Mount Yoshino, Nara Prefecture, Japan

Mount Yoshino is one of the best places in Japan to experience the spring cherry blossom season. Over 30,000 flowering Japanese cherry trees, or sakura, grow in four main groves on the hillside, with some of them planted over 1,300 years ago. Because the trees grow at different elevations, they start to bloom from the bottom of the mountain and slowly work their way up as the season progresses. Peak bloom usually arrives between early and mid-April. Most years, crowds wander through the town of Yoshino, visiting its traditional temples and shires, before enjoying the beauty of the cherry blossoms, a custom known as hanami.
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