Japan set for early start to cherry blossom fest

TOKYO, Mar 7 (Reuters) Japan began its countdown towards spring today with the official forecast for the start of cherry blossoms -- a week earlier than usual in most of the nation due to a mild winter.

The emergence of the delicate, pale pink blooms is something of a national obsession, the focus of close media attention during the month or so it takes for the ''cherry front'' to move from south to north.

This year, the cherry trees are predicted to start blooming anywhere from a day to more than two weeks early, depending on the region. Most are likely to be about a week early.

The blossoms are set to open in Tokyo around March 18, only slightly past the record earliest date of March 16 in 2002, the Meteorological Agency said.

''You can definitely say that the warm winter we just passed had an impact on the blooms,'' said an agency official.

''The most unusual thing about this year's cherries is that Tokyo is one of the first places where they'll bloom. Usually the blooming starts in the south and works its way up.'' There was no snow in Tokyo this winter for the first time since snowfall records began to be kept in 1876.

The appeal of the cherry blossom is said by Japanese to lie in its poignant reminder of the briefness of life, but for many people it is an excuse to party.

Families, friends and office workers crowd parks to eat and drink beer and sake as they admire the blossoms in often raucous ''hanami'' parties.

In this ritual-loving nation, the fun doesn't really get going until the cherries are pronounced to be in bloom by a local official, a weighty task carried out by a cherry blossom inspector from each city's weather bureau.

The announcement is made when five or six blossoms are observed on special ''benchmark'' trees in the city.

In Tokyo, the benchmarks are several ancient trees in the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine, which is dedicated to the war dead.

Companies catering to cherry blossom revellers moved into high gear today, with travel agencies taking reservations for cherry viewing tours and box-lunch makers starting sales of special cherry viewing meals.

''The early blossoming this year is reflected in our reservations, with the number of people taking cherry-viewing tours in April up 30 percent,'' said a spokeswoman at Japan Travel Bureau, the nation's largest travel agency.

The mild winter has also affected other aspects of life.

Ornamental flowers, often used in traditional flower arranging to express a certain season, have been coming into bloom early, and fishermen have reported bumper catches of certain fish months earlier than usual.

Reuters PA RS1428