Take a look at starting and full bloom dates for major cities across Japan with our 2020 Japan cherry blossom forecast.

The Japan archipelago runs on a roughly southwest to northeast axis, therefore the spring warmth—and the cherry blossoms—travel up the country from bottom to top.

Bonus: See our post on Japan’s Number 1 Cherry Blossom spot.

Please remember that this is a forecast! Individual trees, different sub-regions and the weather (wind and rain especially) may affect the flowering times.

Below is the 2020 sakura forecast for major cities—including the date when the cherry blossoms were expected to be in full bloom.

2020 Japan cherry blossom dates by major city

Last updated: March 6, 2020

City March April HOKKAIDO Sapporo Start: April 24

Full bloom: April 28 Hakodate Start: April 21

Full bloom: April 25 SHIKOKU Hiroshima Start: March 17

Full Bloom: March 26 Matsuyama Start: March 18

Full Bloom: March 29 KYUSHU Fukuoka Start: March 17

Full Bloom: March 28 Nagasaki Start: March 22

Full Bloom: March 31 KANSAI Osaka Start: March 20

Full Bloom: March 28 Nara Start: March 17

Full Bloom: March 24 Kobe Start: March 21

Full Bloom: March 31 Kyoto Start: March 18

Full Bloom: March 26 CHUBU Nagoya Start: March 17

Full Bloom: March 27 Kanazawa Start: March 19

Full Bloom: March 25 Niigata Start: March 27 Full Blossom: April 2 Shizuoka Start: March 21

Full Bloom: March 31 KANTO Nagano Start: March 28 Full Bloom: April 3 Yokohama Start: March 14

Full Bloom: March 23 Tokyo Start: March 15

Full Bloom: March 23 TOHOKU Sendai Start: March 26 Full Bloom: April 1 Aomori Start: April 13

Full bloom: April 19 Yamagata Start: April 2

Full Bloom: April 8

If you can’t get out for hanami in March/April, fear not! There are various varieties of sakura such as yaezakura which flower 3 to 4 weeks after the most popular yoshino variety.