Last Updated: Mar 16, 2025

Sakura Jingu

Tokyo’s Early Blooming Cherry Blossoms

This story was originally published on donnykimball.com and has been syndicated here on Medium.

As most overseas tourists are already aware, the peak bloom for Japan’s cherry blossoms typically falls in late March or early April for places like Tokyo. However, this timeframe applies primarily to the Somei Yoshino variety of cherry blossoms. What many visitors don’t realize is that Japan is home to numerous other cherry blossom varieties (and for the record — no, they are not plum blossoms, since I know someone out there is thinking it). So, on that note, today, we’ll be exploring one such subspecies: the Kawazu-zakura, a vibrant pink, early-blooming variety, and a shrine in Tokyo called Sakura Jingu, which is renowned for them.

Lately, thanks to Instagram travel creators like myself, Sakura Jingu has been gaining more attention. While this small shrine in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, isn’t globally famous just yet, it’s certainly far more popular than it used to be. Originally founded in 1882 by Yoshimura Masamochi, a distant descendant of the powerful Nakatomi clan, the shrine was initially dedicated to warding off sickness. Over time, however, it became recognized for its resilience, having withstood both the Great Kanto Earthquake and World War II. Because of this, Sakura Jingu is now revered as a protector against fire and natural disasters.