CICC TOKYO DAYORI vol.100

February 3 is the first day of spring, according to the old-style
Japanese calendar.
In fact, it is cold today far from spring.

But Okamezakura, early-blooming cherry trees or SAKURA are preparing
their buds and begins to bloom from the end of February to the beginning
of March near my office in Tokyo. There are many varieties of cherry
trees, and the most famous cherry tree in Japan is the Somei-yoshino.
They usually begin booming in late March.

According to the cherry blossom Somei-yoshino forecast for 2025
announced by a weather information service company at the end of
January, blooming will begin in Tokyo on March 21, followed by Fukuoka,
Kochi, Hiroshima, and Yokohama on March 22. After that, blooming is
expected to continue in western and eastern Japan in late March,
followed by southern Tohoku region in early April and Hokkaido in late
April.

Weather information service companies compete on the accuracy of their
bloom forecast dates. One company says it simulates about 10,000
different bloom dates based on an elaborated calculation formula and
predicted temperature data.

For your information, Cherry Blossom Forecast 2025
https://sakura.weathermap.jp/en.php

KAWABATA Hiroko

<Topics of Government>

(1) Ministerial-Level Meeting of Japan-UK Digital Partnership Held
https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2025/0122_002.html

(2) Results of the Digital Academy in Collaboration with the World Bank
https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_sosiki/joho_tsusin/eng/pressrelease/2024/12/6_1.html

<Topics of Industries>

(1) NEC strengthens its generative AI, NEC cotomi, for specialized
business use, maintaining high speed and achieving world-class accuracy
https://www.nec.com/en/press/202411/global_20241127_02.html

(2) NEC combines video analysis technology with generative AI to
generate advice for improving work quality
https://www.nec.com/en/press/202501/global_20250129_01.html

(3) Hitachi, NTT Com Successfully Demonstrate World's First Real-Time
Data Synchronization Over 600 km Using Storage Virtualization Technology
and IOWN APN
https://www.hitachi.com/New/cnews/month/2024/12/241205a.html

(4) Developing a Manufacturing Process Improvement Solution that Helps
Finding Optimal Manufacturing Processes, and Enhancing the Informatics
Business
https://www.hitachi.com/New/cnews/month/2025/01/250123.html

(5) Sustainable Shared Transport and Fujitsu launch open platform for
joint transportation and delivery in Japan, enhancing logistics
efficiency across industries.
https://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/2025/0127-01.html

(6) Fujitsu develops world’s first multi-AI agent security technology to
protect against vulnerabilities and new threats.
https://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/2024/1212-01.html