Comments on: Japan’s 2009 Cherry-Blossom Season Off to an Early Start

By: Jaemmae

Jaemmae — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 01:21:49 +0000

Hi
Nice photos youve posted up on cherry blossoms!
Will be visiting Tokyo next year sometime end of March. How cold is it really? I heard that if the weather is still too cold, the cherry blossom wont bloom yet…

They stick to a pretty steady cycle that might be offset by a few days either way, bug otherwise generally predictable. It depends strongly on location, so find out when they tend to bloom where you’ll be, and aim for the middle of the historical range. —Jeffrey

By: Antonio

Antonio — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:36:46 +0000

I am from Barcelona Spain. I like to visit Japan in 2010 during the Plum and Cherry blossoms, please suggest in wich place and period will be the best. End of March? and location ??

Time and location are dependent. In the far south, cherry blossoms bloom in January. In the far north, May. In Kyoto, cherry blossoms bloom anywhere from the last week of March to the 2nd week of April, with sometime toward the end of the first week of April being the most common “full bloom”, though it changes from year to year. Plum are much earlier, and start blooming in February, and peek in mid March, I guess. All the blossom pics on my blog have dates and map links, so you can get a good sense of Kyoto’s pickings there. —Jeffrey

By: Debbie

Debbie — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:40:00 +0000

I am so impressed with your photo’s. My son is living in Naze and recently sent me home some dried cherry
blossoms. Your photo’s help me know how beautiful Naze and the surrounding area is. Thank you for sharing your photo’s.

By: Swee

Swee — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:18:48 +0000

Hi there, I will be in Tokyo from mid to end of March. Probably related to an earlier question but how likely am I to catch the cheery blossoms there?

I don’t know much about Tokyo, but I suspect that you’ll have great plum blossoms early on, and some cherry blossoms toward the end. —Jeffrey

By: Janine

Janine — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 08:13:12 +0000

My family and I are all excited to see the cherry blossoms bloom. Hope we can watch them by end of March. Is this the best time to watch or better if 1st week of April? I'd recommend the first week of April (which, of course, the "end of March" butts up against). If fluctuates by a few days every year, but as one point of reference, you can see how they developed a few years ago with the movie I made of the sakura outside my window. Some varieties come earlier and some come later, and plum (which can be extremely beautiful) come much earlier... already, there are some. —Jeffrey

By: Lawrence Kwong

Lawrence Kwong — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 22:55:03 +0000

As I was researching on the cherry blossom season, I came across your beautiful work which sidetracked me onto a path of visual feast amidst the story told in each of the photograph. I will continue to make travel plan to Tokyo and hope to be there for the blossom. Thanks for the experience!!

By: Grandma Friedl

Grandma Friedl — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:56:34 +0000

Well, it seems the observations of Sumisu were quite accurate . I admit to being somewhat puzzled by your response. All is clear now, especially since Peter added his insight. And were you aboard a boat when you took that neat island shot?

No, I was on a separate (larger,mall-sized) island. You can see a map of the exact location by clicking on the “full exif & map” link under the photo. The coastline has lots of bumps and arcs, so until you get used to the, er, lay of the land, when you see land way out across the water you don’t know whether it’s the the same mainland you’re on, or an island. —Jeffy

By: Jeffrey Friedl

Jeffrey Friedl — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:56:38 +0000

Indeed, as Peter deduced, these blossoms are in Okinawa, way down in the South China Sea. The locals told us to expect cherry blossoms in late January, so they are indeed a bit early. No cherry blossoms yet in Kyoto, and none expected until late March….

By: Adrian

Adrian — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:00:24 +0000

Wow thats pretty early, hope there will still be some blossom left in Japan when I visit in March

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:49:08 +0000

I’m sure you are right in calling these kanhizakura, which is Prunus campanulata, distinct in its early flowering (early to mid-March in Tokyo, apparently), and its deep pink flowers. The frilly one is interesting, and I would guess is the same species, but a curious form – also in having two flower colours one one plant. You mentioned Prunus mume (“plum”) and there is a cultivar of that, ‘Omoi-no-mama’ which also can have white, pink, and even bi-coloured flowers.

Kanhizakura grows apparently wild in Okinawa (I had a look at the exif and map!) but is thought to have been introduced there long ago from Taiwan. It is not considered very hardy, but there used to be a large tree in woodland at the Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley in Surrey.

Hoping for some more photographs of Okinawa.