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Late Spring Hanami at Shinjuku Gyoen
Photo by Redd / Unsplash

Late Spring Hanami at Shinjuku Gyoen

Tako Tako 3 min read

This was my first time having a picnic hanami. It was quite late into sakura season for Tokyo but luckily Shinjuku Gyoen has many different types of sakura including Yaezakura that blooms later. We met up with some Malaysian friends and enjoyed a picnic under a sakura tree! 🌸🧺

Late Blooming Yaezakura

First things first, you may be wondering, "What is Yaezakura?"

Close-up shot of Yaezakura in Shinjuku Garden

Yaezakura (八重桜) is not a specific species of sakura. The term refers to a group type of sakura that have more than the typical 5 petals that sakura have. Indeed, Yaezakura directly translates to "double-flowered sakura" or "double sakura" in English. Some species of yaezakura include kikuzakura (chrysanthemum sakura), kanzan and ichiyo.

Another great thing to know about Yaezakura is that it's one of the later blooming sakura types. They bloom at around middle to late April.

Shinjuku Gyoen for Late Spring Cherry Blossom Viewing

Shinjuku Gyoen has many different species of sakura including a large number of yaezakura trees. This means it makes for an excellent, and super convenient spot for late hanami. They also provided a handy map showing the different spring flowers and sakura in the garden.

Shinjuku Garden Spring Map, bottom right shows the different yaezakura species you can find
Beautiful lake with some sakura trees at the banks

We were lucky enough to get a comfortable spot right underneath this gorgeous tree.

The tree we had our picnic beneath! 🌸

Enjoy some of these other photos we took!

Other Spring Flowers in Bloom

After enjoying our picnic, we took a nice walk around Shinjuku garden. Turns out we were in luck! Tulips and pansies were in bloom! So pretty~ 🌷

Until next time~ 🐙🌸