The second sakura season begins, Japan transforms. Shelves fill with pastel-colored packaging, cafés roll out their once-a-year menus, and entire product lines disappear as fast as they arrive. It’s not subtle—it’s a full-scale seasonal takeover.

Some of it is novelty (yes, even cherry blossom potato chips exist), but some of it is genuinely worth hunting down. Delicate sakura ceramics, limited-edition sweets, handcrafted textiles—pieces that feel tied to the season in a way that isn’t just about aesthetics. Some are edible, some are collectible, and some you’ll wish you’d bought twice.

But timing is everything. These aren’t souvenirs that wait around. If you want the good stuff, you need to know what to look for—and exactly where to find it before it’s gone.

With the massive swings in temperature messing up the sakura’s internal thermostat, you may be excused for wondering if the sakura will blossom early or late this spring. Many tourists to Japan were disappointed last year after the cherry blossoms appeared later than expected, leaving many of them having to go home without any photograph of the famed flowers.

The cherry blossoms will likely bloom later than usual in 2025

According to early forecasts, this year’s somei yoshino cherry blossoms (the most common variety of sakura variety, often planted in parks) are forecast to start blooming on par with, or later than the average year.

March is coming soon, and that means that the season of sakura is starting soon too! If you are visiting Japan during this period, you may often see sakura flowers blooming almost everywhere around. However, you may not have known that one of the most common sakura cherry blossoms in Japan is actually a hybrid species (Shirasawa et al., 2019), termed as Prunus yedoensis, or also known as ‘Somei-Yoshino’ (JNTO, 2023). While cherry blossoms are visually appealing to the eye, their flowers can be turned into an extract and consumed too. Various products are currently in the market using the extract of cherry blossom, ranging from a moisturizing jelly cream, smoothing mask, to a cleansing oil. Let’s dive into the journey of uncovering the science behind the health benefits in consuming these cherry blossoms (specifically on ‘Somei-Yoshino’)!

End March to Early April is the main sakura hanami (Cherry Blossom viewing) season in Japan. Most people would gather around a tree and have a picnic with their friends and family, read on to find out other ways to enjoy the flowers.