Best cherry blossom sighting spots?

Hi all,

I am arriving in Tokyo night of April 10 and leaving from Osaka morning of April 23. I am very keen to spot some cherry blossoms, as I have a JR nationwide pass I don't mind travelling further out if I must... at the moment it seems so that I will miss my residing cities' blossoms. So, my question is which will be the best spots during this period of time? I will be in Tokyo(10-15), Kyoto(15-20) and Osaka(20-23).

Many thanks and have a colourful spring!

You can either go to Kyoto/Osaka or see cherry blossoms, not both at the same time, so make up your mind.

You'll be too late for cherry blossoms at the typical tourist spots, but there are spots between Tokyo and Kyoto that still will be in full bloom, e.g. Kawaguchiko (Yamamanshi), Takayama (Gifu) or Mt. Yoshino (Nara): http://zoomingjapan.com/travel/mount-yoshino-in-nara/

By the way, this isn't to say you can't to both, just that you can't do them at the same time. If you want to see the blossoms you will need to allocate one or two days to some other area, probably north of Tokyo (this website has more than enough suggestions). Then you can proceed to whatever other place you want.

With your dates, I think a trip North to Sendai, or into the mountains to Nagano/Matsumoto would be your best bet for blossom viewing. It should be roughly the forecasted peak time for those areas during the time you have scheduled for Tokyo. Sendai and Nagano are both about 90 minutes from Tokyo station via the bullet train.

Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka are in full bloom right now, so not really any chance of them lasting for 2-3 more weeks. You'll have to plan for a specifically targeted side trip to see peak blossoms.

Sendai sucks for cherry blossoms, the parks are always jam-packed. Better go to the towns in the surrounding countryside like Marumori or Ogawara, or to Fukushima.

https://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+162439

The best Sakura hunting is a matching of the best Sakura site and the best weather day. You have already chosen good base sites with many attractions; Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Also, you have allocated reasonably long nights for each. It should be enough to wait for a good weather day to visit a Sakura site. You now have a nationwide train pass to visit any Sakura site in Japan, too. So, you just have to prepare some sets of Sakura sites to find the best match with Sakura and weather status.

Here, I compared a list of the 100 selected cherry blossom sites in Japan with Sakura forecast data by a weather company WeatherNews.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/“ú–{‚³‚­‚ç–¼�Š100‘I
http://weathernews.jp/sakura/

The following lists full bloom date forecasted by WeatherNews, Sakura destination name, the nearest JR station, and the weather forecast link, which also includes the official link and a link to "MAP".
Apr 10 Fukushima/Miharu Takizakura (JR Miharu, 20 min bus) https://weathernews.jp/s/sakura/spot/71/index.html
Apr 10 Nagano/Garyu Koen (JR Nagano, Nagaden train to Susaka, 20 min walk) https://weathernews.jp/s/sakura/spot/4803/index.html
Apr 10 Nagano/Takato (JR Inashi, 25 min bus, 15 min walk) https://weathernews.jp/s/sakura/spot/165/index.html
Apr 11 Nagano/Kaikoen (JR Komoro, 3 min walk) https://weathernews.jp/s/sakura/spot/162/index.html
Apr 12 Niigata/Ogozu Bunsui (JR Bunsui, 20 min walk) https://weathernews.jp/s/sakura/spot/227/index.html
Apr 12 Niigata/Muramatsu Koen (JR Gosen, 15 min taxi) https://weathernews.jp/s/sakura/spot/226/index.html
Apr 12 Osaka/Zoheikyoku (JR Osaka-Tenmangu, 15 min walk) https://weathernews.jp/s/sakura/spot/318/index.html
Apr 15 Yamagata/Eboshiyama (JR Akayu, 20 min walk) https://weathernews.jp/s/sakura/spot/63/index.html
Apr 16 Fukushima/Tsurugajo (JR Aizu-Wakamatsu, 5 min bus) https://weathernews.jp/s/sakura/spot/70/index.html
Apr 16 Ibaragi/Shizumine Furusato Koen (JR Shizu, 30 min walk) https://weathernews.jp/s/sakura/spot/4001/index.html
Apr 21 Akita/Senshu Koen (JR Akita, 10 min walk) https://weathernews.jp/s/sakura/spot/25/index.html
Apr 22 Iwate/Takamatsu no Ike (JR Morioka, 20 min bus) https://weathernews.jp/s/sakura/spot/40/index.html
Apr 23 Iwate/Kitakami Tenshochi (JR Kitakami, 15 min bus) https://weathernews.jp/s/sakura/spot/34/index.html

You may pick some, or drop some of them. Then, keep watching the remaining until the very day to hunt Sakura there. Both Sakura and weather forecasts should be updated. Just pick up the best weather day for some of them, and go there with your pass.

Thank you very much everyone! This has been very helpful.

I will take all your suggestions and see what is best when I arrive! :)

I should have listed Yoshino in the above. You need to take Kintetsu trains, though.
Apr 10-13 Nara/Yoshinoyama/Okusenbon (Kintetsu Yoshino) https://weathernews.jp/s/sakura/spot/6408/index.html
http://www.kintetsu.co.jp/foreign/english/

Anyway, the forecasts are not so certain. Try to find the best on your arrival. I list links to some search tools here.
https://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+162372

Thanks... I'm planning to do the sightings on 12 April so I will check back on forecasts on the morning and decide the destination

in my experience, for cherry blossom, you only plan to fail. It's almost impossible to plan. this year is a classic example. all forecast failed and it turned out that it was the earliest year ever to bloom. the best thing you can do, is to arrive in Japan and plan your next day the night before. You have a JR pass so you can practically be anywhere you want the next day. Just watch the news, or the sakura reports on weathernews. If there is an area that has just hit full bloom that day, or the day before and it's feasible to make a day trip there, make it your destination.

i originally planned to spend 4 days in tokyo and 4 days in kyoto and enjoy sakura there, but as it turned out, I only stayed one day in Tokyo (first day), the next day I took the train to Kyoto (because 4 days later sakura will be way past peak in Kyoto). Then after that, I went to Hyogo and Shiga area. The 4 days that were supposed to be spent in Kyoto, I ended up spending them doing day trips to Kanazawa, Kaizu Osaki, Toyama and Kawaguchiko.

Bottom line is, it's impossible to plan way ahead for sakura (unless you are extremely lucky). Just plan 1-2 day ahead and you'll be fine.

the best thing you can do, is to arrive in Japan and plan your next day the night before.

Just watch the news, or the sakura reports on weathernews. If there is an area that has just hit full bloom that day, or the day before and it's feasible to make a day trip there, make it your destination.

I totally agree with you. To do the above smoothly, you would be better to make a set of day trips beforehand. To limit the number of day trip plans, all forecasts could still have some values.