JIVX

Kyoto · 京都

Twelve centuries of cherry blossoms.

The peak bloom date of Kyoto’s cherry trees has been written down for more than a thousand years. Stitched together, the entries form what is widely considered the longest continuous record of any natural phenomenon on Earth.

1,215Years covered838ObservationsMar 292026 peakHeianKamakuraMuromachiEdoModernApr 1Apr 15May 1Peak cherry blossom in Kyoto, 812–20262026 · Mar 299001200150018008122026Annual observation30-year rolling meanEra band

Same record, as climate stripes — one band per year.Earlier peakLater peak812110013001500170019002026

By the numbers

Earliest peak everMar 25year 2023Latest peak everMay 4year 1323Biggest year-on-year swing27 days1556 → 1557Look up a year

Words for the bloom

Recording the bloom for a thousand years gave Japanese a precise vocabulary for it. Each stage of the cherry tree’s spring has its own word — taught to schoolchildren and read on the weather forecast every March.

• 桜sakuracherry blossom — both the tree and the flower
• 開花kaikaopening — the day the first buds break
• 満開mankaifull bloom — the brief week everyone waits for
• 花吹雪hanafubukiblossom blizzard — the storm that ends the season

JIVX is a Japanese practice app: short, AI-graded sessions in the words and grammar Japan actually uses. The cherry-blossom set has audio, example sentences, and grammar notes for the words above and a few dozen more.

Practice the rest at JIVX →

JIVX·Blog·Terms·Privacy