Tourists and Japanese locals marveled at Tokyo's cherry trees on Monday at the peak of the annual blossom season that traditionally represents fresh starts but also life's fleeting impermanence.
Crowds flocked to the city's top locations to take photos and hold picnics under the elegant dark branches bursting with pink and white flowers, known as "sakura" in Japanese.
"Honestly, it feels pretty amazing to be here. It's honestly better than we expected. And it only comes around every once in a while and only for a short span of time," Christian Sioting, a tourist from the Philippines, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"It's an ephemeral experience, and we're pretty happy that we got to be here and to witness it in full bloom, too."
The Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) on Sunday declared the country's most common and popular "somei yoshino" variety of cherry tree in full bloom in Tokyo.
Although this year's blooming dates are around the average, the JMA says climate change and the urban heat-island effect are causing sakura to flower approximately 1.2 days earlier every 10 years.
"Seeing photos is another thing, but being here, (to) really see the sakura in your eyes... It's really amazing," said Ralf Ng from Hong Kong.
A weak yen is attracting more visitors to Japan than ever, with national tourism figures released in January showing a record of about 36.8 million arrivals last year.
Tokyo resident Kayoko Yoshihara, 69, organizes annual flower-viewing picnics with her friends, including one held last week as the cherry trees began to bloom.
"After enduring the cold winter, the cherry blossoms bloom, and it makes you feel like you're motivated to head toward summer," she told AFP.
Nurse Nanami Kobayashi, 31, said the peak of the blossom season left her without words.
"When the trees are at full bloom, it's so beautiful that you just become speechless," she said.
