Japan’s 2025 Cherry Blossoms Forecast: When to See Sakura?

Is there ever a time when we don't have cherry blossoms on our minds? The Japan Meteorological Corporation (JMC) released Japan’s 2025 cherry blossom forecast. 

Thousands of residents and tourists look forward to this forecast to plan their trips and maximize their time with Japan's favorite spring flower. Keep reading for a map of sakura hot spots, approximate dates and additional tips to plan your spring trip to Japan. 

For all the best places to see cherry blossoms in Japan in 2025, you’re in the right place.

Pro planner tip: Bookmark this page and check again later this season to see when cherry blossoms will bloom in major cities around Japan.

Find out more: What is Sakura? History, Culture & Types of Cherry Blossoms

The JMC updates its cherry blossom forecast regularly leading up to the sakura season, taking into account weather patterns and temperature projections. 

So, this sakura forecast is what we know as of the time of writing, but it is likely to change multiple times before cherry blossom season ends.

Make note of the dates below:

Remember that these dates are not exact, though they are still useful when planning your trip.

You can find cherry trees everywhere in Japan, from riverside to local neighborhood parks. Check out our guides to the best places to see cherry blossoms in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka:

• Where to see cherry blossoms in Tokyo
• Where to see cherry blossoms in Kyoto
• Where to see cherry blossoms in Osaka

Whether you're just passing by or you've recently moved to Japan, if this is your first spring in the country, here are a couple of tips to make the most of the season. 

BIG NEWS: Until April 30, 2025, can have a chance to win exclusive cherry blossom-themed treats!

How? Well, book a restaurant or food tour with us and you'll get a free e-book packed with everything you need to know about cherry blossom season.

You'll also be entered into a prize draw to win a premium Japanese cooking kit, complete with kitchen essentials and a cookbook.

Get two entries: Leave a review after your meal or experience and you'll get a second chance to win! 

Explore sakura offers and cherry blossom tours!

If an organized experience is more your style than a DIY hanami, leave it up to the pros! We've provided some fantastic cherry blossom tour options below.

These pink and white flowers usually appear toward the end of March. Throughout Japanese history, their ephemeral existence has made cherry blossoms the subject of poetry, visual art and more. Let them be the backdrop of an unforgettable trip.

This Tokyo cherry blossom tour features the peaceful Tokyo neighborhood of Yanaka, a well-preserved traditional district that was once home to Japan’s most celebrated artisans and writers.

You’ll browse shops and stalls along the Yanaka Ginza shopping street, stroll through backstreets lined with blooming sakura trees, and munch on local snacks in addition to a special seasonal hanami bento.

Top it off with a Japanese sake tasting (or green tea) for a truly authentic hanami experience. 

Book 2025 Cherry Blossoms Hanami Food Tour in Yanaka (Tokyo)

Thankfully for the night owls, the evening doesn’t spell the end of the sakura fun! Along the Meguro River, sakura petals cascade into the water and the glow of the lanterns turns the canals pink.

Party on in one of the trendiest neighborhoods of Tokyo, sipping rice wine as you sample sweets and salty senbei, then move to a local izakaya for dinner and a change of scenery.

Book Cherry Blossom Festival: Evening in Nakameguro 2025

Join this Osaka cherry blossom tour to get that iconic shot of Osaka in spring: Osaka Castle framed by lush, blooming sakura. With the hanami festivities in full swing, there’s no end to the seasonal street food available on the castle grounds.

After you’ve sufficiently whet your appetite with sakura snacks, handmade soba noodles await at a local specialty restaurant. 

Book Osaka Cherry Blossom Food Tour 2025

Just outside of Kyoto City’s downtown, in the Demachiyanagi area, cherry blossoms drip petals into the flowing Kamo and Takano rivers. Join a guided tour of this lesser-known neighborhood of Kyoto that’s nonetheless a popular cherry blossom viewing spot.

Enjoy hanami like a local and explore Demachi Masugata Shopping Street and Shimogamo Shrine. When evening falls, you’ll tuck into a seasonal dinner at a local soba noodle restaurant, followed by a traditional dessert that’s famous in Kyoto!

Book Kyoto Cherry Blossom Food Tour 2025

Just when you thought cycling through Asakusa’s backstreets couldn’t get any more magical, the streets are lined with pastel-pink cherry blossoms.

In this Tokyo bike tour, you’ll escape the crowds of the most-visited sakura spots for the relaxing residential streets of this metropolis, offering insight into the lives and local shops of Japanese people. 

Between the floating petals, you’ll visit charming shopping malls, try Tokyo street food like yakitori (grilled chicken), oden (hot pot) and sakuramochi (a sweet mochi wrapped in a salted leaf and filled with red bean paste).

Hop on the saddle and let’s go!

Book Backstreets of Tokyo Bike Tour

While cherry blossom season is generally a positive experience, one of its more negative characteristics is the sheer volume of people you'll see at famous sakura hot spots. Nakameguro in Tokyo, for example, is notoriously an overcrowded neighbourhood around this time of year, as is Yoyogi Park. 

You can go about this in two ways: play the game and plan early, or look for off-the-beaten-path places to get your cherry blossom fix. 

Depending on the region and weather, sakura season in Japan lasts for less than one month, with about one fleeting week of full bloom, though the sakura-inspired snacks start emerging as early as January!

Here are a few of our favorite sakura treats for spring. 

In Japan, food is a hotbed of competition between different regions. Who has the most succulent, highly-marbled wagyu beef? Whose okonomiyaki style is superior, the layered Hiroshima style or Osaka’s mixed version?

When it comes to wagashi sweets, sakura mochi is the battleground where Kanto and Kansai duke it out. On the right side, we have Tokyo’s champion, the refined Kanto-style sakura mochi: a smooth, flattened piece of mochi that envelops a ball of anko, sweet bean paste. On the left, there's the Kansai-style sakura mochi with a chewy texture, grains of glutinous rice still retaining some of their original integrity. A pickled cherry blossom leaf enrobes both.

The winner? You decide. Pick up your sweets at these wagashi shops in Tokyo before sakura season ends.

Much like the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, appearing like clockwork across the US come autumn, spring is heralded in Japan by pretty much every cafe beginning to serve whipped cream-crowned sakura lattes and frappuccinos. 

Not for the sensitive-of-tooth, somehow we can’t stop ourselves from trying the new formula of these saccharine-sweet sakura beverages every year.

Cherry blossom season isn’t just for sweets lovers. These sakura onigiri (rice balls) are gorgeous additions to any picnic. The salt-pickled Japanese cherry blossoms adorn the sides of rice balls in the spring, like edible pressed flowers. They’re almost too pretty to eat and make for a portable picnic snack, as well as being perfect for that #hanami Instagram snap. 

For the full list of sakura-inspired treats, give Sakura Snacks for Cherry Blossom Season a read.

Our original sakura meringue cookie recipe has all the delicateness and ephemerality of the cherry blossoms themselves. They're crisp and light, with a balance of sweetness, saltiness, and sakura aroma; made by whipping egg whites with sakura flavoring, and dusting freeze-dried salted sakura powder on top of the piped meringues before baking.

By no means an orthodox choice, this take on sakura treats would be a sweet homemade addition to any hanami spread.

Hanami is a quintessential activity of this season. Get together with friends or coworkers, settle under a cherry tree and eat and drink to your heart's content (if you're over 21). It's an unparalleled bonding activity. Check out our guide to hanami to plan the perfect spring gathering.

As the weather starts to warm up, a hanami picnic is the perfect excuse to gather friends and family for a bit of daytime revelry! If you decide to plan your own hanami rather than join a cherry blossom food tour like the ones we list below, here are some tips to help you celebrate cherry blossom season in style!

Parks and gardens all around Japan boast hundreds of cherry blossom trees of several varieties. But not all locations are hanami-friendly. Note that some parks don’t allow eating and drinking, so be sure to check their websites for more info.

Here are a few more of the best places to see sakura in Japan:

• Best Cherry Blossom Parks
• Cherry Blossoms in Japan
• Sakura in Fukuoka
• Sakura in Hiroshima
• Sakura in Shizuoka

As there is no way to make a reservation, go to your picnic location early to secure your spot. Bring a picnic blanket, tarp (if your group is prone to spills), or folding chairs to mark your territory. Don Quijote is a great place to pick up these hanami essentials. 

Pack or purchase a special hanami bento, drinks, and cherry blossom snacks like wagashi! Don’t forget to bring cups and plates (and go for reusable ones, if possible). A thermos of soup or Japanese tea is perfect to pass around in the evening when it starts getting chilly.

After you’ve taken enough sakura selfies, put down your smartphone (we know, we struggle with this, too) and enjoy some low-tech recreational activities. Bring a frisbee, ball, or deck of cards. Challenge your friends to kendama, the traditional Japanese “sword and ball” game. Or, if you’ve scored a particularly flat patch of ground or a bench, play daruma otoshi, a game composed of stacked wooden blocks, similar to Jenga.

To ensure these parks will always be open and welcoming to hanami revelers for years to come, leave your picnic location just as clean as you found it. Bring garbage bags and towels in case of spills. And please, don’t try to take home any cherry blossom branches.

Need a few more ideas of things to do in cherry blossom season? Check out our recommendations of things to do in spring in Japan.

Interested in more of Japan’s flowers? Get to know the Japanese plum blossom and where to see plum blossoms in Japan. Or, if you’re spending the rainy season in Japan, keep your eye out for hydrangeas in Tokyo and Kyoto.