7 Best Cherry Blossom-themed Sakura Foods You Need To Try

During the Japanese spring season, we all know that hanami = sakura-themed picnic food. Beyond vibing as an otome (maiden) in the spring, hanami also involves indulging in a delightful menu of sakura-themed picnic foods.

From the traditional sakura dango and sakura senbei to modern creations like Starbucks' latest sakura drink, these culinary delights add a flavourful twist to the season's festivities.

Read along to discover seven of the best Japanese foods to try out for the complete cherry blossom experience.

The word 'hanami' literally translates to "flower viewing", and it's a traditional Japanese practice that the locals have been doing since the Nara period in ancient Japanese times.

When cherry blossoms go in full bloom, it symbolises hope and renewal. And what better way to manifest this in your life than by eating sakura food, right?

The popular kinds of food to eat for hanami are usually ones that are easy to pack and carry around since many locals gather with loved ones and enjoy a nice day out together. This includes sakura snacks like jelly infused with sakura flavour (KW variation of sakura flavor), and even sakura sake and beer. Cheers to that, mate! You'll even catch brands coming out with limited-edition, unique Japanese food like cherry blossom-flavoured KitKat.

Yes, it looks exactly like this emoji! 🍡 It's three skewered glutinous rice balls that come in different colours, and each represents one thing. Pink is for the cherry blossoms in spring, the white rice ball in the middle represents the winter snow, and the green one is for the grass that starts to grow during spring.

Fun fact: the pink rice ball was traditionally naturally coloured by using a salt-pickled cherry blossom, but since these are hard to come by these days, it's now commonly made with artificial food colouring. This chewy and tender sakura munchie has a hint of sweetness and is typically served alongside a cuppa tea.

If you thought all sakura food was just sweet, think again! Sakura onigiri is the spring season's take on one of Japan's popular dishes called onigiri. It's essentially shaped rice stuffed with pickled cherry blossoms, with a pickled sakura leaf on the outside. It can be formed in either the traditional triangular onigiri shape or simply as round balls.

The prep to make this snack is quite a process, from cooking the rice with salted cherry blossoms to pickling the sakura leaves so that this savoury snack can last a bit longer. So, if you see this among the heaps of Japanese street food, give it a go and let us know what you think!

Sakura mochi is a kind of wagashi, which means it's a traditional Japanese food that's served with green tea. It's made with sweet red bean paste inside, wrapped in a pickled cherry blossom leaf. During the spring, you can easily find this all over groceries and convenience stores.

There are two types of sakura mochis you'll come across: Kansai and Kanto-style. Kansai-style is made with domyoji flour and is generally stickier, chewier, and round in shape. This one is more widely known in Japan. As for the Kanto-style sakura mochi, it's made with the same rice flour that's used to make mochi.

Based on appearance, this looks more like a sweet red bean paste rolled in a pink crepe. If you want to explore, have a sakura-themed day trip around Tokyo to shop and prep for a nice arvo picnic with free sakura munchies, check this out.

This is one of the Japanese snacks that you can take home as a souvenir for loved ones back home! All year long, these senbei rice crackers come in different shapes and sizes. But for springtime, lots of brands come out with sakura-themed ones that come in a pretty pink colour or cherry blossom flavour!

Sakura senbei is that signature Japanese rice cracker batter made with a mix of cherry blossom petals and baked until it gives you that satisfying crunch. Then, they place a cherry blossom-flavoured filling inside and sandwich them up—perfect to match with your green tea! We say you chuck some in your luggage and bring these unique snacks home; they'll be a sure hit among friends and family.

Every year, you'll see that big brands release limited-edition spring-themed snacks and drinks. Starbucks usually comes out with milky sakura lattes, frappuccinos, and sakura dessert cakes that you can have to go, so you can easily stop by the nearest brand before heading to a hanami. Speaking of drinks, beer companies like Asahi also release sakura beer, which is best enjoyed after Japanese dinners when drinking with your best mates.

As for KitKat, they never fail to come out with unique flavours that you can't resist adding a bag to your grocery basket or whenever you go on a Don Quijote run. For spring, they've released a sakura mochi-flavoured KitKat in the prettiest pink packaging! It combines the sweet, floral subtleness of cherry blossoms with a hint of sake.

Yup, you read that right! Who would've ever thought that sakura would taste great in savoury and rich Japanese dishes like a comforting bowl of ramen? Ramen is an essential part of Japanese cuisine. And while you'll find a lot of Japanese restaurants serving them, not many would serve this unique flavour bomb. Mitsuyado Seimen made a spring version of their Tsukumen ramen that's topped with grated mountain yam, mentaiko, which is a traditional Japanese seafood made from pollock or cod roe, and salted cherry blossoms.

If you haven't tried tsukumen ramen, it's the type in which you dip Japanese noodles in a side of rich soup or broth. It's great to enjoy a hot bowl of ramen to warm you up from the chilly spring temperatures because, once summer rolls around, you might end up craving cold soba noodles instead.

Don Quijote is a haven for cheap thrills and little knick-knacks like sakura candy. Once you enter the busy shop, you'll instantly feel like a kid in a candy store! You can spot lots of them on shelves, ranging from hard, chewy gummies to soft, pillow-like Hello Kitty sakura marshmallows.

Your ankle-biters would easily spend an hour just looking at the different candy assortments! But no worries, you can explore other floors dedicated to gadgets, skincare and makeup, and clothing, so there's a floor for everybody in the family.

Oh, and if you can't make your way to Japan in time for spring, you can still experience a cherry blossom festival during the fall right in Yarra Valley, 'Straya! But we highly suggest that you fulfil your Japan spring travels for the real deal.

There are plenty of things to do and see in Japan, so make sure to block off at least five days so you can sneak some day trips here and there. For now, we hope this inspires you to chase after your dream travel bucket list and explore different cultures. Trust us, you defo won't regret choosing Japan for your next trip!