Prof Aono’s Cherry Blossom Record Ends with His Death
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- Prof Yasuyuki Aono spent his career gathering data on cherry blossom flowering dates across Japan, building a climate record that stretches back to the 9th century.
- Prof Yasuyuki Aono showed that cherry tree flowering dates have shifted earlier in recent decades, providing a clear marker of climate change.
- Prof Yasuyuki Aono posted a social‑media photo of his spreadsheet in April, showing the 2025 peak flowering date for the mountain cherry (Prunus jamasakura) as 4 April.
- Prof Yasuyuki Aono left a blank entry for 2026 on his spreadsheet, indicating he did not record that year before his death.
- Prof Yasuyuki Aono died on 5 August last year, according to former colleagues contacted by the Guardian.
Why it matters: Researchers lose the steward of a unique, millennium‑spanning phenology dataset that tracks warming through bloom timing, while policymakers and the public lose a vivid, long‑term indicator of climate change that has guided climate narratives for decades and future adaptation planning.
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