The History of Hanami: From Heian Courts to Edo Parties

Follow cherry blossom viewing from rice-planting rituals and imperial poetry banquets to the lively riverbank picnics of old Edo.

Published October 21, 2026 at 11:47 PM JST | By Tokyo Paul

Quick answer: Hanami began as a farming ritual and an aristocratic pastime, then grew into a public party. Court nobles admired plum blossoms in the Nara period, shifted to cherry blossoms in the Heian era, and the official chronicle records an imperial viewing in 812. Samurai adopted the custom, and in the Edo period shoguns planted cherry groves so ordinary people could enjoy spring too.

Hanami, literally flower viewing, is so familiar today that it can seem timeless, yet it took more than a thousand years to become the picnic-and-sake tradition that fills Japanese parks each spring. The story moves through temples, palaces, great feasts and city riverbanks. Each era added something new, from poetry to music to food. This guide follows that path step by step, starting with the early link between cherry trees and rice farming and ending with the public parks that still carry the Edo spirit.

The short version of a long tradition

Hanami grew in layers, and each layer is still visible in how people celebrate today. There was an early agricultural layer, a poetic court layer, a status-conscious samurai layer and, finally, a joyful city layer. Modern picnics combine all four, with poetry replaced by photos but the pleasure in a fleeting bloom unchanged.

Historians usually mark three turning points. The first is the move from plum to cherry as the favorite blossom in the Heian period. The second is the great feast at Daigoji temple in 1598, which showed how spectacular a blossom party could be. The third is the Edo period, when cherry viewing became the culture of ordinary townspeople.

Cherry blossoms and the rice calendar

Long before courtiers composed verses, cherry blossoms were tied to farming. Accounts of the early custom say that farmers believed field gods settled into the cherry trees each spring, and that the blossoms signaled when to begin planting rice. People held a day of rest and a picnic beneath the trees, sharing sake first offered to the gods, in the hope of a good harvest.

Ancient regional records, including the Hitachi no Kuni Fudoki, describe people of all ranks climbing Mount Tsukuba to feast, drink, exchange poems and dance in spring. Although the details vary between sources, the pattern is clear: viewing flowers was never only about beauty. It was a seasonal moment that joined the community, the land and the harvest.

From plum to cherry in the Nara and Heian periods

The aristocratic form of hanami began in the Nara period (710 to 794). At that time the favorite flower was the plum, or ume, a tree imported from China, and elites gathered to admire the blossoms while reciting poetry and drinking wine, following a Chinese custom.

During the Heian period (794 to 1185) attention moved to cherry. The chronicle Nihon Koki records a cherry blossom viewing in the year 812, and Emperor Saga is remembered for holding flower feasts with sake at the Kyoto court. From that point, the word flower in classical poetry usually meant cherry blossom. The Kokin Wakashu, an anthology compiled in the early tenth century, contains more than three times as many cherry poems as plum poems, a sign of how completely the taste had changed. The Tale of Genji, written in the eleventh century, also uses the word hanami for cherry viewing, and the blossoms appear there as a backdrop for romance and youth.

Samurai, status and the feast at Daigoji

As the warrior class gained power, hanami moved from palace gardens into samurai life. Cherry trees became symbols of status, and powerful rulers used blossom parties to display taste and wealth. The most famous example is the party at Daigoji temple in Kyoto, held by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1598.

Accounts of the event describe about 700 cherry trees brought from across the country and replanted for the occasion, and about 1,300 guests. Several tea houses were built for the gathering, and the day was later recorded on a folding screen. Daigoji is now part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, and the streets around its Sambo-in subtemple are still lined with cherry trees that draw crowds each spring.

Edo period: the shoguns plant cherry groves

Peace under the Tokugawa shoguns, beginning in 1603, gave towns money and free time, and flower viewing spread to merchants and craftspeople. The shoguns helped by planting trees. The third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, had cherry trees set out on the hill of Kaneiji temple at Ueno, modeled on Mount Yoshino, and the eighth shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune, expanded planting in the early eighteenth century.

Yoshimune had cherry trees planted along the Sumida River from Mukojima to Senju, on Gotenyama hill in Shinagawa, and at Asukayama in Oji, where thousands of trees were set on a hill with views toward Mount Tsukuba and Mount Fuji. He also developed farmland at Koganei, with cherry trees along the Tamagawa Aqueduct. These were not private gardens. They were places meant for the people of Edo to enjoy, and Asukayama is still a park today.

How Edo people celebrated under the trees

Edo hanami was a social occasion filled with food, music and costume. Accounts from the late Edo period say that whole neighborhoods and row-house communities went out together, wearing special outfits and spending the day eating, drinking and singing. Catching a falling petal in a sake cup was considered stylish. Many woodblock prints of the era show people enjoying the blossoms.

Each famous spot had its own character. At Ueno the temple set rules against drinking, instruments and night viewing, and the gates closed at dusk, so lively parties moved elsewhere. Along the Sumida River, visitors came by boat and stopped at teahouses on the embankment. At Asukayama, guests combined blossom viewing with a visit to a shrine and played a game of throwing small clay plates from the cliff. Spring outings were also a time to gather clams on the tidal flats and pick wild plants.

Into the modern age

After the Meiji period began in 1868, Japan opened public parks, and in 1873 Ueno, Shiba, Asakusa, Fukagawa and Asukayama were established as some of the first. The fast-growing Somei Yoshino cherry spread through towns and schools, and it became the standard hanami tree across the nation.

Urban growth erased many older Edo varieties, but gardeners and mayors along the Arakawa River in Tokyo planted collections of different cultivars, and a Kyoto gardener propagated them. After World War II, research institutes and flower associations preserved these varieties, and from the 1960s many were again used for viewing. Today hanami still features sake, snacks, blankets and evening viewing, and in Ueno Park and other places lanterns glow after dark.

What the history teaches for your own hanami

Knowing the story makes a picnic richer. The poetry of Heian nobles lives on when people pause to look at a single branch, the Edo party spirit shows up in shared food and laughter, and the farming past still appears in the seasonal sense of renewal. Visitors can bring a waterproof blanket, warm layers and a bag for trash, then follow local park rules, which often ask guests to avoid sitting on tree roots.

A good approach is to pair a famous Edo-era spot with a quieter site. Ueno Park and the Sumida River area keep the old city atmosphere, while temples in Kyoto recall the Heian and Momoyama centuries. Whichever place you choose, check local bloom reports and park notices before you travel, since timing changes from year to year.

Want to go deeper? Tokyo Paul's book Japan Cherry Blossom Photobook is available on Amazon.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did hanami start in Japan?

Hanami began as a rural spring ritual tied to rice planting and became an aristocratic custom in the Nara and Heian periods. The chronicle Nihon Koki records a cherry blossom viewing in 812, and Emperor Saga is remembered for the court flower feasts that followed.

Was hanami originally about plum blossoms?

Yes. In the Nara period, elites admired imported plum blossoms while writing poems and drinking wine. By the Heian period cherry had overtaken plum, and the Kokin Wakashu anthology contains more than three times as many cherry poems as plum poems.

Who made hanami popular with ordinary people?

The Edo period shoguns did, especially Tokugawa Yoshimune. In the early eighteenth century he had cherry trees planted along the Sumida River, at Asukayama and in other places, and these spots became public gathering places for townspeople.

Further Reading

To explore further, see Hanami and National Diet Library: Cherry Blossom Viewing Spots in Edo.

Keep Exploring

More guides from Tokyo Paul: What Do Cherry Blossoms Mean in Japan? Symbolism, Art and the Seasons, Hanami Etiquette: Enjoying Cherry Blossoms Politely and Ueno Park: Museums, Cherry Blossoms and a Famous Zoo.