Where Would Be Nice To Go To Enjoy Cherry Blossoms Viewings?

April would be the best month to enjoy cherry blossoms (Sakura ) in Tokyo area. There are various kinds of Sakura and each kind become in full bloom with different timing. So we can enjoy Sakura for about a month. 

There are so many famous spots for Sakura viewing, but most places in the center of Tokyo are very crowded. As you can see in the photo below, people who went out for enjoying Sakura sometimes feel as if they came out to see just a crowd of people. Therefore I always recommend to go to suburb areas of Tokyo for Sakura viewings. 

Even inside of Tokyo there are cities considered as suburb areas and also country-side areas. Tokyo is a prefecture mainly consists of 23 wards, 26 cities, 3 towns and 1 village. The 23 wards are usually considered as the center of Tokyo, so people often ask as "Is it inside of 23 wards?" to see if it is located in the urban area. The rest of the areas written as 26 cities, 3 towns and 1 village are called "Tama Area" which came from the old name of the area, and these are considered as residential area and countryside of  Tokyo.

26 cities of "Tama Area" would be convenient places to enjoy Sakura quietly. You can reach the areas mostly in an hour from the center of Tokyo, and won't see too much crowd in Sakura spots. If you don't mind to spent more time on trains and buses, the 3 towns and a village would also be wonderful places to enjoy Sakura and nature without crowds. What's more, in "Tama Area" you can also enjoy a wild type of cherry blossoms called Yama-zakura in mountains.

The photos above are all taken in Hachioji City which is one of the 26 cities. As you can see in the photos, you can find many kinds of Sakura almost every where all over Japan since a lot of places such as local parks, streets, riversides and schools. Hope you can find wonderful Sakura spots without a crowd in Tokyo!

Weeping Form Sakura Is Beautiful Now, Beautiful Sakura Spot in West Tokyo

The most common type of Sakura (cherry blossoms), Someiyoshino, is not yet in full bloom, but some other types are blooming earlier as I mentioned previously. The photos are of Entsu-ji Temple located in Hachioji City, Tokyo.

This weeping form Sakura which is shown in the photos is one of the early blooming types. Last Sunday, 80% has already blooming. However it wouldn't be too late to go to see them. This old Buddhist temple is chosen as one of 88 best views in Hachioji because of the beautiful Sakura flowers. According to a legend this temple was originally established in 903, it is a very old historical temple although the original buildings and old artifacts were burned down during the World War Ⅱ.

There are more Sakura viewing spots than famous places introduced in guide books. Please enjoy exploring beautiful Sakura and find your own Hanami (cherry blossoms viewing) spot!

Cherry Blossoms' Hanami(Seasonal Flowers Viewing) Tour in Sakado City, Saitama Prefecture

I'd like to introduce a mini virtual Hanami(Seasonal Flowers Viewing) Tour today! Please enjoy nearly fully bloomed Sakura flowers here!

This is the same place I showed in my post yesterday. It is a river side area of Oppe-Gawa River located in Kitaasaba, Sakado City, Saitama prefecture. The Sakura trees are all Angyokanzakura, one of the early blooming types.

The Flowers have clearer pink color than Someiyoshino which is the most common kind of Sakura in Japan. So the pretty spring color can be recognized even from a far distance.

There is no train station near by and it would be a little inconvenient, but there are a lot fewer people than famous "Hanami" spots. Thus it is a nice place to enjoy beautiful Sakura flowers in a relaxed atmosphere.

Cherry Blossoms' Hanami(Seasonal Flowers Viewing) Season Has Started!

As I mentioned in "Sakura(cherry blossoms) Forecasts" previously, the Sakura Standard Tree in Tokyo had several flowers yesterday and the Meteorological Agency of Japan formally announced that Sakura(cherry blossoms) started blooming in Tokyo area.

Now most Japanese are probably checking weather forecasts to see when will be good for "Hanami", although the announcement was about the beginning of blooming and there aren't many flowers yet in parks. "Hanami" is one of Japanese traditional customs of going out to enjoy seasonal flowers. It is actually not only for Sakura(cherry blossoms), Hanami can be for any flowers, in fact Japanese enjoy going for "Hanami" throughout the year, but of course  "Hanami" for Sakura is the most popular one. 

Besides, people love to have a "Hanami party" under Sakura trees. When people hear the announcement of Sakura(cherry blossoms) blooming in their area most people would say "Okay, let's go for Hanami with lots of food and alcohol! It's a party time!". Then some people would bring out their blue sheets, huge tarpaulins usually used by construction companies as shown in upper right hand side photo. Somehow using tarps is common for "Hanami parties" since people think it is more convenient than gathering small picnic sheets, and large tarps can be used to secure enough space in a good spot.

Weather forecasts are now saying that the temperature will cool down from the day after tomorrow therefore Sakura flowers would last long this year. If it is too warm all Sakura flowers bloom quickly and scatter within several days, but with cooler temperature people can enjoy "Hanami" with lots of flowers this weekend and even during the next week.

However, maybe some people just can't wait that long. Don't worry, although the major type, Someiyoshino,  is just started blooming, there are other types of Sakura flowers have bloomed enough for Hanami. The photos in the lower row show "Angyoukanzakura" in Sakado City, Saitama prefecture. Today, I saw 70-80% of the "Angyoukanzakura" flowers have already bloomed. You can go for Hanami there right away!

How Can The Weather-forecasters Forecast The Date Of Sakura Blooming?

As I wrote yesterday, Japanese weather-forecasts include "Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) Blooming Forecast", and according to Japan Weather Association, the start date of Sakura blooming for this year would be March 21st and the date of full bloom would be March 28th in Tokyo area.

However some Sakura trees are already blooming as shown in the lower photo since there are many different kinds of Sakura trees in Japan. We have early blooming types (famous one for it is Kawazu-Zakura), and late blooming types (Yae-zakura, double-petal Sakura is a typical late blooming type). 

What is then the meaning of the forecast when they say the date of Sakura blooming and the date of full blooming in "Sakura Blooming Forecast"? Actually they are mostly forecasting about the most common type of Sakura called "Someiyoshino". This Sakura type was bred during the late Shogunate (Samurai) era, and since it grows quickly and the flowers are beautiful, it was spread over the country and became the most common Sakura.

Of course, even the same type of trees in an area can start blooming on different days, but since the "Sakura Blooming Forecast" has a long history as a formal forecast, the Meteorological Agency of Japan has a Standard-Sakura tree in each area. In Tokyo area, the Standard-Sakura tree is a Someiyoshino tree and it is located in Yasukuni Temple in Chiyoda-ward. Thus the start date of Sakura blooming in Tokyo is the date when the Standard-Someiyoshino in Yasukuni Temple starts blooming.

Apparently the Meteorological Agency of Japan started the "Sakura Blooming Forecast" in 1953. Since then, they kept the Standard-Sakura trees all over Japan which are 59 trees in total. In other words, there are Sakura trees working for Japanese government offices. Their task is very important to live up to Japanese people's expectations for Hanami (Flower viewing) with perfect timing.

Are You Ready? Sakura(Cherry Blossoms) Viewing Season Is Coming Soon!!

Cherry blossoms are going to bloom soon in Tokyo area!

Japanese people are checking and reporting it from really early stage like the photo on the left, and people keep talking “now it’s 10% blooming”, “now it’s 30% blooming”…until fully bloomed or even past bloomed.

It’s not only for a small talk, Japanese weather forecasts are officially reporting and forecasting the Sakura blooming every year as in the two photos on the right.

As you can see on upper right hand side photo, Japanese islands extend vertically and cherry blossoms start to bloom from the south to the north gradually (it takes time and people can even travel with it), so people call it “The Cherry Blossom Front” as if it is one of the weather phenomena.

According to the “Sakura Forecast” by Japan Weather Association as shown on the lower right hand side photo, Sakura flowers will start to bloom on March 21st, and it will come into full bloom in Tokyo area on March 28th this year.

Are you ready for "Hanami (Flowers Viewing)" for Sakura Flowers?

Photos of A Seasonal Taste For Spring in Japan

Japanese people also love to have seasonal flavors. In spring, Sakura(cherry blossoms) flavor is one of the popular ones.

People don’t eat Sakura flower itself as it is. It would be too light taste to enjoy even if they eat it, but pickled Sakura flowers and pickled Sakura leaves have been used for drinks and sweets since old times.

Traditionally people soak the pickled Sakura flowers into hot water and drink it as Sakura tea. In fact it doesn’t taste like tea since the flowers are pickled with only salt, but it has a strong flavor and people enjoy the flavor. 

Usually Sakura tea is served when a family has something to celebrate, so it’s not a seasonal tea, but Japanese people know how Sakura smells from it. Then people want to have food/drinks with the flavor when Sakura flowers are blooming.

Now, many of the new seasonal products with Sakura flavor can be found in Japan, for example Lindt Cafés in Japan has a Sakura flavored white chocolate drink, Starbucks also has Sakura flavored Latte, KitKat has Sakura flavor, too. Those products have the smell of pickled Sakura flowers/leaves and people consider that as a flavor of spring.

“How do you know they’re not cherry blossoms?”

It was a question I was asked by my American friend when I guided her in spring and I thought it was an interesting question that shows a cultural difference.
Yes, actually most Japanese people can tell which flowers are cherry blossoms and which are not immediately although there are several similar flowers, like plum flowers and peach flowers, blooming in the almost same season.

For one thing, it is because cherry blossoms are the most popular flower among Japanese people and every spring people have gone out for “cherry-blossoms-viewing” since their childhood, so people have enough experience to learn about the appearance.
But actually we can tell not only cherry blossoms. When Japanese people go out for a flower-viewing picnic/excursion we usually aim for one particular kind of flower. It can be any kinds of flower, but we wouldn’t aim for unspecified seasonal flowers. With this cultural background, most Japanese people can identify famous seasonal flowers. I guess many examples of traditional art, drawings and designs also help people to recognize each kind of flower.

For example, there have been many traditional family crest designs based on cherry blossoms and plum flowers. I'll show some of them here.   The left row is cherry blossom designs, and the right row is plum flower designs. I think it shows very well how   Japanese people recognize which one is which between the two kinds. They can’t be completely accurate   standards since there are so many varieties of both kinds, but it still can help tell the typical difference between those.

Now, can you tell which one is cherry blossom in the left above picture? I hope you can tell!