My World Trip... Japan

(Last updated in Spring 2025) Cherry blossom, commonly known as Sakura (桜), is widely regarded as the national flower of Japan. When it blooms in Spring, locals and visitors gather for Hanami (花見) (cherry blossom viewing) to appreciate its transient beauty. There is a common misconception that Sakura can only be seen in early April. That is actually referring to the time when it usually blooms in Tokyo, Osaka etc. In actual fact, Sakura generally blooms from late March (parts of Kyushu/Honshu/Shikoku) to early/mid-May (Hokkaido), so the idea is to move southwards/northwards depending on your time of visit. Also, even if in the same region, different altitudes result in slightly different bloom timings. It also depends on the variety, some bloom earlier, such as Kawazu Sakura (河津桜), while others bloom later, such as Yaezakura (八重桜). As of 2025, the 10th year I was in Japan for cherry blossoms, I have visited around 90 places in Honshu and Hokkaido for Hanami, including 55 of 10...

(last updated in April 2019) Fukushima（福島）in southern Tohoku is the last prefecture I visited. Although there are some places that I wanted to go in Fukushima, postponed visiting plans due to the nuclear issue since the 2011 disaster. As of autumn 2015 when I went, regardless of whether the situation has actually improved or not, the fear level of locals and tourists has somewhat toned down. Decided to go because I intended to re-visit Tohoku that trip and Fukushima was the only prefecture I had not been to yet. There is a castle town I wanted to visit for quite some time and it is at the west side of the prefecture (Fukushima is Japan's third largest prefecture), so it doesn't bother me to visit the town for just a few hours. I know many people still feel that it is dangerous to visit Fukushima. Because nuclear is something that cannot be seen, some people choose to not visit Fukushima or Japan at all and avoid eating Japanese products, especially raw ones. No matte...