Watch: Tokyo crowd gathers to see cherry blossoms before full bloom

Watch live as tourists gather in Tokyo to see the Japanese capital's cherry blossoms before full bloom.

The trees, also known as sakura, mark the onset of spring in the Asian country, with the beautiful pink and white flowers adorning the streets of many of its major cities.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) confirmed the first blooming of a cherry blossom on Monday, when the specimen tree of the Somei Yoshino at Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine had more than five blossoms flowering on it - the minimum required for declaring the start of the festive season.

According to the JMA, the opening matched the average year, and was five days earlier than the opening in 2024.

The cherry blossoms, which typically reach their peak in late March to early April, regularly appear in Japanese culture, symbolising life, death and rebirth.