Japan: What makes the cherry blossoms blooming early in large scale?

The Japanese people were surprised to see cherry blossoms bloom in October, instead of spring like in previous years.

Weathernews meteorological company said that as of October 14, there have been 354 reports of cherry blossoms blooming across the country, from the island of Kyushu in the west to Hokkaido in the far north.

Although not blooming like in the spring, early blooming on a large scale has surprised many people or even worries.

Experts explain that cherry blossoms bloom early this year due to unusual weather.(Photo: AP).

Experts assert that the cause of early blooming cherry blossoms may be unusual this year , especially storms and unusually warm sunshine.

Hiroyuki Wada, a cherry expert, said the common cherry species grow buds in the summer. However, they do not bloom immediately because their leaves release a hormone that prevents them from hatching.

Also according to Mr. Wada, cherry this year deciduous due to storms with the unusually warm weather many days after the storm ended has caused cherry blossoms to bloom soon. This year, Japan suffered a series of storms, including Hurricane Jebi, which killed 11 people in September.

Mr. Wada also added that in the past, early blooming cherry blossoms had happened but the scale was not as large as this year. However, this expert said this would not have much impact on the "cherry festival" next spring.