It’s officially cherry blossom season in Tokyo, and although festivals have been cancelled and hanami parties have been discouraged, there are still a number of exciting sakura-themed events and tours out there for you to enjoy safely. One such event is the new virtual hanami flower viewing taking place at Tokyo Tower to commemorate Gucci’s 100th anniversary.
The fashion house is teaming up with Tokyo Tower for an augmented reality (AR) hanami experience featuring floral patterns by late American designer Ken Scott. Scott’s colourful, vibrant designs are also featured in a recent capsule collection for the luxury label.
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The virtual hanami is running until Friday April 2 and is completely free to experience. All you need to do is visit the official Gucci Hanami website from your smartphone. From there, you’ll need to make sure you can see Tokyo Tower in real life, so you can point your camera at the tower to start the AR hanami. The good thing is that you don’t even need to be at Tokyo Tower to enjoy the virtual sakura gliding across your screen. Even if you can see the tower in the distance, the AR experience will still work.
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In conjunction with the event, Tokyo Tower will also be lit up in bright Gucci colours until Friday March 26. To top it all off, the Gucci logo will also be shining front and centre on the tower. There's plenty of time to catch the light-up – it starts from sunset and remains lit until midnight.
For more cherry blossoms, check out our ultimate guide to sakura season in Tokyo.
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