We've just received the news - hot off the press. Cherry blossoms are on their way to Japan to usher in the spring season. However this year will see an earlier than usual blooming of Japan's most iconic symbol of spring. So read on if you have seeing sakura flowers in Japan on your bucket list.
Without a doubt, this is the most beautiful and most popular time to visit Japan. Most of the time, the season peaks in that one week when the flowers themselves are in full bloom. So thankfully, Nihon Kisho, a Japanese weather forecasting company has released its initial cherry blossom forecast for 2020.
Nihon Kishu is predicting a warm early spring, pushing the cherry blossoms to open in March rather than the usual April. So sakura chasers are encouraged to plan their trips for mid March if they want to catch the first blooms and in the last week of March to catch the full bloom.
These are the predicted dates for blossoming for these prefectures according to Nihon Kishu:
● Kochi: March 19/March 27 ● Fukuoka: March 20/March 29 ● Aichi: March 21/March 30 ● Hiroshima: March 22/April 1 ● Kyoto: March 23/April 1 ● Wakayama: March 24/April 1 ● Osaka: March 25/April 1 ● Kagoshima: March 25/April 5 ● Ishikawa: April 1/April 7 ● Miyagi: April 7/April 12 ● Nagano: April 9/April 14 ● Aomori: April 23/April 27 ● Hokkaido: May 1/May 5
Here's our tips:
● Avoid the usual tourist spots and head to less-travelled prefectures such as Fukuoka and Aichi. Don't want to pay the steep price that comes with cherry blossoms in Tokyo and Kyoto? Then why not push your trip to May and head over to Hokkaido for a more relax experience.
● Download the Sakura Navi App (App Store / Google Play) to help you get information on flowering forecast and full bloom dates of cherry blossoms across the country. Furthermore, the app will also alert you if you're close to a Cherry Blossom spot as well as a Stamp card function that lets you recrod your previously visited locations.
Happy Flower Chasing!
Source: @Press, Nihon Kisho
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