Sakura Mountain Road (Photo: Reginald Pentinio / CC BY 2.0)
Sakura Mountain Road (Photo: Reginald Pentinio / CC BY 2.0)
- 2 min read

Sakura on Mount Yoshino

Amazing views of a thousand cherry trees

A part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountains, and designated as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mount Yoshino is famous for its thousands of sakura or cherry trees. It is one of Japan's most loved cherry blossom viewing areas, with the first cherry trees planted on the mountain more than a thousand years ago.

The mountain is divided into four sections of a thousand trees each, the first being the Shimo Senbon (lower 1000 trees), Naka Senbon (middle 1000 trees), Kami Senbon (upper 1000 trees) and finally the Oku Senbon (inner 1000 trees) at the top of the mountain. At each area, it is said that thousands of cherry trees can be seen at a time, hence its name. Because of the huge range in elevation, the trees bloom at different times, starting with the lowest trees in the end of March, to the highest ones in mid or end of April.

Easily accessible by train from Osaka, Kyoto, or Nara, Yoshino is the final station on the Kintetsu Yoshino line. There is a year round cable car to the Shimo Senbon, where the shopping street, hotels, hot springs and temples are located. During the sakura season, there are also buses making the ascent to the Naka Senbon. From there it is about an hour hike to the Kami Senbon and Oku Senbon, depending on level of fitness. As you hike up, the crowds thin out, which makes taking photos easier. There are many parks along the way, where you can spread out a mat, and enjoy hanami or cherry blossom viewing picnics.

While in town, do try the local speciality, persimmon leaf sushi. In the olden days, salted mackerel and rice balls were wrapped in a persimmon leaf, and then put into a wooden box and pressed with a heavy stone to ferment for a few days. Lately, other varieties such as salmon, eel, shrimp, and red snapper are used as well.

Mount Yoshino is not only beautiful during the cherry blossom season, but also in summer with hydrangea blooms, whilst the autumn leaves are colourful in November as well.

Getting there

The base of the mountain is accessible from Yoshino Station on the Kintetsu Yoshino Line. It is approximately 1 hour and 30 mins from Kintetsu Nara station, changing at Yamato-Saidaiji and Kashihara Jingu-Mae stations.

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Alena Eckelmann 2 years ago
If you want to read up about sights in Yoshino, please find articles written by Bryan Baier on this portal! There are quite a few temples, also restaurants and cafes and some nice walks in the forest.
Alena Eckelmann 2 years ago
For this year the sakura season on Mount Yoshino has finished. The blossoms came early...Lucking forward to next year, but Yoshinoyama has more to offer than sakura trees! It is worth a day trip or weekend trip from Osaka!
Kim 2 years ago
Novia Mardasari 2 years ago
Wonderful trip! Full of Sakura. Love it!
Alena Eckelmann 3 years ago
March 21 2021: Sakura have started blooming on Yoshinoyama in the Shimo-Senbon area. There are over 30,000 sakura trees planted across the whole mountain range from the lower end of Yoshinoyama village all the way up to the top of the mountain at the Oku-Senbon area. This is my recommended sakura spot in Kansai!
Amanda Ho Author 3 years ago
Thanks for the info! Would love to go there again.

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