Japan announced the official start of Tokyo's cherry blossom season on Tuesday, 10 days earlier than usual and tied with a record early start seen only twice before.

周二，日本宣布东京樱花季正式开始，平均比往年提前了10天，与此前仅出现过两次的提前开放纪录持平。

In past years the country's meteorologists have linked the increasingly early blooms to climate change, and temperatures in Tokyo have been unseasonably mild in recent days.

过去几年，日本的气象学家将越来越早的开花与气候变化联系起来，最近几天东京的气温异常温和。

Tokyo's official cherry bloom records go back 70 years and the delicate white-pink flowers have only appeared this early in 2021 and 2020, according to the weather agency.

据日本气象厅介绍，东京官方的樱花盛开记录可以追溯到70年前，这种娇嫩的白粉色花朵开放的这么早，只在2021年和2020年出现过。

Japan's sakura or cherry blossom season is feverishly anticipated by locals and visitors alike, and the announcement of the Tokyo season start was alerted by major news agencies and covered live on television.

日本当地人和游客都热切期待着樱花季的到来，东京樱花季开始的消息得到了各大新闻机构的关注，电台也进行了现场报道。

The blooms are traditionally celebrated with hanami, or viewing parties, with picnics – and sometimes boozy festivities – organised beneath the trees.

传统上，人们会在树下举办赏花派对，野餐，有时还会举办饮酒庆祝活动。

But the public had been asked not to throw the parties during the pandemic, and the tourists that usually flood into the country for the season were kept out with strict border closures.

但政府要求公众在疫情期间不要举办派对，通常在这个季节涌入该国的游客被严格的边境关闭拒之门外。

Borders reopened last October, and Tokyo parks have announced blossom revellers will be allowed to gather freely for the first time since 2019.

去年10月，边境重新开放，东京公园宣布，自2019年以来，首次允许赏花者自由聚集。

"Today, on March 14, we hereby declare the sakura blossoming in Tokyo," he said, in an announcement that came six days earlier than last year.

他说：“今天，3月14日，我们在此宣布，东京樱花盛开。”这一宣布比去年提前了6天。

"We've seen many warm days in March," the official said, adding: "climate change may also have played a part."

这位官员说：“3月份有许多温暖的日子。”“气候变化可能也起了一定作用。“

The blooms of the ubiquitous somei-yoshino strain, which accounts for more than 90 percent of the cherry trees planted in Japan, last only around a week and tend to emerge simultaneously in a given region because the trees are clones of a single specimen.

在日本种植的樱花树中，有90%以上都是吉野樱花树，它们的开花时间仅为一周左右，而且，因为这些树是单一品种的克隆体，往往会在特定地区同时出现。