Tokyo: Blossoms Opening

After weeks of reporting on early blooming cherry blossoms, it is finally the season for the the mainstream cherry blossoms. Cassie was in Tokyo last Thursday and reported that the cherry blossoms had just opened. Today, I revisited Tokyo to follow up on the sakura and found that the number of open blossoms are increasing slowly, but surely. Warmer temperatures are forecast for the rest of this week and that should greatly encourage many more blossoms to open over the next few days. Barring inclement weather, our estimated best viewing in Tokyo is predicted to be from March 26 to April 3. I expect this coming weekend to be a prime time to see the cherry blossoms at their best.

For those interested in places outside of Tokyo, our cherry blossom forecast page also has the best viewing information of other major cities. Starting today, we will also be bringing almost daily on-site sakura reports from various cities. Follow along here to keep up with the latest updates.

I started my wet Monday at Ueno Park, a popular cherry blossom viewing spot in central Tokyo. While there were more open blossoms today compared to when Cassie was here four days ago, many of the trees still need a few more days to reach their best viewing. Consequently, the best viewing at Ueno Park is expected to start from around March 26 until April 3, barring inclement weather.

Until April 5, there is a cherry blossom festival taking place at Ueno Park. The cherry trees are also illuminated until 22:00 during the festival period.

My next and last spot for the day was at Sumida Park, a stone's throw from Asakusa and another popular cherry blossom spot in Tokyo. Overall, the cherry trees here were less developed compared to the ones at Ueno Park, with only a smattering of blossoms open. However, more blossoms are expected to open with the warmer temperatures forecast for the rest of this week, and the best viewing period at Sumida Park should not be too far off from Ueno Park's. I predict this coming weekend to be a good time to see the cherry blossoms here at their best.

Until April 5, there is a cherry blossom festival along the banks of the Sumida River. There are no festival food stalls, but the cherry trees are illuminated from 18:00 to 21:00.