Hi all. posting my experiences while fresh from my three week tour of Japan. My original plan was for Tokyo -> Nara -> Joetsu -> Nagano -> Fuji -> Tokyo , allowing three weeks to catch the forecasted peak of Blossoms starting on March 28.
However the actual 2024 peak blossom days were very much delayed ( up to 7 to 10 days in Tokyo ), meaning I ended up cutting Takato Castle Ruins (too late), and shifted Joetsu/Nagano to later and instead revisited Tokyo in the interim.
On this trip we hired a car to explore less-touristed places in around Mt Fuji and Nagano/Niigata. We used trains and bicycles to visit major cities, although tried to visit outer areas in Tokyo, Kyoto and Nara Prefecture proper.
My itinerary ended up being:
27/3-29/3: Asakusa and central Tokyo/Chiyoda City. (Rainy days and blossoms about 30% bloom for these days.)
29/3-31/3: Kashihara and Nara Prefecture – biking around Kashihara Jingu Shrine, Imaicho, Canola Garden near Fujiwara Palace Ruins, and then Nara Park on the other days. (There were some trees blossoming in Nara, about 70% of peak bloom by this time.)
1/4-3/4: Kyoto – Day 1: Arashiyama and sites along Randen Line. Day 2: Keage Incline, Maruyama Park. Day 3: South-West Kyoto Shōji-ji Temple and Ōharano Shrine biking from Rakusaiguchi-Katsuragawa. Blossoms approx 90% peak at this point.
3/4: Nagoya – We made a decision to visit here as there were blossoms in bloom, close to Kyoto and very under-visited/under-reported despite being Japans third largest city. We spent 2 days here but it was quite rainy so we mainly did shopping and visited Nagoya Castle. Very cheap accomodation and food.
4/4-7/4: Lake Kawaguchi and Mt Fuji, cherry blossom sites in Kofu and Yamanashi – Shingenzutsumi Park, Fuefuki City Yatsushiro Furusato Park, Oboshi Park. (Yatsushiro Furusato Park was THE BEST cherry blossom site we came across on our trip – huge groves of cherry blossom trees, scenic views of Kofu city basin, light-up lanterns… we spent two hours in the park and only saw a handful of locals the entire time we were here.)
8/4-9/4: Tokyo – Roppongi, Meguro, Inokashira Park. We went BACK to Tokyo to further delay our trip to Nagano and Niigata – also as the delays mean Tokyo was still in 100% full bloom at this time.
9/4-11/4: Nagano and Niigata as per original plan. Nagano was very accessible, lots of cheap accomodation. We drove along the highway to Takada Castle Site Park, visited Snow Monkey Park (Jigokudani Yaen Koen), Togurajuku Kitty Park. These ended up being beautiful days as well with blossoms about 80% full bloom.
12/4: Back to Tokyo for visit to Showa Kinen Park and flight out from Haneda.
What I learnt:
Renting a car in Japan is super simple and easy. I used Toyota Rent A Car and Times and the process was quite straightforward. Sightseeing by car is super convenient (at least in regional areas) as we had a place to sit, rest, eat, nap etc, and be essentially unrestricted from having to navigate around trains and buses, train lines, timetables etc. We could fill up the days with as many local and off-track and less popular but still amazing sites as we wanted to. Hotels in the regions tend to be less booked-out, and at the very worst we could drive to a neighbouring city.
Chasing cherry blossoms is again very challenging, I used the Sakura Navi app to find sites with a lot of trees and and then closer to the date I used a combination of Google Maps “Explore / Latest In the area”, JapanTravel Discord group, WhatsApp and Line groups to crowd-sourced latest up to date photos of the bloom.
Regional Japan is an entirely different country to Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto. Often times there’s temples and shrines, groves of cherry blossoms and other sights to see with only a few other people around. Regional areas of Japan have plenty to see and are just as amazing – they are less popular only because they are less documented/travelled to/a little out of the way. I would definitely recommend to return travellers that can spare some time and effort on a drive, or even at the very least hiring a Luup bike and going out of town – Adachi, Saitama in Tokyo, and south-west Kyoto have entirely different vibes to what it’s like downtown.
by chocbotchoc
