Obviously, I love cherry blossoms, so every year I look forward to admiring their fleeting beauty. I’m actually brimming with excitement when photos of these beautiful blossoms start to appear on Twitter and other social media platforms.
If you follow me on Twitter, you probably know my husband and I visited Japan last year in September and you’re probably wondering why we didn’t go to Tokyo in March/April this year to see my favourite flower. The truth is I used to live in Japan and I’ve travelled to Japan many times in the past for short periods so I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the cherry blossoms on quite a few occasions. Another reason we went in September is that my husband wanted to travel to Japan when the weather was still warm. We also thought there would be fewer tourists and I was doing research for my writing and we didn’t want to wait for several hours to get into an attraction or a well-known restaurant.
We discovered later we were right! The number of tourists visiting Japan in the last couple of years has increased dramatically thanks to international media coverage and promotions by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). Apparently, there were long queues and crowds at customs, all over Tokyo, and especially at Ueno Park, which is one of the most popular destinations to see the pretty pink and white petals. According to Euronews, 85,000 people a day visit this 540,500 square meter park (133 acres) over the nine days when the cherry blossoms bloom. So, if you’re planning to visit Japan during hanami (flower viewing) season be prepared to face huge crowds or do what we did and admire them on my blog or on Twitter!
Photo by @hawaiimomtravel
Photo by @erikochiai
Photo by @erikochiai
Photo by @HTravelism
Photo by @namasteablend
Photo by @tcmyles
Photo by @ShoFrex
Photo by @Tokyonobo
Photo by @Tokyonobo
Photo by @MRGSuperfan
Photo by @MRGSuperfan
@jonellepatrick
@jonellepatrick
@Toshi_Asaka
@Toshi_Asaka
@alqudshilwa
@localbitesjp
Photo by @centauri333
Below are a few 2017 cherry blossom photos taken by one of my favourite photographers Nathalie April Lim
