Hanami in Tokyo and Kyoto in the same season?

Hi guys,

after my great trip to Japan in this years October/November, I am planing to go back end of March/April next year.

I want to arrive in Japan on March 25th and stay until April 12th, which makes about 2,5 weeks in total. But those dates are not fixed. I can go a week earlier or later, doesn't matter.

I actually didn't plan to go because of the cherry blossoms but while collecting information I realized that it is exactly during this time, so I want to see it ;)

So far I have 4 possibilities in my head.

1. According to last years data, cherry blossoms in Tokyo are usually always a few days earlier than Kyoto. So my plan was to arrive in Tokyo, stay there a few days and hopefully see the cherry blossoms and then travel to Kyoto are and see the cherry blossoms there as well.

2. Arriving in Fukuoka and than traveling to Kyoto making a stop in Hiroshima, Onomichi, Kurashiki/Okayama and Himeji and hopefully see cherry blossoms in all of those cities.

3. Arriving in KIX/Osaka and stay only in the Osaka/Kyoto area because possibility 1 and 2 are way too risky and hard to predict and maybe even impossible.

4. Don't focus on the cherry blossoms too much and just plan the route as I desire. If I see cherry blossoms on my way, I will take it as a nice bonus if I don't see any, it won't kill me either. But I think I really want to see it ;)

It is impossible to plan to definitely see blossoms, as the blooming dates are highly changeable, all the way up until March/April next year. I would aim to be flexible in your planning and be ready to "chase" the blossoms if you want to see them in full bloom. If you book a "set" trip, you may get lucky with the blossoms or miss them by a few days (or more).

Usually they are days apart in timing, so sure, easy to see both if your timing is right. Problem is that you have to either plan a stay of weeks or get lucky for the timing to be perfect.

Easy, watch blooming info web in last week of ur travel date.
The web is not only one and covered nation wide with photo.
A ton of same and similar Qs in this forum, search again.

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It is impossible to plan to definitely see blossoms, as the blooming dates are highly changeable

I disagree. it would be impossible to some to Japan and not see cherry blossom in Tokyo and Kyoto for the dates the OP has mentioned unless they deliberately avoided blossom. For a major hanami spot, the season at Shinjuku Gardens extends for SIX weeks and in Kyoto, depending on the spot, again several weeks. Remember there are varieties that blossom early and late so pretty much any day with the date range there will be some.

Even for my October and November tours I could show my guests cherry blossom on their trips this year - it's not hard if you do the research and know where to look.

There is a big difference between "blossom" and "full blossom", though. And only recently there have been seasons when the blooming dates were a week off average - if OP times their Tokyo/Kyoto dates incorrectly, they could very well miss full bloom in both.

Plus, most tourists think of cherry blossoms as the standard Somei Yoshino, and may be disappointed to see the less common early or late blooming varieties. Seeing packs of trees full of light pink blossom is the view they expect.

You come in the right season of the year. So you�fll see some hanami for sure. You only need to be a bit flexible where you are going to see them.
I was in Kansai area this year for about 4 weeks (work) and managed to see for 4 consecutive weekend cherry blossoms in full bloom.

http://bicycletraveljapan.blogspot.com/2019/04/miho-museum-perfect-day...

http://bicycletraveljapan.blogspot.com/search?q=Hanami+&m=1

There are many spots to see them. And there are dedicated webpage that show where full bloom is achieved.

So essentially I think all your 3 options are fine.

Enjoy your trip.

I�fd chose your option 4

Plus, most tourists think of cherry blossoms as the standard Somei Yoshino
Not just tourists, but people giving forecasts and talking about where to see blossom.
The past few years I have been going to places in full bloom (mankai) despite early or late seasons across many weeks in Kyoto and other places. Just because you are in a place on a particular day in March/April (for the majority of varieties) doesn't mean you can't get full bloom across many days in a large city like Tokyo or Kyoto. Even somewhere like Tokyo where I can get "full bloom" for weeks on end - depending on location and variety - because the place is so big and varied and between east and west there are climate variations.