After a week's break in our cherry blossom reporting, today we resume at the Tohoku Region. Compared to the average year, this year saw cherry blossoms blooming... read all
Takayama in Gifu Prefecture is a popular tourist destination, especially around its central area which retains a lovely old town atmosphere... read all
Today I went to Matsumoto to check out its cherry blossom spots. The city is located in Nagano Prefecture, and can be reached in about 2 hours... read all
As the season comes to an end for the mainstream cherry blossoms (Somei Yoshino) in Kyoto, we bring to you our year's final sakura report from this... read all
Though not really known as a major cherry blossom destination, Hakone nonetheless has several nice cherry blossom spots that tend to bloom around the... read all
After a wet weekend, this week we will see much more sun for most of Japan. I set foot on Kyoto again, expecting that the season was approaching an end for the mainstream Somei Yoshino cherry blossoms.... read all
About one week ago we observed that the cherry blossom season around central Tokyo has pretty much come to a close, but today we went back down to revisit two of the later season hanami spots around the... read all
While the cherry blossom season around Tokyo has pretty much come to a close, no doubt helped along by Wednesday's heavy rains, the trees in other... read all
Three days after our previous report from Kyoto, I visited the city for another update. The trees survived yesterday's strong winds in good shape and were a joy to look at in today's sunny and... read all
Located a 30 minute train ride west of Takamatsu, Marugame Castle is one of Japan's twelve original castles, i.e. a castle that has survived... read all
Hiroshima's cherry blossoms were reported to have opened on March 22 and to have reached full bloom four days ago on March 29, almost one week earlier than in the average year. Today, I checked the state of the... read all
Today I challenged myself to cover Ueno Park and Shinjuku Gyoen in central Tokyo where the season is approaching its end, as well as three hanami spots west of central... read all
The Kyoto Meteorological Agency announced that the peak of this cherry blossom season had arrived in Kyoto this past Saturday. Today I returned to the city expecting to catch some brilliant views... read all
This year's greatly accelerated cherry blossom season around Tokyo has been playing havoc with people's carefully made travel plans. The blossoms around the city are at full... read all
Four days after our previous report from Kyoto, today I revisited the charming city. Incidentally, on an average year cherry blossoms in Kyoto start opening on this day... read all
Today I headed to Fukuoka Prefecture for a last cherry blossom report from Kyushu this year. I visited one representative hanami spot each in the prefecture's two... read all
Today I returned to reporting from the Kanto Region of Japan with a quick trip down to Kamakura about an hour south of Tokyo. Despite being so... read all
I spent my last day in Kyushu today visiting Kagoshima. One of the southernmost prefectural capitals of Japan, the blossoms here opened on March 15th and are currently at full bloom over most of the... read all
Today I stopped by Kumamoto as I made my way south across Kyushu. The blossoms here opened on March 16th, which is a little bit earlier than expected, but not quite as early as those around... read all
The cherry blossoms at Tokyo have been making news recently for a record-setting start to the season. The official recorded date is Mar 16, ten days faster than the average year and... read all
Today I headed over to Kyushu to check out the cherry blossoms around Fukuoka. The blossoms here were some of the earliest to open in Japan and were first seen on March 13th.... read all
After a cold winter, many weather services predicted this year's cherry blossoms in Tokyo to open at an average pace in their initial forecasts. Yet, the city's representative tree ended up opening already yesterday... read all
Today, as a prelude to the main cherry blossom season, we visited Tokyo to check out some early blooming varieties of cherry trees. After a cold winter, the weather has taken a sharp turn and forecasts have predicted... read all
Kawazu is a small town along the southeastern coast of the Izu Peninsula, a two hour train ride from Tokyo. The town is the birthplace of the Kawazu Cherry, one of the earliest flowering... read all
