Not Tokyo not Hokkaido, this unbelievably understated and divine cherry blossom viewing spot is foully beautiful come spring!

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🚄📋 Shinkansen Tips:

How to take the Shinkansen?

❶ It is recommended to arrive at the station 30 minutes in advance. ❷ Follow the blue “Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen” signs to the entrance. ❸ Open the QR code and scan it to enter the gate. ❹ When you exit the gate, take back the voucher that was spit out. ❺ Follow the big screen in the station to find the platform and car, free seats are usually cars 1-3, designated seats follow the ticket information and walk to the designated platform to wait for the train. ❻ The station will be announced on the big screen and the radio, so you don't have to worry about passing through the station.

🤗 Cherry Blossom Cruise

📍Cherry Blossom Viewing on Fushimi Jukishi Boat

Fushimi is one of the most memorable cherry blossom viewing spots in Kansai with a Zen-like atmosphere. This old port town is not only known as the home of sake, but also as the home of Fushimi's Seven Famous Waters, and nowadays its sake shipping lanes have become a popular VIP cherry blossom viewing spot.

Riding in an Edo period style ten stone boat with a kimono clad boatman supporting Artemisia, you will walk on the water in the rain of cherry blossoms. The cherry blossoms on both sides of the riverbank are in full bloom, and when the wind blows, the sound of running water and cherry blossoms falling in clusters is in your ears, and the pink and white petals float down to the water, so the sense of atmosphere is directly explosive!

Cherry blossom viewing by boat is visually romantic, but it is the kaiseki cuisine at the century-old store, Fish Sanro, that makes this trip a memorable one for the palate! It looks like a miniature, but every bite is actually satisfying, with different layers of flavors, like a deep conversation with the spring in Kyoto.

From the building to the courtyard, Fish Sanro retains the style of old Kyoto, and a casual glance is like entering the scene of a period drama. And the restaurant is also a place where you can do some archeology while you eat. The wall in front of the entrance still has bullet holes from when Ryoma Sakamoto was attacked in 1866.

When you come to Fushimi, of course, you have to stroll around the streets and drink sake, which is the ultimate way to unlock the spring in Kansai.

Or go to Chokkenji Temple surrounded by cherry blossoms and taste the sacred water which is said to be able to make you live longer; or go to the Okura Memorial Museum and explore the sake cellar; or wander around the old Showa Street, with its old townhouses, stone streets, and old taverns, which will bring you back to the Showa era in a flash.... ...

📍Osaka Castle Cherry Blossom Cruise

Osaka Castle is arguably the most popular attraction in Osaka. It is always popular no matter what season it is, and in spring it is transformed into a cherry blossom wonderland, with more than 3,000 cherry blossom trees planted in the castle alone!

The most romantic way to open the tour is, of course, to take a cruise on the Aqua-Liner! Sailing along the moat, the boat passes by Mouma Sakura-no-miya Park, the Mint and Osaka Tenmangu Shrine. The cherry blossoms on both sides of the moat pour down like a waterfall, reflecting on the water, and when the wind blows, a rain of blossoms falls, making it extremely romantic.

🤗 Cherry Blossom Tunnel

📍Miho Museum of Art

From the hand of architect I.M. Pei, the whole design of Meixiu Art Museum is inspired by “The Story of Peach Blossom Garden”. 80% of the building is buried in the mountain, the ground is a nature reserve, glass + metal + natural light, every angle is permeated with a sense of high class.

It is only after passing through a sci-fi feeling pulled full of tunnels and suspension bridges that one suddenly breaks into this art space surrounded by mountains, like opening a door to the Peach Blossom Garden. When spring arrives, hundreds of cherry blossoms bloom on the surrounding slopes, especially the weeping cherry trees that fall like waterfalls, making it a divine scene with cherry blossom filters stretched all over the place.

the next opening of the Misu Art Museum is from March 15 to June 8, 2025.

📍Hachimanbori

If you happen to be in a situation where the Miho Museum of Art is temporarily closed, head to Omi Hachiman in Shiga to experience the romance of both Edo style and the cherry blossoms of the water town!

Hachimanbori is an old waterway with a history of more than 400 years, which used to be a “lifeline” for the merchants of Omi, but now it has become the most romantic springtime water town in Kansai.

During the cherry blossom season, enjoy cherry blossom viewing by boat. The pink cherry blossoms on both sides of the Horikawa River are reflected in the water, and the rain of cherry blossoms falling into the water, along with the Edo-style whitewashed houses and stone paths, is like a flowing Ukiyo-e painting. Don't forget to try the local specialty Omi Beef, a melt-in-your-mouth delicacy that is worth rushing for!

📍 Lake Biwa Daiichi Shimizu

This centuries-old waterway connecting Kyoto and Otsu is lined with ancient trees, and the flowing water meanders through the cherry blossom trees, taking in the entire spring color. Walking along this cherry blossom trail, which is free of bustling crowds, is like taking a stroll through the mirror world of spring.

🤗 World Heritage Cherry Blossom Viewing

📍Mount Yoshino

Yoshinoyama, a World Heritage Site in Nara, is a sacred place where the story of cherry blossoms has been hidden for about 1,300 years. The cherry blossoms here are not just an ordinary springtime attraction, but have been carefully guarded for generations as a “sacred tree”.

The entire Yoshino Mountain is covered with about 30,000 cherry blossoms, which unfold sequentially from the foot of the mountain to the top, and are known as the four major cherry blossom belts of “Shimo-Senbon, Nakasenbon, Kamisenbon, and Okusenbon,” where the scenery changes with every step, and the whole way is like walking through a sea of pink clouds.

Mount Yoshino is not only a sacred place for cherry blossom viewing, but also the center of Shugendo in Japan. Kanebozanji Temple, which symbolizes Mount Yoshino, is a spiritual support for practitioners and was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2004. When the thousand-year-old temple meets the thousand-year-old cherry blossoms, the whole mountain forest seems to be enchanted, and the atmosphere is mysterious and solemn.

📍Himeji Castle

Himeji Castle, known as “Japan's No.1 Castle,” is effortlessly beautiful in spring with its white walls and more than 1,000 pink cherry blossoms.

Sannomaru Square in front of Tenshukaku, Sakuragate Bridge, and the Good Old Garden are all wallpaper quality when you take a picture of them. You can also take a boat and look up from the moat at the 600-year-old city and feel the most Japanese-style spring romance.

🤗 Cherry Blossom Festival Bazaar

📍Cherry Blossom Festival in Koshigaede

I can't get enough of this place, which is located between the Ujigawa River and the Kizuna River. The 1.4-kilometer-long embankment is filled with about 250 Yoshino cherry trees, whose branches are intertwined on both sides, forming a romantic cherry blossom tunnel.

During the Cherry Blossom Festival, there are superb Japanese stalls with yakitori, takoyaki, and cherry blossom-flavored wakame ...... You can stay all afternoon just browsing and eating! Of course, there are also many locals who will bring their tools and sit on the grass to have a picnic or BBQ under the cherry blossom trees.

In addition to enjoying the romantic cherry blossoms and shopping and drinking, you can also take a cruise along the Katsura River to enjoy the cherry blossoms blooming on both sides of the river from a different perspective.

When you come to Back Cut Causeway you must also hit up the fun experiences around the area, and this day trip itinerary covers the neighborhood features perfectly! In Uji, the birthplace of Japan's top matcha tea, you can stroll through the tea-scented streets, experience stone mortar grinding and Uji tea tasting, and soak up the atmosphere of a relaxing old city.

You will also visit Katsuoji Temple to experience the charm of Katsuyuki, a thousand-year-old temple. The red dharmas all over the mountain, carrying countless prayers, are so spectacular that it looks like an animated scene. There is also the Minoh Falls, a 33-meter-high waterfall that falls with a roar, and with the new green maple leaves, it is beautiful beyond words!

📍Nijo Castle NAKED Cherry Blossom Festival

History x technology, the cherry blossom season's limited fantasy light and shadow feast is here! Nijo Castle, a World Heritage Site, is lit up with cherry blossoms every spring, and the artistic addition of NAKED FLOWERS transforms this famous Edo period town into a futuristic nighttime cherry blossom secret place.

As soon as night falls, Nijo Castle looks like it's turned on with special effects, with thousands of Someiyoshino and branching cherry trees blossoming with surreal beauty under the lights. Projections light up the Tang Gate and the Imperial Palace, and light and shadow flow with your footsteps, making every step an immersive experience.

🤗 Ancient temple of the millennium

📍Sanjingji Temple

This is not only the general headquarters of the Tendaiji Monastery, but also houses hundreds of national treasures and cultural assets. Every spring, more than 1,000 Someiyoshino cherry trees, yamazakura (mountain cherry trees), and shidarezakura (weeping cherry trees) blossom sequentially in the temple grounds, and the sea of pink blossoms against the ancient stupa makes for a quiet yet striking experience.

One of the three famous bells in Japan, Mitsui Evening Bell, Jodoin Garden which is so quiet that you can only hear the sound of the wind blowing through the treetops, Cherry Blossom Tunnel Corridor which seems to be a pink secret land, and Night Cherry Blossom Lighting which is so beautiful that it is not real ...... Thousand year old temples + Pink Cherry Blossoms, the atmosphere is absolutely amazing!

📍Shoso-in Temple

Shosoin, in the mountains of Kyoto, is a niche cherry blossom viewing spot with its own ambient filter. The temple itself is super unique, and the most out of the circle is the window of love. When spring arrives, the cherry blossoms outside the window bloom into a pink backdrop, and as the breeze whisks by, the petals sprinkle down, like a romantic spring love letter.

In addition to the windows, the courtyard is dotted with Someiyoshino cherry blossoms and mountain cherry blossoms in a quiet Japanese garden, and the beauty of a slow life in the Japanese style can be seen everywhere. Order a cup of matcha tea and Japanese wakame, and quietly feel the gentleness and Zen of this small temple, you really can't leave.

🤗 Limited Edition Cherry Blossom Mamoru

In addition to the sacred atmosphere of a shrine, one of the most exciting things about visiting a shrine is collecting mikoshi! The mikoshi of different shrines have their own characteristics, and not only are they amulets of divine blessing, but their delicate designs also make people fall in love with them at a glance.

Every year when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, many shrines will also launch a limited edition of cherry blossom omamori, high color value + fairy symbolism, holding in the hand is the spring this day!

📍Shimodaka Shrine

As one of the oldest shrines in Japan, Shimodaka Shrine is not only a World Heritage Site with a dense grove of ancient trees, but is also known for its superb love & good luck blessings. Every spring, the shrine's cherry blossom gosho takes center stage!

The exquisite lace gyoji show the romance of cherry blossoms with delicate embroidery, and the value alone will make you fall in love. What's even more special is that the shrine has also introduced seasonal omikoshi made in the shape of maple leaves and snowflakes, each of which is carefully designed!

📍Kitano Tenmangu Shrine

Kitano Tenmangu Shrine is one of the best places to pray for academic success! Sugawara Michizane, the god of learning, is enshrined here, and countless students come here every year to seek wisdom and advancement in their studies. On the 25th of every month, Kitano Tenmangu Shrine holds a Tenjin Market on the Senmaido Road on the day of the festival.

In addition to the pink and gentle embroidered cherry blossom gomoros, there are also special Bunsho pen shaped models, which are a blessing for students and workers alike, as they are meant to be used as a means of “writing.

While asking for God's blessing, don't forget to visit the plum garden here, and if you catch the end of the flowering season, you can see the beauty of plum blossoms and early cherry blossoms in the same frame.

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From world heritage sites to thousand-year-old temples, from dreamy water towns to nighttime cherry blossoms in spring, cherry blossoms in Kansai are more than just scenery, they are an immersive and romantic experience.