7 things you didn't know about cherry blossom in Japan

1. The cherry blossom is known as 'sakura' in Japanese and symbolises not only the return of spring but of renewal and hope.
 

2. The cherry blossom is Japan’s unofficial national flower and it appears on the 100 Yen coin – but Japan is not actually the cherry blossom capital of the world. This title is currently held by Macon, Georgia, in the USA, which is home to over 300,000 sakura trees. Japan sent the blossom trees over to the US in 1912 to represent friendship and good will. 

5. The oldest tree in Japan is over 2,000 years old. You can find Jindai Zakura within the grounds of the Jissoji Temple in Yamanashi, with a root circumferences of 13.5m!
 

6. The famous blossom trail begins in the south of Japan around the middle of  March - there are forecasts in place to predict the optimum time to view the blossom. The cherry blossoms start in tropical Okinawa in early February then travels north in a movement called ‘sakura zansen’, tracked right to its final stop in the northernmost island of Hokkaido in early May.