Tokyo: Just Opened

It's that time of year again - welcome to the start of the 2026 cherry blossom reports! After a few trips reporting on some early blooming varieties, over the coming weeks we will be following the sakura as they bloom across the country. So stay tuned for the latest updates on Japan's famous hanami spots.

Today, I visited two spots in Tokyo: Ueno Park and Shinjuku Gyoen. Both parks are starting to see a few flowers opening here and there, and the opening of Tokyo's blossoms was officially announced today, a little ahead of the yearly average. With some warmer days forecast for the coming week, we expect Tokyo's best viewing period to start from around March 25, and provided there isn't too much wind or rain, should keep going for about a week.

Ueno Park is already ready for the cherry blossom season with its food stalls and crowd control signs - now all it needs are the flowers! At the moment the overall look of the trees is somewhat bare from a distance, but upon a closer look I saw a good number of trees had their first flowers, though still very sparse. I expect Ueno Park to be in line with the overall Tokyo forecast, coming into its best viewing from around March 25.

The park has a few early-blooming varieties here and there if you want to get your pink fix sooner rather than later. Food stalls and other festival events have begun, and will continue until April 5 (daily until 21:00). Illuminations will also be held in the upper part of the park and Shinobazu Pond until April 5 (daily until 22:00).

While the Ueno Park trees seem eager to get going, Shinjuku Gyoen is a couple of days behind. Looking at the most common cherry blossom variety, the Somei Yoshino, there were not quite as many trees with their first flowers just yet, though some little buds were looking ready to burst! Aside from the Somei Yoshino, though, the park is famous for its wide variety of cherry blossoms, so there are indeed already some lovely trees showing off their blossoms here and there around the park. I expect the Somei Yoshino at Shinjuku Gyoen not to reach their best viewing until a couple of days after Ueno Park, putting it at around March 27. Note that this year reservations are required to enter the park on the weekends of March 28-29 and April 4-5 between 10am and 4pm.