Apr 17, 2025
Beautiful Japanese words for the cherry blossom season
Sakura is the word for cherry blossoms in Japan. I have seen people posting on social media in America that use the term sakura for cherry blossoms, but I don't know if the word is widely known. However, if you visit Japan during cherry blossom season, even just a visit as fleeting as the cherry blossoms themselves, no doubt you will know the term sakura.
But there are also dozens of terms related to sakura in the Japanese language. I read before that there are more than 70 Japanese cherry blossom terms. In the series "Cherry Blossom lingo" I introduced ten of them. Here is those ten in summation and each is linked to more information, and a photo of each, on City-cost.
10 Cherry blossom lingo terms
They are in chronological order of when I posted them on City-cost.
- Hanamushiro and Sakura Jutan that are used to describe a 'carpet of cherry blossom petals'.
- Sakura tonneru the term used for a 'tunnel of cherry blossoms'.
- Hanafubuki, one of my personal favorites, which describes a 'shower of cherry blossom petals'.
- Hanaikada the Japanese term for 'a raft of cherry blossoms' on water.
- Sakura Namiki used when you are describing a row of cherry blossoms.
- Ipponzakura refers to a stand alone, usually ancient, cherry blossom.
- Yozakura is the term for viewing cherry blossoms at night.
- Hana no Ukihashi is the say for a floating bridge of flowers.
- Sakasazakura, another of my personal favorites, is the term for cherry blossoms reflected in water so they look like upside-down cherry blossoms.
- Doubukizakura or magogaezakura the terms used to describe a cherry blossom growing directly on a tree trunk.
There are many more and I may introduce some more in the future. With the exception of number 10 on the list, I hear the terms in this post frequently during the cherry blossom season. Number 10 I think isn't that commonly used, but I just love the term magogaezakura. Which one do you most commonly hear?
Former nickname was "Saitama". Changed it to save confusion on place review posts! Irish, 20+ years in Japan! I also write on my personal website: insaitama.com
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