Going out to see cherry blossoms is likely one of the most quintessential Japanese springtime actions, however preventing crowds can be typically one other. That’s as a result of the blossoms solely bloom for a brief time period, and so just about the entire nation concentrates its visits to probably the most well-known parks and gardens with near-identical timing.

To be honest, Japan’s high cherry blossom venues are nonetheless lovely even once they’re crowded, and you possibly can even argue that the massive crowds assist contribute to a enjoyable, party-like ambiance. However, should you’d somewhat skip the usual touristy locations and search for a extra personalised expertise, Japanese journey portal Jalan is right here to assist with a listing of its high 9 off-the-beaten-path sakura spots within the nation.

The rankings have been compiled from an web survey of 1,054 respondents between the ages of 20 and 59, and as an alternative of the commonest cherry blossom selection, Somei Yoshino, the checklist focuses on two different sakura varieties, yaezakura, whose flowers bloom in thicker double-layered clusters, and shidarezakura, whose branches arch downwards like these of a weeping willow. Note that a few of these locations aren’t precisely totally unknown and might need crowds throughout peak instances or on the weekends, however they need to all nonetheless be much less congested than the best-known, extra closely touristed venues in locations like Tokyo or Kyoto.

8 (tie). Arisugawa-no-miya Memorial Park (Tokyo)

Best viewing time: Late March-Early April

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hat mentioned, even in downtown Tokyo you could find sakura spots that most individuals don’t find out about. Once the property backyard of a samurai lord, the garden-turned-park is only a quick stroll from Hiroo Station and has quite a lot of sakura species, together with yaezakura, to be discovered on its hillside grounds.

8 (tie). Oniushi Park (Hokkaido Prefecture)

Best viewing time: Mid to late March

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Hakodate is the closest main vacationer attraction to Oniushi Park, which is positioned on the other coast of the Oshima Peninsula within the city of Mori. This seaside park has roughly 500 cherry blossom bushes, and with yaezakura being a later-blooming selection and Hokkaido’s cool climate that means a later begin to sakura season on the whole, Oniushi is a superb possibility should you’re too busy to journey throughout the common peak cherry blossom flowering. Oniushi additionally boasts yaebenishidare bushes, a hybrid weeping yaezakura kind.

7. Nagatoro Pass (Saitama Prefecture)

Best viewing time: Mid-late April

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Some 500 bushes from 31 completely different types of yaezakura type a cherry blossom tunnel in Nagatoro within the Chichibu mountains. Not solely are they lovely to view from beneath, should you take the ropeway cable automotive as much as the bearby Fudoji Temple, you possibly can admire the pink path from above too.

6. Takebe no Mori Park (Okayama Prefecture)

Best viewing time: Late March-mid-April

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Situated within the mountainous northern sector of Okayama City, there are over 100 various kinds of cherry blossoms to see on this park, which owes a part of its creation to Toemon Sano, a botanist referred to as the “Sakura Protector” for his work with the crops. Sano was the third botanist to take that title and dedicate his life’s work to cherry blossoms, and although he handed away in 2025, the park, with its tunnel of weeping yaezakura, stays part of his dwelling legacy.

4 (tie). Yuka no Sato (Tokushima Prefecture)

Best viewing time: Late March-early April

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Located within the city of Kamiyamacho, Yuka no Sato’s distinctive strolling course winds its manner up a terraced hillside lined with 3,000 cherry blossom bushes, together with 500 shidarezakura. Standing amongst the bushes are statues of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, and gazing out on the sakura from above creates a sensation much like seeing the “sea of clouds” from a mountaintop.

4 (tie). Kakunodate Samurai Residence Street (Akita Prefecture)

Best viewing time: Mid-late April

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The city of Kakunodate’s declare to fame is its preserved samurai quarter, and as you may think, a few of these samurai households had very good gardens. In specific, the shidarezakura bushes proven within the above photograph are mentioned to have been dropped at Kakunodate from Kyoto as a part of the dowry of a noble woman who was marrying into one of many native samurai clans, and seeing these sakura bushes and others towards the backdrop of the normal structure, particularly at evening, could have you feeling such as you’re out for a luxuriously leisurely stroll within the Edo period.

3. Rakuozakura (Fukushima Prefecture)

Best viewing time: Early-mid-April

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With yaezakura and shidarezakura being kinds of cherry bushes, you would possibly assume that Rakuozakura is one other. Actually, although, the Rakuozakura is a single, particular tree that grows on the grounds of Nanko Shrine, which is itself within Nako Park within the city of Shirakawa. How does a single cherry blossom tree get its personal title? By being greater than 200 years previous, and from being so awe-inspiringly majestic in each measurement and form.

2. Miho Museum, (Saga Prefecture)

Best viewing time: Early-mid-April

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The metropolis of Koka’s Miho Museum accommodates 1000’s of work, sculptures, and ceramic and lacquerware items, however there’s additionally magnificence to be discovered exterior its partitions. The museum is perched atop a forested mountain and accessed by way of a tunnel, and in spring the 100 shiradezakura bushes greet you with waves of pink petals as you come out the exit. This one does are likely to get crowded with flower viewers on the weekends, so a weekday go to is finest if you wish to quietly ponder them, particularly when the sakura are bathed in morning gentle.

1. Nicchu Line Weeping Sakura (Fukushima Prefecture)

Best viewing time: Mid-April

Website

Trains used to run alongside the Nicchu Line, however as soon as it was shut down this part of the tracks within the city of Kitakata was transformed right into a pedestrian pathway, and there’s no higher time to stroll it than in spring. You’ll go underneath roughly 1,000 sakura bushes alongside the three-kilometer course, and whereas ordinarily it wouldn’t take greater than an hour to cowl that distance, it’s arduous to think about a strolling course higher suited to taking your time to figuratively cease and odor the roses, by wanting on the sakura, than this one.

Source: Jalan, PR Times

Images: PR Times

Read extra tales from SoraNews24.

— Nine nice locations to see spring flowers in Japan, as chosen by vacationers (with nearly no sakura)

— Japan’s high 10 open-air sizzling spring baths with cherry blossom views【Survey】

— 10 superior Tokyo cherry blossom festivals and experiences for this yr’s sakura season

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The occasion came about at Akigase Park in Sakura Ward, the place attendees wearing vibrant conventional apparel and danced to Kurdish music. One participant stated, “This is Kurdish clothing. It’s very enjoyable.”

Newroz, which implies “new day” in Kurdish, is taken into account probably the most necessary celebrations for Kurdish individuals, marking the arrival of spring and renewal.

However, the environment turned tense when metropolis meeting members from Toda, recognized for advocating the exclusion of foreigners, appeared on the venue, resulting in a confrontation between them and pageant contributors. According to studies, one of many meeting members was struck in the course of the altercation.

In latest years, discrimination towards Kurds residing in Japan, together with situations of hate speech, has been on the rise. Wakkas Chorak, who organized the pageant, expressed hope for coexistence, saying that he needs for Japanese and Kurdish individuals to dwell collectively peacefully.

Source: TBS

Foreign Minister Motegi introduced the discharge throughout an look on a tv program on March twenty second, stating that he had strongly urged Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to deal with the matter, resulting in the detainee’s launch on March 18th.

Motegi: “Regarding one individual, I made a strong request to Foreign Minister Araghchi, and the detention was lifted, resulting in the individual’s release on March 18th.”

The particular person, who had been detained since June 2025, returned to Japan at round 8:30 a.m. and is reported to be in good well being, in line with the Foreign Ministry.

The second Japanese nationwide, believed to be the Tehran bureau chief of NHK, was detained in January 2026. Motegi said that efforts are ongoing to safe an early decision, including that the federal government is working carefully with the person and their household.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the launched particular person first traveled overland to neighboring Azerbaijan after being freed on March 18th native time, earlier than boarding a flight and arriving in Japan on the morning of March twenty second.

The authorities continues to press for the discharge of the remaining detainee, with Motegi having held phone talks twice this month together with his Iranian counterpart to request the discharge of each people.

Source: FNN

“The cherry blossoms at the Imperial Palace are starting to bloom little by little. This is a place that is usually difficult to enter, but the vivid pink and white blossoms signal the arrival of spring,” a reporter mentioned on-site.

The spring public opening of Inui Street, which started on March twenty first, permits guests to walk alongside an roughly 750-meter tree-lined path that includes round 100 cherry timber, together with Somei Yoshino and weeping cherry varieties.

A customer from the United States mentioned, “(Q. Where are you from?) New York. The trees were beautiful, and the colors were wonderful.”

Another customer from Osaka mentioned, “It was amazing. It was really pink.”

The public opening will run by March twenty ninth, with guests capable of enter with out reservations between 9:00 a.m. and three:30 p.m.

According to the Imperial Household Agency, roughly 18,000 folks visited on the primary day.

Source: TBS

The introduction of “full-flat seats” on freeway buses marks a breakthrough that many in Japan had as soon as thought of inconceivable resulting from strict security rules, but the corporate behind the innovation succeeded in overcoming these obstacles by years of persistence and technical improvement.

The thought traces again to a scene witnessed abroad three a long time in the past, which later impressed a decade-long effort to carry the same idea to Japan, culminating within the launch of the sleeper-style bus service.

Since starting common operations, the corporate has quickly expanded its companies, including extra routes and growing frequency in response to robust demand, whereas additionally introducing synthetic intelligence to enhance operations and improve the passenger expertise.

At the identical time, additional refinements to the seating design are underway, as the corporate continues to iterate on consolation and performance, positioning the service as a viable various to conventional in a single day journey choices.

With momentum constructing by successive service expansions and technological upgrades, consideration is now turning to the subsequent part of improvement, because the operator units its sights on additional improvements in Japan’s evolving long-distance transport market.

Source: テレ東BIZ

Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son stated, “We will create an investment of 500 billion dollars (approximately 80 trillion yen) concentrated in a single location,” as he revealed the plan in Ohio within the U.S. Midwest.

As a part of the primary part of investments and financing into the United States based mostly on the Japan-U.S. tariff settlement, SoftBank is already planning to assemble a gas-fired energy plant in Ohio, with the brand new knowledge heart to be constructed alongside it on the identical website.

The firm goals to comprehend the huge challenge by incorporating funds from exterior companions and has established a consortium of 21 Japanese and American corporations, together with Panasonic Holdings, to take part within the initiative.

Son famous that the challenge aligns with the constructive stance of President Donald Trump, who has expressed assist for lively enterprise enlargement, saying, “There is a forward-looking attitude from President Trump that welcomes aggressive business growth, which matches our vision.”

The groundbreaking ceremony for the ability plant held on March twentieth was attended by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and different officers, as SoftBank continues to strengthen its ties with the Trump administration.

Source: テレ東BIZ

The first chick of the season nationwide was confirmed on March fifteenth in Awaji City, Hyogo Prefecture.

In Toyooka City, guardian birds have additionally been noticed taking turns incubating their eggs.

Yoshizawa Takuyoshi, a keeper on the Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork, stated, “It really feels like the breeding season has finally begun, and there’s a sense of excitement that spring has arrived.”

The Oriental stork was declared extinct within the wild in 1971, however efforts centered across the Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork in Toyooka City have been underway to revive its inhabitants within the wild.

As a results of these conservation efforts, the Ministry of the Environment introduced on March seventeenth that it has lowered the species’ threat of extinction by one stage.

Source: KTV NEWS

Cleanup operations continued on March twenty second alongside the Minami Alps Park Line prefectural highway in Tashiro, Aoi Ward, the place the landslide occurred. According to Shizuoka City, the collapse concerned a roadside slope measuring roughly 70 meters in peak and 20 meters in width.

A scorching spring facility positioned close to the location has left round 80 folks, together with visitors and building staff, briefly remoted. However, on the morning of March twenty second, 4 visitors efficiently made their manner down the mountain utilizing an alternate route.

The metropolis expects to finish particles removing work by March twenty third.

Source: SBSnews6

The animal was first noticed on March 22 at round 10 a.m. in a park alongside the previous Yodo River in Miyakojima Ward, Osaka, and was nonetheless staying within the space as of after 5 p.m.

A customer to the park stated, “It’s quite far from Nara Park to here. I wonder how it got here. But it looks dangerous.”

The park is situated about 2 kilometers from the busy Umeda district, and in accordance with town, there had been a collection of deer sightings since March twenty first in japanese areas equivalent to Tsurumi Ward.

Officials consider it’s extremely possible {that a} deer from Nara Park crossed the Ikoma Mountains and entered Osaka. City personnel have been additionally seen guiding the animal from a distance to forestall it from wandering onto main roads.

Osaka City is looking on the general public to not strategy the deer, warning that it’s a wild animal and will pose a hazard.

Source: ABCTVnews

Visitors flocked to IKEA on the morning of March twelfth, the place crowds gathered not within the furnishings showroom however within the restaurant shortly after opening, drawn by a closely discounted “100 yen gourmet” breakfast that has change into a serious attraction.

The in style morning set features a cinnamon roll and a big hash brown for simply 100 yen together with tax, whereas clients who join a free membership can even take pleasure in complimentary drinks for the primary hour after opening, making it attainable for some regulars to remain till round noon for simply 100 yen.

A frequent customer mentioned, “I live nearby, so I come almost every day. For 100 yen, I can stay here until around lunchtime. It’s great value.”

Individually, the cinnamon roll prices 100 yen and the hash brown 120 yen, totaling 220 yen, which means the set worth is lower than half the standard value.

The “100 yen morning” marketing campaign, launched a couple of yr and a half in the past, is a part of a broader technique, in line with IKEA meals consultant Hikaru Yoshinaga, who defined that the objective is to draw clients by means of the restaurant earlier than encouraging them to browse furnishings and family items at a relaxed tempo.

The strategy seems to be working, with customer numbers roughly doubling in comparison with when the marketing campaign started.

As costs proceed to rise throughout Japan, related “100 yen gourmet” choices are gaining consideration elsewhere, together with in Naka City, Ibaraki Prefecture, the place a exceptional all-100-yen deli store is drawing crowds.

Inside the shop shortly after 9 a.m., cabinets have been filled with ready dishes whereas employees continued cooking fried objects, with greater than 70 sorts of aspect dishes produced day by day ranging from 4 a.m., together with omurice, Napolitan pasta, stir-fried greens and kakiage tempura.

Despite hovering rice costs, even rice bowls topped with beneficiant parts of meat are bought for simply 100 yen.

The dishes are ready by the proprietor of the long-established izakaya Kazane, who has been operating the “100 yen deli” lunch service three days per week together with her daughter.

The proprietor described it as “a 100 yen shop for adults,” including, “It’s more fun when there’s a lot of variety. If we’re going to cook anyway, we might as well.”

At opening time round 11 a.m., common clients shortly stuffed the shop, with one girl buying 23 objects directly, saying, “This would normally cost about 10,000 yen. I was asked to buy their japchae because it’s so good.”

Customers expressed shock that costs have remained unchanged regardless of inflation, noting that parts haven’t been decreased both.

The store has gained recognition on social media, attracting guests from throughout Japan, together with Osaka, supported by inventive cost-cutting measures that make the 100 yen pricing attainable.

Ingredients are sourced by means of vegetable “all-you-can-pack” offers, home-grown produce and surplus objects shared by common clients, serving to to maintain uncooked materials prices low.

The proprietor additionally avoids setting a set menu, as an alternative creating dishes primarily based on no matter components can be found, permitting flexibility to keep up the uniform 100 yen pricing.

She acknowledged the challenges, saying, “Honestly, it’s tough. But people are happy, so I keep doing my best. It’s like a candy shop for adults.”

As inflation continues to weigh on family budgets, these ultra-cheap “100 yen gourmet” choices are rising as a small however welcome reduction for customers.

Source: FNN