Tens of thousands of locals have packed Ueno Park, as Tokyo's cherry blossom came into full bloom nearly nine days earlier than usual, thanks to warmer weather.

Ueno Park is ablaze with pink and white flowers and petals. It's one of Japan's most popular cherry blossom viewing spots, 85-thousand people are estimated to visit in a single day. Officially this year's flowering in Tokyo started on March 17th, nine days before the average bloom date. It's the third earliest bloom since 1953. In Japan, the blooming of the cherry blossoms generally coincides with the first day of school, and start of work for the year's new recruits in companies. Both the school and fiscal years start on April 1st. Traditionally it has always been the first job of new recruits to secure space under the cherry blossoms for the annual company viewing, called "hanami".

KANA IGARASHI NEW EMPLOYEE "It used to be early April that cherry blossoms fully bloomed, but it's getting earlier and earlier every year. Now it is not a perfect time to be here to reserve space as we have a lot of work to do because it's the end of the fiscal year."

Last year over 3-and-a-half million people visited the park the three-week period of the Cherry Blossom Festival, nearly double that from the same period in 1998. And there's more to come after the sun goes down. Many take their picnic mats to the bank of Tokyo's Sumida River for night picnics. The symbolic SkyTree was lit up with white and pink illuminations.

ERIKA TATEISHI TOKYO RESIDENT "The combination of the dark river and the reflection of the pink illumination looks fantastic."

YASUKI OKANO TOKYO RESIDENT "Well, the cherry blossoms are blooming earlier than they used to in the past, but I think it's okay as long as the temperature gets warmer earlier as well. There were times when cherry blossoms bloomed when it was cold and fell quickly."

For many, the pink flowers signify a sense of liberation from the cold winter.