Flower Viewing at the Shibakawa River

Two friends and I went to the Shibakawa River area to view the cherry trees in bloom. This is a special time in Japan.

Cherry Blossom Forecast 2022

Springtime in Japan means Sakura. Everyone in Japan looks forward to the beautiful cherry blossom season.  Weathernews says it will be an early sakura season again this year, predicting 5 - 10 days earlier than in 1991-2020.

Here are the predicted dates for the areas of Japan:

• Kagoshima: 23 March
• Fukuoka: 16 March
• Kochi: 21 March
• Hiroshima: 15 March
• Osaka: 22 March
• Nagoya: 18 March
• Kanazawa: 25 March
• Tokyo: 18 March
• Nagano: 1 April
• Niigata: 1 April
• Sendai: 31 March
• Akita: 8 April
• Aomori: 15 April
• Sapporo: 23 April
• Kushiro: 8 May

And here are the dates for favorite Hanami sites:

• Kumamoto Castle (Kumamoto Prefecture): 20 March
• Maizaru Park (Fukuoka Prefecture): 16 March
• Peace Memorial Park (Hiroshima Prefecture): 21 March
• Kochi Park (Kochi Prefecture): 21 March
• Arashiyama (Kyoto Prefecture): 29 March
• Tsuruma Park (Aichi Prefecture): 18 March
• Sunpu Castle Park (Shizuoka Prefecture): 21 March
• Takato Joshi Park (Nagano Prefecture): 29 March
• Ueno Onshi Park (Tokyo Prefecture): 16 March
• Shiraishi Riverbank Thousand Trees at a Glance (Miyagi Prefecture): 1 April
• Hirosaki Park (Aomori Prefecture): 17 April
• Goryokaku Park (Hokkaido Prefecture): 21 April

In my area, it looks like March 21st will be the forecasted date.  When will spring (or autumn) start where you live?

Evening Hanami Party

Friday afternoon at work, I received an email from my friend, asking me to enjoy the cherry blossoms after work.  I was excited to say yes.  They purchased pizza from Napoli and bought some beverages (no alcohol for me with my high bilirubin issue) and I met them near the park.  

Ohanami is more than a tradition in Japan, it's a ritual. My friend said if the people of the world could experience ohanami, there would be no conflict.  I think so! The beauty of the sakura, the petals softly floating down, food and good friends for company.  I can't really explain it, you need to experience it.