: 3月26日(blossoms open), 4月3日(full bloom)
Kyoto: 3月26日(blossoms open), 4月3日 (full bloom

Otherwise:
(Kyushu) Fukuoka: 3月19日 (blossoms open), 3月28日 (full bloom)
Hiroshima: 3月23日(blossoms open), 4月1日(full bloom)
Niigata: 4月10日 (blossoms open), 4月14日 (full bloom)
Nagano: 4月11日 (blossoms open), 4月16日 (full bloom)
Sendai: 4月11日 (blossoms open), 4月17日 (full bloom)
(Hokkaido) Sapporo: 5月4日 (blossoms open), 5月8日 (full bloom)


WHEN DO THE CHERRY TREES BLOOM IN JAPAN?!

The cherry blossoms almost always bloom more or less at the same time every year in Japan, (2011 was a bit of an exception though). If you schedule your trip to Japan for the second half of the last week of March through the first half of the first week of April (March 28 – April 5), you are going to see the cherry blossoms. If they bloom early, you will either catch them at their peak or just afterwards; if they bloom late, you will catch them just before they peak. Either way, you will not miss the blossoms.

Several forecast maps are available online so you can keep up with the moving cherry blossom front. (These forecast maps typically become updated and active mid to late February, see please check back!)

Cherry Blossom Flowering Date Maps:



Weather News Map (Current State Live)
http://weathernews.jp/sakura/
* At WeatherNews site, click button "Sakura Simulator" for forecast by date.　





Mapple Net Map (Current State Live)
http://www.mapple.net/sp_sakura/
Run cursor over the area you are interested in.



JWA Forecast Map (Forecast Prediction)
http://tenki.jp/sakura/expectation




Japan Weather Agency 気象庁の桜の開花予想
(Forecast Prediction)
http://www.hanazakura.jp/
sakura/skaika/kaika2.html
(Unfortunately ended as of 2009)
* See: http://hanazakura.jp/





Enjoy Tokyo Blossom Viewing
http://flower.enjoytokyo.jp/sakura/index.html　




Walkerplus Famous Places in Tokyo
http://hanami.walkerplus.com/　





Links:

* EnjoyTokyo Department Store Box Lunches for Blossom Viewing
デパ地下のお花見弁当

Tokyo Yokohama Information: Cherry Blossom Viewing Spots

Japan Guide: Popular Hanami Spots

All About: 江戸の名所で桜を愛でよう

* Japan Guide on Blossom Viewing in English
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2011.html

* See also Infoseek for more links (in Japanese):
http://senkuni.org/link/sakura/sakura_saku.html