Cherry Blossoms in Kyoto

Japan is famous for its cherry blossoms and ever since I learnt about this I wanted to visit during the season. This year I had the opportunity as I was based in Taipei, only a three hour flight or so from Japan. My best opportunity was to visit on the Easter long weekend, I took an extra couple days off, and with my flights booked for the early morning or late evening, I turned a four day long weekend into a six day mini vacation.

I researched online and found that the sakura (Japanese for cherry blossom) only bloom for a short period (about a week), but they flower at different times throughout the country, and it varies from year to year. I felt so lucky that the Easter long weekend this year lined up with then the sakura at Kyoto would be in peak bloom. I have loved every visit I have made to Kyoto and I knew I would absolutely love seeing Kyoto covered in cherry blossoms.

Originally, the sakura forecast websites were showing peak bloom for Kyoto on the Easter Monday but the forecast shifted earlier as the dates approached. Now peak bloom would be finishing on the Easter Friday. I was landing at Osaka Kansai airport on Friday morning, and my plan had been to explore Osaka that day, but instead I took a train directly to Kyoto so that I could have at least one full day there during peak bloom. This change of plans was absolutely worth it. I prioritised the best sakura locations in Kyoto for that day and they did not dissapoint. Later on the Monday I would return to Kyoto and explore some more sakura spots, and while the blossoms were begining to fall, they were still beautiful.

I took so many photos in Kyoto I spent forever sorting through them. Here I have collected the absolute best ones I took at each sakura spot. I hope you can enjoy them now just as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Keage Incline

This was my first sakura location in Kyoto (and Japan), it is an old railway line converted into a gently sloping pedestrain track. It is located right outside Keage metro station making it a perfect stop over on my way to other sight-seeing spots. Surrounded by sakura on both sides, it is an incredibly popular photo spot and it certainly was very busy even at 8:45 am when I arrived. I imagine it would get even more popular later in the day.

Philosopher's Path

This was my favourite cherry blossom spot in Kyto, and perhaps all of Japan. I loved my previous visits to the Philosopher's Path, when I saw it in winter, but to see that same path — and canal — now absolutely transformed by the beautiful pinkish-white cherry blossoms was a most wonderful experience. I came here as early as I could, as from reading online I knew the path would only get bussier as the day progressed. While crowded, it wasn't too bad, and I had plenty of opportunities to take some excellent photos. In some sections of the path the cherry trees grew so close together they formed a canopy of blossoms overhead, creating the feeling of walking through a tunnel of flowers.

Okazaki Canal

On my way from the Philosopher's Path to Kiyomizu-dera temple, when I was near the Keage incline, I walked by Okazaki Canal. This wide canal has sakura on both sides, but most prominently on the north side. I walked along the southern bank looking out over the glistening blue-green water to the cherry blossoms on the other side. They seemed to be stetching out as far as they could, over the waters of the wide canal. Every now and then I would see a tour boat passing by. One time, while I was standing on a bridge taking photos alongside a few other people, a boat passed beneath us and the people on board waved to us, so we waved back.

Kiyomizu-dera Temple

One of the most famous temples in Kyoto is Kiyomizu-dera. On previous trips I had visited the outer gate three times but never paid to enter. Today I finally entered the temple proper to explore it during sakura season. I arrived in the early afternoon and the temple was packed with visitors. The cherry blossoms were not as dense here as in some of the previous locations, often situated in smaller isolated clusters. I tried to find good photo spots where I could capture blossoms and temple infrastructure together. While visiting, I twice saw a traditional performance that involved a long dragon puppet: once at a building near the main hall, and the second time near the gates, as I was just about to leave. I found this event fascinating and watched the performance both times. At the start, I was so suprised to see a giant puppet dragon appear! It was so intrictictly detailed, and the men hosting it so co-ordinated, that I could easily fall for the illusion, as if a real dragon were dancing through the temple.

Maruyama Park

I had briefly walked through this park on my way to Kiyomizu-dera temple but after the temple visit I reterned here, arriving by the late afternoon. Like the Philosopher's Path, this park was full of sakura, but by the time I arrived, the park was also incredibly busy. So many people were out admiring the cherry blossoms. Kids were playing in the park near the river, families and couples set up pincic blankets beneath the trees, there were many stalls selling all sorts of food, and I saw many others, even some alone, sitting in various places enjoying the atmoshpere of the park. I too found a bench and rested for a moment before I attempted to take some pictures. With so many people around I knew they would have to be part of my photos, so I tried to hop into a street photography mindset, capturing not only the cherry blossoms but also the people enjoying them.

This tree shown above is the Gion Weeping Cherry Tree and it is perhaps one of the most famous cherry trees in Kyoto. It was certainly the largest tree in the park and while some of the side trees were already past their peak the main tree was in bloom.

I did return to Maruyama Park five days later on the early morning of Wednesday and the park nearly completely empty. Even after just five days I could see a marked decline in the density of cherry blossoms. Nevertheless the trees were still beautiful passed their peak and I enjoyed capturing a few more pictures in the now quiet park.

Shirakawa Canal

This canal is another famous spot in Kyoto. Located in a district surrounded by traditional houses, a largely pedestrian street follows the canal and then crosses it at a cute litte bridge. In any season it is a beautiful place to visit, but when the sakura bloom it's beauty increases tenfold. I visited it twice on this trip: once on the Friday evening as I was walking back to the metro station, and the second time on the Monday, when it was tecnically past peak bloom but there were still plenty of blossoms left on the trees. I loved how the orange of the fence and shrine contrasted with the pinkish white of the blossoms and the vibrant green of the willow trees.

Kiyamachi-dori Street

I followed the canal to the Kamo river and crossed it, arriving at the start of Kioymachi-dori street. I learned about this street from my online research and, since it was on the way back to the metro station, it was my last sakura spot in Kyoto for the Easter Friday. I walked down this street in the early evening, just before the sun was setting. All along the sakura trees grew, their branches reaching over the street. I walked about one kilometer south along the street, admiring the blossoms that seemed so ethereal in the evening light. There is a small canal that runs parrallel with Kiyamachi-dori, the cherry trees grow between street and canal, their branches hanging over both and obscuring one from the other. I had not even known the canal was there until I crossed the street, at the end of my walk, and from within the canal the street is not clearly visible, they felt like two separate worlds, adjacent yet distinct.

I returned to Kiyamachi-dori five days later on the Wednesday morning and I happened to take nearly the exact same photo again. The following gallery shows the comparison. I found it fascinating to see the difference in the trees natural growth. After just five days the blossoms were already fading and many more green leaves were sprouting.

Kamo River

This river runs centrally through the historic district of Kyoto. The banks on either side have all sorts of trees including, quite frequently, sakura. I only walked passed the river briefly on Friday, crossing one of the bridges when I walked from Shirakawa Canal to Kiyamachi-dori. I saw the river again on Monday during my second sightseeing day in Kyoto, and again on the early Wednesday morning before travelling to Osaka. There were a couple of huge cherry trees I absolutely loved, they were overflowing with cherry blossoms and their branches hung far over the river bank.

Nijo-jo Castle

On the Easter Monday I had another opportunity to spend a whole day sightseeing in Kyoto. I still priorities cherry blossom spots, and while it was passed peak bloom the trees were still richly adorned; but I also prioratised visiting some tourist attactions I had not yet had the opportunity visit in Kyoto. Nijo-jo Castle was one of these.

This castle was built by the shogun of Japan and used as his seat of power in Kyoto. It was the location where the Tokugawa shogunate began and ended. I spent an hour or so exploring the interiour of the castle where photography is prohibited. I walked through the halls and imagined life in feudal Japan, admiring the simple yet elegant architecture. I then walked around the castle grounds where there are some groves of sakura trees.

Daigo-ji Temple

This temple is located at the edge of the city, about half an hour out by train. I learned about Daigo-ji temple while researching for good sakura spots in Kyoto and I visited on the Easter Monday. The temple grounds are split into three areas full of historic buildings and in some of them, interesting artifacts. All three areas were connected by a central walkway. This central walkway had the most sakura with trees lining both sides of the path, the branches mingling overhead to create a veritable tunnel of blossoms. The main temple area also had some clusters of cherry trees in bloom as well as the oldest wooden pagoda in Japan.

Yamashina Canal

This canal is perhaps my favourite underrated sakura spot in Kyoto. I only learned about it because the Instagram algorithm happened to show it to me and I took a note of where it was. I stopped by on my way back to Kyoto from Daigo-ji temple and I'm so glad I did. There is a small stretch of canal, maybe 200 meters in length, where both sides are flanked by blossoming flowers. I am not certain what herb was growing along the canal edge here, but I absolutely loved their brilliant yellow flowers, and how they contrasted with the subtle pinkish-white of the cherry blossoms in the branches above.

Imperial Palace Gardens

This was the final location I visited in Kyoto on the Easter Monday. I was almost out of time but, in the near evening light, I quickly visited the Imperial Palace Gardens. Similar to Nijo-jo Castle this location wasn't just about seeing cherry blossoms but an opportunity to visit these gardens, a place I had never yet had a chance to see on my previous trips to Kyoto.

The gardens are huge, over a kilometer in length and filled with all sorts of trees and plants. The actual Imperial Palace was closed for the day but I could still walk freely through the gardens. Most of the trees are evergreens and the pathways through the forest are straight and wide, often aligning with the compass directions. I found one grove of cherry trees near a shrine, and then another larger cluster on the far northern end of the gardens. This far northern cluster was especially beautiful as they were weeping cherry trees, their pink blossoms hanging from above.

Kyoto was my main base of operations for this sakura trip to Japan. With so many beautiful cherry blossom spots here I knew I would need at least two days in Kyoto. Originally my plan was for those two days to be consecutive, the Monday and Tuesday, pushing Kyoto into the second half of the trip as a sort of epic conclusion. But, with the ever changing forecast I moved the Kyto visit to the Friday, at the tail end of the official peak bloom window. Now Kyoto became the first location I saw in Japan during sakura season, and I am so glad it worked out this way. The locations on that first day were so beautiful! I went from one to the next with barely a break in-between. Kyoto became the grand opening to my sakura trip. A great way to start when I had plenty of energy and excitement on that first day to see as much of it as possible.

But Kyoto isn’t the only place to see cherry blossoms in Japan. The wider Kansai region is full of beautiful sakura spots, including several I visited in Osaka and on day trips to other regions. These I will share in another post.

Thanks for reading – Edward

Written 19th of August 2026