Sakura is the name for the celebrated and beautiful cherry blossom trees of Japan. I hope you enjoy this video, I spent two weeks documenting the Sakura trees in my local area. I was amazed how quickly the trees changed over night. The cherry blossom trees were in full bloom for less than two days. I don’t think you can find anything more beautiful than watching Sakura petals fall and scatter. Japanese culture at it’s most beautiful!

Somei Yoshino

Japan’s most beloved variety and the one I documented in the video is the Somei Yoshino. Its flowers are nearly pure white, tinged with the palest of pink. The flowers bloom, and usually fall within a week in Spring.

There are over 100 sakura varieties. In the video you can see Shidarezakura, weeping cherry blossom trees which have branches that fall like those of a weeping willow, bearing cascades of pink flowers.

The Somei Yoshino Cherry Blossom

Cherry-Blossom Front

Annually, the Japanese track the Sakura Zensen, or Cherry-Blossom Front. Nightly forecasts follow the weather segment of news programs. The blossoming begins in Okinawa in February, and typically reaches Kyoto and Tokyo at the end of March or the beginning of April. Then it proceeds north, arriving in Hokkaido a few weeks later. Japanese pay close attention to these forecasts so that they can plan “hanami”.

Hanami

Drinking and having a picnic under Sakura! Japanese will organize “cherry blossom viewing” parties usually with family and co-workers. They will go to parks to drink, eat and enjoy a few hours of well earned rest under the beautiful Sakura.