Tokyo sakura season

Tengu Otaru Named for the mythical creatures of Japanese folklore, Mt. Tengu offers gorgeous views of Otaru and the Sea of Japan. In springtime, some of the cherry trees are lit from underneath, creating a dramatic scene.

The trees are lit up at night during the season. A walking path is paved around the large weeping cherry tree, which is believed to be over 1, years old. Bukeyashiki-dori is a place where many samurai residences were built.

Towards the end of April every year, the streets become decorated in pink weeping cherry trees, which create a stunning view when contrasted with the black board fences surrounding the samurai residences. Iwaki Aomori Worshipped as a sacred mountain since ancient times, Mt. Iwaki is home to about 6, cherry trees line a 20km stretch of road which are in full bloom from late April to early May.

It is a place where you can fully enjoy the scenery in every season. About 1, cherry trees from 65 species bloom in spring. Every spring , when the cherry blossoms bloom, nearly 2 million people visit the park for hanami. In the evening, bonbori paper lanterns are lit, and the cherry blossoms look fantastic as they appear in the soft illumination of the paper lanterns. While there are no parks here, you can enjoy cherry blossom viewing while having drinks and meals in the cafes and restaurants along the river.

Weeping cherry trees here during spring are a must-see. During an evening event, cherry blossom trees that line up along the outer moat are lit up, and when you walk in the pale pink transparent light you'll feel positively enchanted by the romantic scene!

In fact, this home to around 1, cherry trees has been selected as one of the most famous cherry blossom spots in Japan and is one of three major cherry blossom spots in Japan. About 40 types of cherry blossoms and about trees are planted where, which bloom in mid-April. It is also selected as one of the Best Sakura Spots in Japan. During the cherry blossom festival, you can take a boat tour in the moat and enjoy going under the pink petals.

The scenery combining the five-story pagoda with blooming cherry blossoms is just exquisite, making it an official national site of scenic beauty and earning it a place among the best sakura viewing points in Japan.

Viewing cherry blossoms has been a national pastime since the 8th century. There are many species of cherry, some of which have been cultivated through cross-breeding. These efforts took off in the 14th century where they became cultivated as ornamental flowers. But why is Japan so fascinated with the sakura phenomenon since centuries ago?

Cherry blossom trees have many meanings to the Japanese. A lot has to do with the very brief life of the flowers, blooming only for about a week to ten days. Their fleeting beauty illustrates all too perfectly that nothing in this world is permanent, everything passes away at some point. A sad but beautiful admiration for this impermanence has been an important part of the Japanese mindset since ancient times.

Generally, the first flowers to open are in the southwest, where temperatures are typically warmer, while the last sakura to bloom are in the colder northern areas. Throughout sakura season , particularly on weekends, parks and streets covered in cherry blossom trees get completely filled with people having their annual hanami picnic.

Hanami can last an entire day and even into the evening, as viewing "yozakura," or "night sakura," is very popular as well, with many places offering illuminated sakura trees.

Yes, visitors are welcome to join in and appreciate the sakura magic! Some basic items will be needed in advance. A large plastic garbage bag will suffice as well. In a culture that celebrates things in season and nature in general, they would of course, celebrate a natural phenomenon a both as a herald of spring and as an excuse to get drunk and eat delicious food. Somehow Mike and I okay, it was really all Mike managed to book our flight into Tokyo right at the start of the peak season.

Our plan was: check out the blossoms in Tokyo for just one day before heading on a mini train trip to see some other lesser known parts of Japan. We landed in the afternoon after a very long flight I managed to watch 4 movies! Nakameguro, even without sakura, is a very fun neighborhood. There are a ton of cute little eateries, hipster cafes, and shops all around the station.

It gets super busy, both day and night, with everyone politely sometimes not so politely in tourist cases jostling for the best photos. We loved the Nakame sakura what locals call Nakameguro for short so much that Mike dubbed it Naka Bae. As the afternoon went on, it did get increasingly busier, but it was nothing like what I was scared it would be. The best part of Nakame, after the blossoms, which were absolutely delightful, was the street food. There were a bunch of vendors set up on both sides of the river, selling sakura themed food and drinks.

Think: strawberry everything, pink champagne, and all your classic Japanese festival foods. I had a grilled mochi covered in a thick, sweet, garlicky sauce. It was crisp and chewy at the same time and seriously so good. We also had some classic Japanese festival street food: yakisoba. Some of the more popular things I saw people having were: strawberry drinks, strawberries on a stick, boba drinks, takoyaki, grilled mochi, and miso dango.

Sadly there was no street food there. We got there right at sunset, when they started to light up all the sakura. It was very, very pretty, but it was also so BUSY. Busier than Nakame, and that was already bustling by the time we left. It seemed like there were more out of town tourists at Chidorigafuchi and more local young peeps at Nakameguro.

The canopy of cherry blossoms at Chiodorifuchi is gorgeous. As you walk along the moat, you can see people out on boats, and the color of the moat next to the pink of the blossoms is perfection. We walked around most of the of moat and got to see all the people who were already staking out their claims for hanami viewing parties.

Cherry blossoms begin to bloom in the capital earlier than anyone predicted. Every year people around the country look to cherry blossom forecasts provided by meteorological experts in order to plan their springtime hanami flower-viewing activities. The agency says February temperatures this year were the second highest on record, which contributed to the earlier-than-usual blooms. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!