Arab News Japan

DUBAI: In Japan, spring is welcomed by cherry blossoms, a season celebrated in the country through various activities, festivals, food, and Sakura-viewing parties called Hanami to carefully observe the blossoming of the flowers which begins in Okinawa from mid-January until it reaches Hokkaido around early May.

In the city of Yawata, those looking to see the cherry blossoms can spot more than 200 trees at the  the Sewari-tei riverbank and the Yodogawa Riverside Park,  visitors can also stop by the  Iwashimizu Hachimangū shrine close by.

For more seasonal festivities, visitors in Japan can attend the Takayama Spring Festival, held annually on April 15 and 16 in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, to observe the traditional yatai float where karakuri, otherwise known as dancing dolls, perform.  

The Japan National Tourism Organization shares on their website how the yatai floats are “colorful and intricate decorations” that “embody skills handed down over generations” complemented by the “backdrop of the city’s historic streets, lined with buildings many hundreds of years old.”

For a more relaxed viewing experience, visitors can visit the Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo to take a look at 120 cherry trees and twenty varieties of the trees amongst fireflies, ponds, and waterfalls.

A visit to the hotel not only gives visitors access to the long anticipated cherry blossoms but also invites them to experience a peaceful stay in one of their Hideaway Garden Suites or venture through the Sea of Clouds installation where mist is released several times a day.

Aside from enjoying the sakura, anyone opting to visiting Japan during the season can also enjoy ikebana flower arrangements, foods and drinks modelled after the pale pink petals, and even silk kimonos which can be seen around this time.

While spring is all about sakura, there are other flowers worth seeing like the Wisteria that fall from tunnels and domes at the Kawachi Wisteria Garden, presenting a floral canvas that ranges from purple to white.