2018 Japan Cherry Blossom Forecast by Major City

The Japan archipelago runs on a roughly southwest to northeast axis, therefore the spring warmth—and the cherry blossoms—travel up the country from bottom to top. According to the people at weather research company Weathermap K.K., blossoms in western Japan are due to arrive slightly later than their average time slot, and blossoms in northern Japan will bloom slightly earlier than usual.

Bonus: See our post on Japan’s Number 1 Cherry Blossom spot

Please remember that this is a forecast! Individual trees, different sub regions and the weather (wind and rain especially) may effect the flowering times.

The following is the forecast for major cities—including the date when the cherry blossoms should be in full bloom

2018 Japan Cherry Blossom Forecast by Major City

City	March	April	May
HOKKAIDO
Sapporo		Start: April 30	Full bloom: May 4
Hakodate		Start: April 28	Full bloom: May 2
SHIKOKU
Hiroshima	Start: March 23 Full Bloom: March 30
Matsuyama	Start: March 20 Full Bloom: March 27
KYUSHU
Fukuoka	Start: March 19 Full Bloom: March 25
Nagasaki	Start: March 19 Full Bloom: March 26
KANSAI
Osaka	Start: March 22 Full Bloom: March 29
Nara	Start: March 23 Full Bloom: March 29
Kobe	Start: March 24 Full Bloom: March 30
Kyoto	Start: March 23 Full Bloom: March 30
CHUBU
Nagoya	Start: March 21 Full Bloom: March 28
Niigata		Start: April 8 Full Blossom: April 13
Shizuoka	Start: March 19 Full Bloom: March 25
KANTO
Nagano		Start: April 9 Full Bloom: April 14
Yokohama	Start: March 21 Full Bloom: March 28
Tokyo	Start: March 22	Full Bloom: April 28
TOHOKU
Sendai		Start: April 8 Full Bloom: April 13
Aomori		Start: April 23 Full bloom: April 27
Yamagata		Start: April 14 Full Bloom: April 18

If you can’t get out for hanami in March/April, fear not! There are various varieties of sakura such as yaezakura which flower 3 to 4 weeks after the most popular yoshino variety

Written by: Greg Lane