Take a look at starting and full bloom dates for major cities across Japan with our 2020 Japan cherry blossom 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.
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 affect the flowering times.
Below is the 2020 sakura forecast for major cities—including the date when the cherry blossoms were expected to be in full bloom.
2020 Japan cherry blossom dates by major city
Last updated: March 6, 2020
| City | March | April | |
|---|---|---|---|
| HOKKAIDO | |||
| Sapporo | Start: April 24 Full bloom: April 28 |
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| Hakodate | Start: April 21 Full bloom: April 25 |
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| SHIKOKU | |||
| Hiroshima | Start: March 17 Full Bloom: March 26 |
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| Matsuyama | Start: March 18 Full Bloom: March 29 |
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| KYUSHU | |||
| Fukuoka | Start: March 17 Full Bloom: March 28 |
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| Nagasaki | Start: March 22 Full Bloom: March 31 |
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| KANSAI | |||
| Osaka | Start: March 20 Full Bloom: March 28 |
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| Nara | Start: March 17 Full Bloom: March 24 |
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| Kobe | Start: March 21 Full Bloom: March 31 |
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| Kyoto | Start: March 18 Full Bloom: March 26 |
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| CHUBU | |||
| Nagoya | Start: March 17 Full Bloom: March 27 |
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| Kanazawa | Start: March 19 Full Bloom: March 25 |
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| Niigata | Start: March 27 | Full Blossom: April 2 | |
| Shizuoka | Start: March 21 Full Bloom: March 31 |
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| KANTO | |||
| Nagano | Start: March 28 | Full Bloom: April 3 | |
| Yokohama | Start: March 14 Full Bloom: March 23 |
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| Tokyo | Start: March 15 Full Bloom: March 23 |
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| TOHOKU | |||
| Sendai | Start: March 26 | Full Bloom: April 1 | |
| Aomori | Start: April 13 Full bloom: April 19 |
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| Yamagata | Start: April 2 Full Bloom: April 8 |
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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.
