A tip for cherry blossom viewing on rainy days

Its a rainy day in Saitama Prefecture, next to Tokyo, on this Sunday, April 13th 2025. And the cherry blossoms are still in bloom. I know cherry blossom viewing in the rain isn't ideal, but there are a couple of benefits of cherry blossom viewing on rainy days. The big one, if like me you don't like crowds, is that there are very few people visiting sakura on rainy days! Of course on the flip side there are quit a few disadvantages. Mainly, you can't really picnic under the cherry blossoms on a rainy day. Mind you, I have seen people do it! 

A tip for cherry blossom viewing on rainy days

I used to be disappointed when it rained during the cherry blossom season. But not anymore. In fact, I get quite excited these days when it rains while the sakura are flowering, because it means I can get reflection shots. I love capturing the reflection of cherry blossoms in puddles or rivers. You can get a photo of cherry blossoms reflected in rivers even on sunny days. But on a rainy day, the reflection is even clearer. 

Moreover, the absolute best time to view cherry blossoms by night is on a rainy night. Cherry blossoms pop better at night when its raining. Even better still, they don't have to be in full bloom. They look great at night even when they are only about 30% in bloom. And if you go to a spot with a river or water, you've got the best possible setting for sakura reflected in water photographs. However, you are obviously going to get wet. And unfortunately, you may end up with camera damage. This year I took so many photos in the rain that my (supposedly) water friendly phone kept crashing for days after! 

So my advise to you if you are in Japan on a rainy day during sakura season: go see some cherry blossoms lit up at night by a water feature and get picture perfect cherry blossom photos!