CHERRY BLOSSOM

Sakura – the art of transience

Cherry blossom season in Japan is not a postcard cliché—it is a living, moving phenomenon that reshapes the atmosphere of an entire country. From the tropical air of Okinawa, where the first blossoms open in January, to the lingering chill of Hokkaido in May, the sakura front advances like a soft pink tide across 3,000 kilometres and six climate zones.

In this issue, we follow photographer Armin Schirmer on a journey that rarely appears in travel guides: the quiet back roads of Kyushu, where local festivals still feel handmade; Kyoto’s gardens in late April, long after the tourist crowds have gone; and mountain villages where blossoms bloom days, sometimes weeks, later than expected—because nature keeps its own schedule.

Schirmer’s photographs reveal the intimate moments most visitors miss: office workers gathering under the last surviving tree in a concrete courtyard at dusk; a procession of lanterns lighting up the castle moat in Ueda; children balancing on river stones as petals drift past on the Meguro River. His lens captures not simply flowers, but the almost ritualistic way Japan receives spring each year—with anticipation, precision, humour and a surprising amount of spontaneity.

This article is not about cherry blossoms as a symbol—it is about the real places, real people and real textures of the sakura season. The fleeting beauty is only the beginning.

© Photographs by Armin Schirmer

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