What's in season, and where
Japan in Seasons shows where cherry blossoms, autumn leaves, flowers and fruit are in season across Japan, and which festivals are on. Forecasts update every morning at 9:00 Japan time.
Cherry blossom and autumn leaves forecasts, and the daily reports from individual spots, come from the Japan Meteorological Corporation (JMC), an independent forecaster. City dates follow the official observation trees of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). Weather comes from JMA and Open-Meteo. Each flower spot, festival and fruit farm links to its official page.
What the map covers
- Cherry blossom forecasts for 48 JMA observation cities, and about 1,000 viewing spots in parks, temples and along rivers
- Autumn leaves forecasts for maple and ginkgo by city, and about 700 viewing spots
- 90 flower spots: plum, rapeseed, wisteria, iris, hydrangea, lavender, sunflower and cosmos
- 46 festivals, fireworks shows and winter events
- 2,121 fruit-picking farms, with a month-by-month fruit guide
- A three-day weather forecast for every spot
Forecast pages: cherry blossom forecast and autumn leaves forecast. To watch the season move across a 3D map, open the bloom front. To use the data in Claude, ChatGPT or another AI assistant, see the developer guide.
Questions
When do cherry blossoms bloom in Japan?
Usually between late March and early May, earlier in the south. Okinawa and Kyushu bloom first in mid to late March. Tokyo and Kyoto bloom in late March or early April, and Tohoku and Hokkaido in late April to early May. Full bloom (mankai) follows first bloom by about 5 to 7 days.
When is the best time for autumn leaves in Japan?
Leaves peak from mid-October in Hokkaido to early December in Kyushu. Kyoto's maples usually peak in mid to late November. Each spot's best window is short and moves each year with the temperature.
What do the bloom percentages mean?
JMC publishes two numbers from 0 to 100%. The bloom rate is progress towards first bloom. The full-bloom rate is progress towards mankai. A full-bloom rate of 90 to 100% is the best time to go.
How accurate are the cherry blossom forecasts?
JMC forecasts update weekly from January and are usually within 1 to 3 days of the actual bloom. For each of the 48 observation cities the map shows the forecast date, the observed date once it happens, and the long-term average.
Is it free?
Yes. The map, the API and the MCP server are free to use, and the code is open source under the MIT licence.
Sources
- Japan Meteorological Corporation (JMC): cherry blossom and autumn leaves forecasts, and daily spot reports
- Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA): city weather forecasts
- Open-Meteo: weather for each spot
- Official tourism and organiser websites: festival dates and links
Source code is on GitHub.