Mount Yoshino, also known as Yoshinoyama, is located about 30-40 km southeast of Nara city center. It has been a religious pilgrimage site for over a thousand years and was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. Mount Yoshino is visited by many people every spring (around late March to early April), when more than 30,000 cherry blossom trees here bloom together. It is also considered one of the best cherry blossom viewing spots in the world .
Yoshino Mountain Address: Google Map.
As for how to get there, first go to Yoshino station, address HERE .
Trains to Mount Yoshino depart every hour, so it's best to go early to avoid the crowds. This is especially important during cherry blossom season (March-April) and autumn foliage season (November), as these periods draw many visitors.
In front of the station, you'll find many shops selling souvenirs, food, and drinks. Be sure to prepare well before starting the climb up the mountain, as the journey can be quite strenuous!
During the cherry blossom season, to accommodate the large number of tourists, the local authorities also dispatch many buses to this area, operating continuously throughout the day.
Based on my observations, although the queue to board the bus was quite long, it only took about 15-20 minutes, and nearly everyone had boarded the bus to head up to the middle of the mountain.
The second mode of transportation is the cable car at Senbon-guchi Station, located on the opposite side of Yoshino Station.
Senbon-guchi Cable Car Station Address: Google Map
Depending on your fitness level, you can choose the route that best suits you. If you're in good health and comfortable with hiking, you can take the cable car and then walk to the top of the mountain. If you're not familiar with mountain climbing, you can take the bus directly to the viewing point at the summit.
The most famous viewing spot of this mountain is Kami senbon. The address is HERE .
After many seasons of riding the cable car and climbing the mountains here, this year I decided to drive to the viewing spot so I could take photos of Mount Yoshino at various times, from dusk to dawn. I started my journey at midnight and arrived at the Kami Senbon point by 3 a.m. The parking fee here is 1500 JPY, and it fills up extremely quickly. My advice is to come the night before, secure a parking spot, set up your camera tripod in advance, and sleep in the car while waiting for dawn.
I reached the top of the mountain at 3:30 in the morning, and there were almost no available spots to place my camera tripod—only 1 or 2 spots were left, so I was very lucky to find one!
And here is my result:
I took a 1-minute exposure, and luckily, during that time, a car was driving up the mountain. I managed to capture a streak of light on the road from the car's headlights. It turned out to be one of the most memorable moments of my trip.
By around 5:30, it was getting light, so I moved down to capture more photos from different angles of the mountain.
At about 6:00 a.m., I got in the car and headed down the mountain to avoid the traffic jams, as more people started arriving to admire the scenery.
Yoshino is an incredibly peaceful mountain, far from the hustle and bustle of the city, where you can leave all your troubles and worries behind to fully immerse yourself in nature. Not only is it famous for its cherry blossoms, but the red leaf season here is equally beautiful. Be sure to save this article so you can visit Yoshino again in the fall!
After finishing my journey at Yoshino Mountain, I moved to the next destination, which is also one of the most beautiful cherry blossom viewing spots in Nara Prefecture, which is Tsubosaka Dera Temple. The article about Tsubosaka Dera is also on my Blog. You can click HERE to read more.
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