Ah, yes, good catch, mrwunrfl - I didn't see that and I agree - even if you spent one night in Hiroshima and one on Miyajima it would be fine imo....and the trip from Kyoto to Hiroshima is only about two hours....so I would think there is plenty of time to sightsee...

thank god HT is my travel assistant so i will do things right.

mindless

Thanks everyone, great idea - we'll travel back on the evening of the 3rd.

rhkkmk - not sure I understand your comment, but HT's advice and photos were very helpful.

So excited! :)

http://www.otenki.jp/sp/art/sakura/kaikayoso.html

Here's a cherry blossom/sakura forecast linked from the japan-guide.com site. It's in Japanese obviously but you can see the map and dates. If you have a Japanese translation tool you can scroll down and see more details for each area....ht, are you in agreement?

Mara,
Looks like they are getting earlier and earlier with their predictions like they are getting competition from somewhere else ;)
Yes, I said a few months back that this year 2013's cherry and koyo season would be closer to the normal dates this year than in the previous two years. La Nina is all about fizzled out and an ENSO neutral period is beginning here in the Pacific. I know....what the heck is and ENSO neutral ;)

Aloha!

I knew you'd be right on top of this, ht....okay, I'll bite - what is ENSO - it sounds like a scary disease. ;-)

And btw, the sakura forecast seems to work for my Shikoku itinerary. :)

<b>E</b>l <b>N</b>ino <b>S</b>outhern <b>O</b>scillation

Rather than my usual blowhard diatribe read along here:

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/product...y/ensodisc.pdf

You just had to shove that Shikoku(Iya Valley) knife deeper into my heart didn't you? ;)

Aloha!