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nakijin castle okinawa cherry blossoms japan 2023

Japan Cherry Blossoms 2023

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!

nakijin castle okinawa cherry blossoms japan 2023

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

 

nakijin castle okinawa cherry blossoms japan 2023

The cherry blossoms are great fun to photograph 🙂

 

nakijin castle okinawa cherry blossoms japan 2023

Cherry blossoms against a nice early spring blue sky

 

nakijin castle okinawa cherry blossoms japan 2023

A close up of a couple of the blooms

 

nakijin castle okinawa cherry blossoms japan 2023

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

 

nakijin castle okinawa cherry blossoms japan 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 World Heritage Listed Nakijin Castle in Okinawa

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

 

The World Heritage Listed Nakijin Castle in Okinawa

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

 

The World Heritage Listed Nakijin Castle in Okinawa

Another view of the walls, Nakijin Castle Okinawa

 


The castle site also had some very impressive old stone walls and buttresses so it was a very nice setting for viewing cherry blossoms.

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About Luke

Luke O'Brien runs a stall at Hobart's popular Salamanca Market every Saturday where his prints and cards are available for purchase. Follow Luke's photographic adventures on Twitter at @lukeobrienphoto, at his Facebook page or by subscribing to his email newsletter.

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