Via Unsplash.
In Japanese culture, cherry blossoms symbolize the transient nature of life, a reflection of the Buddhist concept known as “mono no aware,” which recognizes that there is both beauty and mortality in life.
I was born to American parents in Japan during cherry blossom season. Like the celebrated flower whose bloom is spectacular but brief, my time in the country was colorful but fleeting. I have many photos of myself as a baby in our traditional tatami house, but I have few memories of the place, as my parents brought me to America when I was just 15 months old. I’ve always longed to return to my country of birth to experience its rich culture and beauty, particularly its iconic cherry blossoms, whose yearly bloom in Tokyo is at its peak around my birth month in April.
For most of Japan, including Tokyo, the season begins in mid-March and runs through early to late April; however, in the northernmost region of Hokkaido, the blooms do not peak until late May. The Japanese celebrate cherry blossom season with hanami flower viewing parties and spectacular late-night picnics known as yozakura where revelers illuminate the cherry trees with hanging paper lanterns.
Photo via Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo.
My perfect cherry blossoms trip would begin in Tokyo at the Hotel Chinzanso, whose gardens are a multi-sensory oasis where visitors enjoy an immersive experience among spring cherry blossoms. The Kanhi cherry trees that begin blooming in February mark the arrival of Spring in early March. Then, around 120 cherry trees of 20 varieties present a burst of pink from early to mid-March. At the same time, until early April, the gardens showcase the blooms of around 1 1,000 camellias of 100 varieties from all over the country. Yaebeni Shidare cherry blossoms peak by mid-April as Somei Yoshino cherry blossoms scatter their petals before the gardens transform from spring to summer hues, sprouting marigolds and peonies.
The gardens are open to the public, and the hotel offers a 30-minute guided audio walking tour on weekdays of ten highlights and monuments. The tour can be booked with the hotel concierge up to three days prior. Book the Hotel Chinzanso.
Locals flock to some of Tokyo’s most popular annual events to admire and celebrate the flowers’ ephemeral beauty:
Nakameguro Cherry Blossom Festival
Tokyo’s typically laid-back and quiet Nakameguro neighborhood comes alive in late March during the annual Nakameguro Cherry Blossom Festival. 800 trees line a 2.4-mile pale pink stretch along the banks of the Megurogawa River, while avenues lined with lanterns and food stalls add to the festivities.
Rikugien Gardens
Passing through the Rikugien Gardens front gate immediately brings into view the gardens’ famed 70-year-old shidarezakura (weeping cherry blossom) tree, whose pale pink flowers cascade downwards during cherry blossom season. From mid to late March, the gardens glow at night during the “Rikugien Special Nighttime Spring Viewing” event, which celebrates the sakura after dark when the gardens are typically closed.
Check out more of Tokyo’s most popular cherry blossom festivals here.
Via Unsplash.
Outside of Japan, there are North American locations worth traveling to where you can experience delicate pink and white flowers and partake in cherry blossom festivals.
Via Wikimedia.
March 21-25, 2025, Macon, Georgia
Each March, Macon’smore than 350,000 pink Yoshino cherry trees are the center attraction for the town’s 10-day festival, which Congressional Records calls the Cherry Blossom Capital of the World.
When William A. Fickling Sr. discovered the first Yoshino cherry tree in his Macon, Georgia, backyard in 1949, he didn’t know it was a Yoshino species, a rare cherry tree in the South. During a business trip in Washington, D.C., in 1952, Fickling discovered an identical tree along the Tidal Basin. He began propagating and sharing the trees with the community, leading to a town-wide project that has now yielded over 350,000 Yoshino cherry trees. Visitors are invited to follow the Macon Cherry Blossom Trail, which guides them on a blossom-filled route throughout the city.
April 13-25, 2025: Seattle
After Japan’s former Prime Minister, Takeo Miki, gifted 1,000 cherry trees to Seattle on May 8, 1976, the Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival, the largest and oldest in the Northwest, grew into a weekend-long celebration of Japanese and Japanese-American culture celebrated annually at the Seattle Center Fisher Pavillon and Armory.
Via Unsplash.
April 12, 2025: Nashville, TN
A collaboration between the Japan-America Society of Tennessee, the General Consulate of Japan, and the Nashville Mayor’s Office, the Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival celebrates Japanese culture—from martial arts to traditional music to woodblock prints—and the city’s decade-long goal of planting 1,000 cherry blossom trees throughout Nashville.
Via Unsplash.
April 12-13 and April 19-20, 2025: San Francisco
One of California’s most significant celebrations of Asian traditions, the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival draws thousands to celebrate the vibrant blooms and the richness and diversity of Japanese American culture and heritage with performances, traditional arts, and live music.
Via Unsplash.
March 20-April 13, 2025: Washington, DC
An explosion of color in a sea of pale pink and white blossoms around the District’s Tidal Basin signals the beginning of spring in Washington, DC. The National Cherry Blossom Festival commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to Washington, DC. The Festival spans four weeks of diverse and creative programming promoting traditional and contemporary arts and culture, natural beauty, and community spirit.
Via Unsplash.
April 13, 2025: Essex County, New Jersey, Branch Brook Park
Branch Brook Park in New Jersey boasts the most extensive and varied collection of Japanese cherry blossom trees in a park in the United States, with 5,300 in 18 varieties.
Via Unsplash.
April 5-6, 2025: Philadelphia, PA
In honor of the Sesquicentennial of American Independence, the Japanese government gifted Philadelphia 1,600 cherry trees, spawning the annual Philadelphia Cherry Blossom Festival. Featuring various events throughout the city, the festival highlights the beauty of Japanese sakura, with flowering cherry trees bringing delicate pink and white blossoms to city streets and parks.
Via Unsplash.
April 26-May 11, 2025: Brooklyn Botanic Garden
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s cherry blossoms bloom throughout April and often into early May, when the gardens celebrate with their Weekends in Bloom events. Visitors can enjoy Hanami Nights at the gardens, listening to the sounds of live performances under illuminated trees, sipping Japanese beer and sake, and savoring bites from a bar and food popup.
Via Unsplash.
Check out our story about a little-known Japanese garden hidden behind a parking lot at Los Angeles’s Dodger Stadium.
