満開の日

京都 KYOTO · A PHENOLOGY OF FULL BLOOM · 1900–2026

Full bloom,
sooner.

For over a century, Kyoto has written down the day its cherry trees reach full bloom. Lately, that day has been walking out of April and into March — and the record, kept patiently in single numbers, makes the walk hard to miss.

THE RECORD, UNROLLED

The long record

Each point is one year's peak of full bloom, placed on the date it fell. Higher on the page means earlier in the year. The tree does not read the calendar — but the calendar is starting to notice the tree.

The modern slice, as a calendar

Every year since 1990, one row. One square per day; the lit square is the day of full bloom. The dashed rule stands where the average bloom of 1900–1945 fell — April 14. Most of the petals no longer reach it.

PEAK OF FULL BLOOM A DAY IN THE CALENDAR 1900–45 AVERAGE · APR 14

* SQUARES ARE DAYS; DATES READ ON A COMMON 365-DAY CALENDAR. HOVER A YEAR TO DATE ITS BLOOM.

The arithmetic of early

No models, no forecasts — only the arithmetic of the dates above, computed from the record exactly as given.

THE LEAN

d

earlier per century — the record's least-squares lean, 1900–2026.

THE SHIFT

days

between the 1900–45 average () and the 2020s average ().

EARLIEST

the earliest peak on record — .

LATEST

the latest peak on record — .

The trees are not in a hurry. The season is.