Japan’s first cherry blossoms of 2023 have bloomed! And no, it is not global warming gone wild, it is a specific type of cherry called the “kanhizakura” which blooms in January in Okinawa, Japan’s most southerly island. The rest of Japan will enjoy its cherry blossom season in the months ahead, typically in March, so it was quite a happy surprise to discover we might be able to see cherry blossoms in Japan during the depths of winter in January!

“Kanhizakura” cherry blossoms in Okinawa – Japan’s first of 2023 – January 2023

The cherry blossoms are great fun to photograph 🙂

Cherry blossoms against a nice early spring blue sky

A close up of a couple of the blooms

“Kanhizakura” cherry blossoms in Okinawa – Japan’s first of 2023 – January 2023

The bees were making the most of the early blooms!

These shots were taken at Nakijin Castle Ruins, a world heritage listed site, which has an annual cherry blossom festival in late January. We weren’t in Okinawa for the festival but visited one day before and saw the cherry blossoms out at 40-50%, which was still very nice.

The walls of Nakijin Castle in Okinawa are just about all that remain of this centuries old site.

We were probably just 3-4 days too early for full bloom, but the blossoms and the stone walls were a great sight.

Another view of the walls, Nakijin Castle Okinawa