Weathernews (Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture) announced on January 17th that the forecast for the blossoming of cherry blossoms in Hirosaki Park (Shimohiragincho, Hirosaki City) was April 20th.

The company announced for the first time this season. We forecast the blooming of Yoshino cherry trees in Hirosaki Park this year to be April 20th, with full bloom on April 26th. Last year's forecast predicted blooming and full bloom to be 19 and 25 days earlier than this year, but the actual bloom was 20 days and full bloom was 23 days. Full bloom was the fastest in 16 years since 2002, reaching full bloom two days earlier than average.

Yuji Ebina of the park's greenery section said, "The branches were broken due to the heavy snowfall at the beginning of December and the end of the year, but there is no effect. The temperature from March to April is the most affected." As usual, pruning will start from the end of February, and free distribution of branches is planned for a total of 5 times from February 22 to March 22.

This year's Hirosaki Sakura Festival is held from April 20th to May 6th for 17 days. Last year marked the 100th anniversary of the festival, which began as the "Hirosaki Kanjokai". At the opening ceremony, the aerobatics team "Blue Impulse" exhibited a flight.

The Hirosaki Castle Honmaru is currently undergoing dismantling work by repairing the stone walls, so this year we will welcome the first Hirosaki Sakura Festival with the stone walls dismantled.