Cherry Blossoms - Round Japan Cruise

[Kensington-cruiser]

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

 

[WESTEAST]

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

[monkey@cruise]

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.

[Kensington-cruiser]

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

[Kensington-cruiser]

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. 

[thehowlingroad]

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.

 

 

[Kensington-cruiser]

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!

[Hlitner]

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