Kyoto: Still Closed

This year we started our cherry blossom reporting on March 18, when Schauwecker reported that the blossoms in Tokyo were still closed. I visited Tokyo two days ago to find that the blossoms were still closed, one week since our last Tokyo report. Today, I was in Kyoto and found that the cherry blossoms were still closed. However, there has been progress since Schauwecker's visit a week ago. The cherry blossoms look like they are set to open on the weekend, and the best viewing in Kyoto is predicted to be in the later half of next week.

The cooler temperatures experienced in most of Japan over the last ten days is coming to an end in the later half of this week, when the temperatures are forecast to be higher than average. The warmer temperatures would definitely coax the flowers that are tightly wrapped in their buds to blossom with each warm day that passes. As such, I expect there to be a rush of cities announcing the opening of their first blossoms over the next few days.

Kochi was the first city to announce the opening of their first blossoms on March 23, and since then, eight more cities have joined in the race to peak sakura, with Fukuoka, Matsuyama and Gifu annoucing the start of their season today. Schauwecker was in Hiroshima today and reported that the blossoms have just opened there.

I started my day at Arashiyama in the outskirts of central Kyoto. Some of the popular cherry blossom spots in Arashiyama include the area around the Togetsukyo Bridge as well as a cherry tree grove not far from the Hankyu Arashiyama Station. The cherry blossoms were still tightly wrapped in their buds and would require a few more days of warm temperatures before they start to open. I expect the cherry blossom season in Arashiyama to start by this weekend and the best viewing to start from the later half of next week.

Next, I made my way across central Kyoto to Maruyama Park, one of Kyoto's popular cherry blossom viewing spot. The mainstream Somei Yoshino cherry trees did not have any open blossoms, but the weeping cherry trees in the park had already started to blossom. I expect that the warm weather over the next few days will encourage the mainstream Somei Yoshino cherry blossoms to open, and the best viewing in the park is expected to start in the second half of next week.

From March 23 till 31, Maruyama Park will be illuminated in the evenings, and festival food stalls can be found in the park grounds from March 23 till April 7.

My last spot for the day was the Kyoto Botanical Garden, a popular cherry blossom spot in Kyoto. The garden is a few steps from Kitayama Station on the Karasuma Subway Line, and contains weeping cherry trees, the mainstream Somei Yoshino cherry trees, and a selection of other cherry tree varietals, some of which are early flowering cherry tree varieties. I found the early flowering cherry trees to be at various stages of bloom - from opening to full bloom - making the Kyoto Botanical Garden worth a visit to see cherry blossoms. The mainstream Somei Yoshino cherry trees still require a few more warm days before they start to open.