The cherry blossom season is in full swing in Tokyo, where residents and tourists flocked to the parks this Thursday, April 4. Many flower lovers met in the center of the Japanese capital to admire the branches of cherry trees bending under the pink and white petals.
Japan's meteorological agency announced Thursday that the country's most common cherry trees, "somei yoshino," was at its peak flowering stage, four days later than the average in Tokyo. Although the agency attributes this year's unusually late bloom to cool temperatures, it is also sounding the alarm about climate change, which is causing flowers to bloom earlier.