From mid-March, Japan turns pink with hanami
From mid-March, Japan turns pink. These are the cherry blossoms that bloom throughout the country, giving rise to the phenomenon that the Japanese call "Hanami". They are so precise that they know exactly the day and time when “sakura” (the cherry trees) will blossom.
Here then are the dates for 2020: March 18th in Tokyo, 20th in Nagoya, 21st in Fukuoka, 23rd in Kyoto, 25th in Osaka, 4th April in Niigata, 5th in Sendai and even 1st May in Sapporo, in the far north of the island.
La cherry blossoms lasts about ten days. But what are the most evocative places to admire this spectacle of nature? In Tokyo, two iconic places to indulge in the ancient Japanese custom of admiring flowering trees are the neighborhoods of Kabutocho need Nakameguro. A walk along the Sakura-dori street in Kabutocho, the iconic street lined with cherry trees, is the most beautiful experience you can have. Instead, the Nakameguro neighborhood is famous for the suggestive walk along the fiume Meguro, framed by rows of pink colored trees.
During the flowering period, the city's restaurants also celebrate the symbol of spring with a special selection of limited edition sweets, perfect for a floral-themed snack, such as those based on Uji matcha tea, with sakura-flavoured jelly and sauce of red beans and sakura.
Another place not to be missed for a trip dedicated to "sakura" is Osaka, on the island of Honshu, where a park of around 60 thousand square meters represents the kingdom of the cherry tree that forms the backdrop to the castle that is the symbol of the city. Inside the latter there is the Osaka Zohei museum, famous above all for the over 500 cherry trees that bloom giving a fairytale touch to the city.
And finally Kyoto, where, to admire the cherry blossoms, you need to head to the oldest park in the city: Maruyama-koen Park, with its spectacular weeping cherry tree called Gion-no-yozakura.
The cherry tree is a sacred symbol that represents rebirth and fragility and its flowering occurs in different weeks depending on the climatic area, starting from the southern regions of Japan. You follow an ideal route from South to North, called "sakura zensen", which allows you to fully enjoy the diversity of landscapes and shades given by the flowering cherry trees.
Source: 123rf
