Traveling to Japan for Sakura Festival

I'm planning a trip to Japan (my first ever) I will most likely be my myself. I know very little Japanese, but I will bring a translation guide with me.

I figure the best time for me to come will be during the Cherry Blossom blooming. If I can only visit once, I would want it to be during this.

My main question is where is the best place to view this? How big is the celebration? Or has what I heard been sort of over hyped?

I would also like some suggestions on where to stay with a Budget of about 2500 US Dollars for the entire trip.

Thank you!

It's tricky to plan a trip around sakura because you can't be sure exactly when they will be blooming at any given location.

Consider buying a rail pass so that you have a lot of flexibility in terms of being able to quickly get to where the trees are at peak bloom during your visit.

There is no one "best" cherry blossom experience or single ideal place to see trees in bloom. Try to have several options worked into a flexible itinerary. Hopefully you will get some more specific suggestions on this forum, but if you do some additional research on your own, it will pay off.

Justinlee,

Flexibility is the key to Sakura viewing. Try if you can to go out in mid March to early April. Then plan to visit from Osaka to Tokyo. This way you can go to where the Sakura is. You need to realize that the Sakura moves like a wave, beginning down in the south (Okinawa) in January and moves gradually north through Kyushu, Honshu then ending in Hokkaido.

The last time I was in Japan I was lucky enough to be in Tokyo at the same time the Sakura was in bloom so I did not have to go far. Several of the parks in or around Tokyo have some good viewing. (Ueno and Shinjuku Gyoen are a few.)

Besides all the information you can get here on Japan-guide, check out: http://gojapan.about.com/od/cherryblossom/ss/cherryblossom_2...

Luck
Tenshi

I did exactly what you want to do when I planned my first trip to Japan. I headed to Kyoto for 3 weeks, the last 2 in March and the first week in April. And I went by myself. You definitely want to take enough time because you never know when those blossoms will open. I went for the first time in 2005, and I tell you that those flowers didn't open until my last week. But when they did, it was spectacular!

I chose Kyoto because of the historical value, but also because there were countless sakura matsuri. So many that I went again the next year just to catch the ones I couldn't attend my first year.

I took 2 Japanese courses before I left, plus I have Pimsleur on my iPod. In Kyoto, with my limited skills, I had no trouble getting around. I like to think that I've gotten a lot better over the last few years.

Check out this website:
http://raku.city.kyoto.jp/sight_e.phtml. I found it very helpful when planning my trip. There's even a section tracking the status of the flower blooming.

hi justinlee

i did my first trip to japan last year thinking the same way as you.
i wanted to see the blossoms.
first thing i did was to search out that web site with the expected opening of the blossoms and planed my trip from there.
When i arrived Tokyo it was in full bloom while kansai area hadnt started. So i spent a few days in tokyo going to the big parks there. While nice i still found it to be to many people :)
i then activated my railpass and started going all over the country to find the blossoms. The information center in Kyoto was really helpful in pointing me to places in full bloom.
But a tip is to go to the big castle towns ( himeji, osaka, nagoya kumamoto etc) around the castles there are often alot of blossoms.
i visited over 50 castles so its a safe card :)

As of budget. I spent 3months in japan. first 2 i was traveling constantly and the last i stayed in tokyo.
i forced myself into a tight budget about 8000yen/day. i dont think you can go much lower than that.
The railpass is a must if you are going to go to different places. i used the 3week one. then you end up with about 3000yen/day in travel cost.
in the big citys i most often went into the capsule hotels. they are unexpensive (about 3000Yen) ,central and dont have a curfew as some hostels.
As i was going to do some hiking i had all my outdoor stuff with me so i also spent alot of nights tenting ,that cut down the costs :)
i dont think you can get under 2300dollar/month.

as of language i didnt have any ( ok some..) problem getting by with just simple japanese words as ''when'' ''where'' and so on. just keep a notebook in your pocket so that train station personal can write down trains,times ,changes etc.
when going to small places the arrival time is the only thing you got for going of at the right place cause there are no english signs and sometimes the speakers arnt that clear. Lyckely you can most often set your watch after the japanese trains :)

more tips on places can be found on this site where i have uploaded some pics.
http://www.resedagboken.se/
search for ''Fluppo''

hope this helps

My first 2 trips to Japan were in early spring when the cherry trees were blooming. Both 3 week trips were from the last week of March to mid April. As others have said it's more like a wave of blooming from west to east so if you're traveling around you will be treated to sakura in many places.
My favorites:
Ueno Park and Asakusa in Tokyo. Also in Tokyo the east garden of the Imperial Palace is nice and also Hamarikyu Garden on the Sumida River (a detached garden of the Imperial Palace)
Walking from one temple to the next on the eastern side of Kyoto (Higashiyama) and the Path of Philosophy, also eastern Kyoto, you'll see more cherry blossoms than you could believe!
Arishiyama on the edge of northwestern Kyoto.
The gardens at Heian Shrine and Nijo Castle (in central Kyoto) were spectacular.
Then, after your first trip, you'll want to go again. Try a fall trip for momiji - another beautiful season of red maples!

Rather than mid-March to early April, I would say the last week of March to mid- April for Tokyo at least. I have never seen blossoms come out before the 20th of March (my birthday is around this time so I usually remember whether they came out before or after). The first week of April it's usually guaranteed you will see some, although the whole tree may not have blossomed.

I don't know if "celebration" and "festival" are the right words for this time- what are you imagining? People have picnics with their friends, coworkers and families under the trees once they are blooming properly- on the weekends this means there can be no empty ground in some park.

Popular places for viewing in Tokyo are Ueno park, Shinjuku Gyoen, Chidorigafuchi Moat near Kudanshita station and alongside the Meguro river but there are many other places- most parks have some cherry trees somewhere. Yoyogi park also has some, Inokashira park is also popular but incredibly crowded on the weekends the blossoms are out.

As for your budget of $2000, you didn't mention either how long you will be staying or what kind of dollars.

10,000 yen a day is usually mentioned as a comfortable amount for a fairly low budget trip. More if you want to travel around a lot, stay in nicer hotels and eat dinner at a restaurant.

These are sites listed as TOP 100 cherry viewing sites in Japan.

-Tokyo-
Ueno Park, Shinjuku Gyoen
(Chidorigafuchi Moat is also famous)

-Kyoto-
Daigo-ji temple, Ninna-ji temple, Arashiyama
(Maruyama Park is also famous)

-Osaka-
Osaka Castle Park, Osaka Minto Bureau

Popular cherry blossom spots:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2011_where.html

And when they bloom:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2011_when.html