Friday, March 13, 2009

Cherry Blossoms: Millenium Edition


Ok this is the real deal: Japanese people do not mess around when it comes to the sakura. Every year I am continuously impressed with the fantastic weather coverage of the sakura blooming schedule online, and this year is no exception. I checked online for the peak blooming time around the country (which is always meticulously followed and documented), and found the next latest and greatest in superfluously detailed applications to more than fulfill your sakura quotient - the Sakura Simulator 2009 shown above.

The Sakura Simulator gives you a visual representation of not only when peak blossom is anywhere in the country with a quick search, but also what the country or any area you select will look like on on any day from now through May, which is when the last of the sakura up in Hokkaido will be done. As you can see above, March 29th will be a beautiful day to be in Japan... or atleast the half of it up through about Tochigi or so.

My plans this year are to have the obligatory hanami in Yoyogi at least once, hit up the Kanamara festival again, and check out some night blossoms over at Yasukuni Shrine. I love this time of year in Japan!!!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow, I hope to experience this one day in the future in Japan

*enolamai* said...

i hope i can go to the cherry blossoms festival in DC in 2 wks too! sure it's nothing like Japan, take loads of pics!

Doug said...

Wow... and here I'm just going to miss the DC cherry blossom festival! I was thinking it'd be fun to get both the real thing then see it back home for my visit too, but I guess I'll just have to settle for the real thing. :P