2017 Japan Cherry Blossom Season Forecast

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

2017 Japan Cherry Blossom Forecast by Major City

City	March	April	May
HOKKAIDO
Sapporo			Full bloom: early May
Hakodate			Full bloom: early May
SHIKOKU
Hiroshima	Start: March 28	Full Bloom: April 6
Matsuyama	Start: March 28	Full Bloom: April 7
KYUSHU
Fukuoka	Start: March 26	Full Bloom: April 6
Nagasaki	Start: March 27	Full Bloom: April 6
KANSAI
Osaka	Start: March 30	Full Bloom: April 7
Nara	Start: March 31	Full Bloom: April 6
Kobe	Start: March 31	Full Bloom: April 9
Kyoto	Start: March 29	Full Bloom: April 6
CHUBU
Nagoya	Start: March 27	Full Bloom: April 5
Niigata		Start: April 10       Full Bloom: April 15
Shizuoka	Start: March 30	Full Bloom: April 7
KANTO
Nagano		Start: April 13       Full Bloom: April 17
Yokohama	Start: March 26	Full Bloom: April 3
Tokyo	Start: March 25	Full Bloom: April 2
TOHOKU
Sendai		Start: April 10        Full Bloom: April 14
Aomori		Full bloom: late April
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

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