Are you dreaming about viewing the amazing cherry blossoms in Japan? Anybody will love to see the gorgeous Sakura blooms even once in a life. We enjoyed the cherry blossom a lot during our stay in Sendai, Japan. Here we will share with you all the details about Sakura and the best places to see the cherry blossom in Sendai.
What is Sakura?
Sakura is the designated national flower in Japan and has a strong correlation to Japanese culture. Enjoying the Sakura blooming is a tradition in Japan. The Sakura festivals are held during spring every year, with the start of Sakura blossoming. A lot of people gather to enjoy cherry blossom by having a picnic under the Sakura trees, called “Hanami” in Japanese.
Sakura is blooming in April with the start of the spring season. After a long heavily cold winter, this period is the most awaiting and enjoyable time in the year. During the winter, the leaves of all the trees fell and only the trunk and branches of Sakura trees are remaining. Sakura bloom before their green leaves appears and the whole tree covers by flowers, making wonderful scenery.
Sakura season in Japan is the most pleasant time of the year with nice weather, blue skies, and warm sunshine. During this time, the beautiful Sakura trees come to full bloom, and people chilling out in parks enjoying spring picnics. Having outdoor parties admiring the blossoms is a custom in Japan and everybody has fun-filled, incredible days in the Sakura season. Japanese families enjoy the cherry blossom viewing, at one of the many viewing spots across the country. Friends and family are getting together and enjoy plenty of food and drink over a leisurely chat. Even in night, you can enjoy fantastic Sakura under the light.
Types of Sakura
I guess you may be wondering about what types of Sakura flowers can be seen in Japan. It says that there are over 100 different subspecies of Sakura available in Japan. There is a slight variation in color, size, and blooming season of these different species.
Somei Yoshino
The main type of cherry tree that can be easily spotted is called “Somei Yoshino” Cherry.
It is the most common Sakura in Japan and many of the pictures of Sakura are belong to this type. It is a single-flowering variety; each flower consists of just five petals. The color is white with vague pink, and the flowers appear to be almost white. Blossoms cluster in bunches and the whole tree covered in white blooms.
Yaezakura
The commonly found Sakura has five petals. However, some species have blossoms that consist of ten, twenty, or more petals. These multi-layered cherry blossoms call as yaezakura is a catch-all term for cherry blossoms with more than five petals.
Shidarezakura
Another main type of Sakura has branches drooping downwards like a willow tree. They call weeping cherry trees or “Shidarezakura” in Japanese. They also have more than five petals and come in colors ranging from pale pink to vivid pinks.
There are many more Sakura flowers call double blossom Sakura, which includes Sakura flowers with more than five petals per blossom. Some of them are spectacular, showing as many as 50 petals per blossom and make voluminous bunches.
As well as everything, their beauty is short-lived and lasts only 1-2 weeks. This time period is the best festival season in Sendai with many cherry blossom festivals. Soon after the peak of full blooms, lots of rain of Sakura petals in the high winds are seen, showing the end of the cherry blossom viewing time.
Best places in Sendai to view cherry blossom
Sendai is the capital city of Miyagi prefecture and the largest city in the Tohoku region. It is a beautiful city with a number of great cherry blossom viewing spots. It is a perfect place to enjoy the cherry blossom and the best time to see Sakura in Sendai is in mid-April.
Sakura trees can be found everywhere in Sendai, but there are a few of the best places to catch the loveliest views of Cherry Blossoms. A few of them we enjoyed are Shiroishi Riverbank in Ogawara, Nishi Park, Sendai castle, Katahira campus, and Tsutsujigaoka Park. We were so excited to see the quite amazing view of lots of Sakura trees with full bloom and captured them in our lens to remember forever.
1. Cherry Blossom in Ogawara
The best place we enjoyed cherry blossom in Sendai is Shiroishi Riverside in Ogawara. It is about 30 minutes south of Sendai by train. The Shiroishi Riverside is an eight km long Sakura stretch, highly famous for cherry blossom.
Embankments of the Shiroishi River are lined by nearly 1200 cherry trees. This is a heaven of lovely blooming, with Sakura trees in both Riverside, which is full of flowers.
We enjoyed a stroll along the river banks to see the magnificent view of Sakura. Thousands of trees continued along the Shiroishi River for long-distance. It was an amazingly beautiful view of cherry trees in combination with snow-covered Mt. Zao in the distance.
2. Funaoka Castle Park
A grand Sakura festival takes place at Funaoka Castle Park, closer to the Shiroishi River. This castle is located atop a hill. Sakura trees line along the pathway to the hill. Walking along the flower-lined pathway to the top of the hill was a beautiful journey while enjoying the sceneries.
There is also a trolley available that takes you to the top of the hill. This park is the best place to have a bird view of the lined up Sakura along the Shiroishi River. We had the greatest and gorgeous view from the top of the hill, with thousands of Sakura trees and snow-capped mountains in the distance, which gave us unforgettable memory.
The sakura festival at Funaoka park was quite fascinating. There were a lot of visitors enjoying the lovely sceneries around the park. The Heiwa Kannon statue in the park looked beautiful among the pink clouds of Sakura blooms.
3. Cherry Blossom in Nishi Park
Nishi Park is the oldest park in Sendai and is famous as one of the best cherry blossom viewing spots. About 200 cherry trees in the garden, which makes for a good place to view the cherry blossom. A cherry blossom festival holds every year in mid-April, featuring food stands and cherry blossom illuminations.
During the Sakura season, the park becomes lively with a lot of people who enjoy viewing Sakura blooms. The Nishi park is also a good place for recreation or just to relax on the weekend. The best time to visit Sakura is from early to mid-April.
The park is open 24 hours a day and illuminations start at sunset until 10:00 p.m. We enjoyed the Sakura festival in Nishi Park leisurely and captured a lot of nice sceneries.
4. Cherry Blossom in Sendai Castle
Sendai Castle is located on a plateau overlooking the city of Sendai on the opposing bank of the Hirose River. This is one of the best sightseeing spots in Sendai city. This site is a calm and quiet place, ideal for Cherry blossom viewing. There are many kinds of Sakura trees around Sendai Castle. Lots of Japanese people come to enjoy the cherry blossom. We walked around the castle, it gave us the chance of viewing many different kinds of Sakura.
5. Cherry Blossom in Katahira Campus
Katahira campus is located at the center of the city, close to the Sendai station. It is a part of our alumni Tohoku University, where the administrative offices and some of the best research institutes are located.
Katahira campus has a lot of Sakura trees and it offers a picturesque landscape for cherry blossom viewing. Strolling around the academic facilities feels indifferent to any other park. Many Japanese students were enjoying the Hanami parties, under the fully bloomed Sakura trees.
6. Cherry Blossom in Tsutsujigaoka Park
Tsutsujigaoka Park is located in central Sendai and it is one of the best places to see the beauty of cherry trees in the spring. There are lots of weeping cherry trees along the walkways and lawns around the park. As well, many Somei Yoshino cherry trees make the place so appealing and majestic.
Walking around the park made us want to stay there as long as we could to enjoy the magnificent sceneries.
Best time to visit cherry blossom
The gorgeous sceneries in the Sakura season make it the most interesting time to visit Japan. Sakura usually blooms only for 2 weeks of the year in a particular region. The best time to view cherry blossoms is different in each region. It blooms earlier in the warm southern Japan region, while it blooms late in the cold northern Japan region.
In Sendai city, the peak bloom starts from the end of March or the first week of April and lasts almost till the end of April. Spring comes later in the cold mountains and it is possible to see cherry blossoms in mountainous places even during May. If you are going to visit cherry blossom, you can check Sakura forecasts readily available online. This information is quite important to consider before planning your trip.
Living in Japan and enjoying the Sakura season in Sendai is one of the luckiest things we have ever experienced. Here we have shared the memories captured by us and hope you’ll enjoy them! We have visited many other beautiful places in Japan and have a huge collection of photographs. We’ll share these sweet memories with you in the future!
