Take a look at start and full bloom dates for major cities across Japan with our 2019 Japan cherry blossom forecast (updated March 21, 2019).
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.
The following was the forecast last year for major cities—including the date when the cherry blossoms were expected to be in full bloom.
2018 Japan Cherry Blossom Forecast by Major City
| City | March | April | May |
|---|---|---|---|
| HOKKAIDO | |||
| Sapporo | Start: May 1 Full bloom: May 5 |
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| Hakodate | Start: April 29 | Full bloom: May 3 | |
| SHIKOKU | |||
| Hiroshima | Start: March 22 Full Bloom: March 31 |
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| Matsuyama | Start: March 22 Full Bloom: March 31 |
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| KYUSHU | |||
| Fukuoka | Start: March 21 Full Bloom: March 29 |
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| Nagasaki | Start: March 20 Full Bloom: March 30 |
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| KANSAI | |||
| Osaka | Start: March 27 | Full Bloom: April 3 | |
| Nara | Start: March 26 | Full Bloom: April 2 | |
| Kobe | Start: March 26 | Full Bloom: April 3 | |
| Kyoto | Start: March 25 | Full Bloom: April 2 | |
| CHUBU | |||
| Nagoya | Start: March 22 | Full Bloom: April 1 | |
| Kanazawa | Start: March 31 | Full Bloom: April 6 | |
| Niigata | Start: April 5 Full Blossom: April 9 |
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| Shizuoka | Start: March 24 | Full Bloom: April 2 | |
| KANTO | |||
| Nagano | Start: April 8 Full Bloom: April 13 |
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| Yokohama | Start: March 24 | Full Bloom: April 1 | |
| Tokyo | Start: March 22 Full Bloom: March 29 |
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| TOHOKU | |||
| Sendai | Start: April 3 Full Bloom: April 8 |
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| Aomori | Start: April 20 Full bloom: April 25 |
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| Yamagata | Start: April 9 Full Bloom: April 14 |
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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.
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