The city of Hadano in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan is a major producer pickled cherry blossoms yielding more than 80 percent of the country's total. Dubbed the hometown of cherry blossom foods, Hadano is the only place in Japan to sell cherry blossom onigiri.

For traditional Japanese weddings, boiled water is used in pickling, giving blossoms deep pink color as they fully absorb the pickling material. The flowers become evenly covered with tiny white particles as if picked up from the snow. The blossoms are made into ceremonial drinks featuring named cherry blossom soup or cherry blossom tea. The tea has a similar taste to black tea with a distinctive faint scent and is also an effective for weight loss.