Inokashira Park’s Night Cherry Blossoms
Experience a surreal walk under night cherry blossoms at Inokashira Park. Discover ghostly, beautiful trees in Tokyo’s fading light from a 2022 visit.
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Inokashira Park Cherry Blossoms 2022
Explore Inokashira Park cherry blossoms through a photographer’s lens. Learn technical tips for backlighting and how to manage crowds during Tokyo sakura season.
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Shinjuku Gyoen Cherry Blossoms 2023
The 2023 Shinjuku Gyoen cherry blossoms reached full bloom in late March, offering photographers soft pink canopies. Despite overcast skies and weekday crowds, the park provided excellent lighting for capturing delicate sakura details. This photo review explores the atmosphere and technical conditions of the 2023 season in one of Tokyo’s iconic parks. I returned to…
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Yoyogi Park Cherry Blossoms in 2023
Photographing Yoyogi Park cherry blossoms 2023 offered unique challenges due to unpredictable weather. For optimal results, photographers should visit on weekdays to minimize crowds. Using a wide-angle lens, such as the Fujifilm 10-24mm, provides a distinct perspective of the blossoms and the blue sheet hanami culture found throughout this iconic Tokyo park. Capturing the Yoyogi…
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Rose festival 2021 at Kyu-Furukawa Gardens
After a long lockdown in Tokyo, the Kyu-Furukawa Gardens Rose Festival 2021 was a much-anticipated floral escape. I woke up to an overcast sky, but I wasn’t about to let that dampen my spirits. A trip to one of my favorite places in the city for a dose of roses was the perfect pick-me-up I…
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Aoyama Cemetery Cherry Blossoms 2022
Every spring, Tokyo transforms into a canvas of pink, and few places are as atmospheric as Aoyama Cemetery. While it might seem unusual to visit a graveyard for sightseeing, this location offers some of the most stunning photo opportunities in the city. In 2022, I grabbed my camera to capture the Aoyama Cemetery cherry blossoms,…
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Shinjuku Gyoen 2018 Cherry Blossoms
Shinjuku Gyoen might be Tokyo’s most famous and most popular cherry blossom spots. You can read what gives it that reputation in [Shinjuku Gyoen is Tokyo’s Best Cherry Blossom Spot]. Now read on and learn more of my photographic adventures there in 2018. The 2018 cherry blossom season at Shinjuku Gyoen was, in a word,…
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Photographing Tokyo’s Cherry Blossom During the Pandemic
2020 was a difficult year, largely due to the hardship caused by the coronavirus. While it didn’t cause me any true difficulties, it completely ruined my flower photography schedule, as I tried to avoid going out as much as possible. However, I was determined to get some good photos of the cherry blossoms, which led…
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The Transformation of the Kanda River Sakura
As some of you might know, I live in Suginami Ward’s Takaido-Higashi. I’m lucky because in spring, many great cherry blossom spots are near my house. Shinjuku Gyoen isn’t far and neither is Inokashira Park. But luckily two more are within easy walking distance. One is Zenpukuji Park and the other is the Kanda River,…
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Spring Rose Festival 2020 at Kyu-Furukawa Gardens
For most people, 2020 was a bad year. For photographers like me, cancelled events and empty streets filled Tokyo which was a disaster. That’s why the Spring Rose Festival at Kyu-Furukawa Gardens felt like such a gift. In a year of so much gray, these flowers were a much-needed splash of color and a reminder…
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My 2026 Kinuta Park Cherry Blossoms Season Started Today
Recently, my professional life took an unexpected turn. One of the companies I work for lost a major contract, leaving many teachers, myself included, looking for new jobs. The timing couldn’t have been worse, coinciding exactly with the official opening of the Tokyo cherry blossom season at Yasukuni Shrine on March 19. I want to…
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Nezu Shrine Azalea Festival 2017
Spring in Tokyo is synonymous with color, and few places promise a spectacle quite like the Bunkyo Azalea Festival at Nezu Shrine. However, travel photography is often a game of timing, and even the best plans can fall victim to a busy schedule. On May 1, 2017, I finally arrived at the shrine to capture…
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Aoyama Cemetery Cherry Blossoms 2018
I found myself back with the Aoyama Cemetery cherry blossoms in 2018. While I had hoped for a sunny day, the clouds had other plans. Still, the beauty of the sakura trees has a way of making you forget everything else, and I had a wonderful time. Photographing sakura under overcast skies The previous day…
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Shooting Kanda River Cherry Blossoms with a Fuji 35mm f/1.4
I photographed the Kanda River cherry blossoms again in 2020. That year, I had planned to photograph some new places. But due to the pandemic, that didn’t happen. It was a disastrous flower photography season. At least I had something close to home to fall back on. In retrospect, I was lucky. Traveling far by…
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Kanda River Cherry Blossoms: A Broken Camera in Tokyo
When I visited the Kanda River cherry blossoms in 2017, I had a good and terrible day. Well, even though the sky was cloudy, the flowers were fantastic. The bad? My beloved Pentax K3 camera died. The rear display said goodbye, fizzled,and went black never to revive. Let’s talk about it. The day my Pentax…
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Shinjuku Gyoen Cherry Blossoms 2017
Shinjuku Gyoen might be Tokyo’s most famous and most popular cherry blossom spots. You can read what gives it that reputation in [Shinjuku Gyoen is Tokyo’s Best Cherry Blossom Spot]. Now read on and learn more of my photographic adventures there in 2017. The 2017 cherry blossom season at Shinjuku Gyoen was a near-perfect display…
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2017 Inokashira Park Cherry Blossoms
Imagine standing by the serene pond, looking up at a canopy of Inokashira Park cherry blossoms in full bloom. For travelers seeking the quintessential Tokyo spring experience, this spot is unrivaled. Back in 2017, everything was in perfect alignment for a photographer: the sky was a brilliant blue, softened by just the right amount of…
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Shinjuku Gyoen Is the Best Cherry Blossom Spot
After years of searching for the perfect hanami experience, I can say it with confidence. Shinjuku Gyoen is the best cherry blossom spot in Tokyo. While I adore the moody, atmospheric lanes of Aoyama Cemetery, it’s not for everyone. Shinjuku Gyoen is simply unmatched. It’s experience delivers on every level for every person. It combines…
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Chidorigafuchi in 2017
Editor’s Note: I’m often asked about the best way to see Tokyo’s cherry blossoms. It always brings me back to a specific morning in 2017 when I finally figured out how to enjoy Chidorigafuchi. This is that story. Chidorigafuchi Park is a popular place for cherry blossoms. When the flowers bloom, it is picturesque. The…
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Fujifilm X-T2 and Kanda River Cherry Blossoms
After years with my trusty Pentax K-3, it suddenly died. I needed a camera and I decided on the Fujifilm X-T2. I paired it with the highly-praised XF 16-55mm f/2.8 lens. This new kit felt like a different beast altogether. To get a feel for its dials and controls, I headed out for what I…
