It’s time to start looking forward to spring, and in Japan, that means looking forward to cherry blossoms beautiful as Japan’s cherry blossoms are, they’re also tremendously fickle as to when they’ll make their appearance beautiful as Japan’s cherry blossoms are, they’re also tremendously fickle as to when they’ll make their appearance as spring approaches, the entire nation turns a shade of pink. Months before they arrive, retailers switch into sakura mode – cue supermarkets filled with plastic cherry blossom flowers and cherry blossom-flavoured innovations in convenience stores (this year’s highlights so far include cherry-blossom-andbutter crisps and cherry blossom Pepsi). The countdown excitement is heightened further by the televised Cherry Blossom Forecast which offers a petal-by-petal analysis of the advance of the blooms – known as the cherry blossom front – as they sweep from the south to the north of the archipelago
