Tokyo Cherry Blossom Viewing (hanami): Tips and Etiquettes
Updated Jan 2025
Cherry Blossom 1st Forecast (Jan 2025)
Source: japan meteorological corporation (JMC)
Cherry blossom/ sakura viewing AKA hanami season is fast approaching again. For many people, this will be their first time taking photos during Sakura season or the first time visiting to Japan for that matter. Due to unfamiliarity, many people relies on the internet to find famous cherry blossom viewing spots, fell in love with some particular places and contacted me to take photos at the chosen spot. The fact is, not all of the famous hanami spots are suitable for taking cherry blossom photoshoot.
The famous Ueno Park during Cherry Blossom season
Mats everywhere even in the early morning
The biggest problem: Crowd. Tokyo is already one of the most dense cities in the world. But during peak sakura season, not only the locals, but tourists from all over the world come out to enjoy the park. Just to get in to a park during a peak sakura season in the midday will take 20-30 minutes due to the crowd looking to get in (it could take much longer at certain popular parks). In parks where there is no official operating hours and people can come in anytime, the locals start reserving spots by laying mats as early as 3-4 am. That is just how crazy the situation is. Unless done properly, chances are you will end up taking photos of people, not sakura.
So how can you take nice pictures of yourself with clear background of Sakura? The two important considerations are timing and space.
Timing: the earlier OR the later the better. The best sakura pictures I have taken are done in the morning or very late afternoon before the sunset. Even then, in well-known parks opening 24 hours such as Ueno or Yoyogi Park, this is sometimes still not good enough, as even without the crowd you will see blue mats everywhere, ruining the pictures as well as the atmosphere.
the later the better
the best Spot known only to locals
Note: For those hiring photographer for short 1-2 hours session, things like taking photo of boat rowing on the lake during sakura season like in Chidorigafuchi is not suitable. This is due to the queue sometimes stretching 2-3 hours making it impossible to predict the timing of when you can get on the boat. Vacation photographers like me will have multiple sessions in a day during Sakura season and it is hard for us to adjust our schedule depending on your queue.
Another consideration: Space. Some places like Nakameguro are great for seeing Sakura, but not the best place for taking pictures as they are located along two narrow roads. Everyone has to walk through the same routes. Same with a few other parks where you have to follow certain prescribed routes. You can never avoid the crowd there and stop to take photo as long as you wish. The best place is large parks with lots of space which allow people to move freely. The larger the groups are, the more important the consideration that needs to be paid here.
My recommendation is for you to be flexible, talk to your photographer and trust their expertise. As a local, they will know the trick or even secret place like local parks not frequented by tourists. Those smaller local places are sometimes better than the popular but crowded places for photo taking purpose. This is especially more important if your/their schedule only allows for shoots later in the morning/ afternoon.
In my case, most of the time I will aim to reserve a nice spot under the Sakura tree in a park like Shinjuku Gyoen first thing in the morning, and take 2-3 sessions at the same spot with different clients there. That way, even with later clients I can still get some nice pictures on that spot. But this does require cooperation/ flexibility from clients’ part too. Hence, while I will try my utmost to fulfill clients’ request, in case they insist to choose a spot which I think is unsuitable and I do not have confidence in being able to take decent photos on their chosen time/ place, I may have to refuse the session to keep a certain standard.
My list of not-recommended spots to take sakura photoshoot:
Chidorigafuchi- although it is always ranked one of the top spots for sakura viewing in Tokyo, it is extremely crowded. Yes, it is the moat of Imperial Palace with beautiful view of cherry blossom along the river where people paddling their boat. Be warned, the queue for the boat could take up to a few hours and you will have a traffic jam in the river.
Ueno Park- The park is very famous for cherry blossom picnic which means there will be many corporate salary people and tourists sitting underneath the trees with large, ugly blue/ green picnic mats everywhere. You will definitely see more people than cherry blossom trees.
Cherry Blossom Viewing Etiquette
Please do not touch, pluck, pull or make any physical contacts with any flowers. Cherry blossoms/ any flowers are meant for everyone to enjoy with eyes, not hands.
Watch over your children and pets, to ensure that they do not get lost in the crowd, disturb others or destroy the flowers.
Do not climb on any trees in the parks/ gardens (regardless of cherry blossom season or not).
Do not occupy a spot for a long time when taking photo. Once you finish taking your photo, move away from the scene so that others can enjoy/ take their photos.
Minimize loud voice/ noise in any public area. It is a display of class.
Regardless of the crowd, please enjoy every moment of it!