One of the great things about Tokyo is that the winter is barely 8 weeks long. March starts and it's barely 5 degrees C and then one day I'm walking about and there are flowers everywhere! It's an explosion of colours.
Three or four weeks later, it's Hanami time as the sakura start to bloom. The news reports are now filled with projected bloom dates and recommendations for best sites to view them. Some sakura hanami fans follow the blooming of the cherry blossoms throughout all of Japan. You can start in the southern regions in March and slowly move your way to Northern Honshuu area before heading to Hokkaido to view the flowers. I must admit that I've never heard of a flower stalker before, but ... there are actually people known to "follow the sakura blossoms". If they follow this course, they can extend their hanami explorations to 2.5 months or more. If you're wondering what all the hype is about, I've included one close-up and one tree in full bloom. These are the white sakura blossoms which comprise about 90% of all sakura sightings in all of Japan.
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