Last year, I posted about my first cherry blossom season in Japan. I was disappointed in the weather, as well as myself for not making more of an effort to see the blossoms as many days as possible, at as many locations as possible! I vowed to do better this year, and I’m happy to say that I did! So good in fact, that I think my sister was nearly sick of my blossom obsession in the end. 😛
Rewind to last spring. There was one place that I had regretted missing out on in particular. Yoshino Mountain. Mount Yoshino. Cherry tree mountain. The great bambino. All my friends had “ooo-ed” and “aww-ed” over how beautiful the mountain was during blossom season. Meanwhile, I only had their social media photos to oggle over (and everyone knows it’s always ten times better in person).Being a newb to Japan did come with a learning curve for knowing the seasonal hot spots. By the time I realized how fantastic Yoshino truly was, I didn’t have enough time allotted in my schedule to make the four hour round-trip to the picturesque Nara mountain.
Well, fast-forward to now. It’s my turn to make you jealous, and I do so happily! I even got to visit Yoshino with my sister, making it that much more special.
Walking uphill from the train station, it took us 2-3 hours to reach the summit, although that included several stops for shops and pauses for photography. (And okay, a little nerding out with Pokemon Go, too). Most of the time, you are on a paved road, and the incline up is slow and steady. We saw families and seniors alike walking in sync with ourselves. There were a few agonizing moments where Bev and I found ourselves winded, but overall the hike wasn’t challenging.
The views were just incredible! Unreal.
Did you ever do those Thomas Kinkade puzzles growing up? Those overly gorgeous, scenic ones where you feel like that place is surely only found in your best dreams? Yeah. Well if there isn’t a 1,000 piecer out there already, there should be one created of Yoshino in its cherry blossom glory IMMEDIATELY. I mean it.
The beauty wasn’t just at the summit either. The entire walk was maximized with photo opportunities just begging for attention. At the start of the walk, there is an option to take a 3-minute cable car ride. Because of a suuuuper long line, we decided to skip this and just start walking, not knowing what we were getting into. I’m so, so, so glad we made this decision! Some of my favorite photos were taken from that first 20-minute portion of our trek.
Out of curiosity and because we were also on a time crunch, we decided to take the cable car back down since there wasn’t a line. I believe it was around 380 yen per person. To put it bluntly, I don’t feel like it was worth it. There weren’t any special photography moments to indulge in. That fact plus the cost, versus it only taking 15 extra SCENIC minutes to walk down the mountain, I’d just choose the walk next time around. Yeah. Skip the cable car if you can.
In conclusion, do you like:
- Nature?
- Beautiful views?
- Cherry blossoms?
- Hiking/walking?
- Landscape photography?
If you answered “yes” to any of the above, take my word for it and give Mount Yoshino a go next cherry blossom season. You won’t regret it! 🙂
When You Wander 