Okinawa's early cherry blossoms bring cheer

People in Okinawa's Nago City held their first Sakura Festival in three years after a pause due to the pandemic. The annual cherry-blossom spectacle takes place in late January at Nangusuku Park, home to around 10,000 trees. They are an early blooming Taiwanese variety known as Hikanzakura, and have deep pink, bell-like flowers that begin to appear in mid-January. The festival lasts only two days, but the Hikanzakura blooms will charm visitors until around February 12.