New steward takes over 1,200-year cherry blossom climate record in Kyoto

Genki Katata, an environmental biophysicist at the Canon Institute for Global Studies in Tokyo, has been named the new keeper of a 1,200-year cherry blossom bloom database in Kyoto, Japan. He succeeds Yasuyuki Aono, the climate scientist who maintained the record until his death from cancer in 2025. The database, one of the longest-running seasonal records, tracks the full flowering date (mankai) of Yamazakura cherry trees using historical diaries and chronicles dating back to 812 C.E. Aono taught himself ancient Japanese script to extract phenological data from texts by emperors, aristocrats, governors, and monks. Researchers worldwide have used the data to study climate change impacts on seasons, including a 2009 paper in Biological Conservation linking warming to urbanization and global warming. The Japanese Meteorological Agency recently coined the term kokushobi for days exceeding 40°C (104°F), reflecting warming trends. Katata plans to continue Aono's research on climate variability, urbanization, and warming effects on Kyoto's cherry trees.