The cherry blossom, or ‘sakura’, is a Japanese icon that adorns the trees every
springtime.
These famous flowers attract droves of local and international admirers
eager to see these beautiful flowers for themselves and often picnic under the pretty pedals in
a practice called “hanami”.
The skura season surely is a must-see, yet among the most common questions for those
visiting Japan in springtime is When is the best time to see the cherry blossoms?
Well, allow us to fill you in First off, it’s important to point out that
the timing of the cherry blossoms each year is heavily determined by the temperature
with warmer years seeing the blossoms bloom as much as two weeks earlier than in cooler
years.
Because Japan stretches across so many lines of latitude, the blossoms can bloom as early
as January in the southern islands and as late as May in the far north.
At any specific location the typical duration of the blooming period is about 7-10 days
given ideal weather conditions but this can be shortened by strong wind and
rain which can cause the pedals to fall sooner With so many variables at play, for the purposes
of this video we’ll be using the annual average timing
in each area for when the trees look their best.
Alright let’s go to the map and get specific: The first cherry blossoms appear in the southern
islands of Okinawa and Kagoshima prefectures in late January to mid-February.
As for Japan’s main islands, Kyushu and southern Shikoku are usually the first to
see the peak of the cherry blossom season around late March
with most of Japan’s major cities typically following a few days later and entering their
best-viewing period in early April including Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, and
Hiroshima It’s worth noting that despite being located
at a higher latitude Tokyo’s blossoms develop a couple of days
ahead of those in Kyoto and Osaka From these southern urban centers, the cherry
blossom ‘front’ sweeps northeast along the sea of Japan
through Kanazawa and also into areas of higher elevation in the center of the country like
Nagano and the Fuji Five Lakes Region Continuing northward, much of the Tohoku region
looks its best in mid-April with the tip of Honshu seeing its best-viewing
period in at the end of the month.
It typically isn’t until early May that Hokkaido starts to celebrate the sakura, when
Sapporo comes alive with color and festivities.
The final places to enjoy the season are the eastern and northern areas of Hokkaido
where the blossoms typically enter their optimum state around mid to late May.
This quick look at when the cherry blossoms bloom we’re just scratching the surface
Nevertheless, hopefully this video helps you plan a more enjoyable, sakura-filled trip
to Japan.
More in-depth information on the cherry blossoms can be found on our website including this
year’s forecast lists of the best sakura spots
tree varieties and during sakura season, daily cherry blossom
reports from around the country For more information or to watch another video
click the links on the screen below now or head to japan-guide.com
your comprehensive up-to-date travel guide first hand from Japan
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Happy travels.