Every year, I watch people frantically Google “when is cherry blossom season Japan” in January and February, hoping to pin down the perfect travel window.
After close to 3 decades attending hanami in Japan, here’s my honest answer.
The dates shift every year, they vary significantly from city to city, and the peak lasts roughly one week at each location.
That’s the challenge.
That’s also what makes planning a sakura trip genuinely worth doing carefully.
This post pulls together the latest 2026 forecast data from the Japan Meteorological Corporation (JMC), the official source for cherry blossom predictions across roughly 1,000 spots throughout the country.
The 4th forecast update was released on February 5, 2026, and this post will be updated again as new data comes in.
How Cherry Blossom Season Works in Japan
Before diving into the dates, it helps to understand how the sakura front actually moves.
Blooms start in the south and move north over a period of several months.
Okinawa sees the first early-variety blossoms as far back as January.
While Hokkaido doesn’t hit peak bloom until late April or even early May.
For most international visitors planning a trip around cherry blossoms, the sweet spot is the corridor from Fukuoka and Hiroshima in the west through Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, and Tokyo.
This entire stretch tends to peak within roughly two weeks of each other.
This makes it possible to follow the blossoms if you build flexibility into your itinerary.
The JMC forecast is based on the somei-yoshino variety, which accounts for the vast majority of cherry trees at popular hanami spots across Japan.
Other varieties like the weeping shidarezakura or the late-blooming yaezakura will have slightly different windows.
One important note: peak bloom, called mankai in Japanese, typically lasts just five to seven days. Wind and rain can shorten that further.
These dates are your planning anchor, not a guarantee.
2026 Bloom Dates by Region
Kyushu and Shikoku: Late March
Kyushu kicks off the main hanami season for most of Japan’s popular tourist destinations.
Fukuoka sees first blooms around March 22, with full bloom by March 30.
Kochi on Shikoku is one of the earliest mainland spots, with first blooms expected around March 21.
Kagoshima, at the southern tip of Kyushu, follows a similar timeline with first blooms around March 24 and full bloom in early April.
If you’re starting a Japan trip in Kyushu, the last week of March is your window.
Central Honshu: Late March
This is the region that matters most for the majority of foreign visitors, covering the Tokyo to Osaka corridor.
Tokyo: First blooms around March 20, full bloom around March 28.
This is a few days earlier than the historical average, due to warmer-than-usual temperatures forecast for March 2026.
Nagoya: First blooms around March 21, full bloom around March 30.
Kyoto: First blooms around March 25, full bloom around April 2.
Slightly later than Tokyo, which makes it possible to do both cities in one trip if you time it right.
Osaka: First blooms around March 25, full bloom around April 1.
Gifu: First blooms around March 19, with full bloom around March 27 – one of the earliest cities in central Japan.
The practical window for catching full bloom across Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka in a single trip is roughly March 29 to April 7, 2026.
That one week window covers mankai in all three cities and is widely regarded as the best single stretch for multi-city travel.
This timing also has a bonus: it falls before Japan’s Golden Week holiday period in late April and early May.
This means you avoid the second crush of domestic travelers that hits popular spots in the last week of April.
Hokuriku and Tohoku: Early to Mid-April
As the sakura front moves northeast, the timing shifts noticeably.
Kanazawa: First blooms around March 31, full bloom around April 6.
Kanazawa is one of Japan’s most underrated sakura destinations, with the castle grounds and Kenroku-en garden both offering excellent viewing.
Niigata: First blooms around April 5, full bloom around April 10.
Sendai: First blooms around April 6, full bloom around April 11.
Sendai and the broader Tohoku region offer some of Japan’s most atmospheric hanami, particularly at Hirosaki Castle in Aomori, where full bloom tends to fall in late April.
Hirosaki, Aomori: Full bloom typically in late April, with the castle moat filling with fallen petals in early May.
This is consistently one of the most beautiful sakura events in the country, and it draws far smaller crowds than Tokyo or Kyoto.
Hokkaido: Late April to Early May
Hokkaido is Japan’s last stop on the sakura calendar, and it’s genuinely worth planning around if your schedule allows.
Sapporo: First blooms expected around April 26, full bloom around April 30. Hokkaido Shrine and Moerenuma Park are both excellent spots.
The combination of later-blooming sakura and fewer international tourists makes Hokkaido one of the best hanami experiences in Japan for people who want to enjoy the tradition without being packed into a park like sardines.
Some yaezakura varieties in Hokkaido hold their blooms into early May.
Early Bloomers: Before the Main Season
For visitors arriving in Japan in January or February, there are two early-variety options worth knowing about.
Kawazu-zakura in Kawazu, Shizuoka: This deep pink variety blooms weeks ahead of the somei-yoshino.
The original Kawazu-zakura tree bloomed around January 22, 2026, with trees at Sasahara Park following around February 4.
The Kawazu-zakura Festival runs throughout February and draws large crowds to this small coastal town.
Plum blossoms (ume): Not cherry blossoms, but worth mentioning.
Plum blossoms peak across central Japan in February and early March.
Several traditional gardens hold plum blossom events that offer a genuine hanami-style experience without the sakura season crowds.
2026 Note: Mount Fuji Festival Cancellation
One significant change this year is the cancellation of the Fujiyoshida cherry blossom festival near Mount Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture.
The decision was made due to overtourism concerns.
If you had planned your trip around that festival specifically, then I wrote a post about the festival cancellation and alternatives.
Practical Tips for Using These Dates
Book accommodation before you finalize dates, not after. During peak bloom in Tokyo and Kyoto, hotel prices roughly double and availability disappears fast.
If you’re reading this in February, the window for securing good rates is closing.
The forecast will update again. The JMC releases weekly updates as spring approaches.
Check back in late February and early March for refined dates, particularly if you’re planning to be in Japan during the final week of March.
The current dates could shift by a few days in either direction depending on March temperatures.
Weekdays versus weekends. Hanami spots in Tokyo and Kyoto are genuinely crowded on weekday evenings and packed on weekends.
If you want the experience locals have been having for centuries rather than shoulder-to-shoulder tourists, go on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning.
Arrive before 9am at popular parks, and consider yozakura (night viewing) on a weekday evening when the crowds thin out.
Follow the sakura front north. If your schedule allows more than 10 days in Japan, consider building your itinerary around the front itself.
Start in Fukuoka or Hiroshima in late March, move through Kyoto and Tokyo in early April, and finish in Sendai or even Hokkaido in late April.
You’ll see sakura at every stop without having to fight peak-timing crowds in each city simultaneously.
Don’t skip Nagoya. Living here gives me a slightly biased perspective, but Nagoya is genuinely one of the best sakura cities in Japan and consistently overlooked by international visitors.
Nagoya Castle’s grounds, Tsuruma Park, and the Yamazaki River are all excellent spots with far more breathing room than Ueno or Maruyama Park.
When to Check for Updates
This post will be updated as new JMC forecasts are released.
The schedule for upcoming updates is February 19, followed by weekly releases through the end of March.
If you’re planning to visit Japan in late March or early April, bookmark this page and check back closer to your travel dates for the most current predictions.
The Japan Meteorological Corporation’s own website at s.n-kishou.co.jp and the Sakura Navi app are the two best tools for tracking bloom progress once you’re in Japan.
Based on the JMC 4th forecast released February 5, 2026.
