Why Japanese cherry blossom is a must-see

The Japanese are obsessed with flowers and none more so than the cherry blossom. Its arrival in spring is known locally as sakura and is one of nature's greatest spectacles, rippling across the country's estimated one million trees in around eight weeks, from March to May and unleashing a frenzy of picnics, parties and festivals. Here’s our complete guide to petal-mania:

Flower watching is taken so seriously that the country's official weather forecasters crunch a blizzard of data every year between January and April to issue highly detailed cherry blossom forecasts. Analysing all the factors that affect blossom time – from monthly temperature ranges to annual rainfall – the forecast tracks around 1,000 destinations across the country on a day-by-day basis. Japan's weather forecasters have also launched a Sakura Navi app for smartphone users, to give on-the-spot updates of unfurling blooms (£4.99 App Store/Google Play).

Sakura

Almost every Japanese family and workplace will make the pilgrimage to nearby parks and viewpoints to celebrate Sakura, bringing with them a picnic blanket and basket of sakura-infused treats.

Parks are open late for evening events and night strolls through illuminated cherry tree walks. The big brands such as McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Starbucks get creative each year, with cherry-blossom flavours and brightly coloured snacks (pink noodles, anyone?).

Look out for street food favourites sakura mochi, pink-hued rice balls with various fillings, wrapped in pickled cherry blossom leaf, and sakura manju, doughy dessert buns, dyed cherry pink. It's all washed down with sweet sakura tea or sake rice wine of formidable strength. National etiquette demands you use only a minimal space for your rug, to enable others to share the experience.

Bento box

In the 8th century, flower watching, known as hanami, became a court tradition, combined with poetry and art, and cherry orchards were widely planted in palaces and private gardens. By the 17th and 18th centuries the ruling 'shoguns' began using cherry trees to demonstrate their importance – they planted cherry trees in public spaces in cities including Kyoto, Tokyo and Osaka and brought the luxury of hanami to the masses, creating today's tradition.

Springtime in Kyoto

For Samurai warriors, the cherry’s short-lived yet glorious blooms represented a life lived to the full, however short, while for Buddhists it symbolised the transience of life and beauty in decay – a philosophy that continues today in the hanami celebration of both the first flush of pink flowers and the fallen petals on the ground.

Sakura with samurai statue

In late March, flower watchers head to Mount Yoshino, east of blossom-rich Osaka, with its UNESCO World Heritage Site of ancient temples amidst 30,000 sakura trees.

Mount Yoshino

If you're staying in Tokyo during April, head west by train to the shores of Lake Kawaguchi for the iconic shot of clouds of cherry blossom against the backdrop of the sacred Mount Fuji. For most travellers, staying in the key cities of Kyoto and Tokyo gives the most variety of blossom sites. In Kyoto, the capital city for 1,000 years until 1868, you'll discover dozens of hanami options but two not to miss are the city's Botanical Garden – for a refuge from the crowds amidst stunning cherry groves – and the popular, canal-side Philosopher's Path, passing shrines and temples under a canopy of blossom.

Tokyo has it all – from the big city vibe to bucolic parks open day and night, kitsch cafes offering cherry treats to sacred sites with ancient trees in attendance. Topping your hit list is Ueno Park, a huge city park full of museums and the zoological gardens, which hosts Tokyo residents' biggest hanami parties – it's free to enter, so can get crowded. Go for the Instagrammable central pathway bristling with 1,000 flowering cherries, and enjoy the people watching.

While Shinjuku Gyoen is another large Tokyo park, it has a more tranquil feel, enclosing three distinct gardens – including a traditional Japanese area of ponds and bridges. The English landscape garden is the focus, where 400 Yoshino cherries flower within days of each other. Crowds are fewer, as it's paid entry, but pre-booking at peak times is best. West of Kyoto is the newly restored Himeji Castle whose white façade represents a heron in flight. It's among Japan's most visited destinations, so go early or take a night-time hanami tour.

If you are after an extra dose of history, nearby sits the landmark of Osaka Castle, dating to the 16th century and surrounded by more than 100 hectares of parkland abundant in cherry, apricot and plum trees, making it a must-see in spring or autumn. In the northern region of Aomori, the 16th-century Hirosaki Castle hosts one of the biggest blossom festivals and whose night tours are legendary, as illuminated petals shimmer over the park's lakes and moats.

The Japanese are devotees of niwaki – a form of extreme, precision tree pruning that, on cherries, yields double the flowers you'd expect in nature. If you're visiting Japan in winter or early spring, you'll spot professional gardeners at work with their snips, directing the plant's energy into bud burst for spring.

Kanazawa

Top destinations for enjoying this art-form are two of Japan's biggest landmark gardens, Kenroku-en in western Kanazawa and Kairaku-en in eastern Mito, where plum blossom is the star. And if you’re wondering what kind of cherry blossom they grow in Japan…While there are around 100 varieties of cherry tree growing across the country, three striking groups are found in most locations: the popular 'yoshino' type, bred for Japanese conditions, whose flowers open onto bare branches; prunus pseudocerasus, the weeping cherries known locally as shidarezakura; and yaezakura which are double flowered, and last to bloom.

Discover Japan's cherry blossoms on a springtime tour of Japan