The start of spring is always an exciting time, but it is especially important in Japan where the season brings the world-famous cherry blossoms.
Cherry (or, sakura) trees are grown throughout Japan. They start to blossom in the warm, southern islands of the country, and as the season moves north, they peak in late March and early April. Because these scenic vistas and the associated celebration draws thousands of tourists each year, the Japanese National Tourism Agency maintains a map of the cherry blossom forecast to help you plan your trip.
We arrived in Japan the last week of February, so I thought we would miss this experience. But as it turned out, we were able to catch the beginning of the season!
Spring Colors in Japan
The first cherry blossoms that we spotted were in Atami, on the east coast of Japan’s main island about two hours by train from Tokyo. The seaside resort town is famous for its beaches and hot spring spas, though when we were there we got to experience it under a misty fog of early spring rain. There were a few varieties of cherry blossoms, including this peach-hued tree across from our hotel…
… and a few other shades in a nearby park. The pink bell-shaped variety shown here was my favorite!
Further south, the weather was nicer, but there still weren’t many trees in bloom. One exception was at Kitano-Tenman-gu, a large Shinto shrine on the outskirts of Kyoto. This shrine is lucky for education, so it is filled with students throughout the year wishing for good luck on their exams. But we visited the shrine for the flowers.
The founder of the shrine loved the bright pink blossoms of the flying plum tree, so he planted more than a hundred plum trees in various shades of pink and white.
The Japanese plum is one of the earliest trees to bloom in Japan so we caught them right at their peak.
I was glad to learn that even though we hadn’t planned our trip to Japan during “cherry blossom season,” we were able to witness some of this beauty for ourselves (and bonus — without the crowds!)
Spring Colors Around the World
Over the last few weeks, I’ve enjoyed watching my friends online post images of spring that they’ve seen at home and on their travels. Here are some photos that I really loved:
Shinjuku National Garden, Tokyo – Karen Warren, Worldwide Writer. She shared this and other photos in the post: Springtime in Tokyo’s Shinjuku National Garden
Vancouver, British Colombia – Henry Lee, FotoEins Fotopress. He shares this photo in the post: The First Day of Spring in Vancouver
Nectarine blossoms in Sacramento, California – Jenna Francisco, This is My Happiness
Blossoms at sunset in the Dordogne region of France – Laurence Norah, Finding the Universe. “This shot was taken the other evening… as the sun was setting and the feel of spring was very much in the air.”
Springtime in London, England – Talon Windwalker, 1 Dad 1 Kid, 1 Crazy Adventure
Klis, Croatia – Tricia A. Mitchell, Travels with Tricia “In the past weeks we’ve been in Croatia and Italy where spring has come early this year. The attached image was taken from the Klis Fortress above the village of Klis, Croatia. Blooming almond trees and olive groves are visible among the lush green fields.”
Munich, Germany – Eva Gold, Passports & Pamplemousse
Parque Quinta de los Molinos, Madrid, Spain – Kate, Viajamos Juntos
And finally,
In New York City, a very urban take on spring colors! Blake Mandelberg, Style Island. She shares this photo and others in her post: Spring Fling, 5 Things to Summon in the Season
Our trip to Kyoto and Atami was supported by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Opinions and photos are my own.
Cassie, thanks for including my photo and link in your post. I’ve always read the blossoms in Japan are beautiful, but I think I should see them for myself. 🙂 There are some beautiful shots from around the world, too!
You beat me to the punch… I was just about to email you to tell you it was up 🙂 Thanks for sharing your gorgeous photo!
Cassie, what a pretty collection of spring blooms, and thank you for including my image from Croatia. Since we’ve now left Croatia & Italy (and are anticipating snow in Germany) it’s nice to escape to more spring-like scenes here.
I’ve always wanted to go to Japan for cherry blossom season! How long did you spend in the country?
Hi Tricia! Thanks for the update from Germany, I hear the US East Coast and parts of Canada just got more snow, too! At least these photos show hope that it’s almost over! 🙂 And we were in Japan for eight days — we didn’t plan the trip around the cherry blossoms, though I think I will when we go back! I was told that in different areas the hills around town turn completely pink! It would be amazing to see it at it’s peak. Thanks for sharing yoru gorgeous photo, we’re hoping to planning a trip Croatia one day soon! I’ll touch base for some tips 🙂
Cassie, sounds like we can swap Japan for Croatia travel pointers then. 🙂 We’ve spent the last two winters in Croatia, and in many ways it’s started to feel like home.
Wonderful! I’ll definitely keep that in mind, I started a Croatia board on Pinterest that I’ve been pinning the articles I’ve found so I’ll add some of your stuff and remember to get in touch when we start to plan the trip!
Thanks for including my photo of our nectarine tree. There are so many trees in bloom around here now. I was just thinking about how much I love spring when I was out this morning hearing the birds and seeing the flowers.
And it smells so amazing outside! I keep feeling guilty about our weather here in California (I just heard they are expecting more snow in the NE!) but we’ll get it this summer when our tinderbox landscapes catch fire 🙁
Spring is definitely my favorite season! Looking forward to seeing the cherry blossoms in Japan some day – it’s great you were able to catch the first of the season while you were there – timing is everything!
Me too, though autumn is a close second! I’m not a big fan of the summer. I don’t like the heat and it’s always crowded when you travel. Though I do love a good summer-ripened tomato 🙂
Living in Texas I can totally relate regarding the summer heat – it’s a great time to escape to the Southern Hemisphere.
Definitely, or a great time to head north! 🙂
I have always wanted to visit Japan to see the cherry trees in full bloom! the closest I have gotten is Washington DC – which is quite imperssive in the Spring time!
Japan seems stunning! i love spring!
Ahh, nice! I’ve never been to DC in the spring. I do have a good friend living there now who just posted some photos on FB today! I love that spring flowers have made up a big portion of my social media feeds the last few weeks 🙂
I liked this post very much!!! It´s a real spring inspiration 😉 and thanks for including the photo that we took in Madrid ;))) Happy Spring!!!
Thank you for sharing, Kate! It’s a lovely photo and it has me dreaming of getting back to Madrid. Feliz primavera a vosotros! 🙂
So beautiful! I know spring has sprung when the Cherry Blossoms come out to play in Vancouver. I would love it if you added this post to the link up I’m hosting today all on spring (my latest post).
Adelina, thanks for the heads up! I’ll add it right now. Happy spring to you! 🙂
gorgeous pictures thanks for including me got to love spring
Thanks for sharing such beautiful shots! You’re so good at documenting beauty (and fun and joy!) each day on your FB page, I always enjoy seeing what you’re up to 🙂
These are such beautiful photos. I’m glad that the blossoms were already blooming for you in February. We visited Japan at the end of March a few years ago, and I was constantly checking the sakura forecast to figure out where the late bloomers were. Since I’m from Austin, I like the Zilker Park photo. I almost planted a Red Bud in my yard there just for the springtime burst of color. I have the Eos lip balms in the NYC photo, but not in these pastel colors.
Dai kirei! I would love to see Japan during the cherry blossom season. I’ve visited in the summer and winter, and everyone told me that I was there at the wrong time, ah well just another reason to visit again!
Hi Caityln, thanks for reading! Our goal is to bust the myth about there being a “right time” to visit Japan. One simple example is the food, which is constantly changing to feature the season’s bounties. And we’ll have more later on the visual wonders of Japan during other seasons as well. You will not want to miss the upcoming photos, they are amazing. So stay tuned!
And of course, having said all that, the cherry blossoms are truly magical, so you can’t go wrong visiting during the spring, obviously! 😉
So delightful to soak up all the signs of spring. It hasn’t arrived here quite yet and it’s lovely to get a glimpse of all those blossoms and other living things. On the other hand, the skiing’s still very good here.
Thanks, Steph! Your photos from cross country skiiing were gorgeous! Seems you are making the best of the end of winter 🙂
Absolutely gorgeous photos! Cherry blossoms are beautiful anywhere but I’m sure even more special in Japan 🙂 Thanks for linking up to the #SundayTraveler!
I’m really glad you like them, Ashley! And thanks for hosting it! 🙂
Glad that you had a chance to experience a Cherry Blossom in Japan. Those trees look awesome. But, the plum trees with various shades of pink and white look beautiful too. I like your idea to show spring colours around the world. Very inspiring!
Thanks, Frank! I could tell I wasn’t the only one who had spring flowers on the brain 🙂 I’m so glad these awesome photographers shared their photos for this post!
I love the pictures. One of my friends lives in HK and visits Japan yearly so I love seeing her pictures of the Cherry Blossom ladden paths. I didnt realise it was so poplular that there is a forecast map to help tourist. That will hopefully come in handy when I visit Japan someday.
Thanks, Bianca! So nice you get to join her ‘virtually’ each year 🙂 I didn’t realize the cherry blossoms were as popular as they are, but now that I’ve seen how beautiful they are (and can imagine how surreal it is when they are in full bloom!) I understand.
That is so amazing that you got to see the cherry blossoms in Japan! We won’t have them in bloom here in Toronto until around the first week of May – it is still very cold here unfortunately! But I am enjoying seeing the rest of the world turn from winter into spring! 🙂
May can’t come soon enough for you, I’m sure! You Northeaster’s have had such a terrible winter 🙁
the cherry blossoms are all so beautiful. We have some here too!
Thanks, Tamika! My favorite sign of the season. Where’s “here” for you? Thanks for stopping by!
Stunning photos! I’ve been amazed with the cherry blossoms here in Berlin over the past week — I can’t imagine how great they are in Japan. Would love to see that one day.
Thanks, Kayla! Glad to hear your update from Berlin!
Gorgeous pics that make me want to explore more of Japan!
I’ve just added you on Twitter so I can keep up with your adventures – hope to connect there sometime!
Hi Selina, I just followed and see you are in SF. We should meet up one time!