Well the plane tickets are booked, the accommodation secured now what are the chances of us hitting the cherry Blossom season??? We will be in Japan touring around by ourselves for 17 days from the last week in March til the middle of April.

Depends on where you are going to be

You are in prime time, you should see some somewhere

See here for some insight:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2011_when.html

Aloha!

Hi Hawaiiantraveler,

Thanks for the link to this informative site. Seems like we should have many 'cherry blossom' moments since we begin in Tokyo and then move west and south. Getting very excited!! Once again thanks for your time in responding to my post.

hi all, do you think there will be any problem reserving a train from tokyo to kyoto during cherry blossum season?

I have been to Japan in Cherry Blossom season once (in April 2008) and had no problem getting on the train from Kyoto-Tokyo. I followed the sakura from Kagoshima all the way to Tokyo. I had a railpass and got every seat reservation I wanted . There are so many trains between Kyoto and Tokyo that I doubt you will have a problem but it's always safe to get your seat reservation in advance if you are really worried.

I've heard from several people that the trains are really easy to use at any time. I'll be there the same time as you so here's to a smooth trip.

I was there for the cherry blossoms last year. No problem getting train tickets Tokyo to Kyoto. The train car we were in was less than 1/2 full.

However, we took a bus from Nagoya to Shirakawa-go, then to Takayama, and another from Takayama to Tokyo, and the buses were all full.

Yes, trains, buses, and subways are all easy to use with good English translations for buying tickets and for the stop/station announcements.