Cherry blossoms in Japan

[karen blancfield]

Just back from 12 days in Japan and it was stunning. The flights on Jetstar, Cairns to Osaka return, were surprisingly good, new Dreamliner planes were spacious and comfortable. Renting a pocket wifi which was waiting at our hotel on arrival, the best tip I can pass on. And so easy to drop in the post box at airport just before going through departure area. Excellent and happy to pass on details. The JR Rail Pass worked really well and the trains were fantastic. I loved both trips on the Nozomi train .... fast! I would go back for sure.

 

[Skyring]

I took my wife to Kyoto a couple of years back just on Sakura time. Absolutely gorgeous. The Philosophers Walk beside a stream coming down from the hills lined with cherry blossoms was a highlight. And popular with the locals. At the bottom, the water surface was virtually covered with great mats of the pink petals.

Ive also been to Hiroshima around the same time. Slightly surreal - the parks were full of locals having picnics under the trees, getting drunk on sake and widdling in the bushes. A tour boat cruised on the river, a machine emitting streams of pink bubbles.

Love Japan. It's like a science fiction movie in real life with great food.

 

[zainman]

would the season still be going around ANZAC day?

 

[karen blancfield]

I used the Japan-guide.com website in the lead up, there's a cherry blossom viewing section on it. Have just checked tonight - we left there on Monday and I would have said there were lots more blossoms to still come out - but they say there was a storm today and lots of blossoms have now fallen. However, further north, it sounds more hopeful. We were around Osaka and Kyoto. Check this site. Was pretty accurate for us.

 

[SponsorSFC]

would the season still be going around ANZAC day?

In the north probably, the south will most likely be over by then.

2016 Cherry Blossom Forecast

 

[dajop]

Spent today half way between Tokyo and Nagoya (work trip) and had a chance to see some cherry blossoms in the countryside. I'd say it's on its last legs here, a few days and that's it. In Tokyo yesterday, with rain and some wind you could see the trees being stripped of blossom, so it's almost over there too. Much further north is best hope.

 

[karen blancfield]

Spent today half way between Tokyo and Nagoya (work trip) and had a chance to see some cherry blossoms in the countryside. I'd say it's on its last legs here, a few days and that's it. In Tokyo yesterday, with rain and some wind you could see the trees being stripped of blossom, so it's almost over there too. Much further north is best hope.

Gosh, how quickly it changes. I did notice a lot of umbrellas in Japan .... But then I live in the desert so any use of an umbrella is a novelty.

 

[Himeno]

Have some friends from the US who were just in Tokyo. Saw some nice photos.

I've never been able to get to Japan at this time of year.

 

[Myrna]

Same here - back from 12 days in Japan over Easter. Absolutely loved it - lots of rides on Shinkansen up and down and across Japan as hubby wanted to get his money worth out of Japan Rail Pass! (12 rides for 2,500 miles) - even went on the new route from Tokyo to Hokkaido! Saw lots of blooming blossoms in Tokyo (the highlight was at Shinjuku Gyoen Park), Hakone, Kyoto (philosophers path), Nara, Kobe, and along train routes.
Stayed at really nice Intercontinental hotels in Tokyo and Osaka - real king size beds with gorgeous bathrooms with separate bath tubs to soothe away aching feet after pounding streets all day! Also, hotels within walking distance of main Shinkansen stations.
Food was a real challenge for hubby But, we would love to visit Japan again!

 

[dajop]

Just went a day trip from Nagoya to the Nakasendo route, walking the 8km between Magone and Tsumago (and another 4km to the station in next town) and whilst this is not a specific destination for cherry blossoms, they were in full bloom, particularly around the town of Tsumago. Coupled with the historic buildings/setting and scenery which is already rather impressive, they were pretty awesome to see. Will also be over in the next few days though.

 

[love_the_life]

Just back from 12 days in Japan and it was stunning. The flights on Jetstar, Cairns to Osaka return, were surprisingly good, new Dreamliner planes were spacious and comfortable. Renting a pocket wifi which was waiting at our hotel on arrival, the best tip I can pass on. And so easy to drop in the post box at airport just before going through departure area. Excellent and happy to pass on details. The JR Rail Pass worked really well and the trains were fantastic. I loved both trips on the Nozomi train .... fast! I would go back for sure.

i thought that the Nozomi train was not covered by a JR pass. Did you pay for it separately?

 

[Pele]

Gday

I got back from Japan last week. 2nd year in a row and i will be going again. Sakura is finished in Tokyo now. If you go further north you will be right. All the way through to early/mid May in Hokkaido.

I got JR passes both times. If you buy a JR pass for the whole country then i believe Nozomi's are still excluded. If you buy a JR West pass ie a Sanyo- San'in pass it includes all trains such as Nozomi and Mizuho(ie the fastest). And for the recent trip i bought a JR East 5 day pass and it included all Shinkansen's such as the Hayabusa and Komachi's(ie the fastest). What a pleasure to ride in. For the 183.5km sector from Morioka to Sendai it took 39 minutes! Average speed 282km/h!!!

One day we racked up ~1200km on the Shinkansen's. It wasnt planned. We realised in the afternoon after finishing our lunch that we had gone to the wrong restaurant..... so we doubled back a couple of hundred km's to go to the one we had originally planned. So easy and so worth it.

Safe travels.

Pele.

 

[love_the_life]

Thanks for the clarification - I'll look into the different passes. Still trying to decide if a pass is worth it by comparing point to point costs and the pass.

 

[Pele]

Gday

The passes are almost always worth it. Broadly speaking the cost of the pass works out almost the same as if you bought a simple return 4 hour trip. Individual Shinkansen tickets are very expensive. One thing i can recommend is that the 5 day JR East pass was 5 days out of 14 days. ie they dont have to be consecutive days. It makes the pass even better. If you havent already done so download the 'Japan Trains' app for your mobile. Plug a few trips in and check the ticket costs. If it helps you in your decision- they even have nice ladies selling beer to you on the train- does it get any better?

Pele.

 

[karen blancfield]

i thought that the Nozomi train was not covered by a JR pass. Did you pay for it separately?

We bought the Sanyo Sanin Pass on the advice of the Japan guide forum. They costed out our trip and advised this was the best deal for us. We stayed around Kyoto, Osaka etc, didn't go to Tokyo. Nozomi was included but you need to read the fine print. JR offices inside each station were really helpful.

 

[love_the_life]

We will be in Tokyo and the main train trip we will be taking will be a one way from there to Kyoto. That's why we are looking at what travel we are likely to do and whether to go for the pass. As we are in Tokyo my understanding is that we would need the national pass if we buy one to include the Tokyo - Kyoto leg.

 

[Myrna]

The only gripe we have about Japan Rail Pass was the inability to select seats on trains. We had to go to a JR office at a station and asked them to book / reserve seats for us (we wrote down which trains, time and date for travel). It was like a lottery because we had to take what they gave us. We found out they tended to give us the seats in row 1 - facing the walls with limited views and in the block of 3 instead of 2 seats! And the worst was that the smoking room is right next to where we sat - so the whole time people coming and going to that room, each time they passed us they reeked with cigarette odour. So, we gave up on reserving seats - instead we took our pot luck with non-reserved seats. It worked out well if the train we took started at a particular station (eg Shin-Osaka). As soon as a train pulled in, the cleaning team got to work (amazing to see how they did it), we lined up and got on with reasonable seats.

The only difference in Nozomi or normal Shinkansen is the speed. We took a Shinkansen train from Shin-Kobe to Shin-Osaka (I think it was called the Sakura service). When it got to Shin-Osaka the service was changed to Nozomi. So, it was the same train which ran as either Nozomi or another service.

We were also a bit apprehended about non-smoking rooms in hotels. However, we emailed the hotels after we booked and emphasised that we would need non-smoking rooms. Fortunately, all the rooms we stayed in Japan were non-smoking.

 

[karen blancfield]

We will be in Tokyo and the main train trip we will be taking will be a one way from there to Kyoto. That's why we are looking at what travel we are likely to do and whether to go for the pass. As we are in Tokyo my understanding is that we would need the national pass if we buy one to include the Tokyo - Kyoto leg.

japan-guide.com has a really good forum and will answer specific questions about cost of travel.

 

[Gem56]

would the season still be going around ANZAC day?

We are arriving in Hokkaido on 27 April and we have friends living there. Apparently the forecast is good for cherry blossoms at that time as long as the wind and rain stay away. Really looking forward to it.

 

[love_the_life]

japan-guide.com has a really good forum and will answer specific questions about cost of travel.

Yes, I know that site and will use it more as the trip gets closer (November). Thanks.