Japan’s best cherry blossom photos of 2013

Only the best of Japan’s cherry blossoms from the spring of 2013…

…a warm start to March (the first month of spring in Japan) saw the bloom of sakura come early this year.

Kyoto hit it’s peak in the first week of April and Tokyo’s peak came 12 days earlier than average (at the start of the last week of March). In many areas, late snow fall covered cherry blossoms for an incredible mix of spring, snow and sakura.

This is a HUGE post with lots of photos! This year as I waded through thousands of photos to share on JapanTravelMate’s Facebook Page and @JapanTravelMate on Twitter, it was clear that this year the tourists, local photographers, J-bloggers and J-photographers were out in force!

Most of these photos look better at a higher resolution, so be sure to click on any photo to view a larger version.

The Best Sakura Photos from Japan 2013

Best of Japan’s Cherry Blossom Photos by J-bloggers and J-photographers

To wrap up the year in sakura, I approached my favourite bloggers and photographers based in Japan, and asked them to share their favourites…

By Leslie Tayler, GaijinCamera.com

Cherry blossom trees at Matsumoto Castle, Nagano Prefecture:

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The famous Meguro-gawa in Tokyo:

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By Japan Dave, japandave.com

A wall of cherry blossoms in Okazaki:

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Sakura surrounds a small bridge in Okazaki:

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Shisare-zakura (weeping cherry blossom):

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By Hida Satoyama Cycling

Tourists on a cycling tour in Hida City, Gifu Prefecture:

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By Shibuya246, shibuya246.com

A plum blossom and cherry blossom tree at the Kyoto Imperial Palace Park:

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By Zooming Japan, zoomingjapan.com

A deer in Nara city:

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Great Buddha Hall (daibutsu-den) at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Todai-ji in Nara city, Nara Prefecture:

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By Lee Chapman, tokyotimes.org

A brief but beautiful cherry blossom moment in Tokyo:

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By Muza-chan, muza-chan.net

Higashi Shinen, Heian Shrine, Kyoto:

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Sanjo-Ohashi, Kyoto:

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By ME! Dean Wormald, japantravelmate.com

Sakura at Okazaki Castle – 岡崎城の桜:

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Okazaki Castle Park Sakura – 岡崎城公園の桜:

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Five-storied pagoda and sakura at Kofuku-ji in Nara. 奈良市 興福寺の五重塔:

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HDR Photos of Sakura from Japan

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range – a photography process where multiple photos are taken of the exact same scene, at different exposures, to capture a broad range of highlights, midtones and shadows. When combined in post-processing, this images create a HDR photo.

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More Beautiful Film and Digital Photos of Sakura

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Best sakura photo of 2012?

These images aren’t from 2013, but they are well worth a mention!

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Finally, a very old cherry blossom photo

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That’s it!

If you like any of the photos above, be sure to quickly hit the VOTE button on your favourites.

Keep in touch with JapanTravelMate to find out which is the best sakura photo of 2013.