Cherry Blossoms in Kansai

While I spent most of my time in Kyoto on this trip, I did see other sakura spots in the Kansai region. The three main locations I visited were Himeji, a few spots in Osaka, and Mount Yoshino to the south of Nara.

Himeji Castle

My previous two visits to Himeji Castle were both in winter, so I was especially excited to see this place again in a different season. As this was my third visit I didn't feel the need to enter the main keep, rather I spent my time exploring the castle grounds, with a special focus on all the spots with cherry trees. When I arrived at Himeji station it was raining and I quickly bought an umbrella before walking out towards the castle.

The first location was the Senhime Botan-en, a garden to the west of the main Sannomaru Square, it has an incredible density of cherry blossom trees. Walking through that garden was like walking in a world of blossoms: the branches above formed a ceiling of flowers and the ground below was covered in a carpet of fallen petals.

I then entered the paid castle grounds and there were a number of cherry trees in bloom along the main pathway up to the keep. I diverted away from this main path and instead went to the Nishinomaru Gardens located next to the west baily. This area too had some pathways covered in incredibly dense blossom coverage; I walked through it a few times, twice to take photos and once just to appreciate the flowers.

I left the main castle area and returned to the Sannomaru Square before completing a full loop around the outer walls of the castle. There wern't as many cherry trees here but there were still a few clusters, including a few at a shrine located behind the main castle keep.

Despite the rain, I enjoyed the morning at Himeji. I did not let the rain stop me from taking photos, often I huddled under my umbrella while I carefully framed a shot in the still falling rain.

Shukugawa Park

On my way back to Osaka from Himeji, I stopped at Shukugawa Park. This park is located towards the edge of the Osaka metro area and it follows a river flowing south. The train line crosses the park here, creating an excellent opportunity for photographing a train with cherry blossoms.

There are actually two train lines that run paralel in this region and at this park they are only 300 meters or so apart. I alighted at the Sakura Shukugawa Station on the JR line and then walked through the park to the Shukugawa station on the private line.

Sakuranomiya Park

This park is located right in the middle of Osaka, next to a tributary of the river delta that flows through the city. This park is joined to other parks situated all along both sides of the river, and in spring time, they are filled with blooming sakura. I had intended to visit this park in an afternoon and spend a couple hours walking along the river bank, from park to park, but unfortuantely I didn't have enough time and energy for this. I was, however, able to briefly visit for half an hour or so in the evening. At this time the park was very quiet, I only saw a few other people around, and it was generally well lit with street lights. I especially loved one section of pathway that was right next to the river bank where the cherry blossoms were lit from beneath by bright lamps designed especially for that purpose, this made the trees apear to glow from within, a beautiful sight.

Mount Yoshino

Located in Nara Prefecture, this mountain park is the place I was most excited about visiting during cherry blosssom season. It has absolutely the most cherry trees out of all the locations I visited. Sections of slope were so densly covered that entire mountain faces become pink, individual trees merging together to form a patchwork of pink and white hues blending so beautifuly together, all the way to the horizon. Mount Yoshino is more of a range than a single peak, with the main path — and main destinations — following a line that roughly follows the mountain ridge. Along this way are observation points, temples, shrines, some shops and restaurants and, of course, sections of huge cherry tree groves that were absolutely soaked in blossoms. There are four main sakura viewing areas along the mountain, known as the senbon ("thousand trees") areas, and I visited all four.

I spent the full Easter Sunday here. My goal was to hike the full length of the ridge up to the highest, and furthest, senbon, to explore Mount Yoshino as much as possible.

The above photo was taken at the panorama viewpoint next to Yoshimizu Shrine and it is my favourite photo from the day. From this lookout I had the best view of the full mountain range, I could see the cherry trees in full bloom, stretching all the way to the horizon. The shrine and lookout was incredibly busy, the line backed up half way to the main road. I waited patiently in that line, not even certain at that time what the view would look like, but I am so glad I did because the view was absolutely worth the wait.

These pictures were taken at Shimo-senbon. This is the lowest of the cherry-tree areas, and the first one I walked through. Visible from the train station and located on the first mountain slope. There are two ways up the mountain here, taking a winding road or the ropeway, I elected to walk up the road where I was constantly beneath a sky of blossoms.

I continued walking, now following the ridge that gently climbed higher up the mountain. The first image above was taken looking to my left (the east) to a blossom covered hill on the opposite slope. The second photo was taken at Naka-senbon, the middle cherry-tree area. I took a short detour from the main path to visit it before continuing on to Kami-senbon.

These photos were taken at kami-senbon, the upper cherry-tree area. The first photo was captured from the winding road that ascended the steep slope here. The second photo was taken from Hanayagura observation point, one of the best viewpoints at mount Yoshino. From this lookout I could see the buildings and temples following the main road along the spur of the mountain, and all of them surrounded by puffy plooms of pink blossoms.

The Yoshino Mikumari Shrine. This is perhaps one of Mount Yoshino's most historically significant shrines. When I visited the line to enter extended down to the main street. The present shrine complex was rebuilt over 400 years ago and it is now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I mostly loved the large cherry tree growing in the centre of the main courtyard, in full bloom, it looked lovely surrounded by the old buildings of the shrine.

This photo was taken at Oku-senbon, the innermost cherry-tree area. This area is the furthest from the train station and is situated on the other side of the mountain. Being higher in elevation the cherry trees were not in full bloom, most of the flowers were still merely buds waiting to burst out in beautiful splendour. I still enjoyed reaching this furthest area as it completed my full exploration of Mount Yoshino.

This photo was taken at Kami-senbon. I just absolutely loved how the dense blossom foliage seemed to flow down the mountain here with the road winding through the forest.

These photos were also taken at Kami-senbon.

After reaching the innermost cherry-tree area I returned back towards the train station, follwing the same road. By this time it was the afternoon and the mountain was incredibly busy with visotors. The further down the mountain I went the busier it became, but I didn't mind too much. I had already captured so many amazing photos, both on my way up and some more on my way down. I had such a great time exploring the mountain and walking through the cherry-tree areas. Mount Yoshino was certainly the grandest sakura location, and what I loved most about it was the huge landscape scenery. Rather than focusing on individual trees, or a particular spot or path, Mount Yoshino was more about being saturated in an atmosphere of blossoms, so extensive the landscape itself is transformed, the scene would flow with the whitish-pink of a thousand cherry trees in bloom.

Osaka Castle Park

My final sakura spot in Japan was Osaka Castle Park. I visited the park on Wednesday, spending most of the afternoon here before catching an evening flight back to Taiwan. I had never visited Osaka Castle before and I was excited to see it, especially as I heard there are many cherry-tree spots in the surrounding park. The castle itself is situated at the centre of the park with multiple rings of walls and moats surrounding it. I was particularly impressed with the height of the walls of the inner moat, they were higher than any castle walls I had seen in Japan. Some sections of both the inner moat and outer moat were filled with water. Along the moats were some of the best cherry-tree viewing areas. I loved walking throughout the castle park, visiting the various gardens and finding the blossoms. I most of all loved trying to photograph a cherry tree in full bloom with the Osaka castle keep in the background.

I remember sitting on one of the walls of Osaka Castle in the late afternoon, having explored most of the park I would soon need to travel to the airport and catch my flight out of Japan. I reflected on this trip and my time spent in Japan, I just felt so blessed to be able to see such a beautiful country at perhapse one of the most beautiful times of the year. I hope you can enjoy these photos, from this and the other cherry blossom posts, just as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Thanks for reading – Edward

Written 30th of August 2026