Despite only lasting a few weeks, the cherry blossom season is expected to bring in about $9.2 billion to the Japanese economy this year.
Japan has entered the 2025 cherry blossom season, one of the country's peak tourist seasons. According to Kansai University's annual report, total revenue from services in Japan during the 2025 cherry blossom season will hit a record high.
The figure is expected to reach 1.39 trillion yen, equivalent to $9.2 billion, up more than 22% year-on-year. This year's revenue is expected to be 10 times the economic impact of baseball star Shohei Ohtani's last season.
In 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the cherry blossom season brought in more than 181 billion yen in revenue with more than 97% of local residents participating. Domestic and foreign tourists flock to Japan during this time, boosting purchases of food, drinks and souvenirs and travel expenses.
The weak yen is the reason why foreign tourists continue to flock to Japan during the cherry blossom festival. This year's cherry blossom season also blooms earlier than usual, creating favorable conditions for tourism businesses and services to "follow suit".
It is expected that foreign visitors can account for up to 25% of the total number of participants in the 2025 Hanami festival. In addition to international visitors, following the trend from last year, this year's cherry blossom season is expected to attract more domestic visitors.
From late March to early April, visitors can see early cherry blossoms in January and February in Kawazu and Atami towns, Shizuoka Prefecture. Cherry blossoms usually bloom for two weeks, from the time they first bloom until they fade.
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