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I’m back in Tokyo for a week’s break before heading out again to chase the light and capture the perfect cherry blossoms again and again. I would stay on the road, but I have been photographing nonstop this spring on a broken ankle; it’s only a hairline fracture, along with a tendon strain, and I have been taking care of it wearing compression socks and light strong hiking boots, but my sports therapists insist I take another week's break between workshops to check my ankle tendon and boots, and I am happy to report I am healing nicely, and should be back to normal by summmer, just in time for a long camping and birding trip to photograph the Ruby King Fisher in Norther Japan. 

 

Cherry Blossoms 2026

This year’s cherry blossom journey began over a month ago, during which I’ve led one group on a cross-country journey from Tokyo to the Sea of Japan and back. This group had six partiants, then I led two private cherry blossom workshops in northern Japan, taking them from Tokyo, Gunma, Niigata, Yamagata, Akita and into Aomori, then back to Tokyo.  Each day, my participants have been delighted in experiencing the perfect cherry blossoms in mankai. Plus, in my three workshops, we were able to visit Japanese Samurai castles; the castles we visited host the top cherry blossom light-up events across Japan. 

With nearly thirty years of experience leading annual cherry blossom workshops, I know these routes and bloom schedules intimately, like the back of my hand. My dedicated support team and office manager—who is often my assistant on the road—have worked alongside me for over twenty years, and we are like family, and our families are very close-knit. Plus, we are all locals, and without this team, I wouldn’t be able to lead group workshops; I’d have to return to private sessions only. Thankfully,the team and I see eye to eye on our tasks, and each of us has our strengths, and we work well together; the proof is in the photography.  The way we run our cherry blossom photo tours, our Autumn photography tours, and Hokkaido photo tours, introducing our clients to spots way off the beaten path with minimal tourists, and almost no foreign tourists milling about, is no easy task. Believe me, our team of pros is rare; most who run Japan photography tours and workshops rely on public transportation and keep to the beaten path. Which is the complete opposite of us, we stay away from the tourist region hot spots, and peak times of day. I mean, when you think of it, why would you go to a foreign country, pay thousands of dollars to join a photo workshop tour just to be around the mainstream of tourists, and follow an hour schedule? You could do this alone!  (Just imagine photographing a cherry blossom tree that has been photograhed ten thousand times a day) WOW! NO FUN!

In a year, I turn down at least a dozen private photo workshops, not because of the people or where they are from, but because of where they want to go; in short, they did Google searches on cherry blossoms in Japan or other top-ranking internet hits! And by the way, I do not run photo workshops in Kyoto anymore, and I could easily tell you of a dozen other places I will not visit to photograph anymore. The main reason I don’t take my clients to these spots anymore is due to over-tourism. Even in the Mt. Fuji region, we saw that the Churito Pagoda and the 2026 Arkaurayama Sengen Park Cherry Blossom Festival in Fujiyoshida, Japan, had been cancelled due to severe overtourism. City officials cited excessive crowds, chronic traffic, littering, trespassing, and disrespectful behaviour. As a longtime resident of the region, I can tell you I did not plan to visit the festival and have not for close to 10 years due to overtourism. 

So I am sure you are asking, where do you go? Where do you lead your annual Japan photo tours?  Well, sorry, that is a trade craft secret, and most of our lodgings are booked a year or two in advance.  Plus, these lodgings see very few Western visitors a year; their target is domestic Onsen tourism, and they are doing well. They don’t mind my photography groups, as true nature and wildlife, landscape photographers have a good reputation, plus don’t forget we are locals, and the same lodgings we use for photo workshops are the same ones my family and my teams use throughout the year. Plus, I have a great booking agent and pro drivers, a very close relationship with many lodgings, and an amazing personal assistant and network group throughout Japan. And even our routes are mainly in my and the team's hearts and heads; we don’t need to write anything down. We are all locals, and the regions we visit are next to our homes. And I will not run a photo workshop in a region that the team and I have not scouted for several years, so nothing is left to chance.  Our participants get a list of where we will be staying and a rough itinerary, but in truth, on any true photography journey, especially one where you are seeking the perfect cherry blossom, autumn maple leaf colours, or Hokkaido winter wildlife or landscapes, golden hours, or Ocean Stack photography, it’s all about the journey and chasing the light! That's what a true photography tour is all about! Think about this: on average, the Japan Meteorological Agency provides 15 cherry blossom reports per year, and some years it climbs to 25 or more. The first report is given in December, and it's what run-of-the-mill photo tour agencies go by; they fill up their tours as fast as they can. 

One thing I can guarantee about Blain Harasymiw Photography workshops is that clients will experience the perfect cherry blossoms on almost every day, something others cannot guarantee. In most other agency photo workshops, your group leader will be watching a clock and the schedule, with little freedom to chase the light. 
Happy Hanami 2026. Contact to be added to my Waitlist for Cherry Blossom in 2027 and 2028, group or private.
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