Heavy rain swept across Tokyo once again tonight.
This year's travelers to Japan were terribly unlucky. Originally, due to the unusually cold weather, the cherry blossom blooming season had lasted several weeks longer than in previous years. Newly opened pink sakura layered over older blossoms, making it easy to catch the sight of the city overflowing with full-bloom cherry blossoms across Tokyo. This should have been a magnificent sakura season seen only once in a decade, but it happened to coincide with an extremely rare torrential downpour not seen in a century. The cherry blossoms all over Tokyo were battered to pieces in the fierce winds, and while some of the exceptionally resilient flower branches remained on the cherry trees, even they were beaten down by the pelting rain, unable to lift their heads.
Occasionally, small groups of tourists dragging large and heavy bags could be seen hurrying through the wind-and-rain-swept streets. No doubt because the storm had forced the airports to close and all flights to be canceled, the accumulated travelers were crammed into this city. No matter how developed Tokyo's tourism industry was, hotels and inns filled up easily; the budget and discounted hotels had long since been snapped up, leaving only the most expensive suites in the luxury star-rated hotels.
Chapter 436