There is nothing more spectacular than the spellbindingly beautiful sight of cherry blossoms in full bloom. Countless of tourists flock to Japan every spring for a visual feast of these gorgeous sakuras – they call it ‘Hanami’ – and the novelty never gets old. Indeed, natives themselves remain equally in awe of this natural phenomena despite its annual occurrence.
Till date, local Japanese still cultivate the centuries-old practice Hanami. Renowned for its metaphorical meaning of the ephemeral nature of life, cherry blossoms are deeply integrated in Japanese arts and culture. In fact, they are commonly featured in many classic poetries, movies and even food!
It is important to note that the cherry blossom period varies yearly across Japan. The dates largely depend on predicted weather forecasts. Based on the past few years’ trends, this guide will serve as a forecast to the approximate dates for Cherry Blossoms periods in 2016 across five popular Japanese cities – namely Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Tokyo and Osaka.
