Just get out of tokyo. There are tons of places with natural cherry views in the countryside. There are also castle areas that have the trees.
Early April is when the trees usually bloom in Tokyo and further west like Osaka or kyoto. Another week or so after that they start moving north. There are cherry blossom forecast maps they release every year
Here’s an example of the maps I mentioned. You can search a map of sakura (cherry tree) or hanami (cherry blossom viewing) 2026 and some sites will come up, or you can check this or this weather site that has maps every year. Not entirely sure what month they get released, but it might be only a month or so before the season (so Feb or Mar).
There are some nice spots in Tokyo, but if you want to get out a bit you could go to Yamanashi spots or maybe Tochigi (~2 hrs from Tokyo).
I live in the countryside so of course I’m biased, but I think the best places are found by hopping a bullet train 2-3 hours north– you can see where a few places are on the map in this article.
lemme know if you have any questions when you get around to planning your trip-- my friend always jokes that I’m on the unofficial tourism board for my area bc I like living in the boonies so much
I’m hoping to visit Japan about this time of year in '26.
Suggestion for a more natural view of blossoms vs. the canal view?
Just get out of tokyo. There are tons of places with natural cherry views in the countryside. There are also castle areas that have the trees.
Early April is when the trees usually bloom in Tokyo and further west like Osaka or kyoto. Another week or so after that they start moving north. There are cherry blossom forecast maps they release every year
Ty
Here’s an example of the maps I mentioned. You can search a map of sakura (cherry tree) or hanami (cherry blossom viewing) 2026 and some sites will come up, or you can check this or this weather site that has maps every year. Not entirely sure what month they get released, but it might be only a month or so before the season (so Feb or Mar).
There are some nice spots in Tokyo, but if you want to get out a bit you could go to Yamanashi spots or maybe Tochigi (~2 hrs from Tokyo).
I live in the countryside so of course I’m biased, but I think the best places are found by hopping a bullet train 2-3 hours north– you can see where a few places are on the map in this article.
lemme know if you have any questions when you get around to planning your trip-- my friend always jokes that I’m on the unofficial tourism board for my area bc I like living in the boonies so much
Great. Ty.