What's a Sakura Festival Like?
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Meguro River

What’s a cherry blossom festival like?

Really, sakura blossoms don’t only show up on trees during springtime in Japan. They show up everywhere—on clothes, in food, and even in 7 Eleven stores. Cherry blossom season has been a popularly celebrated event for hundreds of years now, especially through outdoor festivals.

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Meguro River in Tokyo is my favorite spot to see cherry blossoms in spring. With hundreds of sakura trees lining the sides, you’ll never be disappointed by the river’s beauty. Street vendors sell delicious food, warm sake helps fight off the chilly spring air, and pink glowing lanterns guide your way.

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Festival Food

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Food is a must for any festival. In my opinion, sakura viewings, or hanami, have the best food - but only because I’m obsessed with sakura flavor. You can find sakura ice cream, sakura mochi, sakura sake - sakura everything there. They also sell traditional festival meals like yakisoba, takoyaki, skewers, french fries, and more.

 

What food did we buy?

  • takoyaki - a classic festival staple

  • black sesame mochi - the most underrated flavor in the universe

  • sakura ice cream - big yum

  • gyro - this is actually common at some festivals!

  • amazake - creamy, thick, and warm sake

  • sparkling rosé - because pink

Be careful though.

If you go during a busy time of day, many people will be swarming the sides of the river, trying to take that perfect profile picture shot. Wait, you say you want to see ours? Why, we’re so happy you asked!

If you come down to Meguro River, you can take beautiful pics, too! Talk about a two-in-one deal.

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Cherry blossoms are early! Why should you care?

The sakura blossoms, or cherry blossoms, are arriving earlier than usual! Why should you care, even if you aren’t in Japan?

Well, the history behind cherry blossom viewings probably isn’t what you think. 

Hanami, or the act of flower viewing, wasn’t always about cherry blossoms. In fact, before the Heian period (roughly 8th century), only wealthy elites celebrated hanami - and not with sakura blossoms, but with ume, or plum trees. Once Kyoto was founded in 794, kicking off the Heian period, all types of people began to celebrate their own version of hanami with cherry blossoms. Overtime, the overwhelming number of cherry blossom viewings surpassed ume viewings and slowly became a staple practice in Japan.

This style of hanami is still celebrated to this day. Tourists visit from all over the world to see Japan during spring and view the cherry blossoms. Why? Cherry blossoms are internationally known as the flower of Japan, for one, showing up often in contemporary films, anime, music, and more. And cherry blossoms aren’t just beautiful - they symbolize ephemerality and new beginnings. Since cherry blossoms only stick around for a few weeks, news outlets consistently report prediction updates regarding the cherry blooming cycle.

When are the cherry blossoms blooming this year? Check out this information gathered by Japan Rail Pass.

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Written by Paige Goetz, Director of Communications

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