Cherry Blossoms Spots in Kyoto 2025
The cherry blossom season is finally in full swing. It came a little later than last year across the country, but after the appearance of an early variety called Kawazu-zakura, the Somei-Yoshino, the weeping cherry, the Yae-zakura and other spring flowers will continue to bloom until mid- to late April. Given the dozens of varieties in different locations, the season is quite long. This is even though cherry blossoms are fairly transient. They have about a week from budding to full bloom, and after a week of full bloom, they will scatter onto streets and gardens to form sakura carpets, or onto ponds and rivers to become Hana Ikada (花筏), or “raft of flowers”. Such beautiful imagery!
We have updated our recommendations for 2025 with a user-friendly map and a handy schedule for night-viewing. Please download as your sakura season companion.
Sky Forest Garden at Genji Kyoto
For our hotel guests, naturally the best spot is our rooftop garden just an elevator ride away. You can relax with our Sakura tea or cocktail and admire cherry blossoms along Kamo River.
Rivers
Kamogawa and Takanogawa 鴨川+高野川
You can stroll along Kamo river, or take one of our bicycles and ride up to Kamogawa Delta and beyond, where you will find long stretches of robust cherry trees.
The trees are not just along Kamo River, but also along Takano River on the east side of the delta split.
Takasegawa 高瀬川
Then there is the Takase River right by our hotel (we are between 2 rivers). Due to recent canal renovation works, we've lost a number of precious cherry trees close by. But if you walk north on Kiyamachi-dori along this very narrow river (formerly a canal that carried supplies to Kyoto), you will find more than 300 cherry trees from Gojō to Nijō.
Okazaki Canal 岡崎疏水
This canal which connects Kyoto with Biwa Lake wraps around the Okazaki Park, which has Heian Jingū's huge Torii gate towering in the middle, and is also linked to the Kyocera Museum area, the Kyoto City Zoo, and in turn the Keage Incline. It is lined with some 400 cherry trees. Perfect for having picnics in the Okazaki Park, or strolling on the banks, or taking a 25-minute cruise on a flat-bottomed boat called Jikkokubune (十石舟). Information for the boat ride: https://kyoto-tabi.or.jp/tour/250320jfe/
Boat rides: Mar 20 ~ Apr 13, 2025 Cruise time 25 minutes, departs every 15 minutes
Light-up: Mar 27 ~ Apr 6, 2025. 18:00 - 21:00
Fushimi Jikkokubune Canal 伏見十石舟水路
The canal in Fushimi's sake brewing district is lined with cherry trees. You can stroll on the banks or take a 50-minute cruise on flat-bottomed boats that in the Edo period carried sake and cargo. (see picture at the top of this article)
Boat rides: Mar 20 ~ Dec 7, 2025. Departs every 20 minutes from 10:00. Please be sure to check first as some Mondays and other days are not open.
Book from this official site (Japanese only) or through travel agents.
Southern Kyoto
Tōji 東寺
Most famous for its "Fujizakura" (不二桜), Tōji is home to some 200 cherry trees including early and late blooming ones. This important temple is one of the best places for night viewing due to its vast grounds, with a pond and a 5-story pagoda forming a most picturesque backdrop.
Light up: Mar 15 ~ Apr 13, 2025 18:00 - 21:00
Shōsei-en Garden 渉成園
This is a Shoin style strolling garden that is part of the Higashi Hongan-ji temple. It is thought to have been the site of a garden mansion that served as the model for one such mansion in the Tale of Genji, a novel of the Heian period. It has some 50 cherry trees of different varieties, enhancing the “13 sceneries” for which this garden is known.
Sanjūsangendō 三十三間堂
Not particularly known as a sakura viewing spot, this temple with 1,001 Kannon statues nonetheless has a few cherry trees that add great beauty to the grounds.
Chishaku-in 智積院
Popular amongst locals but less known to tourists, this temple with famous gardens and panel paintings is one of the more serene settings for enjoying several varieties of cherry blossoms.
Unryū-in 雲龍院
A sub-temple of Sennyū-ji, Unryū-in is a lesser known spot for both cherry blossoms and autumn foliage. It has interesting windows and a historical stone lantern set upon a chrysanthemum sand crest in the dry rock garden. This temple often has cherry blossom light-ups in the first week of April.
Daigo-ji 醍醐寺
This vast temple that takes up a whole mountainside from base to summit and has 1,000 cherry trees around its gardens, halls and ponds. One of Japan's top Hanami spots.
Gion • Higashiyama • Okazaki areas
Kiyomizudera 清水寺
This temple with its famous wooden stage is one of Kyoto's top cherry blossom spots. Its 1,500 cherry trees are scattered across the vast hillside with numerous photogenic spots.
Light-up: Mar 25 ~ Apr 3, 2025 18:00 - 21:00
Kōdai-ji and Entoku-in 高台寺 + 圓徳院
This temple even has a variety named after it called Kōdai-ji cherry blossom. It is also famous for their weeping sakura with branches bending over the Hashin-tei dry-mountain-water garden. Entoku-ji is a sub-temple with a more serene ambience.
Light up: Mar 14 ~ May 6, 2025 17:00 - 21:30
Maruyama Park 円山公園
The oldest park in Kyoto, with some 650 cherry trees. The iconic centerpiece weeping cherry is over 70 years old, with a height of 12 meters and a branch span of 10 meters. There is no admission fee for entering this park, even for the light-up.
Light up: Mar 25 ~ Apr 9, 2025 18:00 - 22:00
Chion-in 知恩院
This temple has some 200 cherry trees with a Sanmon Gate that's a national treasure and famous gardens.
Light-up: Mar 26 ~ Apr 6, 2025 17:45 - 21:00
Gion Shirakawa 祇園白川
With cherry trees and green willows amidst teahouse buildings and cobblestone paths, and pink and white petals gently falling on the river, these small streets are quintessential Kyoto.
Light-up: Mar 28 ~ Apr 6, 2025 18:00 - 22:00
Kennin-ji 建仁寺
Head south from Hanamikoji-dori and you will see beautiful cherry trees beyond the walls of Japan's oldest Zen temple. The grounds are surprisingly quiet despite being in the middle of a lively entertainment district.
Heian Jingū 平安神宮
With some 300 cherry trees of 20 different varieties, this shrine with a grand Torii gate visible from the Okazaki Canal and park is one of Kyoto's top sakura viewing spots. You can walk through 4 gardens with sceneries written into literature by famous authors.
Light-up: Apr 2 ~ Apr 6, 2025 18:15 - 20:30
Keage Incline 蹴上インクライン
This rail incline was built in 1891 to transport boats between Lake Biwa and Kyoto’s canal. It went into disuse in 1948 and has been planted with some 90 cherry trees of the Yoshino variety. Somehow the spectacle of a tunnel of cherry blossoms on an abandoned rail line is captivating.
Nanzen-ji 南禅寺
Nanzen-ji with its magnificent Sanmon Gate, vast temple grounds and a Meiji-era aqueduct, has 100 cherry trees and is a good starting point for a stroll up Philosophers Path.
Philosopher's Path 哲学の道
This picturesque path along a canal is shaded by some 430 cherry trees, with lots of cafes, shops and small shrines along the way. Kumano Nyakuoji shrine, with its own cherry blossoms in a quiet spot, marks the beginning of the path. But it does not end near Ginkaku-ji. In fact the best part continues further north. Please see our map for guidance.
Shinnyodō 真如堂
This temple has 70 cherry trees, and is beloved as a picturesque spot by locals. Less well-known to tourists, it has a calmer atmosphere.
Konkai Kōmyō-ji 金戒光明寺
This temple has 100 cherry trees, and though famous as a Hanami spot since the Muromachi period, it is less well-known by tourists and can be considered a hidden gem.
Northern Kyoto and Ninna-ji area
Takaragaike Park 宝ヶ池
This is a man-made pond built in 1763 as a water source for irrigation that has been developed into a park. With 660 cherry trees scattered in a "cherry blossom forest", around the pond and on a 1.5km promenade, it is a popular hanami spot for locals that is little known to tourists.
Kamigamo Jinja 上賀茂神社
This ancient shrine has about 100 cherry trees, many of which are treasured species with a long history. One Saiō-zakura (斎王桜), a deep pink weeping cherry, is 150 years old, 10m tall and has a trunk circumference of 2.5m.
Kyoto Botanical Gardens 京都府立植物園
This is one of the best sakura viewing venues because it has over 500 cherry trees of 180 species, meaning there will be both early and late blooming ones that make the viewing season longer than anywhere else. The Kanhi variety (寒緋桜), for example, starts blooming in early March, and the Chrysanthemum cherry (菊桜) will last until mid- or late-April. There are also rare species not found elsewhere in Kyoto.
Light-up: Mar 25 ~ Apr 6, 2025 sunset - 20:00
Nakaraginomichi Path 半木の道
This 800m pedestrian path along Kamogawa river, from the Kitaōji Bridge to the Kitayama Ohashi Bridge, is not only shaded with 70 pink weeping cherries, but also has panoramic views of the continuous stretch of cherry blossoms along the river. One end of it is near an exit of the Kyoto Botanical Gardens. It would be ideal to visit both. There are still numerous cherry trees further north beyond this path.
Haradani-en Garden 原谷苑
This private garden is on a higher altitude and a little cooler than in the city, so its 400 cherry trees of over 20 species tend to bloom a little later.
Kinkaku-ji 金閣寺
While Kinkaku-ji is not known as a cherry blossom destination, it has a number of trees that are so strategically located that you can capture very iconic pictures of the Golden Pavilion framed by cherry blossoms.
Ryōan-ji 龍安寺
Who can resist the weeping cherry hanging over the earthen walls of such a stunning rock garden? But this Zen temple has vast grounds, with cherry trees along paths around gardens and ponds.
Ninna-ji 仁和寺
Ninna-ji has a long history for Hanami and is known as the "Cherry Blossom Temple". Amongst its hundreds of cherry trees are 200 of the Omuro-zakura (御室桜) variety, which have a low height of 2-3 meters and are very late-blooming. With a 5-story pagoda as a backdrop, the sight is one of Kyoto's most photogenic.
Central Kyoto
Kyoto Imperial Palace 京都御所
There are 1,000 cherry trees on the vast grounds and gardens of this national park that used to be residences for imperial and court nobles. With so many trees, including both early and late varieties, the viewing season tends to be longer.
Rokkakudō 六角堂
This small temple in the middle of a business district has a unique weeping cherry tree called Miyukizakura (御幸桜) that blooms early. It starts out white, but turns deep pink as it reaches full bloom.
Nijō Castle 二条城
With 380 cherry trees of some 50 species within a castle built in the 1600s (by Shogun Tokugawa), this World Heritage site has always been a special viewing venue. It is particularly atmospheric during light-ups. This year it is holding a "Dandelion Project" with creative company Naked Inc. There will be illumination of the inner moat and grounds, with projections of cherry blossom artwork created by Kyoto’s children.
For information: https://event.naked.works/nijojo/spring/
Light-up: Mar 14 ~ Apr 13, 2025 18:00 - 21:00
Hirano Jinja 平野神社
This shrine has a long tradition for Hanami, with 400 cherry trees of some 50 species, including the earliest and latest blooming ones. The viewing period is good from early March to the end of April.
Light-up: Mar 22 ~ Apr 13, 2025 sunset - 21:00
Taizo-in (in Myōshin-ji) 退蔵院（妙心寺内）
This temple, famous for its strolling garden, has abundant seasonal plants and flowers including 10 cherry trees. Cherry blossoms falling on the Yin Yang zen garden with white and black sand is a unique sight.
Arashiyama and western areas
The Randen tram for Arashiyama goes through a “sakura tunnel” between Narutaki and Utano Stations on the Kitano Line.
Daikaku-ji 大覚寺
With 500 cherry trees scattered around gates, halls, a pagoda and a large pond, this temple provides one of the most fulfilling viewing experiences for enthusiasts of Japanese architecture and landscaping.
Tenryū-ji 天龍寺
This mountain temple has over 100 cherry trees but it's not the quantity that matters here. The incorporation of the seasons in the design of the temple halls and gardens is exemplary and indescribably magnificent.
Matsuō Taisha Shrine 松尾大社
Enjoy views of cherry blossoms between Torii gates and amongst Yamabuki flowers in this massive shrine along a river.