Cherry blossom season in Japan

The cherry-blossom, the national flower of Japan (hereafter referred to Sakura) generally starts flowering in spring. However, the flower season depends much on the temperature. At first, Sakura flowers in Okinawa island at the end of December until next February because the Okinawa island is the warmest region in Japan and spring commences in December. Then, Sakura flowers in the South of Japan. The last Sakura flowers in the North and Hokkaido Island.

Sakura at Kofukuji Temple, Nara

A lasting tradition

In Japan, almost all Japanese and foreigners living in Japan go watching Sakura. When Sakura flowers, local governments prepare “watching space”, which is places under or near to Sakura trees where visitors and stay to watch Sakura in flowers without touching or destroying them, to help visitors have the best look and wonderful experience. Japanese women and men wear Kimono when watching Sakura. They eat traditional foods, drink Sake (traditional Japanese alcohol made from rice) and discuss with friends or families under Sakura trees and watch flower petals falling. The term “Sakura watching” is called Ohanami (お花見) in Japanese. In Tokyo and big cities such as Osaka and Kyoto, some traditional fast foods are served at small mobile restaurants near the watching space. In small cities, traditional foods are served freely by local governments. Ohanami is a national festival and is a good business opportunity for tourism.

Where to watch Sakura in flowers?

There are some famous places in Japan where you can watch Sakura. Here are my comments:

Tokyo: Ueno park, Shinjuku garden, Sumida river in Asakusa

Kyoto: Kiyozumi Temple

Osaka: Osaka Castle

Nara: Kofukuji Temple

Kobe: Himeji Castle

Sakura at Himeji Castle, Kobe

How to organize a trip to see Sakura?

You should come to Japan after 15^th March. The best time to come is between 15^th March and 20^th March. Check weather forecasts and tourist news from Japan on internet.

You should arrive at Osaka first. Think about stay in Osaka 1 week to visit the city as well as world heritages around Osaka. You should visit: at least Kiyozumi Temple (Kyoto), Osaka Castle (Osaka), Kofukuji Temple (Nara) and Himeji Castle (Kobe). Then you take Shinkansen (super rapid train) to Tokyo. Here, you can start to visit Ueno park, Sumida river and Shinjuku garden. You can continue the direction to the North and end up with visiting Hokkaido island.

Accommodation and local travel

I will talk about how to search a cheap room in Japan in other article.