Japan’s busiest tourist season for Cherry Blossom is approaching, and it appears that accommodation and flight prices have also reached a new peak this year, making many question whether it’s still worthwhile to travel right now.
For obvious reasons, it was never exactly cheap to travel to Japan during this period but it’s a delicate question of when to stay away because too much is just… TOO MUCH.
The price hike affects especially international brand hotels such as Hyatt, Hilton, and Marriott, but this has been the case for the past few years, ever since Japan reopened post-pandemic.
The new Cherry Blossom calendar was just updated today and now gives a more realistic impression of how the blossoming will go this year:
Usually there are swings of up to two weeks in the prediction about the bloom of the famous cherry blossoms, and this most recent update once again shifted by an entire week.
In the end it’s really a toss up because at some point you have to fix your trip and can’t keep postponing it and adjusting the dates even (or especially) if you have it booked on miles and points.
The hotel prices have shot up in a way that I really haven’t seen before, at least in the case of Tokyo:
There are some APA hotels that are available for ~ US$190/night which is also hefty as I paid US$45 for these just last month. But of course, it’s THE high season of the year and Sakura only lasts for roughly a week.
But what’s really over the top now is Hyatt:
Some hotels have the occasional award available here and there. But hotels like the Centric for 195,000+ Yen is rough. That hotel is nice but not luxury.
Flights are likewise a problem this year although that really depends on where you fly from so I don’t want to generalize it too much.
With prices in Tokyo being pretty crazy I decided to only spend a few days there this year and go to some other cities including Osaka as well where I got a solid 5 nights at the Caption again before it goes up in category.
After Japan I’m heading over to Korea which is considerably cheaper and just as nice for cherry blossom locations if you know where to go.
And PLEASE, if you end up going to either place don’t grab & pull the tree branches to take pictures as they are very delicate:
There are plenty of signs around but tourists unfortunately ignore them all the time and cause damage.
Conclusion
Japan’s Sakura season is starting in a bit over two weeks from now and it seems like the hospitality industry is ready to cash in again. Prices have gone up so much that I struggle to find any comparison to previous years. Even local brands such as APA and Tokyu Stay are charging $200+ for one night in Tokyo. International hotel brands like Hyatt are totally out of whack with very little awards available.
If this continues to creep up then it might be wise to look for other cities that are a bit outside the mainstream where you can get better value for money. Unless you want to find a compromise and only stay 4-5 days rather than a full week or longer.
I also think people who like to visit for Sakura should have a look at South Korea because that was almost better in recent years compared to Japan.
