Japan’s Top Events in Spring 2025

Cherry Blossom Season: Mainly March and April

Cherry blossoms are the stars of Japanese spring, and the somei yoshino is the most common variety, accounting for around 90% of all sakura. These start blooming from late March in the southwest of the country, after which the cherry blossom front moves northward through April. Local festivals are held across the country in this season.

Although somei yoshino are the stars, there are other varieties that come into flower at different times. The kawazu zakura, discovered in the Shizuoka city of Kawazu in 1972, blossoms from early February until early March. Its flowers are larger than somei yoshino with a distinctive deep pink color. Rows of kawazu zakura stretch for around four kilometers along the Kawazu River, and are a popular spot for early flower viewing. During February, the trees are illuminated from six in the evening.

Kawazu zakura trees in blossom in the town of Kawazu. (© Pixta)

The Kakunodate area in Senboku, Akita, is noted for its weeping cherry trees. Their branches hang gracefully down in the old samurai district and are at their finest from mid- to late April.

Senboku’s weeping cherry trees in the samurai district. (© Tazawako Kakunodate Tourism Association)

LA Dodgers vs Chicago Cubs at Tokyo Dome: March 18–19

Ohtani Shōhei and Yamamoto Yoshinobu line up for the Los Angeles Dodgers against Suzuki Seiya and Imanaga Shōta of the Chicago Cubs in the Major League Baseball season opener at Tokyo Dome.

Tickets for the Diamond Box behind the back net are priced at ¥150,000, with other high-priced options and general tickets only available through a lottery system. It will be one of the big sporting events of spring in Japan, but catching up with it on television might be the most realistic option.

Clockwise from top left: Ohtani Shōhei and Yamamoto Yoshinobu, (both © USA Today Sports via Reuters Connect); Imanaga Shōta (© TNS/ABACA via Reuters Connect); Suzuki Seiya (© David Smith/Cal Sport Media/Sipa)

Capcom Creation: Moving Hearts Across the Globe at Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka: March 20–June 22

Founded in Osaka in 1983, Capcom won a name for developing innovative video game franchises like Street Fighter, Resident Evil, and Monster Hunter. This must-see exhibition for gamers features original drawings, posters, and packages, as well as introducing the story behind the games’ creation.

Official website

Capcom Creation (Courtesy Capcom)

Kanamara Festival: April 13

This event, notorious internationally as the Penis Festival, takes place at Kanayama Shrine in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo. Phallic portable shrines are paraded through the streets in a prayer for fertility and business success. The festival is a revival of a matsuri held by local prostitutes in the Edo period (1603–1868). Food and goods in the shape of male genitalia on sale at festival stalls are part of the draw for tourists eager to share their pics on social media.

The Kanamara Festival. (© DPA/Picture Alliance via Reuters Connect)

Osaka Expo 2025: April 13–October 13

Expo 2025 in Osaka is themed around the future of society. A massive wooden ring, two kilometers in circumference, is the symbol of the venue, and pavilions built by Japanese groups and companies will line up around its exterior, while those built by countries around the world gather on the inside.

A bird’s eye view of how the venue is expected to appear. (Courtesy Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition; © Jiji)

National Treasures of Japan at Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts: April 26–June 15

Marking the start of Expo 2025 in Osaka, this exhibition will gather 130 national treasures from across the country to display in the city. With items from prehistoric earthenware to paintings and swords from the Edo period, visitors can appreciate an aesthetic history of Japan.

A kaengata (flame-shaped) pot (left) from around 5400 to 4500 years ago that will be on display throughout the exhibition (© Tōkamachi City Museum); a twelfth-century suit of armor that will be on display from May 20 to June 15 (© Okayama Prefectural Museum).

Kanda Matsuri: May 10–11

Tokyo’s top festival dates back centuries. The full version, which will be on display in 2025, is only held every other year. Its main attraction is the parade of 200 portable shrines carried by parishioners wearing traditional hanten jackets. Spectators also get caught up in the excitement.

Portable shrines gather in front of Kanda Shrine on May 14, 2023. (© Jiji)

Aoi Festival: May 15

The main shrine festival for the Shimogamo and Kamigamo Shrines in Kyoto began some 1,500 years ago. A number of ceremonies take place from early May, but the main event is the parade from the city’s Imperial Palace via Shimogamo Shrine to Kamigamo Shrine. When there are 500 people along the eight-kilometer route, it is like a recreation of a picture scroll from the Heian period (794–1185).

The Aoi Matsuri parade on May 15, 2024. (© Jiji)

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: The weeping cherry trees in the samurai district of Senboku, Akita. © Tazawako Kakunodate Tourism Association.)