Annual cherry blossom viewing event begins in Osaka

Has it only just reached you lot down there? Enjoy it - 's'pretty!

Cherry blossoms coming out seem to be going Southward this year rather than heading North. Must be a special cold pocket of air down there and less sun perhaps?

Its all gone here in Kobe, strange considering how close to Osaka we are? Maybe it has a unchanged "officially" set dates since...

kyoto and shiga is finished. strange news.

Maria et al. "Has it only just reached you lot down there?"

No, it is finished in Osaka. The Mint has special cherry blossoms of various types that bloom after the main cherry blossom season is usually finished or on the cusp of finishing. If you look at the picture closely you can see the types shown in it are the double petal variety, which are now in full bloom.

It's blowing a gale her in Tokyo today with hanami petal snow everywhere. It seems to happen most years. The blossoms coincide with strong winds (and/or rain). The trees will be bare tomorrow. :-/

Yes, the tress are very pretty and people come from all over the world to view them (once). After many hanami seasons in Japan I'm pretty much over it. The trees are pretty, but the crowds and drunken hooligans I can do without.

Anyway, I tried going there once since this became a big thing a few years back, and forget it. You can't even walk. You have to shuffle along, praying no one wants to take a photo posing so that you have to stop, and it's all elbows and giant bags bumping everywhere. Much prefer just taking a look at one or two nice trees in a public park or on the road or riverside en route to work or somewhere.

Looks like an absolute nightmare.

Why shuffle along elbow to elbow like sardines ( sardines with elbows), when you can see these flowers pretty much anywhere else in Osaka?

I like how it says "People try to move under cherry blossoms... ". With a crowd like that, I bet.

The Japanese actually love doing things jam-packed together. It makes them feel that they are doing something right, because everyone else is doing it.

Civitas Sine Suffragio - The Japanese actually love doing things jam-packed together. It makes them feel that they are doing something right, because everyone else is doing it.

Love it! Possibly the most correct description of Japanese culture I've ever read.

I went to Ninnaji Temple in Kyoto last week and their cherry blossoms were in full bloom a full week after Tokyo's, but I believe they were a different variety than those in Tokyo. More clumpy. Perhaps the Osaka blossoms the article refers to are much like this different variety as well.

Was just in Osaka two days ago and saw very few blooming cherry trees. Not sure what variety they have at the Mint HQ, but they must be the late blooming ones.

It makes them feel that they are doing something right, because everyone else is doing it...

Nothing to do with right or wrong. It's a celebration of spring. You don't celebrate alone. It's a communal festivity for the special season.

Ugh that looks like hell. I would rather take a walk in a peaceful grassy field.

Certainly looks nightmarish! Better to grow a tree in your own garden and enjoy in peaceful solitude or with the family.

But then I am not Japanese and would rather be on the top of a mountain or alone in a country field than jammed in the middle of a steaming herd.

The blossoms are undoubtedly a delight.

A good day to be tall

It appears that the usual trend of moving from South to North has changed this year.

Walking dead, how could anyone enjoy shuffling in that mass of humanity. Stopping to take a photo as you did last year and the year before that!

Mint Osaka starts this week? Odd, most cherryblossoms in Osaka are already finished. I went there last year. Last time I will visit it too. Not worth moving like snails through the insanely huge crowd and not being able to take a nice picture because of all the heads in the shots. It takes about 30 minutes of shuffling from entrance to exit. Take my word for it, skip the mint and instead visit the cherryblossoms across the river. Less people and more beautiful.