2015 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan | Miyajima and Hiroshima

Apr 26 | Evan | Comments Off on 2015 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan | Miyajima and Hiroshima |

Before evening returning from the the 2015 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan, I received a few inquiries about the 2016 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan!  If you are looking for that information, the details of the 2016 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan can be found here.

After spending a few days in Tokyo we took our chartered bus from the hotel in Shibuya to Shinagawa Station for the first ride on the bullet train of this tour of Japan.  I love riding the shinkansen and find it relaxing and much less stressful than flying or taking a car.  The one way trip from Tokyo to Miyajima takes over 5 hours and included bus, train and ferry!  Especially since it was raining the entire time our group was transferring, the trip worked out fine and was well worth the time spent in transit through Japan!

Like with Tokyo, cherry blossoms blooming earlier than normal, hard rain and strong winds limited cherry blossoms still intact in Miyajima and Hiroshima, but it’s still a beautiful place…. even if we did have mostly cloudy, rainy and misty weather for our stay in Miyajima!

 

Part of the group did take some time during the day to visit nearby Hiroshima and Peace Park.  The museum is under renovation, but about half of it was open.  After that we made sure to eat some Hiroshima Okonomiyaki, which I love love love!

All the photos below are courtesy of and created by 2015 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan participant, Gavin Everson:

Want to see more photos from the 2015 Cherry Blossom Photography Tour of Japan?  The group tour also went to Tokyo, Himeji Castle, Kyoto and some of us to The Fuji Five Lakes close to Mt. Fuji.  Stay tuned for more photos from the escorted tour of Japan!

First 2015 Cherry Blossom Forecast for Japan Released

Jan 24 | Evan | No Comments |

Cherry blossom season is probably my favorite time of year to experience Japan but it’s not always exactly the dates for year to year.  The first cherry blossom forecast for 2015 of Japan’s cherry blossom season has been released by weathermap.jp! As with all forecasts, they are best guesses and will certainly be updated from now until the start of the 2015 cherry blossom season. Cherry blossoms, or sakura in Japanese, are particular fragile and even if the opening date is correct, weather, hard rain or strong winds can reduce the peak period or full bloom time that is best to view the cherry blossoms.

It is still early, but right now, the general forecast is slightly ahead of the average first bloom and full bloom dates for the 2015 cherry blossom season. For more information on the average blooming dates of cherry blossom trees in Japan and best places to view cherry blossoms, take a look at japan-guide.com or JNTO.

Here are the current estimates for the opening blooms of cherry blossom trees in Japan for 2015, with full bloom expected to be around a week or so after:

Fukuoka | March 22
Matsuyama | March 24
Hiroshima | March 26
Miyajima | March 26
Kyoto | March 27
Osaka | March 27
Nara | March 29
Nagoya | March 24
Tokyo | March 24
Yokohama | March 24
Kanazawa | April 3

Updated February 4th, 2015 as the Japan Weather Association has released their first cherry blossom forecast for 2015 Spring season.

Fukuoka | March 21
Matsuyama | March 23
Hiroshima | March 25
Miyajima | March 25
Kyoto | March 27
Osaka | March 27
Nara | March 28
Nagoya | March 25
Tokyo | March 26
Yokohama | March 27
Kanazawa | April 4
Sendai | April 12
Hakodate | May 2
Sapporo | May 5

Updated February 19th, 2015 as Sakura Map has updated their cherry blossom forecast for 2015 sakura season. Just a reminder that these dates are the estimated opening date for cherry blossoms and full bloom should be around a week or so after.

Fukuoka | March 22
Matsuyama | March 25
Hiroshima | March 27
Miyajima | March 27
Kyoto | March 28
Osaka | March 27
Nara | March 29
Nagoya | March 25
Tokyo | March 26
Yokohama | March 26
Kanazawa | April 4
Sendai | April 10
Hakodate | May 2 (Sakura Map didn’t release yet, this is JMA’s forecast)
Sapporo | May 5 (Sakura Map didn’t release yet, this is JMA’s forecast)

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