The best dates to plan your hanami flower-viewing trips and the top spots to see them this spring.

One of the many joys of winter in Japan is actually the knowledge that every passing day is inching us closer to spring, which means it’s time to prepare for  the arrival of sakura cherry blossom season. Here to help us with our planning is Japanese weather forecasting company Weathernews, who releases its first cherry blossom forecast every January, and this year, it’s predicting that Tokyo will lead the way, followed by other sites around the country.

Using weather and temperature data, and over 2 million reports sent in by participants of the “Sakura Project”, a nationwide record of observations now in its 20th year, Weathernews has long been a trusted source for predicting the blooming period of the Somei-Yoshino cherry blossoms, the country’s most ubiquitous variety. 

So let’s take a look at the first sakura forecast of the year, starting with the predicted start date in Japan’s main cities.

The dates above are:

Akita: 12 April
Aomori: 17 April
Fukuoka: 23 March
Hiroshima: 25 March
Kagoshima: 26 March
Kanazawa: 31 March
Kochi: 24 March
Kushiro: 7 May
Nagano: 8 April
Nagoya: 23 March
Niigata: 5 April
Osaka: 27 March
Sapporo: 25 April
Sendai: 4 April
Tokyo: 21 March

Surprisingly, the dates listed are mostly close to the yearly average or only one to four days earlier – a notable departure from the 2024 forecast, which had most sites flowering 5-14 days earlier than usual. According to Weathernews, this year’s near-average start date is due to temperatures in March being relatively normal for most of the country, with cold fluctuations just before flowering set to stall bud growth and prevent early blooms, in line with last year’s season.

Temperatures in northern Japan are expected to be slightly higher than average, with more sunny days bringing slightly earlier-than-usual start dates. The first site for the blooms, however, is set to be Tokyo, where the blossoms are predicted to appear on 21 March, and although Kyoto is missing from the image above, sakura season is set to begin there on 25 March, with Arashiyama, home to Kyoto’s famous bamboo grove, due to follow several days later, on 28 March.

Let’s take a look at the blossoming start dates for some of the most famous sakura sites around the country.

The sites listed above are:

  • Kumamoto Castle (Kumamoto Prefecture): 23 March
  • Maizaru Park (Fukuoka Prefecture): 23 March
  • Peace Memorial Park (Hiroshima Prefecture): 26 March
  • Kochi Park (Kochi Prefecture): 24 March
  • Arashiyama (Kyoto Prefecture): 28 March
  • Tsuruma Park (Aichi Prefecture): 22 March
  • Sunpu Castle Park (Shizuoka Prefecture): 24 March
  • Takato Joshi Park (Nagano Prefecture): 4 April
  • Ueno Onshi Park (Tokyo Prefecture): 22 March
  • Shiraishi Riverbank Thousand Trees at a Glance (Miyagi Prefecture): 4 April
  • Hirosaki Park (Aomori Prefecture): 15 April
  • Goryokaku Park (Hokkaido Prefecture): 23 April

With a lot of the big sites flowering in the week of 22 March, before the sakura front moves north, we’ll have to be selective with our choice of hanami destinations this year. The peak blossoming times at all sites are said to be seven days after the initial flowering period though, so we should have enough time to visit at least one or two of the top sites, and even if we don’t make it to the big ones, there are plenty of beautiful, under-the-radar spots to enjoy the cherry blossoms.

Source: Weathernews
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Weathernews
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