Cherry Blossoms 2011: Tokyo Report (4/14)

Cherry Blossom Report 2011
Official cherry blossom reports by japan-guide.com

This year's cherry blossom season will be overshadowed by the tremendous loss caused by the recent earthquake. However, we believe that the blossoms will serve as symbols of hope and resilience and a source of motivation along Japan's road to recovery. With this in mind, we never hesitated to go ahead with our annual reports in order to inform travelers in Japan and readers across the world about this year's cherry blossom season.

2011 Cherry Blossom Forecast - Schedule of upcoming reports - Post your own reportPopular cherry blossom spots - How to do hanami? - Cherry tree varieties

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2011/04/14 - Tokyo Report
by scott

I've returned to the Kanto Region this week and am reporting today from Tokyo. The cherry blossom season around the capital has been progressing pretty much on track since our last report from the city on April 11, 2011. Most of the spots I visited today were at the end of their peak and the petals were beginning to fall from the trees.

Shinjuku Gyoen
April 14, 2011 - petals starting to fall (somei yoshino)
April 14, 2011 - opening (10-50%) (late blooming varieties)

Francois reported three days ago that the cherry blossoms around Shinjuku Gyoen have reached full bloom. Today the cherry blossoms were still relatively full and looked attractive, but the petals have started to fall all over the park. A light carpet of cherry blossoms lie under the trees, and it won't be long before the somei yoshino trees have passed their prime.

Shinjuku Gyoen - Petals beginning to fall

The overall cherry blossom season should last a bit longer in Shinjuku Gyoen though due to the large variety of cherry blossoms found around the park. Some of the later blooming varieties scattered about the grounds are now in the early opening stages. They will continue to make Shinjuku Gyoen a popular cherry blossom destination for an additional week or so beyond the regular season.

Shinjku Gyoen - Late blooming cherry blossoms

Shinjku Gyoen - Late blooming cherry blossoms just opening

Chidorigafuchi
April 14, 2011 - petals starting to fall

My next stop today was a revisit to Chidorigafuchi, the northwest portion of the moat around the grounds of the Tokyo Imperial Palace. The trees around the moat are still quite beautiful, and are only beginning to freely lose their petals which fall into the moat and turn the surface of the water pink. Again, its only a matter of days before the peak season ends around Chidorigafuchi.

Chidorigafuchi - Petals starting to fall

Chidorigafuchi - The walking paths along the outer bank of the moat

Ueno Park
April 14, 2011 - beyond peak

A follow up visit to Ueno Park today confirmed my suspicion that the cherry blossom season around the park is coming to a close. The trees have lost enough petals that they beginning to look quite green. There are a few late blooming cherry trees about that are just now opening, but for the most part Ueno Park has passed its peak.

Ueno Park - Most of the petals have fallen from the trees

Asukayama
April 14, 2011 - petals starting to fall

Finally, my last visit of the day was to Asukayama Park, a small park next to Oji station on the Keihin Tohoku Line through central Tokyo. The park is popular place for families with small children, and there always seem to be tons of kids there.

Cherry blossom trees line the paths and playgrounds around the park, and the ground underneath the trees forms small gently sloping hills that are pleasant spots to hold hanami parties. The cherry blossoms around the park were also beginning to lose their petals; however, the trees still retained most of their blossoms and were quite attractive despite the rather thick blanket of petals on the ground.

The petals would get stirred up with every gust of wind forming nice hanafubuki (cherry blossom blizzards) whenever the wind blew. Like many of the other spots I visited today it will only be a few more days before the cherry blossoms at Asukayama Park have passed their peak.