Screenshots

Cherry blossom map	Spot detail & weather

Fruit picking	What's On in Japan

Flowers in season	Mobile

The problem

You ask Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini: "When should I visit Kyoto for cherry blossoms?"

You get "late March to early April" — the same answer every year, based on training data that has no idea what this winter was like.

The actual bloom date shifts by 2–3 weeks depending on temperatures. Tokyo peaked March 29 in 2024, March 22 in 2023, March 28 in 2022 — a 7-day spread in just two years. Your AI is guessing. This MCP server stops the guessing.

The fix

It connects Claude (or any MCP client) to live forecast data from the Japan Meteorological Corporation — the same data that powers SAKURA NAVI and Japan's major cherry blossom forecast sites. Bloom meters update daily at 9 AM JST; spot observations update when JMC reporters file.

You:    "I'm in Japan April 8–14. Where should I see cherry blossoms?"

Claude: Based on today's JMC forecast data:

        Cities in full bloom during your visit:
        • Sendai (Miyagi) — full bloom forecast Apr 10 (avg Apr 12)
        • Morioka (Iwate) — full bloom forecast Apr 13 (avg Apr 16, running early)
        • Akita — full bloom forecast Apr 14

        For Sendai, top spots include Tsutsujigaoka Park (92% full bloom today)
        and Nishi Park. Morioka Castle ruins are a classic.

        One thing to watch: 40% rain chance Apr 10 in Sendai. Rain speeds up
        petal fall, so Apr 11–12 is probably the safer window.

Real bloom percentages. Real park names. Real weather.

Use it with AI assistants

There are two different ways an AI assistant can use Japan in Seasons:

1. AI search / web browsing can find and cite the public pages, text summaries, and JSON APIs. This is the lowest-friction path for people asking "latest sakura dates" in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, etc.
2. MCP tool use only works after the user or workspace admin connects the MCP server inside an MCP-capable client. Finding this repo in search does not give the assistant permission to run MCP tools.

For AI search, use these crawlable sources:

• Latest sakura text summary: https://seasons.kooexperience.com/sakura-forecast.txt
• Sakura forecast JSON: https://seasons.kooexperience.com/api/sakura/forecast
• Interactive map and forecast pages: https://seasons.kooexperience.com

Remote MCP endpoint

No package install is needed when the client supports remote/streamable HTTP MCP. Add this as the MCP server/app/connector URL:

https://seasons.kooexperience.com/mcp

For ChatGPT Apps/Connectors, use:

• Name: Japan in Seasons
• Description: Use this for live Japan seasonal travel data: cherry blossom and sakura dates, autumn leaves, flowers, festivals, fruit picking, and weather. Best for current or date-specific Japan travel questions.
• Connector URL: https://seasons.kooexperience.com/mcp

Claude Desktop / Claude Code / stdio MCP clients

Add this to the client's MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "japan-seasons": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "japan-seasons-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Optional connection preferences supported by the hosted endpoint:

• dateStyle — friendly or iso
• temperatureUnit — celsius or fahrenheit
• includeCoordinates — true or false
• mapLanguage — english or japanese

Self-host

PORT=3000 npx -y japan-seasons-mcp --http
# MCP endpoint: http://localhost:3000/mcp

Optional durable cache for the hosted web map:

JAPAN_SEASONS_CACHE_DIR=/data PORT=3000 npx -y japan-seasons-mcp --http

Point JAPAN_SEASONS_CACHE_DIR at a persistent volume, for example a Railway Volume mounted at /data. This stores the warmed national sakura/koyo all-spots JSON across restarts; without it, the app falls back to in-memory cache and still works.

Why ChatGPT may find it but refuse to use it

ChatGPT Search can discover japan-seasons-mcp as a web result, but web discovery is not the same as connecting an MCP server. If the chat only has web search enabled, it should cite the crawlable forecast pages or JSON API. To run tools like sakura_now, sakura_forecast, or sakura_spots, the MCP endpoint must first be added as a ChatGPT app/connector or configured in another MCP client.

What's covered

1,700+ GPS-tagged spots across 12 seasonal categories.

Tools

Best first-call tools

japan_seasonal_answer — answer a broad traveler question

Use this when someone asks a normal question instead of naming a dataset: "How is the sakura forecast?", "What is good in Japan in June?", "Where should I see autumn leaves in late November?", or "What seasonal activities match my dates?" It routes to the right live or curated dataset and returns a ready-to-use recommendation.

sakura_now — current cherry blossom answer

The best first call for broad sakura prompts. It summarizes what is good now, what is coming next, or what matched the user's trip dates, using live JMC forecast/observation data, and includes a short list of specific viewing spots when spot data is available.

koyo_now — current autumn leaves answer

The autumn equivalent of sakura_now: current koyo timing, maple/ginkgo peaks, trip-date matches, and next-step guidance for exact spots.

search / fetch — retrieval-friendly access

Provider-friendly search/fetch tools for ChatGPT-style retrieval and deep-research citation flows. search returns result IDs; fetch returns full text with a canonical URL.

Cherry blossom

sakura_forecast — the big picture

All 48 JMA observation cities in one call: this year's forecast, actual dates when observed, and how each city compares to the historical average. Good starting point before you drill into specific spots.

"What's the cherry blossom situation in Japan right now?"
→ 48 cities by region, bloom status, forecast dates, days vs average

sakura_spots — specific parks and temples

1,012 spots across Japan with current status, bloom percentages, and GPS coordinates. When JMC spot reporters have filed a recent update (within 48 hours), the tool uses that observed status as the primary reading. Otherwise it falls back to the JMC bloom-meter forecast. Stale observations are shown as context, not hidden.

"Cherry blossom spots in Kyoto"
→ 51 spots: Kiyomizu-dera (Full bloom, observed Apr 9), Maruyama Park (91% full-bloom)...

sakura_best_dates — match travel dates to bloom

Give it your start and end dates, get back the cities where full bloom overlaps your window plus a short list of specific viewing spots when spot data is available.

"I'm in Japan April 8–14, where should I go?"
→ Cities with bloom in that window, ranked by timing, plus spot suggestions and map links

kawazu_forecast — early-season deep-pink variety

Kawazu cherry blooms January–February in Izu Peninsula, months before standard sakura opens anywhere.