Cherry Blossoms Bloom In Tokyo

ANCHOR:
And over in Japan, it's cherry blossom season. The pink blossoms are now at their peak in Japan, signaling the end of winter and the arrival of spring. Here's more from Japan's Ueno park in Tokyo, Japan.

STORY:
The annual blooms are a spring tradition, ushering in the warmer weather and the season of a "Hanami" spree, or cherry blossom-viewing. Hundreds of thousands gather under the "sakura" cherry blossoms to enjoy picnics surrounded by the plants.

[Tomoko Ishihara, Enjoying Blossoms]:
"It is beautiful and soothing. Furthermore, it makes drinks tastier and makes people friendly."

Tokyo's Ueno park is one of the best cherry blossom viewing spots in the city-- every year, tens of thousands of people gather under the trees for "cherry viewing parties" and spend the whole day at the park.

[Hisashi Kishida, Organizer]:
"It is a great opportunity to gather all employees of our company and talk to each other in a relaxed way because there are some employees I have seldom met and never had a chance to talk to during office hours."

Japanese weather officials say Tokyo's cherry trees were officially in bloom on March 23, that's six days earlier than the expected time.

Tokyo's cherry trees are the first in the nation to bloom this season. For centuries, cherry blossom viewing has been a favorite pass time for the Japanese.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• ntdtv
• japan
• cherry
• blossom
• pink
• end
• of
• winter
• spring
• ueno
• park
• tokyo

[MisterMrL]

=P nice i wa searching for the falling petals and wondering how they looked =P? pinky snow =P?

[narutorocks2212]

i love japan!!!!! i wanna go there sooo bad Yay first comment! i love the sakura trees!!!!