Tohoku’s Best Cherry Blossoms

Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, Akita, and Aomori all have cherry blossoms, just like the other 42 prefectures across Japan.  Tohoku's cherry blossoms are the latest to open on Honshu, Japan's main island.  The Tohoku region can be most easily reached by a relaxing shinkansen ride from Tokyo. 

Tohoku is home to the longest cherry blossom-lined road in the entire world, longer than 20 kilometers with more that 6,000 sakura trees for you to enjoy.  Mt. Iwaki is the tallest peak in the region which creates a picture perfect background for panorama photos of the sakura while you take in your sakura-enriched surroundings.  You can also enjoy up close shooting with the numerous individual blossoms. I see other photographers quite often in the Tohoku region, and I’m always happy to strike up conversations or give any advice while enjoying capturing Tohoku’s vibrant cherry blossoms.

Tohoku is also home to several castles with links to several samurai warriors and lords throughout Japan’s history. One of the castles has even been memorialized in several travel brochures for its natural appeal.  Many of the castle grounds hold more than a thousand sakura trees with numerous varieties to enjoy.  One phenomenon that all visitors enjoy is watching the wind gently blow cherry blossoms petals into the moats and joined waterways encircling castles, transforming the moat into a glimmering pink garland.  Imagine the one of a kind photographs you may take while visiting any of the sakura wreathed castles.

Several of Tohoku’s parks are also treasure troves of sakura beauty. Visiting photographers can enjoy focusing on exclusively cherry blossom photography or use the sakura as a background with festivals in the foreground. Several local citizens don their traditional festival wear and join the cherry blossom viewing or ‘hanami’ as it is known locally. You can see more than 500 different types of sakura in several parks across the Tohoku region and enjoy delicious local cuisine while you take a moment to refresh yourself after drinking in the glorious natural landscapes that sakura are a part of. For example, during the blue hour and into the golden hour, when the sunlight adds just the slightest accent to the sakura petals, you can take once in a lifetime photos.

One of the advantages of going off the beaten path is the abundance of nature surrounding you and becoming a natural photographic subject. Natural landscapes abound in all of Tohoku, so while you are surveying and photographing the thousands of cherry blossoms, you can always frame your shots with Mt. Iwaki in the background of certain destinations or with some arboreal friends of the cherry blossom, such as the pine or Japanese maples that populate the countryside. No matter if you’re taking panoramic shots or pinpoint focus on one cherry blossom, you will leave Tohoku with photos and memories that will last forever. What are you waiting for? Get out there and enjoy photographing Tohoku’s cherry blossoms!