Hello! So I’m finally getting around to sorting through my Japan pictures from March. I thought my first post should be a little intro into the timing of cherry blossom season, which is the most popular time to visit Japan.

It’s hard to get the timing right on a trip to Japan during cherry blossom season. The trees only bloom for about two weeks a year (yes, you read that correctly, only two weeks!) and the start of the season varies between late March to early April, depending on the year and weather conditions.

So, you could plan a two-week trip to Japan hoping to catch a glimpse of those infamous cherry blossom trees, only to end up missing the whole season depending on the year. Since I was only planning a one-week trip, I was anxious about the timing. Regardless, I knew a trip to Japan would be worth it. So I decided to take the chance and keep my fingers crossed that I would get to see some blooms.

Tokyo: March 24-25

I started my trip by flying into Tokyo from Sydney. Unfortunately, the trees were not blooming yet when I landed in Tokyo. 🙁 It was one week too early. However, all was not lost because I knew I would be flying out of Tokyo one week later and would have a second chance to see them there. So I was hopeful.

Kinosaki: March 26-27

We spent two days in Tokyo and then headed to Kinosaki for two nights. Kinosaki is a small town in the Toyooka region of Japan, not far from the west coast. Kinosaki is known for its hot springs or onsens as they call them in Japan, which was the main reason for our visit. Cherry blossom trees line all the canals in Kinosaki, so I was really hoping to see the blossoms along the waterway, but again, I arrived one week too early. So no luck here.

I was starting to get a little nervous at this point in my trip since I was halfway through with no cherry blossom sightings!

Kyoto: March 28-30

From Kinosaki, we took the train to Kyoto for 3 nights. I’m happy to say this is where my dreams came true and I was finally on time for the cherry blossom peak! I love Kyoto so I was really happy about this. The blossoms here were a beautiful pink color. They were lining the streets, canals, and temple complexes. We didn’t have to go searching for them or look up where they were peaking around the city; they were everywhere.

I was finally able to relax and take in the views now that my main mission was accomplished: bucket list item… see cherry blossom season in Japan. Check!

Tokyo: March 31

We changed up our plans on the last day of my trip because we had read online that the cherry blossoms were now in full bloom in Tokyo. Originally, I was planning to head back to Tokyo by myself mid-morning to catch my 4 PM flight back to Denver. Instead, Joe and I decided to get up early and take the earliest train from Kyoto back to Tokyo together so we could walk around a few parks. I’m so glad we did this! The older I get the less I want to travel alone because I find it more fulfilling to share these once-in-a-lifetime experiences with someone I love.

Fast forward one week to the same park from the first photo above and it was like a completely different world!