When I went to Japan, every year, on business, it was often in the Spring, but the clients always said the Sakura was very dependent on the climate. The Sakura has its own weather forecast, I believe, as it moves from south to north. I was lucky to be there at exactly the right time, once, playing golf at the Yokohama Country Club, surrounded by glorious blossom! I also have a book written by an English guy, teaching English in Kagoshima, in the South. After too much sake, he said he would follow the Sakura as it travelled north, all the way to Hokkaido. He hitchhiked! Interesting book, a lot about the Japanese people he met along the way, who were extraordinarily helpful. He spoke good Japanese, which i suspect was necessary!