Japan
The trip
Japan in April is something we'll never forget — the whole country dressed in pink, and every park, moat and temple wrapped in cherry blossom. We travelled Osaka → Nara → Kyoto → Tokyo, hopping between them by train, which was fast, effortless and part of the fun. And Mount Fuji — glimpsed over a lake, framed by blossom — was an absolute highlight. Here's where every shot was taken, city by city, with the tours and tickets we booked. We visited in April 2026.
First stop
📍 Osaka Castle Park
Our first taste of Japan in bloom, and what a place to start — the castle's white-and-gold keep rising over stone ramparts and a moat, the whole park foaming with cherry blossom. We climbed the keep for the city view (there's a museum inside), then just wandered the grounds. Book the admission ticket ahead to skip the queue at the tower.
Climb the keepGo for the blossoms
📍 Dotonbori, Namba
The beating heart of Osaka — a canal lined with wild murals, giant 3D signs, street food and the famous Glico running man. It's loud, bright and enormously fun, and the food is some of the best in Japan (takoyaki, okonomiyaki, kushikatsu). We did a walking tour that ended with a river cruise through the neon — the easiest way to find your way around and eat well.
Come hungryBest after dark
📍 Nishinomaru Garden & the Okawa riverside
Two of Osaka's dreamiest blossom walks: the tree-lined castle moat by day, and the riverside promenades lit up at night, where the illuminated cherry trees form a glowing tunnel over the path. Spring in Osaka is made for slow evening strolls — we just followed the blossoms.
Day & nightRiverside at nightDay trip
📍 Nara Park
A short train from Osaka and one of the most charming half-days of the trip. Nara Park is home to hundreds of free-roaming deer that famously bow for a cracker (buy the "shika senbei" from stalls). They're wild but used to people — gentle, cheeky, and very food-motivated. An easy, joyful morning.
Buy deer crackersThey bow!
📍 Todai-ji, Nara Park
One of the largest wooden buildings in the world, and it houses a 15-metre bronze Great Buddha that has to be seen to be believed. The scale of the hall alone is staggering, and with cherry blossom against the ancient timber it was unforgettable. The deer wander right up to the gate, so you get both in one visit.
Enormous hall15m Great Buddha
📍 Nara Park's ponds & gardens
Beyond the deer, Nara's ponds and old wooden bridges gave us some of our softest blossom moments of the whole trip — mountains of pale pink reflected in still water, petals drifting on the surface. It's calmer and greener than the big cities, and easy to slow right down.
Quieter than the citiesBeautiful reflectionsThird stop
📍 Kiyomizu-dera, Higashiyama
Kyoto is wall-to-wall World Heritage, and vermilion Kiyomizu-dera, perched on the eastern hills with its huge wooden terrace, is the showstopper — especially framed by blossom. The approach through the Higashiyama lanes (Sannenzaka, Ninenzaka) is half the magic. We also did a guided history walk of Nijo Castle, the shogun's palace, which we'd recommend for the stories behind it all.
Go earlyWalk Higashiyama
📍 Fushimi Inari, southern Kyoto
Thousands of vermilion torii gates winding up the mountainside in an endless glowing tunnel — this was one of the most magical places we've ever walked. It's free and open 24 hours, so go at dawn (or late) to get the gates to yourself; the crowds thin dramatically the higher you climb. Give yourself time — the full loop to the summit takes a couple of hours.
Go at dawnFree & 24/7
📍 Maruyama Park & the Higashiyama gardens
Kyoto might be the most beautiful place we've ever seen blossoms. Stone lanterns and weeping cherry trees, gardens carpeted in fallen petals, whole avenues glowing pink. Maruyama Park is the city's famous hanami spot; we just wandered and let the lanes lead us. Every corner looked like a painting.
Weeping cherriesPetal carpets
📍 Arashiyama, western Kyoto
Walking through the towering green bamboo of Arashiyama feels like stepping into another world — the stalks soar overhead and the light goes soft and jade. It gets busy, so go first thing; combine it with the Iwatayama monkey park and the Togetsukyo bridge for a full morning on Kyoto's western edge.
Go at openingCombine with ArashiyamaThe highlight
📍 Lake Kawaguchiko & Oishi Park
Seeing Fuji in person stopped us in our tracks — that perfect snow-capped cone rising over the lake, with cherry blossom and flower fields in the foreground at Oishi Park. Fuji is famously shy behind cloud, so we gave ourselves a clear morning and got lucky. We took a full-day tour from Tokyo that strings together the lake, the Chureito Pagoda viewpoint and Oishi Park — the easiest way to do it in a day.
Go on a clear morningDay trip from Tokyo
📍 Arakurayama Sengen Park, Fujiyoshida
The classic Japan postcard: the red five-storey Chureito Pagoda, cherry blossom, and Mount Fuji all in one frame. It's a climb of around 400 steps up to the viewing platform, but the payoff is one of the most beautiful views in the country — and it's even better in blossom season. Get there early for the light and the space.
~400 stepsThe classic Fuji shot
📍 Saiko Iyashi-no-Sato Nenba, Fuji Five Lakes
A restored village of thatched-roof farmhouses on the slopes above the lakes, with Fuji looming behind and plum and cherry blossom in the gardens. It felt like stepping into old Japan, and the mountain backdrop made it unreal. A lovely, quieter counterpoint to the busy lakeshore viewpoints.
Old-Japan feelFuji backdropFinal stop
📍 Imperial Palace (Nijubashi) & central Tokyo
The Imperial Palace grounds, with the elegant stone Nijubashi bridge and its moat, are a calm green heart in the middle of the city. For the complete opposite energy, one of our most fun Tokyo afternoons was dressing up and go-karting through real Tokyo traffic past Shibuya and Tokyo Tower — ridiculous, unforgettable, and very Tokyo (bring your international driving permit).
Bring your IDPSo much fun
📍 Chidorigafuchi moat, near the Imperial Palace
Hands-down one of the prettiest things you can do in Tokyo in spring: rent a little rowboat on the Chidorigafuchi moat and drift beneath a tunnel of cherry blossom hanging right over the water. Go early — the queue for boats builds fast on a sunny blossom day — and just soak it in.
Rent a rowboatGo early
📍 Tokyo Skytree, Sumida
At 634m, the Skytree is the tallest tower in the world, and the view over Tokyo's endless sprawl — all the way to Fuji on a clear day — really drives home the scale of the city. Book a timed admission ticket to skip the queues, and go up near sunset if you can for the day-to-night lights.
Book a time slotGo for sunset
📍 Shinjuku Gyoen, Ueno & the city's parks
Tokyo does hanami on an epic scale — Shinjuku Gyoen, Ueno Park and Yoyogi fill with picnic blankets under clouds of blossom. Between the parks, one of our favourite rainy-afternoon activities was a hands-on chopstick-making class in Shinjuku — a lovely, low-key way to make something to take home.
Picnic under the treesMake something to keepSave these
If you only chase a handful of frames in Japan, chase these. Tap through to see them on our feed.
The full roll
