2016 Cherry Blossom Itinerary Suggestions

I'm planning to go to Japan next year from March 24th to April 3rd.

Based on this year's data, full blooms were around March 29th onwards.

I plan to arrive in Tokyo, but Fukuoka is an option as well. And fly out either from Tokyo or Osaka. And my plan is to view the cherry blossoms in Tokyo and Kyoto, so Fukuoka is just optional.

Can anyone suggest some itineraries that I could take to maximise my cherry blossom viewing? :)

Thanks!

It all depends on the weather during that period. Having said I was fortunate to have enjoyed the full bloom in Tokyo / Kyoto / Osaka for the past two sakura seasons around end March / early April.

For cherry blossoms the important thing is to be flexible. You may be thinking you really want to visit X but if the blossoms are not yet in bloom, you'll end up disappointed, but if you're flexible, you can easily see what places ARE in bloom and visit some of those.

Generally, Miyazaki, Kochi, Shizuoka, and Tokyo are the first prefectures to bloom. Since you are visiting Tokyo, that'd probably be the better place to start and then end in Kyoto. If you have a JR Pass, though, and you find that far places, such as Kochi or Shizuoka, are in full bloom but Tokyo is a bit early, it's easy to make the trip.

If you're planning to go to Kyushu at all, then I'd start there and head north. You might end up following the path of "peak blossom".

In general, I think you've got to make a decision as to whether seeing blossom is the primary purpose of your trip, or if it's a "nice-to-have" possibility.

If you're hell-bent on max blossom, then you'll make very few reservations and will be prepared to follow the blossom based on real-time info (there are very good blossom reports on the main Japan-guide forum - have a look at the 2015 ones, they'll give you an idea http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2011.html ). This will, of course, be likely to bend the rest of your trip completely out of shape. Are you willing to miss other things simply in order to see some petals falling?

However, if you're happy to see blossom as and if/when you come across it, then as long as you're within a two week (or so) window, you're pretty much bound to come across it somewhere.

We have looked at schedules for next year and the first and full bloom dates from the past ten years. For your dates we chose the following route:

Tokyo to Kagoshima at the bottom of Kyushu (stopping at Okayama on the way). Then Nagasaki before going to Kyoto for three nights. We head into the mountains, calling in at Matsumoto to see the castle, before two nights at a ryokan near Nagano before returning to Tokyo on Friday 1st April. We have a hanami party planned in one of the local Tokyo parks on the Sunday :)

Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

We are quite flexible since our trip is mainly to see cherry blossoms. We've been to most parts of Japan already, just never during spring :)

So I think we will just arrive in Tokyo, few days here until 30th March since we want to go Kamakura, maybe Kawaguchiko and Shizuoka if it blossoms early there.

Then go to Kyoto or Osaka, and make day trips to Kyoto until the 2nd April. Then fly home from Kansai on the 3rd.

OK enough? Hopefully will get to see full blossoms in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka!

Part of the problem though of seeing the cherry blossoms in the big cities and especially Kyoto is that you will certainly not be alone. Being in some desolate place may not be a lot of fun either, but when huge crowds are constantly streaming past and making a lot of noise, it is not so easy to relax.
I'd suggest you keep some elements of your original plan - find some lesser known places and then you can stretch out and relax more.
Visiting Kotohira to see the Konpirasan Shrine during the height of sakura season is particularly rewarding. Some people are there of course but it is not a packed subway train:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ley9rVIewoQ

Another great place is in Okayama - Korakuen is nice of course but not extremely sakura-centered. But the Handayama Garden was absolutely fantastic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zAI3_N7NEM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGQ8o7k9GbA

And Fukuoka has some of the best places in Kyushu. Maizuru Koen was stunning and Nishi Koen also was like walking through a forest of cherry blossoms:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=968CH00PboY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-pJPZjNVx0

I think Rabbityama mentioned Tsuyama - some day I am going to take him up on his recommendation.

Okayama looks like a nice city to visit as I never been there before and can be a day trip from Osaka. But their full bloom seems to be from early April though :(

Given if I arrive in Tokyo on the 24th, then on the 31st leave for Osaka until the 2nd April, when is the best day to go visit Okayama?
If I leave Tokyo on the 30th instead, will I miss out the full bloom there?

In Osaka I do plan to go to Kyoto to see the cherry blossoms there, maybe for 2 days. Since it's around their full bloom time.

So confusing, basically I just want to stay at 2 cities and do day trips to Shizuoka, Okayama etc.