Kensington-cruiser Posted October 6 #1 Share Posted October 6 We are looking at 14 day Japan cruises in 2026, Tokyo to Tokyo, calling at Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Busan, Kanazawa, Aomori and Hakodate. We would also look to spend a few days in Tokyo pre cruise. This itinerary is available on the following dates: March 26 - April 9, or April 9 - April 23 I fully understand that the cherry blossoms can vary by a few weeks depending on weather and location, and that seeing them is by no means guaranteed but wondered if anyone familiar with Japan could give any guidance on which of these dates might give us the best chance of seeing some? Thank you in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WESTEAST Posted October 6 #2 Share Posted October 6 (edited) 3 hours ago, Kensington-cruiser said: We are looking at 14 day Japan cruises in 2026, Tokyo to Tokyo, calling at Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Busan, Kanazawa, Aomori and Hakodate. We would also look to spend a few days in Tokyo pre cruise. This itinerary is available on the following dates: March 26 - April 9, or April 9 - April 23 I fully understand that the cherry blossoms can vary by a few weeks depending on weather and location, and that seeing them is by no means guaranteed but wondered if anyone familiar with Japan could give any guidance on which of these dates might give us the best chance of seeing some? Thank you in advance We were in Japan late March to early April this year. As you probably are aware cherry blossom season typically last two weeks and varies from year to year. It's a bit of a roll of the dice. The weather in Tokyo was unseasonable cool (no blossoms) when we arrived but warmed up as our cruise headed south where a few ports had buds partially open but full bloom was in Kyoto, Osaka and Shimizu. The Japanese really celebrate the arrival of spring with the blossoms (sakura) and in some areas, they were assembling outside tents for weekend parties. Didn't see any in Busan. This site is useful: https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0001033/ Edited October 6 by WESTEAST 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare monkey@cruise Posted October 6 #3 Share Posted October 6 3 hours ago, Kensington-cruiser said: We are looking at 14 day Japan cruises in 2026, Tokyo to Tokyo, calling at Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Busan, Kanazawa, Aomori and Hakodate. We would also look to spend a few days in Tokyo pre cruise. This itinerary is available on the following dates: March 26 - April 9, or April 9 - April 23 I fully understand that the cherry blossoms can vary by a few weeks depending on weather and location, and that seeing them is by no means guaranteed but wondered if anyone familiar with Japan could give any guidance on which of these dates might give us the best chance of seeing some? Thank you in advance January Cherry Blossom in Okinawa to May Bloomer in Hokkaido. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kensington-cruiser Posted October 7 Author #4 Share Posted October 7 10 hours ago, WESTEAST said: We were in Japan late March to early April this year. As you probably are aware cherry blossom season typically last two weeks and varies from year to year. It's a bit of a roll of the dice. The weather in Tokyo was unseasonable cool (no blossoms) when we arrived but warmed up as our cruise headed south where a few ports had buds partially open but full bloom was in Kyoto, Osaka and Shimizu. The Japanese really celebrate the arrival of spring with the blossoms (sakura) and in some areas, they were assembling outside tents for weekend parties. Didn't see any in Busan. This site is useful: https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0001033/ Thank you for the personal insight - it's very helpful. The photo is lovely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kensington-cruiser Posted October 7 Author #5 Share Posted October 7 10 hours ago, monkey@cruise said: January Cherry Blossom in Okinawa to May Bloomer in Hokkaido. Thank you @monkey@cruise - it's really helpful to see it as a visual like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehowlingroad Posted Monday at 03:41 AM #6 Share Posted Monday at 03:41 AM It is so dependent on when the warm spring weather rolls in that it's hard to predict, but generally, the south blooms earlier than the north. Earlier this year, we arrived in Tokyo on March 23rd. It was still snowing that morning, so no blossoms at all during the 4 days we were there. We were lucky enough to start seeing some in Nagasaki on March 30th, and then we saw Busan in full bloom on the 31st; photo attached! By the time we reached Kyoto on April 3rd, the blossoms were dropping (which was beautiful in its own way, with the petals flying around in the breeze). We did hear that Tokyo was in full bloom when we returned on April 6th, but we were on our way to Hong Kong by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kensington-cruiser Posted Monday at 09:26 PM Author #7 Share Posted Monday at 09:26 PM 17 hours ago, thehowlingroad said: It is so dependent on when the warm spring weather rolls in that it's hard to predict, but generally, the south blooms earlier than the north. Earlier this year, we arrived in Tokyo on March 23rd. It was still snowing that morning, so no blossoms at all during the 4 days we were there. We were lucky enough to start seeing some in Nagasaki on March 30th, and then we saw Busan in full bloom on the 31st; photo attached! By the time we reached Kyoto on April 3rd, the blossoms were dropping (which was beautiful in its own way, with the petals flying around in the breeze). We did hear that Tokyo was in full bloom when we returned on April 6th, but we were on our way to Hong Kong by then. Thank you for the advice @thehowlingroad. We will be away for 2 weeks on a round Japan cruise so hopefully we too will “catch” it in a least one of the ports! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted Tuesday at 01:13 AM #8 Share Posted Tuesday at 01:13 AM Trying to time the Sakura is somewhat of a crap shoot. But we would suggest the earlier cruise gives you better odds to see cherry blossoms in the South. Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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