If you are able to spend some time in Japan in spring, like I did, try to be there end of march or even better beginning of April. Depending on which part of this country you want to see, the cherry blossom will be a bit sooner or later. It’s a great time to welcome the warmer part of the year outside and have a picnic at the park.

Don’t forget to invite your friends, bring a blanket and enough to eat and drink, even though there might be a convenience store within ten minutes walk Unfortunately, I arrived a bit too early and the weather was still cold. My first cherry blossom experience was at Yoyogi Park, next to Harajuku, the cosplay paradise in Tokyo. I walked around and had a hard time to recognize the cherry trees, because even there were many, only a few flowers were open. Some people were sitting around and having a picnic or just a chat, but I don’t think the reason for that gathering was the blossom since there was nothing to see yet.

I was lucky to have a better day when I went to a park in Saitama prefecture with the woman I love to  met some of her friends. My first time to meet other intercultural couples in Japan. The weather was warm enough to spend some hours there and enjoy ourselves, I had a great talk with some expats and want-to-be-expats about culture, politics and most important, working in Japan. When we arrived I was told the cherry blossom had reached 30%. I’m not really sure how they can measure it, but Japanese media is a reliable source for any information regarding Hanami – which means “flower watching”. There is even a cherry blossom forecast that will announce were the blossom started as well as expected dates of blossom for different regions. The flowers open when the temperature rises and we could actually see more flowers when we left the riverside than when we arrived.

Even with wind and less than 20 degrees there were some groups gathering and sitting on the wet ground, protected with plastic sheets and alcoholic drinks to keep themselves warm. Some even had a barbecue and one group a tent!!! If you prefer to wait until there’s full blossom because you don’t want to feel cold be sure to get a place for your meeting early enough, as it any place near cherry trees will be crowded with families, young friends and companies celebrating spring break.

I hope to be luckier on next year’s hanami.

Best regards,

Andrés