Cherry Blossoms 2015: Osaka Report (4/1)

Official cherry blossom reports by japan-guide.com
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2015/04/01 - Osaka Report
by raina

After the warm and sunny weather yesterday where the temperature reached about 24 degrees Celsius in the Kansai Region, the weather took a turn and there was a steady rain all day today. However, thanks to yesterday's warm weather, Kyoto and Osaka reached full bloom today. Schauwecker was in Kumagaya, in Saitama Prefecture, to check out the cherry blossoms, and you can read his update here.

There were lots of blossoms open and while it rained all day today, these blossoms that just opened are still relatively strong and will not fall easily in rain or wind. Once at full bloom, the blossoms will remain at their peak for about a week before the petals start to fall and leaves start showing. Note that how long the blossoms stay at their peak is largely dependent on the weather conditions with strong winds and rain shortening the peak viewing period.

Today, I headed to Osaka to check out the blossoms in a few of Osaka's popular hanami spots. It has been six days since Osaka reported the opening of its first blossoms (kaika) on March 26, and today, most of the sites I visited today had reached full bloom. While not the best day for cherry blossom viewing due to the constant rain, those who made their way out were treated to lots of open blossoms. Rainy weather is forecast for the rest of the week except tomorrow, so if you are in Kyoto or Osaka now, tomorrow would be the best time to have a hanami picnic outside.

Osaka Castle
April 1, 2015 - full bloom

The Osaka Castle grounds were teeming with bus loads of tourists out in the morning to visit the castle. Thanks to the rain, there were as many open umbrellas as blossoms in most places, making the area look very colorful. The cherry trees along the southern outer moat were at full bloom and I saw many visitors braving the rain while they got their picture taken with the blossoms. I even saw some blue sheets laid out, but I doubt there would be hanami parties there today, not in the rain.

Nishinomaru Garden, a popular hanami spot on the castle grounds, was devoid of visitors sitting on the spacious lawns, as most people just strolled along the perimeter before heading out. The garden area is open for entry from 9:00 to 21:30 and is lit up to 22:00 until April 12. Entry costs 350 yen during the illumination period.

Blue sheets and two guys keeping their spot in the rain

Close up of the blossoms against the castle

View of the castle from Nishinomaru Garden

Kema Sakuranomiya Park
April 1, 2015 - full bloom

My next destination was Kema Sakuranomiya Park, between the Osaka Mint and Osaka Castle. It takes less than 10 minutes to walk there from the castle and that's what I did. Kema Sakuranomiya Park is about 4.2 kilometers long and there are about 4800 cherry trees planted in the park. Like at Osaka Castle, the cherry trees here were at full bloom and the blossoms were glistening with rainwater.

There was considerably fewer people at the park as it was not as popular with the tour groups, but can get very crowded with locals over the weekends and when the cherry blossom festival at Osaka Mint starts. The Okawa river runs along the park and visitors can take sightseeing cruise boats to see the cherry blossoms from the water.

Sightseeing boats in the background and cherry blossoms

There are at least seven sparrows in this picture

Raindrops are falling on the flowers and everywhere else

Expo 70 Commemorative Park
April 1, 2015 - full bloom

My final destination on this very wet day was the Expo 70 Commemorative Park (Bampaku Kinen Koen). There are about 5500 cherry trees in the Expo Park with most of them along the eastern end. The trees along the path to the right of the Tower of the Sun were already at full bloom and beautiful to see when I was there, however the blossoms near the east gate only need another day or so before they reach full bloom. However the rain kept most visitors under their umbrellas or in the rest areas, and no one sitting outside and enjoying the blossoms. The cherry tree area is lit in the evenings until 21:00 (entry till 20:30) and the illumination runs until April 12.