🌸 UPDATE: I am glad to announce the search is over! bsky.app/profile/ante...

Dr. Katata has shared the latest peak bloom date for 2026 — the 29th of March — with us. He will be carrying the series forward. You can find his website here: cigs.canon/en/fellows/g...

We have also updated our chart with the data for 2026 on Our World in Data: ourworldindata.org/grapher/date...

When we put out the call for help we could not have imagined this response! To everyone who reached out, shared leads, suggested organisations, or simply spread the word: thank you so much!

It was really special to see how much Prof. Aono’s work means to so many people. ♥️

After 1,200 years, cherry blossom record to live on despite Japanese scientist’s death Prof Yasuyuki Aono’s meticulous work charted shifting bloom dates as a marker of climate change

Prof. Aono’s story and my call for help were even covered in The Guardian and The New York Times!

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/c...

🌸 UPDATE: Last week I put out a call for help continuing a 1,200 year long dataset of peak cherry bloom records.

I am glad to announce the search is over! We've been in touch with Dr. Genki Katata, a researcher and former collaborator of Prof. Aono, who is continuing this dataset.

Ah, I understand! Thanks for the reply, I reached out to their general mailbox now, fingers crossed! 🤞🏻

Cool, thank you so much!

Not yet, but that's a good suggestion! Do you have a contact there we could reach out to directly?

Thank you! This does sound like a promising lead! Do you have a contact we could reach out to directly?

Yeah, it seems like there aren't enough recent observations to use it as a source for the data, but it might be worth reaching out to the community. Thank you for bringing this up!

You can help if you:

🌸 Have botanical expertise and can identify Yamazakura peak bloom from photos
🌸 Are local to Arashiyama and have access to species-specific bloom reporting

Please DM me here or email me at tuna@ourworldindata.org. Even a lead helps — thank you!

Prof. Aono tracked a specific species — Yamazakura (Prunus jamasakura) — in a specific place: Arashiyama, Kyoto.

We've contacted his university, local organizations, and weather services, but unfortunately none can continue the series.

We’re looking for someone who can help us continue it!

I'm a data scientist @ourworldindata.org and I need help from a botanist or someone local to Kyoto, Japan! 🌸

We present one of the world’s longest climate records: 1,200 years of peak cherry blossom dates in Kyoto.

The researcher who maintained it, Prof. Yasuyuki Aono, sadly passed away last year.