First cherry blossom viewing since COVID-19...Economic effect of 615.8B yen = Japan

"Bloomberg News" reported on March 23rd (local time) that the economic effect of cherry blossom viewing, which will be held for the first time in Japan after the COVID-19 virus quarantine was lifted, will reach about 615.8 billion yen. Not only Japanese but also foreign tourists are flooding in, and it is expected that the tourist service industry, which has been hit by the pandemic, will reach full bloom.

Due to warmer temperatures than usual, cherry blossoms began to bloom in Tokyo on the 14th, about 10 days earlier than usual, and were in full bloom after the 22nd. There are about 600 cherry blossom spots in Japan, and tourists gather mainly in the capital city of Tokyo, Nagoya, and big cities like Osaka. Professor Emeritus Katsuhiro Miyamoto of Kansai University, who analyzed the economic effect, said, "Cherry blossoms are a tourist asset that attracts foreign tourists."

Predicting when the cherry blossoms will bloom is very important because the economic effect is large. In 2007, the Japan Meteorological Agency apologized for the nine-day difference in cherry blossom forecasts. After that, the Japan Meteorological Agency suspended forecast announcements while starting a private service to predict flowering times. The impact of recent climate change has made it increasingly difficult to predict the cherry blossom season, reports Bloomberg News.