Mt. Fuji Cherry Blossoms - Off the Beaten Path

I am currently leading my Japan cross country cherry blossom photo workshop tour to one of my must see locations for any visiting photographer, the iconic peak, Mt. Fuji.  However, because I am a Japan local, I am staying away from the Fuji Five Lakes at the moment and taking my participants to the other side of Mt. Fuji away from the throngs of tourists that swarm Mt. Fuji on a daily basis.  Several varieties of cherry blossoms are in bloom, the faintly pink somei yoshino (Prunus yedoensis) and the wild mountain cherry blossom (Prunus jamasakura) are only two of the many peppered around Lake Tanuki during this time of year.  To ensure my participants capture once in a lifetime photos, our workshop starts well before dawn and continues into the evening.  Lake Tanuki also boasts a photographing phenomenon only available during spring and summer, ‘Diamond Mt. Fuji’, so when the conditions are just right, the sun sits right on top of Mt. Fuji and creates a shot that I have a few of myself and am happy to introduce to my participants.  The Japan cherry blossom photo workshop experience also includes birding photography as part of it because the Japanese warbling white-eye (Zosterops japonicus), locally known as the メジロ (mejiro) slurps the sweet nectar of the blossoming sakura as they navigate the expansive cherry blossom forests.  The Siberian blue robin (Larvivora cyane), wrens (Troglodytes troglodytes), and many others also occupy the region during sakura season, and it’s one more feature that I can offer my cherry blossom photo workshop participants having scouted and photographed in the region for over 20 years.