As we near the end of April, the time for hanami is getting closer and closer for Hokkaido. While they’ve already bloomed in most other parts of Japan, we’re still in high anticipation for the first bloom. Unfortunately though, this year we won’t be able to enjoy the coming of hanami how we normally would have due to the current covid-19 situation…
So instead, we should all just stay safe in our homes and get ready for next year’s hanami! Or you could do what we did and bring the hanami celebrations indoors with your own #AllJapanHanami party. Celebrating within your own bubble of course.
Hanami is perhaps one of the biggest events in Japan. It symbolizes the arrival of spring. It’s the moment where trees turn into a beautiful pink color and people gather with their friends and loved ones to enjoy the new season.
We have all seen it before, whether on a tv show, on your social media, or on anime. However, there are a few peculiar things about hanami in Japan that you may not be fully aware of yet. Read below – 6 things about hanami in Japan!
1. Sakura bloom later in Hokkaido
If you’ve been following us already on Instagram (which you should) or have been to Hokkaido before, you may already know that the sakura season here is different (timing wise) to the rest of Japan. This may be a bit of a shocker for tourists who are not fully aware of Japan’s seasonal differences.
Some tourists may intend on visiting Japan to see the sakura blooms, only to find out that by the time they arrive, either the sakura season in the prefecture that they’re in has already passed or has yet to pass.
Japan is formed of long islands, Kyushu and Honshu get the first peak of sakura blooms, later the northern part of Tohoku, and a month later Hokkaido will get its first blooms!
Let’s not forget that Hokkaido is pretty wide, so different areas will also get hanami blooms on different dates…
For more details:
Hakodate, the city in the southern part of Hokkaido sees sakura blooms first. Then later on Central Hokkaido, such as Sapporo, and lastly the Northern and Eastern parts of Hokkaido!
Usually, Tokyo sees the first blooms around Mid-March until Late March. Kansai region will get them a bit later from Mid-Late March. Tohoku region will see their sakura blooms in Early April up to Mid April. Hokkaido will see its first blooms in Mid-April in Hakodate and more around Late April to Early May in other areas, such as Sapporo. However, it’s best to double check the Cherry Blossom Forecast to get a more accurate forecast for your own visit!
For us it does not come as a surprise that Hokkaido sees hanami season so late on in Spring, because the temperatures here are just so different. While there are Sakura blooming in Tokyo as early as March, Hokkaido is still getting tons of snowfall.
2. Obligatory Hanami
Being a part of the group is considered very important in Japan. You may have heard of the ‘mandatory’ nomikai meetings that are a norm for many Japanese businesses. It’s pretty much a gathering after work to drink with co-workers at an izakaya for employees. Similar to this, some companies more or less force their employees to go on a Hanami trip with the company as well. Employees who do not attend a Hanami party may be left out of the group.
While they are not really obligatory (ie. in the employees contract), some companies do ‘force’ their employees to go by pressuring them in doing so. An outing with the team sounds nice, but in some cases these ‘outings’ can actually be more like just another meeting, without officially being counted as a meeting, or as ‘overtime’ work.
The Japanese work structure is a hierarchical one, a hierarchial culture. So, saying no to the person above you is seen as a bad thing. Even more so if it’s directed at the big boss.
This function however is actually a great opportunity for newly hired employees to get to know their coworkers. Many new employees are usually hired around this time of the year, making it a good opportunity for them to use this as a chance to socialize with the other workers and the boss. But they’ll have to earn it..
3. New employees are in charge of finding a spot
I have never been part of a Japanese company’s hanami picnic myself. But from what I’ve heard from my Japanese friends is that newly hired employees are usually in charge of picking a spot in the park for the hanami party.
Not only that, but they’re also the ones that have to bring the gears and prepare everything. The biggest decision though is the first one – where to sit. Depending on which park you go to, finding a good spot can be really difficult… No pressure on the rookie huh!
4. Drinking outside is OK
Normally, it’s not well-seen for people to be drinking alcoholic drinks outside on the street. Not forbidden, but just not a good look. However, there are exceptions during this hanami season. People are free to have drinks with their coworkers or friends and eat in the park without catching any mean looks or unwanted attention from the police.
While you may think that having these hanami parties would leave a lot of trash spread around the parks, Japanese people actually don’t leave any traces behind. Most people will clean up their own mess after a hanami party, which is just a part of Japanese culture. It’s actually quite surprising to see little to no garbage left behind in the parks after these hanami parties considering the huge crowds that cluster in and all the drinks, foods etc. that are brought with them!
5. Hanami at night, A.K.A. Yozakura
Credit to DeepJapan.org 
Credit to Kyuhoshi.com
Maybe some people from abroad are not aware of this one. But there are also events specifically set up for people to view sakura during the night, and we call it Yozakura. The word ‘Yozakura’ literally means viewing the cherry blossoms at night.
When I think of hanami I think of a daytime event. You’re sitting down with some friends, having some delicious food and viewing the beautiful cherry blossoms on a beautiful spring day. I mean, you probably wouldn’t have initially thought about going to the park at night when the temperature is probably a lot cooler and it’s probably too dark to see the sakura, right?
At a night event though, there are illuminations specifically set up to light up the cherry blossom trees. This creates an entirely new perspective on the spring festival. Lit-up sakura in a very different atmosphere do the daytime events, the cherry blossoms here are wonderful to see.
Yozakura can be said to be not as popular as hanami is and one of the big reasons for that is, during early spring, nights tend to still be a tad chilly in Japan (more so in Hokkaido). Also because of course it’s just easier to appreciate the beauty of sakura during the daytime. However Yozakura is still an event definitely worth checking out!
6. Wild ‘Sakura’ Marketing
Knowing how big of an event hanami is, many corporations of course try to take advantage of that by accompanying many of their products with a Sakura theme. This is to try and boost their sales with the popularity of sakura in Japan around this time of the year.
From Sakura flavored snacks, typical Japanese sweets colored in pink (mochi, dango, wagashi), sakura imagery (but not necessarily sakura flavored), pink colored ‘Sakura’ Pepsi to just a posting up few plastic sakura flowers around the store. Nothing is off limits to try and sell to the wandering in sakura-fan crowds. You may see Sakura Marketing as early as March, just a couple of weeks before hanami reaches Japan.
I just thought that it’d be good to point out that you don’t need to buy in to all of this.. especially because some sakura themed packaged products may not even contain any sakura flavors in them, so you’ve been warned!
Living in Sapporo, I have seen a few sakura related products around here, but I believe marketing in cities like Tokyo, Kyoto or Osaka are a lot bigger/ more extravagant than here in Hokkaido. I haven’t been too keen on trying these sakura flavored snacks, but my coworker from Travel Hokkaido Alisa has been testing them a lot more – so she’s the person to ask for sakura flavors!
How to still enjoy Hanami in 2020
It’s a shame that this year there won’t be any events and festivals for the upcoming hanami in Hokkaido.. but that doesn’t mean that the fun has to end there and that we’ve all got to wait till next year – no! You can join Japan in the All Japan Hanami!
For now, Travel Hokkaido would like to spread the #AllJapanHanami vibes as we make our own hanami from home. There will always be another year to celebrate the coming of the hanami in the traditional way, so why not join us!
#AllJapanHanami 
When everything is all back to normal, Hokkaido is a great option to view hanami. So many parks, wide areas and we get hanami later, in case your dates don’t match up with other areas, or if you want to come more ‘off-season’ (ie. when it’s less busy).
Let us know if you already knew about these, or if you know any other curiosities that we didn’t mention 🙂
Some Extra Sakura Facts:
- The word ‘Mankai‘ (満開) in Japanese means ‘full bloom’. You will want to make sure you view Sakura when they are in full bloom!
- Cherry Blossoms are Japan’s national flower, a symbol of spring as well as renewal and hope.
- Cherry Blossom forecast is tricky, as they tend to change every year because the temperature changes their arrival.
- Each tree may only bloom for up to a week
- There are a lot of cherry blossom varieties, some of the most common are Somei Yoshino, Yamazakura and Shidarezakura.
- But you may find different color blooms such as: the white blossom (Shogetsu), pink blossom (Kanzan) or yellow blossom (Ukon)
