Solo-seen sakura are sometimes the best sakura. With sakura season in full swing, a lot of Japanese morning news shows are going out to local cherry blossom spots to interview people enjoying the views. For the most part, they’re lighthearted little segments, but one that our Japanese-language reporter Mariko Ohanabatake saw rubbed her the wrong […]

Once an under-the-radar sakura spot, this neighborhood near Shibuya has become dangerously congested. Around 20 years ago, Nakameguro was still one of Tokyo’s less famous, if-you-know-you-know cherry blossom viewing places. That’s no longer the case, though, as it’s become one of the city’s hottest sakura spots, particularly with a young adult crowd that flocks to […]

We go from Rokkaku-dō temple to a Kyoto Sanjo flower shop. Then from the Kamo River to the HanaYou Ikebana Studio.

This might be the perfect hanami table. With sakura season officially underway and full bloom coming to many parts of Japan over the next two weeks, it’s time to start finalizing hanami (cherry blossom-viewing) party plans. The classic, and many would say still the best, way to enjoy the cherry blossoms is to head to […]

Latest forecast says peak sakura season is coming very early in 2026. With this year’s first reports of the opening of cherry blossoms in Japan, sakura season is officially underway. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s time to blow off work, grab a six-pack of Asahis and a whole bunch of sakura sweets, and head […]

Why sit on a tarp when you can zoom through flowers on a 100-meter slide or risk falling into the trees from 370 meters in the air? Anyone traveling to and around Japan during the spring knows that the country is famous for its cherry blossoms. These beautiful pink and white blossoms mark the end […]

Enjoy a special experience at one of the best cherry blossom viewing spots in Tokyo. If you’re looking for a place where you can sip on Starbucks while admiring the cherry blossoms in Japan, the Reserve Roastery Tokyo is an ideal destination. Set beside the Meguro River, one of Tokyo’s most popular hanami flower-viewing sites, […]

Sakura is usually associated with the colour pink, so why is this collection so blue? As we enter meteorological spring in Japan, the blossoming of the sakura trees is now only a few weeks away. However, at Starbucks the season has already begun, with a pink-hued range of drinkware released in February. Now, a second […]

Limited-edition spring drinks make their way to Starbucks, but are they worth buying? With February now coming to an end, spring is about to start, and with it comes sakura (cherry blossom) season in Japan. Here to get us in the mood for the blooms is Starbucks, with the release of not one, not two, […]

Hanami season arrives early with this limited-edition collection of mugs, tumblers, gifts, and Stanley cups. One of the things we look forward to as we inch closer to spring in Japan is the soon-to-be blossoming sakura, and in recent years there’s another thing we look forward to – Starbucks’ limited-edition sakura collection. The chain actually […]

Limited-edition drinks capture the excitement and anticipation of a Japanese spring. As we come out the other end of winter, spring feels like its just around the corner, and in Japan that means sakura season is well and truly on its way. One of the biggest harbingers of spring in Japan isn’t necessarily the buds […]