Spring 2021, the Japan Cherry Blossom spring tour is once again canceled to the outside world, sorry. My team and I are almost positive that by spring 2022, we will be back in the field with international participants on our annual Cherry Blossom Sakura Japan photo workshop tour, and by this autumn 2021, we believe we will be open for business as Art Wolfe, and many of my other colleagues are. Many ask me why my annual Cherry Blossom photo workshop is a cross-country expedition. The reason is simple, climate change. This year in Tokyo, sakura along the Meguro River and elsewhere reached their peak or full bloom on March 26. This year and last year’s sakura bloomed almost on the same day, about three weeks earlier than average. The ancient capital, Kyoto, and the present capital, Tokyo, bloomed almost simultaneously, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, which began collecting data on cherry blossoms in 1953. The Meteorological Agency of Japan tracks 58 “benchmark” sakura trees across Japan, and 40 of those have already reached peak bloom, and 14 did it earlier than ever before. The trees usually bloom for about two weeks each year, attracting the mejiro bird or Japanese White-eye, which loves to eat and slurp the sweet nectar of the first cherry buds as they bloom. After two weeks of hanami, you can enjoy a spring sakura snowstorm of flower petals. Personally, this time of year, I love to be in the Tsubame onsen, in the divine natural milky white hidden onsen off the beaten path which has very few visitors, and during the full moon, it’s especially Zen.
As mentioned in a previous article, to catch the cherry blossoms in full bloom, one needs to ceaselessly check seasonal weather charts months to weeks to days ahead as the weather is the key in determining when the blossoms will be in perfect bloom. Many international tourists and photographers visiting Japan think that visiting only one location that is reported to have the best cherry blossoms is all that’s needed to get the quintessential cherry blossom tour experience of a lifetime. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but after more than two decades of experience in Japan leading Cherry Blossom photography nature tours and workshops, I know that kind of close-minded itinerary planning will almost definitely lead to disappointment, but if you happen to catch the perfect cherry blossoms, you are super lucky - beyond lucky! The moment after you’ve taken your last photo, you should go and buy a lottery ticket because that will be the luckiest day of your life. Mother Nature has her own timing, and that means traveling cross country in pursuit of the perfect cherry blossom.
Could you imagine having paid thousands of dollars to join a Tokyo or Kyoto Cherry Blossom photo tour beginning the first week of April, and there are no cherry blossoms? Welcome, this is a reality - but not my reality. Every year participants who join my Japan Spring cherry blossom cross country expeditions will not only experience the perfect cherry blossoms several times, but they also experience authentic Japanese cultural heritage, including Japanese cuisines, sake tasting on ancient pilgrims routes, Samurai Castles, several spring festivals with women and men adorned in yukatas and kimonos. Plus, I always visit Japasns's most iconic power spot Mt. Fuji plus many other power spots on our cross-country expeditions. I also include a day or two getting up close and personal photographing newborn baby Japanese macaques better now as the snow monkeys.