There is no trip to Tokyo that is complete without a visit to the city’s Cherry Blossoms. Our trip happened to coincide with the Cherry Blossoms in April. We managed to time our visit through the city at the peak viewing season of Cherry Blossoms. While it is a popular attraction and remains world re-known, there are few travellers that I have come across that have made it a trip on it’s own or a stop over on the way somewhere else. We were lucky enough to have worked it into our Around the World Trip as a stop over, and spent a whole afternoon in the Shinjuku Goyen park at peak cherry blossom season.

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City Visit: Cherry Blossoms in Shinjuku-Goyen National Park, Shinjuku Tokyo, Japan

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This post reflects our visit to Shinjuku – Gyoen and the Cherry Blossoms in Tokyo. We also visited the Meiji Jingu Shrine and Shibuya Crossing, the Imperial Palace and the streets of Akihabara, and the Tsujiki Fish Market and Shopping in Ginza.

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Cherry Blossoms in Japan:

Tokyo is full of wonderful, spacious parks. No trip to Tokyo in April is complete without a visit to see the cherry blossoms in Shinjuku-gyoen. The park has more than 20,000 Cherry Trees, with over 1,500 varieties of cherry trees. It is a short 15 minute walk from Shinjuku-ku station. The park is somewhat near to the Meiji Jingu park which we visited earlier in the visit.

Visiting Shinjuku Goyen (Shinjuku Park):

Although we were seven to nine days off the peak blooming period, it remained an absolutely beautiful visit. The park was full of many different varieties, including many people simply enjoying their beauty. Needless to say, it was a photographers dream to capture all the different colours and types.

The park features some lakes and surrounding pathways, which were a great introduction into the Shinjuku – Goyen Park.

As we ventured into the park, the cherry blossoms were on full display. It was a little bit crowded, but we were able to find some peace and harmony in between all the photographers. It was a really spectacular seeing all the blossoms in near full bloom.

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If you have ever wanted to visit Japan, plan early and time it to enjoy the cherry blossom season. With a little planning, it’s perfectly possible to enjoy this experience which is once in a lifetime experience for many people. We were certainly glad that we did. The blossoms were beautiful and it was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon. The visit to Shinjuku-gyoen was easily the highlight of our Tokyo trip.

Kaiten Sushi Bars and a Night Out in Shinjuku:

In order to round out our Japanese experience, I set out to locate a Kaiten Sushi Bar in Shinjuku. The Kaiten Bars are rotating conveyor belt sushi bars that offer fresh sushi off of a conveyor belt that winds it way past the sushi counter or sometimes past every seat in the restaurant. In doing so, I was aiming to introduce a little visible sushi experience for MrsWT73 who’s taste delicacies are sometimes a little plain.

After our cherry blossom experience, we went to the entertainment district of Shinjuku. I left the large SLR camera at home for the evening out, settling for an iPhone camera for the night.

We located a Kaiten Sushi restaurant off Nibangai Street in the heart of Shinjuku, eventually settling for Himiwara Sushi Shintosen.

We had a pretty good and authentic experience at the Kaiten Sushi bar. It ws approachable enough that MrsWT73, who grew up in mining towns, could approach some vegetarian sushi.

After the kaizen sushi experience, we had a neighbourly walk through Shinjuku. It was a vibrant area for an entertainment district and fully lit up at night.

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It was a most interesting evening out with a more unusual environment in order to enjoy an evening’s worth of festivities. The lights of Shinjuku added a neat cosmopolitan look and feel to the experience.

Our day at Shinjuku Goyen and a Night out in Shinjuku:

Shinjuku has always been one of my more favourite areas of Tokyo, Japan.

The cherry blossoms in Shunjuku Park were a wonderful highlight of our City Visit to Tokyo. They are a must visit for any traveler to Japan if you are lucky enough to visit during Cherry Blossom Season in Late March – Early April.

The cherry blossoms in Shinjuku Goyen were among the greatest collection of cherry trees that I’ve ever had the opportunity to experience. The walk through Shinjuku Goyen was a peaceful and inspiring walk under pink skies dotted with trees. Our nearby evening adventure in Shinjuku was also engaging; locating kaiten sushi conveyor restaurants under unique alley taverns.

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