NEWSWORTHY
Celebrating the spring with homemade Japanese sweets
Spring is a great time for fans of wagashi, traditional Japanese sweets. While many wagashi reflect the seasons all year long visually — especially the colorful, beautifully formed nerikiri created by skilled artisans — this is the time of year when you can taste, ...
Looking for spring inspiration?
Nendo offers creative advice, Perrocaliente updates the past and Nousaku invokes flower power
Japanese researchers find way to replicate cherry-blossom magic in fall
To the delight of sakura (cherry blossom) lovers everywhere, botanists at Kyoto University have discovered a way to make cherry trees flower more than once a year and plans are already afoot to introduce pink to the autumnal palette. By manipulating the sakura's genetic markers, ...
Imperial Palace grounds reopen to public for Japan's cherry blossom season
A normally restricted section of the Imperial Palace compound in Tokyo opened to the public on Saturday, allowing visitors to admire the blooming cherry trees there for the first time since 2016. About 3,700 people lined up for their chance to walk along 750-meter Inui ...
Cherry tree hits full bloom in Kochi, breaking Japanese record by two days
A Somei-Yoshino cherry tree being monitored in Kochi reached full bloom on Monday, the Metrological Agency said. The tree, on the premises of Kochi Castle in Shikoku, started flowering on Thursday, becoming the earliest to do so of all the cherry trees under observation this ...
Go west to enjoy a family hanami party
At last, winter's grip is loosening and spring in Japan is on its way. Soon cherry blossoms will explode across the archipelago, and parks around the country will be full of smiles and picnic tarps. That's right: it's hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) season again — ...
Spring declared as Tokyo spots season's first cherry blossoms
Spring officially arrived in Tokyo on Saturday as the Meteorological Agency declared the start of the cherry blossom season, prompting viewers to party under the trees with cherry-related items flooding the capital. Forecasters watching trees at Yasukuni Shrine said the city's first blossoms had appeared, ...
Japan's first Somei-Yoshino cherry tree bloom of season confirmed in Kochi
This spring's first bloom of the popular Somei-Yoshino variety of cherry tree was reported on Thursday, the Meteorological Agency said. The bloom was confirmed in the city of Kochi, seven days earlier than usual and 14 days earlier than last year, a local unit of ...
Starbucks back with its range of cherry blossom-inspired treats
Life in Japan can be measured in seasonal dessert offerings. With Valentine's Day now in the past, the focus falls squarely on one of the year's spotlight stretches. Cherry blossom season approaches, with companies big and small prepping an array of sakura-tinged foodstuffs for ...
Japan's cherry blossom viewing may come early this year, says weather forecasting firm
Tokyo and many parts of central Japan should prepare for the cherry blossom season to arrive early this year, according to a forecast that says winter's icy grip may loosen sooner than usual. Japan Meteorological Corp., an Osaka-based weather forecasting company, released on Feb. 1 ...
Cassette gas blast hurts six at Miyazaki cherry blossom-viewing party
A joyful hanami (cherry blossom-viewing) party in Nobeoka, Miyazaki Prefecture, on Tuesday turned into a major accident after a cassette gas cartridge for a portable stove exploded, injuring several people. In the accident, which occurred around 2:15 p.m. in a park in the city, six ...
Every spring, people across Japan are enraptured as the cherry trees explode into bloom, clothing the country in pink.
