JAPAN: Japanese weather officials left red-faced after a computer glitch led to incorrect forecasts for the start of the cherry blossom season

Japanese weather officials have been left red-faced after a computer glitch led to incorrect forecasts for the start of the cherry blossom season. The eagerly awaiting blooming of the delicate, pale pink flowers is something of a national obsession in Japan, and last week's official forecast was front-page news. But on Wednesday (March 14), an embarrassed Meteorological Agency was forced to hold a press conference to admit and apologise over false predictions -- in one case forecasting blossoms more than a week early. "There were mistakes in our forecast of the blossoming of the cherry blossoms in several regions. We deeply apologise to our users for having troubled them," said Kei'ichi Kashiwagi, head of the forecasting division of Japan's Meteorological Agency. His apology and deep bow was broadcast on nearly all national television bulletins throughout the day. The agency blames a bug in their database for wrecking havoc on their forecasts. Among the four incorrect dates was that for Tokyo, where the blossoms are now expected to open around March 23 instead of the original prediction of March 18. The mistake and apology took many Japanese by surprise, though some felt unusual weather patterns in recent years had made any prediction hard. "It was a big surprise... but the weather seems so unstable these days, I think it can't be helped," said Reiko Saito, an art gallery employee near the Imperial Palace moat which every year draws thousands -- and perhaps -- millions of people to view the hundreds of cherry trees in blossom. Forecasts of when the blossoms will open are breathlessly awaited each year. They are used by cities to plan cherry blossom festivals, travel agencies to plan tours, and ordinary people to set dates for often raucous blossom-viewing parties, when they crowd into parks to hold picnics and drink beer and sake. "Many travel agencies have planned cherry blossom party tours around the dates the agency released in their first forecast, so those businesses, I am sure, are angry," added 20 year old Junpei Yoshida, adding philosophically: "But personally I think it's the natural course of nature," he said. The appeal of cherry blossoms, which appear only briefly, is said by Japanese to lie in the poignant reminder of the shortness of life -- but for many people it is an excuse to party.

ITN Source | March 15, 2007

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