Interestingly, a reliable source told me that the cherry trees in Sapporo went into full bloom within hours from having their first open flowers on May 1. In fact, the cherry blossoms opened earlier at Sapporo than at Hakodate this year,... read all
The cherry blossoms of Hakodate officially opened on May 2 this year, slightly later than an average year. Peak was reached on May 5, and I read a report saying that the cherry trees remained in full bloom despite the rain yesterday;... read all
One week after my last visit, today I visit Hirosaki again to check out the development of the cherry blossoms at its castle. Main keep and inner... read all
I write as I am on board the train towards Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture. Aomori the northernmost prefecture of Honshu, the main island of Japan. The train is quite packed with whom I assume to be tourists, judging by... read all
Kakunodate is one of the Tohoku Region's top three cherry blossom spots, along with Hirosaki and Kitakami. During an average year, by this time around... read all
After visiting the Miharu Takizakura, I drove 50 kilometers inland to Aizu-Wakamatsu, also in Fukushima Prefecture. Surrounded by snow covered mountains, including... read all
Hiraizumi in Iwate Prefecture became recognized as a Unesco World Heritage just last year. Today, I have the privilege to visit the culturally important properties of Chusonji Temple and Motsuji Temple. While neither of these world... read all
Today I made our yearly trek down to Yamanashi to check out the cherry blossoms around the Fuji Five Lake region at the base of Mount Fuji. The trees around the mountain... read all
Sendai is a city close to my heart because it was one of the first places that I had visited during my first trip to Japan to watch the World Cup ten years ago. Today we visit its cherry blossom spots. The city's cherry blossoms... read all
After a short break, today we travel further north into the Tohoku Region to resume our cherry blossom reporting. It looks set to be a good day as we make our first stop at the famed Miharu Takizakura (Miharu weeping cherry tree)... read all
So far this season, I have been mostly covering cherry blossoms of the Somei Yoshino variety. As Somei Yoshino are the overwhelming majority among cherry trees in Japan, they have become synonymous with ... read all
The main cherry blossom season in Kyoto has come to an end as the Somei Yoshino trees have dropped most of their petals. However, several late blooming tree varieties continue to provide tourists with hanami opportunities. I included... read all
With 30,000 trees and a history stretching back more than a thousand years, Mount Yoshino or Yoshinoyama is Japan's most celebrated cherry blossom spot. The mountain is divided into four sections from bottom to top: Shimosenbon... read all
Today I leave the Kansai Region and make my way to Kanazawa in the Ishikawa Prefecture. Kanazawa is a city that I like a lot because I personally feel it has a very cultured atmosphere. It is home to Kenrokuen Garden, one of the top... read all
The cherry blossoms in Tottori typically open about a week after the ones in Tokyo. This year they were reported to have officially reached full bloom on April 10. Five days later, some trees have started to drop their first petals, but... read all
The cherry blossoms are beautiful, but their ephemerality makes it sad at the same time. Don't we all wish that the cherry blossoms will remain forever? But then again, such is the nature of humans that they'd be taken for granted if... read all
Today I made my annual visit to Himeji Castle to check on the current state of the cherry blossoms and the renovation works that had started... read all
Today I headed down to Tokyo to check out the cherry trees around Shinjuku Gyoen, Ueno Park, and Sumida Park. The cherry blossoms around the capitol reached full bloom about a week ago and since then... read all
The cherry blossoms around Yokohama reached full bloom earlier this week, so I headed down there today to check out the trees around Sankeien Garden and Negishi Forest Park. Although we had some heavy rain... read all
Like Yokohama, which I visited earlier this morning, the cherry blossoms around Kamakura reached full bloom a few days ago and, while not severely affected by yesterday's rain, are approaching the end if... read all
It looks set to be a wet day. Weather forecasts have indicated rain nationwide, with many cities likely to see lightning. I am making my way back to Kyoto to revisit Arashiyama and Maruyama Park, and I wonder how the cherry... read all
Tomorrow is expected to be a rainy day all across Japan, so please prepare your umbrellas if you will be here. Depending on the intensity of the rain, the life span of the cherry blossoms may be shortened, so let's all hope for not too... read all
Today I made a follow up trip down to Tokyo to check out the cherry blossoms at Shinjuku Gyoen, Koishikawa Korakuen, Chidorigafuchi, and Ueno Park. Both... read all
After spending a day at Osaka, I returned to Kyoto yesterday, and I witnessed an invasion: that of tourists, both local and foreign, who poured into the streets of the old capital. Walking along the streets, I heard different dialects of... read all
Heavy rains and extremely strong winds swept through Japan since our last report from Tokyo and a lot of people were concerned about the effect that this would have on the cherry blossoms. I'm happy to report that... read all
I heard that the samurai liked cherry trees because they could identify their own lives with the transient nature of the cherry blossoms: impermanent, yet glorious. Today our team reports from the three big cities of Kyoto, Tokyo... read all
The cherry blossoms in Nagoya officially started opening one week ago on March 30, one day ahead of Tokyo (from where Scott is reporting today) and... read all
If you haven't already noticed, castles - or the remains of them - are usually good places to do hanami (cherry blossom viewing). If you happen to be in Japan during the cherry blossom season and do not know where to go to see them, the... read all
Today we travel to Kumamoto, the city with the famous Kumamoto Castle, one of the most beautiful in Japan. Kumamoto is usually one of the first cities in Japan to reach full bloom. Indeed, the Weather Agency announced... read all
It's that time of the year again! From today for about a month, the japan-guide team will be sweeping Japan from south to north, bringing you coverage of the cherry blossoms at famous locations across the nation. The cherry blossoms... read all
The cherry blossoms in Kyoto are forecast to start opening from tomorrow, April 2. Today I visited the city for this year's first of approximately seven cherry blossom reports, as we plan to report from the former capital at least twice... read all
While cherry blossoms have started opening in Kyushu and some southern areas on Shikoku and Honshu in recent days already, they are forecast to officially start opening in Tokyo today. Starting with this report from the capital,... read all
Today we headed for Tokyo to do our second cherry blossom report for the year. As the weather didn't become much warmer over the past week, we weren't expecting much progress from our... read all
Tokyo's cherry blossoms are not expected to start opening for another two weeks, however, a small number of early blooming cherry tree varieties have begun to provide... read all
