Apr 25, 2025
Cherry blossoms x helicopter or airplane
I've been sharing some of the cherry blossom photos I like to try and get annually. However, there are also some elusive shots I strive to get every few years. Such as the sight of a helicopter with cherry blossoms in the background. That is not something you can see everyday. Especially at the angle as in this photo.
This photo was only made possible by visiting an air force base's cherry blossom festival. Every year the Kumagaya air force base opens its gates to the public for one day cherry blossom season. It is a fantastic cherry blossom festival, definitely one of the more memorable cherry blossom experiences I've had in Japan.
An alternative to an helicopter would be an airplane. I have a few shots with airplanes flying in the distance behind a row of cherry blossoms, but they are not very good. I saw a few photos on Instagram this year with great photos of planes taking off over cherry blossoms. It almost looked like the airplanes were gliding on the sakura. Evidently, there are photo spots in Japan where you can get photos of airplanes and cherry blossoms.
Do you know of any places with good views of airplanes or helicopters with cherry blossoms? Have you any helicopter x sakura or aircraft x sakura photos in your cherry blossom photo collection?
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
1 Comment
genkidesu
12 hours ago
We lived at Yokota Air Force base for several years, and they have some really beautiful sakura trees there, but most of the planes flying from Yokota are bigger ones like C-130s, and the flight line area isn't right by most of the tree areas. Your photo is great!