Leading participants on the annual JDS Essence of Japan Sakura Cherry Blossom Photo Workshop Tour provides me with the opportunity to introduce local and international photographers to the natural beauty of Japan in spring across many different prefectures.  A spring cherry blossom photography tour is the best way to enjoy the season where everything comes alive in Japan, yet many people think that cherry blossoms come in only a few varieties.  Actually, there are at least over 300 different wild variants and cultivars, and one more added benefit of adventuring across Japan to spot and photograph perfect, full bloom cherry blossoms is the birding photography opportunities with the Japanese white-eye (Zosterops japonicus), known locally as the メジロ (mejiro) and the Warbling white-eye.

Cherry blossoms have very different characteristics depending on where they are in Japan and what part of the season they are blooming.  In the middle region of Japan, there are kawazu sakura (Cerasus lannesiana 'Kawazu-zakura'), the early blooming variety.  And with the sweet aroma and nectar of the early blossoming sakura are like a siren’s call for the mejiro.  Mejiro arrive as the cherry blossoms open to slurp the sweet nectar from the cherry blossoms.  The mejiro can be, however, a bit elusive, but part of the responsibility of our Essence of Japan Sakura Cherry Blossom Photo Workshop Tour leaders is discussing photography techniques, and the correct gear so you can capture the mejiro as it flutters from blossom to blossom.  The contrast of the pictures with the delicate pink blossoms and the shades of green and the white-eye of the mejiro will keep you finger on the shutter release on continuous high-speed memory, so don’t forget to bring extra memory cards, some days our workshop leaders go though two 256gb memory cards while birding. 

These days we are seeing too many “Fly-by-night international photo tours operators visiting Japan with clients”, a phenomenon our workshop leaders tend to call 'dart board' photo workshops.  The agency staff member picks a region using one or two prediction charts they found on Google or another search engine, and then book a bus to take their clients in hope of magically discovering full bloom sakura once they arrive.  On some occasions, there are even tour operators using public transportation, with camera bags and luggage that become  a total disaster headache.  JDS's pro Japan photography workshop leader with close to three decades experience in the field here in Japan know it’s not a game, and he doesn’t consult a magic eight ball for locations and directions while leading his participants across the country.  It’s a practiced art, as close to a science of photography as possible.  He factors in all the variables including data for weather, temperature, sunlight, rainfall, and altitude, and each one plays a key role in what type of blossoms you can see and when.  He takes all these factors into consideration when planning the annual JDS Cherry Blossom photography tour.

Each prefecture has its own amazing or highly recommended area, and each part of the location plays a key role in appreciating the ephemeral simplicity and beauty of Japan’s national flower.  For example, close to Mt. Fuji, you can photograph the spectacular blossoms along the Fuji Five Lakes and perhaps you can capture Japan’s iconic peak framed by shining white Somei yoshino (Prunus × yedoensis) cherry blossoms among other varieties.  In Niigata prefecture, Takada Park is home to the prefecture’s best cherry blossom illumination, and again, the cherry blossoms come with another photo op, Takada Castle.  The cherry blossoms, from the correct angle, frame the castle and provide the opportunity to take the picture of a lifetime.  The same blossoms may never come again, but you will have photographic evidence of your time spent in Japan, chasing the perfect cherry blossom.