Cherry Blossom Viewing • Saho River｜Better Than the Crowded Kamo River

The cherry blossoms along the Saho River are absolutely stunning! Strolling along the riverside, you get the perfect combination of river, railway tracks, and cherry blossoms—everything you need for amazing cherry blossom photos 🤳! Nara Park is also highly recommended! You can capture scenes of deer 🦌 playing under the cherry blossoms, just like in anime, and if you're lucky, you might even see a cherry blossom blizzard~ 🙋🏻‍♀️ Yoshinoyama’s thousand cherry trees are a must-see on your life list; once you’ve seen them, you’ll be completely amazed 🫨!

👣 One-day itinerary
10:00 Saho River 🛶
11:20 Nara Park 🫎
14:20 Tsubosaka Temple ⛩️
16:40 Yoshinoyama ⛰️

🧚🏻‍♀️ Attraction experiences
🛶 Saho River
The "Nara version of Meguro River" is not just a name. When you step into the 5-kilometer cherry blossom tunnel 🎀, any stone by the riverside can be the perfect spot to capture iconic train scenes from "5 Centimeters per Second"! During the cherry blossom festival, there’s also nighttime illumination, with cherry blossom lantern reflections 🪔 floating on the water, making the romance level off the charts.

🫎 Nara Park
As soon as you enter with deer crackers in hand, you’re surrounded by bowing deer! Under the cherry blossom rain, it’s like a scene from "The Temptation of the Little Deer"—one moment they tilt their heads adorably to melt your heart 😍, the next they’re nibbling on your skirt 🥹. The cherry blossom season’s limited "flower blizzard" ❄️ scene instantly transports you to a Hayao Miyazaki fairy tale world.

⛩️ Tsubosaka Temple
Centuries-old weeping cherry trees look like pink waterfalls flooding the three-story pagoda. Wearing Hanfu or Kimono 👘 to shoot "cherry blossom zen girl" photos will make you a legend! The moss-covered stone steps on the back mountain have a "Mushishi" barrier vibe; it’s recommended to bring a small bell 🔔 as a prop. At dusk, the ancient temple eaves and cherry blossoms are bathed in golden light 🌇, offering a perfect blend of Zen and beauty.

⛰️ Yoshinoyama
30,000 cherry trees bloom from the foot to the summit, divided into four sections from "Shimo Senbon to Oku Senbon." Take the cable car to "Naka Senbon" for a bird’s-eye view of the pink sea of clouds 🌫️. The cherry blossoms coexist with a thousand-year-old shrine, making for an elevated cherry blossom viewing 🎐. The sunset here is especially dreamy 🫧.

🔔 Sincere tips
❣️ You can get a deer stamp at the tourist service center near the Kintetsu Nara subway station entrance, and a Nara stamp at JR Nara Station.
📅 Cherry blossom timing mystery: Buds start opening around March 25, with full bloom around April 5 (this year’s warm winter might bring it earlier).

For cherry blossom viewing 🌸, I sincerely recommend the lesser-known Nara—it offers a much better experience than Kyoto~ #OsakaCherryBlossoms