Early cherry blossoms in Japan

March 22, 2025

The 桜さくら (sakura // cherry blossoms) are blooming in Fukuoka!

…kind of.

This variety blooms a lot earlier than many others, so the town isn't pink with 桜さくら quite yet. I looked around for what variety this could be and, well, I lost hope a bit. That's because…

Textbook Casual

分類ぶんるいによっては600ろっぴゃく種しゅ以上いじょう、または800はっぴゃく種しゅとも言いわれる品種ひんしゅが確認[かくにんされている。

Depending on how you categorize them, more than 600, or even 800 entire varieties [of cherry blossoms] have been confirmed.

Sentence from Wikipedia.

I wasn't terribly confident I could pick the right one with that many varieties.

Still, hope wasn't entirely lost. I took this picture in 舞鶴まいづる公園こうえん (maizurukouen // Maizuru Park), so I looked around to see if the types of 桜 were listed somewhere.

They were! It looks like there are 18 different types of 桜さくら in the park, and the above picture seems to be a 陽光ようこう (youkou // sunshine [cherry blossom]), based on both appearance and description:

Textbook Formal

大型で鮮やかなピンクの花がソメイヨシノよりも一足早く咲くので、目立ちます。

The large, vivid pink flowers bloom just slightly earlier than the Somei-yoshino variety, causing them to stand out.

Sentence from midorimachi.jp.

That checks out to me. You can even see the 葉はっぱ (happa // leaves) starting to come out, which usually happens after the flowers have been blooming for a bit and they start to 散ちる (chiru // fall). Definitely bloomed quite early.

By the way, that ソメイヨシノ mentioned there is a really popular variety:

Textbook Casual

現代の観賞用のサクラの代表種となっており、単に「サクラ」と言えばこの品種を指す事が多い。

It is the main representative of modern cherry blossom viewing and is often the variety that comes to mind when referring to just "cherry blossoms".

Sentence from Wikipedia.

Those should start blooming soon, at least in Fukuoka!

That was a lot of Japanese, huh? ^^

There are definitely some good words to know above, but I might not worry too much about the varieties of cherry blossoms themselves. Unless you're like me and enjoy spouting 雑学ざつがく (zatsugaku // random knowledge) to everyone who looks like they'll listen. Then feel free

Anyway, if you had any trouble understanding anything you saw above, no worries. It takes time, practice, and consistency. And kindness to yourself. It's a long journey, after all.

Here's the button to press if you want a simple path to your study goals:

If you haven't started your learning journey yet, you'll need your account first! You can make one for free here:

If you're in Japan and want to hunt down some 桜, you might find it helpful to google terms like these:

桜予報さくらよほう 2025 (cherry blossom forecast 2025)

桜名所さくらめいしょ (+optional prefecture name) (cherry blossom famous places)

花見はなみスポット (flower viewing [party] spots)

The previous two search terms will get you the famous/popular spots, but if you want the hidden spots that might be less crowded, try this one:

桜さくら隠かくれた名所めいしょ (+prefecture name) (hidden cherry blossom spots)

Happy hunting!

By the way, be sure to pick up some 桜餅さくらもち (sakuramochi) or other 桜さくら-related snacks. They'll be everywhere. There are two types of 桜餅さくらもち, by the way. Living in Fukuoka, I'm used to seeing the one on the right here:

Picture from weathernews.jp

If you're in Tokyo, it seems that you can find both types, though.

Be sure to compare them if you get the chance! And let me know which one you like better in the community~

Sen

Here's something cool:

While looking for a sentence to share, I got sucked into reading this entire lesson which had a bunch of related information in it. I thought it was really interesting ^^

Be sure to check out the full lesson here:

Assorted uses of せん and ぜん

NativShark goodie bag

NativShark Units

4 new Units have been added to Phase Three!

As always, these Units are filled with vocab in unique contexts, any relevant new kanji, and natural conversations called Dialogues at the end, all of which are designed to get you functional in Japanese as efficiently as possible.

These Units also feature the following lessons:

Thanks for reading all the way to the end ^^

Good luck out there and happy studies,
Ty & the NativShark Team