Cherry Blossom Report 2010

The last cherry blossom report of the year brought me to Hakodate near the southern tip of Hokkaido where the flowering season is currently in full swing... read all

The cherry blossom front has finally reached Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido, where trees started to open their blossoms last week, several days behind their average schedule due to a cold April... read all

On the second and final day of my cherry blossom report to the northern Tohoku Region, I visited Kakunodate, a small city in Akita Prefecture, known for its beautifully preserved samurai district and its... read all

One month after the peak of the hanami season in central and southern Japan, the cherry blossom front has reached the northern tip of Honshu. On a 2-day trip to the northern Tohoku Region I will be reporting from the... read all

After a two week break from the blossoms, I resumed the seasonal reporting from Northern Japan today with a visit to the Miharu Takizakura, a single weeping cherry tree in Fukushima Prefecture... read all

Today we went to check out the Fuji Five Lakes area which is a popular spot to take pictures of cherry blossoms with Mount Fuji as a backdrop. Two of the best places to view the combination of flowers and mountain are at Chureito Pagoda... read all

Many spots in Kyoto are now losing their cherry blossoms at an accelerated rate and soon enough the season will be more or less over. When I visited the city three days ago... read all

Today was the first and only japan-guide cherry blossom report from Kanazawa this season, and I found the cherry trees in the city to be at full bloom. The peak of the cherry blossom season in the city should continue into this weekend... read all

Today after spending a week reporting on the cherry blossoms in the Kansai Region I've returned to Tokyo to follow up on Yasukuni Shrine, Chidorigafuchi, Sumida Park, and Ueno Park... read all

Today was our second time reporting from Osaka this season. When Scott visited some of the city's cherry blossom spots a week and a half ago on March 29 between 20 and 50 % of the flowers had open... read all

Though the japan-guide staff has made five previous visits to Kyoto during this year's cherry blossom season, this is my first time reporting from the city. When Schauwecker last visited on April 4... read all

While Scott and Francois will continue to report a few more days from the Kansai and Kanto regions, my visit to Kamakura today concluded the first part of the season's reporting for me. I will resume my hunt for cherry blossoms in more... read all

After a rainy day of cherry blossom reporting yesterday in Tokyo, I was lucky to find clear skies and many open flowers today at Yoshinoyama (Mount Yoshino), which is perhaps Japan's most famous cherry blossom spot... read all

Today I visited Inuyama, a small city just north of Nagoya, which attracts tourists with a handful of relatively interesting sights, including an old feudal castle, an excellent open air museum and lots of cherry trees... read all

This is my third cherry blossom report from Tokyo within a week, during which time I have seen the cherry blossoms progress from being around 20 or 30 % open on March 30 to being generally at full bloom today... read all

Hikone is a small city on the shores of Japan's largest lake, Biwako, less than an hour east of Kyoto by train along the JR Biwako Line... read all

Warm and sunny weather has caused cherry trees to burst into full bloom in many cities across Honshu yesterday, including in Kyoto, where I check out Nijo Castle, Kyoto Botanical... read all

Today was a follow up visit to Himeji to check the state of the blossoms at Himeji Castle and Kokoen Garden. Our previous visit to Himeji was on March 26, 2010... read all

It has been two weeks since the cherry blossoms in Nara opened and a week since our last visit to the city. Today's report includes follow up visits to Heijo Palace, Nara Park and Wakakusayama... read all

I have been looking forward to the Miyajima cherry blossom report for a while and was happy to see the weather further improve in time for my visit. The shrine island near Hiroshima has been one of my favorite places in Japan... read all

Today we made a fourth visit to Kyoto to check out the development of the cherry blossoms since our last reports on March 30, March 27 and March 23. Today's report included followup trips to the Philosopher's Path,... read all

On this year's only cherry blossom report to Hiroshima I was able to confirm that like many other major places on Honshu, the city has entered the best viewing period of this year's cherry blossom season... read all

The cherry blossoms in Tokyo have developed quite a bit since I last visited a couple days ago for the March 30 cherry blossom report. As suspected, many places in the city are at or approaching full bloom and this weekend should be the... read all

Just four days after Francois' first report from Nagoya, I stopped by the city on my way to Western Japan for a second cherry blossom report... read all

Cool weather in Kyoto persists, resulting in a slowed advancement in the state of the cherry blossoms since they were last reported on March 23, 2010 and March 27, 2010. Today's report covers a return trip to Arashiyama, as well as first... read all

This is our third report from Tokyo this season. The cherry blossoms have advanced quite a bit since our first report last week on March 23, and with the nice weather today there were a lot of people enjoying hanami. It seems that many... read all

Today for our first cherry blossom report of the year from Osaka we covered Expo 70 Commemorative Park, Kema Sakuranomiya Park, and Osaka Castle. As with Kyoto, cool temperatures over the last few days have prolonged the progression of... read all

Temperatures in Kyoto have been unseasonally low in recent days with daytime highs six degrees below the average. As a result, the cherry blossoms have made almost no progress since my first report to the city four days ago. This morning... read all

This is our second Tokyo cherry blossom report trip reporting on the early season state of the trees at Koishikawa Korakuen, Yasukuni Shrine, Chidorigafuchi, and Ueno Park... read all

Cherry blossoms in Nara were reported to have opened six days ago on March 20. But due to unusually cool weather in recent days, the blossoms' progress has been rather unspectacular so far, and most trees still have more than half of... read all

This spring offers the last opportunity until the year 2014 to see the main tower of Himeji Castle in combination with cherry blossoms. From April 12 of this year, the castle's interior will be closed to the public and... read all

The cherry blossom front is advancing into the more populous areas of Japan, and today the japan-guide.com staff is reporting from four locations around central Honshu. Scott looked into the progress of the cherry blossoms in Tokyo, to... read all

Cold weather has slowed the process of the opening of the cherry blossoms in Tokyo and Kyoto, where the flowers are still only just opening. Meanwhile, several cities on the southern island of Kyushu are approaching full bloom... read all

Tokyo's cherry blossoms officially opened yesterday, which is pretty much as predicted and overall about a week earlier than during an average year... read all

Cherry blossoms in Kyoto were reported to have opened on March 19 this year, twelve days ahead of their average schedule. Today I made a first report trip to the old capital to check on the blossoms' process in three of Kyoto's most... read all

Six days after the flowers were reported to open there, we checked out Kumamoto, one of Japan's first cities to see cherry blossoms every spring. Like yesterday in Fukuoka, today was another day of nice weather,... read all

This year's japan-guide.com cherry blossom reports are starting anew, and like last year we are starting with Fukuoka, the largest city on the island of Kyushu and one of the first places in Japan to see the blossoms open... read all