Kyoto's Spring Night Cherries – Touring Blossom Spots Glowing in the Light

For night cherries, start with the Gion weeping cherry in Maruyama Park. As the poet Yosano Akiko sang of the people met on a cherry-blossom moonlit night on the way through Gion to Kiyomizu, the weeping cherry glowing in the lights is captivating, the very symbol of a Kyoto spring night.

In Heian Shrine's garden, the red weeping cherries described by Tanizaki Jun'ichirō in "The Makioka Sisters" are in full bloom, and in early April the "Heian Jingū Sakura Oto Yoru" concert is usually held in the garden at night. At Nijō Castle many varieties of cherry are lit, contrasting superbly with the stately buildings.

Higashiyama temples such as Kōdai-ji and Kiyomizu-dera also usually hold special spring night openings. Head out after dinner and stroll the blossom-scented night streets, a pleasure unique to spring in Kyoto.