Osaka: Blossoms Opening

Just one day on from yesterday's visit to Kyoto where the blossoms had only just opened, I spent today in Osaka to see how things were progressing at three of the city's best known viewing sites.

While it remains early in the season, around 10% of flowers have now opened at all three locations, marking the beginning of a fuller and more attractive impression overall. The period of peak viewing is quickly approaching, and I would predict this for all three of today's sites from around this coming weekend.

I started the day in Kema Sakuranomiya Park, a long, grassy strip dotted with cherry blossom trees skirting a riverside just to the west of the city center. Already quite nice to look at in places, overall the area still felt quite sparse with the proportion of open flowers at just a touch under 10%.

My second visit was to the extensive grounds of Osaka Castle, where over 4000 cherry blossom trees have been planted along strolling paths, water filled moats and vast defensive walls to striking visual effect. Despite a few fuller patches here and there, overall the trees felt similar to Kema Sakuranomiya Park, with blossoms at just below the 10% mark.

For visitors planning to check out the castle, a special night time illumination will be held in the paid Nishinomaru Garden area until 21:00 (last entry 20:30) up to April 13, priced at 350 yen.

My final stop of the day was in the northern part of the city at Expo '70 Commemorative Park, an enormous space with open fields, gardens, woods and plazas that hosted the first-of-its-kind Japan World Exposition in 1970, with around 5000 cherry blossom trees dotted throughout.

The trees lining its broad avenues are the star of the show, and these - with just a touch over 10% of their blossoms now in bloom - were looking noticeably fuller and more attractive. With the sun finally making it out from behind the clouds, I wasn't surprised to see a growing crowd of people out enjoying the scene with the usual tarps, snacks and games.