Hanami & Momiji

About this book

Most blossom guides give you twenty places. Most autumn guides give you fifteen, and never the same book. This one gives you two hundred: 100 cherry-blossom spots and 100 autumn-leaf spots, every one in the same practical format — typical peak, prefecture, type of place, what specifically makes this spot worth the trip, and how to avoid its crowds.

Follow the blossom the way Japan does: January cherries at Nakijin Castle in Okinawa, February's deep-pink Kawazu-zakura, the great castle towns of Tohoku in April, and Hokkaido in May. Then follow the colour back down: September on Daisetsuzan, October in Nikko and the Northern Alps, late November in Kyoto's maple temples, and December in Kyushu's late gardens.

Every peak is given honestly as the typical year — bloom and colour are weather made visible — and every entry carries its check date. A full regional index lets you start from your destination instead of the season. Companion to Matsuri (festivals) and Japan Through the Year (annual customs): those books cover what Japan celebrates; this one covers where to stand and watch its two great seasons happen.

Written and created in Japan by Japanese author Aki Wakamatsu. Published by Takikawa TOKOTOKO Kids LLC, a Japanese publisher in Hokkaido, Japan. Authentic Japanese content, carefully made in Japan — not mass-produced.