In this article:
Prologue
This trip began because we wanted to see cherry blossoms. We looked around different options to Japan, and were surprised to find EVA Air Business Class seats still available in late December 2024. I transferred Citi miles over and booked three round-trip tickets to the EVA Air Infinity MileageLand frequent flyer programme for a total of 150,000 miles and S$771.60 in taxes and fuel surcharge.
Each one-way costs 25,000 miles, which felt like an excellent value for peak season. But not the taxes and fuel surcharge though. The routing included overnight layovers in Taipei in both directions, though I’d say that the overnight layovers might not be for everyone.
Cherry blossom timings
Cherry blossom timing is never guaranteed. Osaka usually blooms earlier by a few days or so, although in 2025 the season arrived a little late. We were worried the trees might not open in time. Even a day or two before our trip, we checked Reddit threads, local news, bloom forecasts and live cams. Thankfully, the timing worked out well enough and we managed to catch a good spread of pink across both Osaka and Kyoto.
Here are some sites we used:
- Cherry Blossom Navigator by the Japan Meteorological Corporation
- Cherry Blossom Forecast by the Japan Meteorological Corporation
- Reddit’s r/CherryBlossoms, r/JapanTravelTips, and more
Planning the trip
The core of the trip was the EVA Air redemption. We booked SIN–TPE–KIX and KIX–TPE–SIN, with overnight layovers each way. Airfare during this period can be very expensive, and when we managed to find three business class tickets, it’s a no-brainer for sure.
Because of the flight schedule, we ended up flying EVA Air’s older Boeing 777‑300ER Premium Laurel product on the SIN–TPE sector and the newer Boeing 787‑10 Royal Laurel product on the TPE–KIX leg. This was our first time trying both types of business‑class seat back‑to‑back, which let us experience first‑hand how EVA Air’s refreshed cabin compares to its previous generation.
The routing also meant we could visit lounges along the way — the SilverKris Business Class Lounge in Singapore and EVA Air’s own lounge in Taipei — which helped break up the long travel day and to experience the lounges at their homebase.
- Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge (SIN)
- EVA Air The Infinity Lounge (TPE)
Accommodation was split across Arima Onsen, Kyoto and Osaka. One night in Arima, two nights in Kyoto and four nights in Osaka. This kept things flexible, since different areas bloom at slightly different speeds, and it also gave us time to enjoy the hot springs before the sakura chase picked up.
Arima Onsen
Arima Onsen is one of Japan’s oldest hot spring towns, and it has a very different character from the larger, more commercial onsen regions. The town sits on a hillside near Kobe, about an hour from Osaka, and is made up of narrow streets, small bathhouses and a generally quiet pace that suits a stop focused on relaxing rather than sightseeing.
Getting there from Kansai International Airport requires a few connections. We took an airport bus to Sannomiya, which is the main transport hub in Kobe. From there, we switched to the Kobe Subway, continued onto Tanigami, and then transferred to the Arima Line for the final stretch into town. The connections were straightforward, and the entire route took about two hours.
Arima’s appeal is tied to its spring water. The town is known for having two distinct types: kinsen, which is iron-rich and has a dark, almost brown colour, and ginsen, a clear carbonated spring. Most onsen towns are built around one water source. Arima having both gives it a stronger reputation among regular onsen-goers.
For this trip, we stayed at Koyado Uraku, an inn located a short walk from the centre of town. Check-in was handled at Tocen Goshoboh, the sister property, but without access to their private bathhouses. Because of that, we had to book our own private bathhouse slot. The cost came to almost ¥100,000, which is steep, but it meant we could actually enjoy the onsen experience without relying on shared facilities we were not permitted to use. You could always opt for public bathhouses however.
Since Osaka’s bloom forecast was trending late, starting the trip here made sense. It gave us a day to unwind before chasing the sakura in the coming days. The town is small, easy to walk and quiet in the evenings, which made it a pleasant way to begin the trip after a long travel day, especially as we had the overnight layover.
Kyoto
From Arima Onsen, we continued onto Kyoto for a two-night stay. This was the first “proper” cherry blossom stop of the trip and the place where we expected to see most of the cherry blossoms.
We stayed at Rakuten STAY Kyoto Station, an apartment-style property a short walk from Kyoto Station. The location was very convenient. It made it easy to hop on JR trains out to the suburbs and also simplified luggage handling, since we did not have to drag our luggage through narrow side streets. Despite the branding, the rooms themselves are fairly simple.
There are no kitchenettes or cooking facilities in the unit, so it functions more like a standard hotel room with a bit more space, rather than a true serviced apartment.
Kyoto was also where we first saw the cherry blossom. We more or less stumbled onto the existence of Yodo Canal by accident. We had no idea the Yodo waterway had early-blooming cherry trees. Heck, there was even a Google Maps marker for the cherry trees!
I was anxiously checking every day on cherry blossom spots when I read about Yodo Canal and its early cherry blossoms on Reddit. That sent us digging through local and English-language coverage. We ended up reading from Kyoto Shimbun and Asahi, along with a couple of blog posts like Travel With Minh and Donny Kimball’s write-up on cherry blossoms at the Yodo Canal, all pointing to the same conclusion: the Kawazu-zakura here were well ahead of the rest of Kyoto. This was on 24 March 2025, when the forecasted bloom was in the first week of April 2025. By then, we won’t be in Japan already!
This turned out to be the most important find of the trip. By the time we arrived, the trees at Yodo were just starting to blossom. Long rows of deep pink blossoms lined the water, and it finally felt like we had “made it” to sakura season despite the delayed forecasts elsewhere.
To get there, you can take the Keihan Main Line to Yodo Station. Once you exit, a number of printed signs point the way towards the canal area, so it is hard to get lost.
You don’t even need to go far to see the cherry blossoms. There are several cherry trees right outside Yodo Station itself, facing the bus stop, which already give a small preview of what waits along the waterway.
We also went all the way to the Chotokuji Temple, where a few individual cherry trees had started to open. It was not a full grove, but the combination of the temple buildings and the early blossoms made it a worthwhile detour.
We made several trips Even at Maruyama Park, the Gion Weeping Cherry Tree had only just started to bloom. The colours were not as intense as the ones along the Yodo Canal, partly due to the different breed, but it was still a pleasant sight nonetheless.
Elsewhere at Rokkakudō Temple, the trees had also started to blossom. The petals there were a lighter shade of pink, but looked absolutely beautiful against the temple buildings.
In front of Yasaka Pagoda, the main cherry tree had not even started to bloom yet, and most of the other trees in the area were in a similar state.
Frankly, without Yodo, this leg of the trip would have looked very different. Most other spots were still in the early stages, and we would probably have come away quite disappointed. Instead, Yodo ended up as the clear highlight of our time in Kyoto. We have been to plenty of places with cherry trees, but very few had such a long, continuous stretch of blossoms lined up along the canal. It was absolutely gorgeous.
Osaka
After Kyoto, we shifted our base to Osaka for the rest of the trip since we generally find Osaka to be much cheaper. The idea was to have a central spot with easy access to both Kyoto and Kobe, while still being close to food and transport in the evenings.
We stayed at e-stay namba, an apartment-style property in the Namba area. The room came with a small kitchenette, including an induction stove, fridge and microwave, as well as a washing machine. That setup worked very well for us when we wanted to cook some meals.
The location made it easy to get around. Trains and subways were within walking distance, so getting to Osaka Castle, Kobe or back to Kyoto was straightforward. Most days started with a quick train ride out, and we only really saw the Namba area and the Tsutenkaku Hondori Shopping Street properly at night on the way back.
Cherry blossom-wise, Osaka itself was still behind Kyoto. Around Osaka Castle Park, most of the trees were only just starting to open. There were a few early trees near full bloom, which made for nice photos, but large parts of the park were still in the budding stage. It was a pleasant walk, just not the full sea of pink you see in postcard shots.
Cherry blossom-wise, Osaka itself was still behind Kyoto. Around Osaka Castle Park, most of the trees were only just starting to open. There were a few early trees near full bloom, which made for nice photos, but large parts of the park were still in the budding stage. It was a pleasant walk, just not the full sea of pink you see in postcard shots.
Even along Namba, there were lone cherry trees just starting to blossom.
Because of that, we found ourselves going back to Kyoto repeatedly. In the end, we visited the Yodo Canal three times, simply because the blossoms there were so much better than anything else we were seeing. With the rail pass, hopping back and forth felt almost routine, so Osaka became more of a sleeping base than a pure cherry blossom stop.
We also took the chance to head over to Kobe for a short visit and a proper Kobe beef lunch. The ride out is quick from Osaka, and it made for a nice break from blossom-chasing. We tried Steakland Kobe, which is very much a tourist favourite but still delivered a decent teppanyaki experience for the price. It was one of the few times on the trip where the focus shifted away from sakura and back to food.
Wrapping up
Looking back, this trip could easily have gone very differently. Even right up to the day before departure it felt like we were rolling the dice on timing. If not for that one Reddit mention of Yodo Canal, we might have missed some of the most beautiful cherry blossoms altogether.
In the end, though, things lined up better than expected. We really loved the deep pink Kawazu-zakura cherry trees. Kyoto offered enough scattered spots to feel like spring was underway. Osaka gave us a slower, more gradual bloom, plus a comfortable and affordable base to work from. It was not a “perfect peak” sort of trip, but it was a very solid one.
The EVA Air redemption also required a lot of heavy lifting. Being able to book three business class tickets at 25,000 miles per person each way during peak season made the whole idea much more palatable, even with overnight layovers in Taipei.
If there is one takeaway, it is that cherry blossom trips are rarely about hitting one ideal date. They are about building in enough flexibility to move around, watching the forecasts closely and being willing to chase pockets of cherry blossoms wherever they appear. And yes, that means chasing for them!
