Mild weather has brought Japan’s much-loved cherry trees into (36)______ two

Mild weather has brought Japan’s much-loved cherry trees into bloom two weeks early this year, but not everyone is thrilled to see the blossoms ahead of time. Some in the leisure and retail industries are watching carefully laid plans fall apart. The emergence of the pale pink flowers is a national absentee, with TV networks frequently airing blossom updates on their news programs. Families, companies and friends pack Tokyo’s parks during the season to picnic under the flowering trees, These parties can be organized at the last minute, but for businesses that arrange flower-viewing tours, timing is everything. "If it turns out that people won’t be able to see cherry blossoms at all, we’d have to cancel the tours," a spokeswoman for travel agent Nihon Ryoko said. "Actually, some of our team have no bookings anyway, be cause customers can see the situation for themselves on television." A group of retailers in Chiyoda ward in central Tokyo has also called off a cherry-blossom festival scheduled for next month, when the flowers will be gone. One office worker, however, saw the early blossoms as a good omen for the ailing economy. "For the past 10 years Japan’s economy has been a late blamer. Now it will finally.