Cherry blossoms after the Golden Week

Hi all,

I am trying to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. My son wants to visit Hokkaido and I want to see cherry blossoms. So am thinking of going there in May but not during the Golden Week. But it seems like there are only 2 cherry blossom spots left after the Golden Week - Nakajima Park and Seiryuji Temple, and they are not that vast. Please correct me if I am wrong. Ideally, we would like to experience cherry blossoms in a park filled with hundreds of cherry trees.

I have also thought of Tokyo or Kyoto (for cherry blossoms) and Hokkaido. But this means travel in March/April. I am concerned if it is really ideal to visit Hokkaido during this time. Would the roads be wet and slippery, neither here nor there season (too late for winter, too early for spring) etc. Tokyo would be easiest for our flight connections to/fro Hokkaido as we are coming from Singapore. Would it be cumbersome and more expensive to travel from Kyoto to Hokkaido if we fly into Kansai Osaka. We actually prefer Kyoto over Tokyo as we have only been to Kyoto once but a few times already to Tokyo.

We are looking to spend 8 or max 10 days all in, in the 2 cities excluding flying time in and out of Singapore. My son does not like too long a trip.

Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

In a very late blooming year, you may still be able to see the blossoms in Hakodate's Goryokaku Fort, one of Japan's very best hanami spots, but in the average year it will be too late. Depending on the timing of the blossoms, Sapporo's parks may still have cherry blossoms. If not, then you are likely to find blossoms further east and north on Hokkaido, e.g. Asahikawa, Obihiro, Kushiro, Wakkanai, etc.

The cherry tree variety east and north of Sapporo is mainly the Ezo-yamazakura (or Oyamazakura) which is - frankly - not quite as spectacular as the Somei Yoshino. I am not sure how popular hanami festivities are in those parts of Hokkaido, but I suspect that they feel slightly different from the ones in Tokyo and Kyoto.

Cherry blossoms are usually in full bloom in Ueda and Bessho Onsen quite late - around mid May. Ueda is about an hour out of Tokyo by shinkansen, it is quite pretty at the time of the castle festival (and you can dress up in armour lol). From Ueda to Bessho Onsen is about 15 minutes by local train.

Cherry blossoms are usually in full bloom in Ueda and Bessho Onsen quite late - around mid May.

No, they are usually in full bloom mid April. Some late flowering varieties may be in bloom later than that.

I was in Hakodate this past golden week, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and already starting to fall from some trees.

It wasnt too busy for Golden Week and hotel prices were fine if you booked ahead.

Yeah, I was about to say if you're willing to travel Golden Week, you're almost always guaranteed sakura in Hirosaki and Kakunodate. Both are really spectacular. I found Kakunodate much more crowded than Hirosaki when I visited and both were over a week end, but it was about a decade ago, so the shinkansen only went as far as Hachinohoe, so that probably does change things.

The azaleas and wisteria during Golden Week further south are also quite lovely.

I was going back through years of blossom reports here on Japan Guide and I noticed the variance in places like Tokyo and Kyoto can be quite high while in northern Tohoku it's nearly always around the same time making it easier to plan.

I actually use to love visiting Japan during Golden Week, but can't now that I have a child in school.

Yes sorry, my mistake. We must have been there (Ueda/Bessho) late April https://festivalgo.huber-japan.com/events/events/ueda-castle-sakura-fe...

I've seen sakura in Kamikochi in mid May but there werent many and I think they were the double flower type.

Don't be too worried about travelling in Golden Week - too many people with scare stories that simply are not true.
As for cherry blossom, different varieties in different places - some better than others. There are locations around Hokkaido that do flower in mid-May. There are some resources on this site and elsewhere on the internet that can point you in the right direction, especially if you search for late types.
(I came across a small amount of cherry blossom last week for my latest guests - it's not hard to find if you know where to look.)

Dear all,

Very sorry for my late reply.

Thank you so very much for all your kindness in helping with my enquiry. I really appreciate it so much.

I am truly glad to know that travelling to Hokkaido during the Golden Week will not be out of norm crowded and expensive. All these years, I have always avoided the Golden Week as I read everywhere online that visitors are strongly advised to avoid travelling to Japan during the Golden Week as domestic travel then is at its very peak. Perhaps could they mean avoid travelling to Tokyo and Kyoto and the likes?

Since I know now that it is do-able to travel to Hokkaido during the Golden Week, then I will proceed to visit sometime from end April to first week of May.

Thank you all once again for your help!

Regards
Belle