60+ of the Best Sakura Photos from Japan『日本の桜の写真』
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Japan’s best cherry blossom photos of 2013
Only the best of Japan’s cherry blossoms from the spring of 2013…
…a warm start to March (the first month of spring in Japan) saw the bloom of sakura come early this year.
Sakura photos from Japan
In this article:
Kyoto hit it’s peak in the first week of April and Tokyo’s peak came 12 days earlier than average (at the start of the last week of March). In many areas, late snow fall covered cherry blossoms for an incredible mix of spring, snow and sakura.
This is a HUGE post with lots of photos! This year as I waded through thousands of photos to share on JapanTravelMate’s Facebook Page and @JapanTravelMate on Twitter, it was clear that this year the tourists, local photographers, J-bloggers and J-photographers were out in force!
Most of these photos look better at a higher resolution, so be sure to click on any photo to view a larger version.
The Best Sakura Photos from Japan 2013
Best of Japan’s Cherry Blossom Photos by J-bloggers and J-photographers
To wrap up the year in sakura, I approached my favourite bloggers and photographers based in Japan, and asked them to share their favourites…
By Leslie Tayler, GaijinCamera.com
Cherry blossom trees at Matsumoto Castle, Nagano Prefecture:
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Photo by Leslie Taylor, gaijincamera.com. Original photo: Matsumoto Castle and Sakura
Photo by Leslie Taylor, gaijincamera.com. Original photo: In The Shade of the Sakura
The famous Meguro-gawa in Tokyo:
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Photo by Leslie Taylor, gaijincamera.com. Original photo: The Blossoming River
By Japan Dave, japandave.com
A wall of cherry blossoms in Okazaki:
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Photo by David A. LaSpina, japandave.com. Original Photo: Cherry Blossoms 2013
Sakura surrounds a small bridge in Okazaki:
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Photo by David A. LaSpina, japandave.com. Original Photo: Cherry Blossoms 2013
Shisare-zakura (weeping cherry blossom):
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Photo by David A. LaSpina, japandave.com. Original Photo: Cherry Blossoms 2013
By Hida Satoyama Cycling
Tourists on a cycling tour in Hida City, Gifu Prefecture:
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By Shibuya246, shibuya246.com
A plum blossom and cherry blossom tree at the Kyoto Imperial Palace Park:
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Photo by shibuya246.com. Original photo: Spring Walk, Kyoto Gosho.
By Zooming Japan, zoomingjapan.com
A deer in Nara city:
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PENTAX K-x (18mm, f/7.1, 1/320 sec, ISO200)
Photo by Zooming Japan, zoomingjapan.com.
Great Buddha Hall (daibutsu-den) at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Todai-ji in Nara city, Nara Prefecture:
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PENTAX K-x (18mm, f/11, 1/200 sec, ISO200)
Photo by Zooming Japan, zoomingjapan.com.
By Lee Chapman, tokyotimes.org
A brief but beautiful cherry blossom moment in Tokyo:
Photo by Lee Chapman, tokyotimes.org. Original photo: Cherry blossoms in Tokyo.
By Muza-chan, muza-chan.net
Higashi Shinen, Heian Shrine, Kyoto:
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Photo by Muza-chan, muza-chan.net. Original photo: Japanese garden masterpieces, Heian-jingu Higashi Shin’en.
Sanjo-Ohashi, Kyoto:
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Photo by Muza-chan, muza-chan.net. Original photo: Simply beautiful Japanese scenes, cherry blossoms in Kyoto.
By ME! Dean Wormald, japantravelmate.com
Sakura at Okazaki Castle – 岡崎城の桜:
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Photo credit: Sakura at Okazaki Castle – 岡崎城の桜
Okazaki Castle Park Sakura – 岡崎城公園の桜:
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Photo credit: Okazaki Castle Park Sakura – 岡崎城公園の桜
Five-storied pagoda and sakura at Kofuku-ji in Nara. 奈良市 興福寺の五重塔:
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Sakura at Kofuku-ji in Nara
HDR Photos of Sakura from Japan
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range – a photography process where multiple photos are taken of the exact same scene, at different exposures, to capture a broad range of highlights, midtones and shadows. When combined in post-processing, this images create a HDR photo.
Sakura reflections at Odawara city, Kanagawa Prefecture (HDR Photo). Photo credit: shinnygogo
Osaka castle #1. Photo credit: Agustin Rafael Reyes
Osaka castle #2. Photo credit: Agustin Rafael Reyes
Tokyo Imperial Palace Moat. Photo credit: DJPHUNKYPHRESH
Tokyo. Photo credit: DJPHUNKYPHRESH
Tokyo Imperial Palace Moat. Photo credit: DJPHUNKYPHRESH
Saga Prefecture. Photo credit: WindyLife
Weeping Cherry ‘Shidare Sakura’, Niigata Prefecture. Photo credit: Shin-ichiro Uemura
More Beautiful Film and Digital Photos of Sakura
Sakura in front of Tokyo Skytree. Photo credit: ajpscs
Sakura at Chidorigafuchi (North-Eastern moat of the Imperial Palace). Photo credit: ajpscs
Photo credit: Mos Lin
Kanzan sakura at Sekiyama, Niigata Prefecture. Photo credit: Mos Lin, 関山（かんざん）桜
Komi-nato Railway “Cherry Tree Light Up”. 小湊鉄道 桜ライトアップ Photo credit: 夜の鉄道 Railway at night
Photo credit:月と桜 Night Sea
Sakura in front of a gassho-zukuri style house at at Shirakawa-go. Original photo from Hida Kanko Co. Shirakawa-go
Sakura at Shirakawa-go, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Photo credit: Miyamoto.
Photo credit: Yoshiki Fujiwara
“1,000 sakura at a glance”, Yoshino-yama, Nara Prefecture. Photo credit: Yoshiki Fujiwara
Sakura in front of Kiyomizu-dera’s romon (tower gate) in Kyoto. Photo credit: cadacha
Meguro-gawa in Tokyo. Photo credit: mnagare
Rows of cherry blossoms at Obuse, Nagano. Photo credit: polarstar02
Sakura along the Ryuganbuchi Urui River near Mt Fuji.
Photo credit: Cherry Blossoms and Mt. Fuji 桜と富士山
Sakura at Kakunodate, Akita Prefecture. Photo credit: Spring in the Air
Film photo at Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto. Photo credit: Alex Chen
Film photo of sakura in front of the old Yamagata Prefectural Hall.
Photo credit: marutyo
Shizuoka Prefecture. Photo credit: Agustin Rafael Reyes
Somewhere in Tokyo. Photo credit: Agustin Rafael Reyes
Yokohama city, Kanagawa Prefecture. Photo credit: Agustin Rafael Reyes
Photo credit: Matsuura
Sakura branches in Tokyo. Photo credit: *Sakura*
Film photo, somewhere in Kansai. Photo credit: Alex Chen
Film photo, Kansai. Photo credit: Alex Chen
Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture. Photo credit: Glenn Waters
Koi swim under sakura leaves, scattered on the surface. Photo credit: 九尾
Kyoto, near Kyoto University. Photo credit: cadacha
Cherry blossoms at the peak of spring in Kyoto – Shirakwaka River in the Gion area. 京都の春(祇園白川）
Photo credit: nobu
Sakigake-Sakura at Hirano Jinja Shrine, Kyoto / 平野神社の魁桜（京都）
Photo credit: Kaoru Honda
Kondo Hall at Omuro Ninna-ji, Kyoto. Photo credit: ELCAN KE-7A
宮島の桜 Cherry blossoms (closeup), Miyajima. Photo credit: kamoda
宮島の桜 Cherry and plum blossoms in front of Miyajima’s pagoda. Photo credit: kamoda
Tokyo. Photo credit: *Sakura*
Snow-willow blossoms in Chiba Prefecture. Photo credit: Damon Bay
Fallen sakura stuck to a torii after rain in Chiba Prefecture. 鳥居に咲いた桜. Photo credit: Damon Bay
A little girl bows before passing through a torii in Tokyo. Photo credit: Kohji Matsubayashi
Ueno Park, Tokyo. You need to see the high res version of this! Photo credit: Wil and Lil
Best sakura photo of 2012?
These images aren’t from 2013, but they are well worth a mention!
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Snow on sakura in at Mount Yoshino, Nara Prefecture. Photo credit: Totoro Times
Finally, a very old cherry blossom photo
120+ year old photo of sakura in Japan. Photo credit: British Library/Robana / British Library/Robana via Getty
That’s it!
If you like any of the photos above, be sure to quickly hit the VOTE button on your favourites.
Keep in touch with JapanTravelMate to find out which is the best sakura photo of 2013.
Wow! So many stunning photos!
I see I still have a LOT to learn about photography.
Thanks for including my amateur photos next to all these professional shots! 😀
Oh, I was wondering who took the snow-covered sakura photo in Nagano! I’ve seen it all over the social media, but no credit. So thanks for clarifying! 😀
You’re photos are great, thanks for sharing!
Finally tracked down the original photo of the snow-covered sakura… it wasn’t actually Nagano, it was Yoshino-yama in 2012. I’ve updated with the original reference (I too could only find it on social media from this year) which I found via Google’s search by image.