Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots

Matsumae Park松前公園Hokkaido

Matsumae, Hokkaido's only castle town, grows about 10,000 cherries of some 250 varieties in the park around its castle, and because early, mid-season and late kinds take turns, the flowering lasts a month. The one you see most is Naden, Matsumae's signature early cherry; its parent tree, the Kechimyaku-zakura, still blooms at Kozenji in the temple quarter north of the castle after more than 300 years.

Getting there: 89 min by Hakodate Bus (route 521) from Kikonai Station on the Hokkaido Shinkansen to the Matsushiro stop, then a 7 min walk up to the castle; or 55 km by car from Kikonai. Best: Usually late April to mid May; the 78th Matsumae Sakura Festival ran April 18 to May 10 in 2026, with the trees lit from sunset until 21:00. Our Hakodate guide

Nijukken-doro Cherry Avenue, Shizunai二十間道路桜並木Hokkaido

Two rows of cherries run dead straight for 7 km across Hidaka's racehorse country, one on each side of a road built twenty ken (36 m) wide. The 2,000-plus trees, Ezo-yamazakura and other wild cherries dug up in the surrounding hills, were replanted over three years from 1916 along the road the imperial family used when they came to inspect the Imperial Household Ministry's stud farm here.

Getting there: Realistically a car trip: the avenue begins 7 km (13 min) north-east of central Shizunai, which is 2 hours' drive from Sapporo. Best: Usually late April to early May; full bloom came on April 25 in 2026, when the Shizunai Sakura Festival ran April 25–30.

Hirosaki Park鷹揚公園Aomori

Around three days after full bloom, fallen petals cover the moats of Hirosaki Castle in drifting sheets, the hanaikada or 'flower rafts', and that is the moment to be among its 2,600 cherries of 52 kinds. The first 1,000 Somei Yoshino were planted in 1882 by Kikuchi Tatee, a former retainer of the Tsugaru lords, and the park's oldest, one of the oldest in Japan, stands in the Ninomaru between the Yoriki Bansho guardhouse and the East Inner Gate.

The castle keep has been closed inside since November 24, 2025, and Hirosaki City plans to keep it shut until fiscal 2032 for quake-proofing and repairs. It is being hauled back onto its original stone base, due there by mid-November 2026, so in spring 2027 it stands in its old place and can be seen from outside, though a work platform hides part of its ground floor; from about autumn 2028 a work shelter will hide it for several years. The outer park is free; the Honmaru around the keep costs ¥320.

Getting there: 28 min walk (2.1 km) from JR Hirosaki Station to the Otemon gate, or a bus to the Shiyakusho-mae Koen-iriguchi stop. Best: Usually mid April to early May; in 2026 the Somei Yoshino were in full bloom April 17–20 and the moats filled with petals April 20–23. The Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival ran April 10 to May 5 in 2026, lit from sunset to 22:00. Visitor guide · Our Hirosaki guide

Ashino Park, Kanagi芦野池沼群県立自然公園Aomori

At Ashinokoen Station the Tsugaru Railway's trains, the Hashire Melos cars named after Dazai Osamu's story among them, pass under a tunnel of cherry branches, and about 1,500 cherries fill the park around Lake Ashino beyond. Dazai grew up in Kanagi and played here as a boy; the park has his statue, a literary monument, and a stone marking the birthplace of Tsugaru-shamisen.

Getting there: 24–33 min by Tsugaru Railway from Tsugaru-Goshogawara to Ashinokoen Station, which stands in the park. Best: Usually mid to late April; in 2026 the tunnel by the station was in full bloom on April 17 and lit 17:00–21:00 until April 25, and the Kanagi Sakura Festival ran April 23–29.

Kitakami Tenshochi北上市立公園展勝地Iwate

Tenshochi's avenue of 470 Somei Yoshino runs 2 km south from Sango Bridge along the Kitakami River, and in festival weeks a horse-drawn carriage works its way down it while koinobori streamers fly across the water. The park opened with its first cherries in 1921; since its centenary the city has been treating the old trees' soil and roots, and in 2026 it reported better bud set and colour.

Getting there: 13 min walk (1 km) from JR Kitakami Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen to Sango Bridge, where the avenue begins. Best: Usually early to mid April by the Japan Weather Association's reckoning, with Kasumizakura elsewhere in the park into early May; the 2026 festival ran April 10–29, and the avenue was lit at night until the petals fell on April 22.

Takamatsu Park (Takamatsu Pond), Morioka高松公園Iwate

Takamatsu Pond is the water held back by the middle of three flood-control dikes built on Morioka's northern edge in the 17th century, and in 1906 local people ringed it with 1,000 Yoshino cherry saplings to celebrate victory in the Russo-Japanese War. About 800 cherries of several kinds grow round it now, and in January the same water holds more than 600 swans.

Getting there: 15 min by Iwate-ken Kotsu bus (route 11, for Matsuzono) from JR Morioka Station to Takamatsu-no-ike-guchi, then a 1 min walk. Best: Usually mid April to early May, the park's festival season, when the road round the pond is closed to cars 10:00–16:00 on weekends and holidays; in 2026 the trees were in full bloom by April 18. Our Morioka guide

Funaoka Castle Park and the Shiroishi River (Hitome Senbon Zakura)船岡城址公園・白石川堤Miyagi

Climb Funaoka's castle hill, with its 1,000-plus Somei Yoshino, and you look down on the Hitome Senbon Zakura: about 1,200 cherries planted in the Taisho era along 8 km of the Shiroishi River, with snow on the Zao range behind. JR slows its Tohoku Line trains between Funaoka and Ogawara while they bloom, and the fir that gave Yamamoto Shugoro's novel Momi no Ki wa Nokotta ('the fir tree remained') its title still stands on the hill.

The slope car up Funaoka's castle hill is out of service while new cars are built and the line is renovated, so for now the way up is on foot; in April 2026 Shibata's tourism association planned to have it running again for the 2027 festival.

Getting there: 30–31 min by JR Tohoku Line from Sendai to Funaoka; the river bank is 3 min from the station and Funaoka Castle Park 15 min on foot. Best: Usually early to mid April; the castle park's Somei Yoshino opened on April 2 and were in full bloom on April 8 in 2026, during the Shibata Sakura Festival (April 1–16, lit at night from April 3).

Mato Park, Masuda真人公園Akita

Laid out to mark Emperor Taisho's enthronement, Mato Park sets a pond and a small island against the pine-covered slopes of Mount Mato, with 2,000 Somei Yoshino, yamazakura and other cherries around the water. Masuda was the location for Soyokaze, the first film made in Japan after the war, and the park keeps a monument to its song Ringo no Uta, which did much to sell the town's apples.

Getting there: 20 min by taxi from JR Jumonji Station on the Ou Line. Best: Usually mid April to early May; the Mato Park Sakura Festival ran April 12 to May 6 in 2026.

Senshu Park, Akita千秋公園Akita

Kubota Castle, seat of the Satake lords for 267 years, was built with neither stone walls nor a keep, so Senshu Park's cherries grow on old earthworks and along the moats, right in the centre of Akita. About 630 trees flower here, mostly Somei Yoshino, and by Kogetsu Pond grow Omura-zakura, a gift in 2014 from Omura in Nagasaki, home town of Nagaoka Yasuhei, who laid the park out in 1896.

Getting there: 15 min walk from JR Akita Station to the Ninomaru. Best: Usually mid to late April; the 2026 Senshu Park Sakura Festival ran April 11–22, with the inner moat and the Honmaru lit 18:00–22:00. Our Akita guide

Kakunodate: Hinokinai River and the samurai district桧木内川堤・武家屋敷Akita

Kakunodate flowers twice: first the weeping cherries of the samurai street, 162 of them a national natural monument and some over 20 m tall, then a 2 km tunnel of 409 Somei Yoshino on the Hinokinai River bank. The townspeople saved those river trees, planted in 1934, from river works, and every year since 1988 the second-year pupils of Kakunodate Junior High have fertilised them.

Getting there: 15–20 min walk from JR Kakunodate Station on the Akita Shinkansen to the samurai street; the river bank is 200 m beyond it. Best: Weeping cherries mid to late April, the river bank late April to early May (Japan Weather Association); the 2026 festival ran April 15 to May 5, with the samurai street lit until 22:00 and the river bank until about midnight. Our Akita guide

Eboshiyama Park, Akayu烏帽子山公園Yamagata

Eboshiyama rises above the hot-spring town of Akayu with a view across the Okitama basin, and 225 of its 1,000 or so cherries are Edohigan or weeping Edohigan, one of the largest stands of the species in Japan. Edohigan can live a thousand years, so at about 140 these are still young; on the north and west slopes grow second-generation trees from famous cherries all over the country.

Getting there: 27 min walk (2 km) from JR Akayu Station on the Yamagata Shinkansen; in 2026 a free festival bus ran hourly from the station's east exit. Best: Usually mid to late April; the 2026 Akayu Onsen Sakura Festival ran April 3–30, and the trees were lit 18:00–22:00 (to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays) until May 6.

Tsuruoka Park鶴岡公園Yamagata

Tsuruoka Park fills the two inner baileys of Tsurugaoka Castle, and its roughly 700 cherries are at their best along the western moat; in bloom season more than 150 paper lanterns glow among them at night. The castle was pulled down in 1876, and a year later local people built Shonai Shrine in the old Honmaru to honour the Sakai lords who had ruled Shonai from it.

Getting there: 20 min walk (1.8 km) from JR Tsuruoka Station. Best: Usually mid to late April; in 2026 the trees opened on April 3, and the lanterns were lit 17:30–21:00 for about two weeks from then.

Tsuruga Castle Park (Tsurugajo), Aizu-Wakamatsu鶴ヶ城公園Fukushima

Aizu's castle held out under heavy attack in the Boshin War of 1868, and today about 1,000 cherries, most of them Somei Yoshino, grow around its moats and stone walls, their pale flowers setting off the keep's red roof tiles. During the spring festival the whole castle site is lit after dark, one of the largest cherry light-ups in eastern Japan.

Getting there: 17 min on the Haikarasan loop bus from JR Aizu-Wakamatsu Station to Tsurugajo-iriguchi. Best: Usually early to mid April: the castle's ten-year averages are April 7 for first bloom and April 13 for full bloom (April 3 and April 7 in 2026). The Tsurugajo Sakura Festival ran April 1 to May 6 in 2026. Our Aizuwakamatsu guide

Kasumigajo Park (Nihonmatsu Castle)霞ヶ城公園Fukushima

From the rebuilt Minowa Gate to the Honmaru on the summit, Nihonmatsu's castle hill is planted with 2,500 cherries, the bulk of them Somei Yoshino, and the Honmaru's stone walls, restored in full in the 1990s, look down over the town. Lower down, in the Japanese garden, find the Kasa-matsu, a red pine over 300 years old whose branches spread 14 m from a single trunk like an umbrella.

Getting there: 17 min walk (1.3 km) from JR Nihonmatsu Station on the Tohoku Line to the Minowa Gate. Best: Usually early to mid April (Japan Weather Association); the 2026 Kasumigajo Park Sakura Festival ran April 3 to May 6, lit 18:00–22:00.

Miharu Takizakura and Miharu's weeping cherries三春町のシダレザクラFukushima

The Takizakura is a red weeping cherry estimated at more than 1,000 years old, 13.5 m tall, its branches reaching 14.5 m to the south so that the flowers seem to pour down like a waterfall; in 1922 it was among the first cherry trees made national natural monuments. The rest of Miharu counts 70 weeping cherries over a century old, in temple yards and on the castle hill.

Viewing the Takizakura costs ¥500 (free for junior high school age and under) from the day after it opens until it is in leaf; the free 850-space car park opens only in that season.

Getting there: 12–15 min by JR Ban'etsu East Line from Koriyama to Miharu, then 6 km by taxi; in bloom season the temporary Takizakura-go bus runs from Miharu Station (April 3–12 in 2026). Best: Usually early to mid April; in 2026 it opened on April 2 and was in full bloom on April 6, and the tree was lit at night April 3–15.

Shizumine Furusato Park, Naka静峰公園Ibaraki

Shizumine's 200 Somei Yoshino flower first, and as they drop their petals the 2,000 or so yaezakura, about ten double-flowered kinds such as Kanzan and Ichiyo, start to open. That second round is the one the park's festival is named for, and it covers a 12-hectare hill beside Shizu Shrine.

Getting there: 30 min walk from Shizu Station on the JR Suigun Line. Best: Mid to late April for the yaezakura; the 2026 Yaezakura Festival ran April 9–22, and from April 14 to 21 the trees were lit and the park stayed open until 20:00.

Kamine Park and Heiwa-dori, Hitachiかみね公園・平和通りIbaraki

Heiwa-dori, opened in 1951 as Hitachi rebuilt after the war, runs about 1 km inland from the station under Somei Yoshino, and on the festival's main weekend part of it closes to cars while one of the Hitachi Furyumono floats, on UNESCO's intangible heritage list, is shown. Kamine Park, on a hill north of the avenue, adds some 1,000 more cherries and a lookout over the Pacific.

Getting there: Heiwa-dori starts in front of JR Hitachi Station on the Joban Line; Kamine Park is 3.3 km (44 min on foot) from the station. Best: Usually late March to early April: over the last ten years the trees have opened on March 27 on average (March 25 in 2026). The 61st Hitachi Sakura Festival ran April 1–12, 2026, and Heiwa-dori was lit 18:00–23:00 from March 28.

Mount Ohira, Tochigi太平山県立自然公園Tochigi

The scenic road up the north side of Mount Ohira, above Tochigi city, runs for 2 km through a tunnel of Somei Yoshino, part of about 4,000 cherries on the mountain. Near the top is the Kenshindaira lookout, named for the story that Uesugi Kenshin stood there in 1568 amazed at the size of the Kanto Plain; on a clear day you can see Tokyo Skytree and Mount Fuji from it.

Getting there: Bus from JR/Tobu Tochigi Station to Kokugakuin-mae, then a 25 min walk up to Kenshindaira; in peak weeks the road up the mountain is one-way. Best: Usually late March to mid April; the 2026 Ohirasan Sakura Festival ran March 20 to April 12.

Nikko Kaido Cherry Avenue日光街道桜並木Tochigi

In 1951 the five villages along the old Nikko Kaido raised money for 1,300 cherry saplings, and their residents planted them as volunteers. Today about 1,500 cherries, most of them yamazakura, line the road, now National Route 119, for 16 km north from Utsunomiya's ring road until the avenue hands over to the Nikko cedar avenue.

Getting there: 25 min by Kanto Bus (for Sanno-danchi and others) from JR Utsunomiya Station to Kamitomatsuri-sho-iriguchi, at the southern end; there is no car park, so drive the avenue or walk a stretch. Best: Usually early to mid April (Japan Weather Association). Our Utsunomiya guide

Sakurayama Park, Fujioka桜山公園Gunma

Sakurayama's cherries flower in November and December, while the maples around them turn: a third of each tree's buds open then and the rest wait for April, so every tree blooms twice. In 1908 the village made the hillside into a park and planted 1,000 saplings bought as Somei Yoshino; a few years later they suddenly flowered in November, and about 7,000 winter cherries grow here now.

The oldest winter cherries, the ones protected as a national monument, have declined markedly; Fujioka City traced it mainly to light and soil conditions in a 2021–2024 study and is working out how to regenerate them, replanting included (December 2025). The park's trees as a whole still flower in both seasons. Parking costs ¥500 in the flowering seasons (free on December 1).

Getting there: Realistically a car trip; by bus, 35 min (Nihon Chuo Bus) from JR Gunma-Fujioka Station to the Onishi Post Office stop, then 7 km (15 min) by taxi. Best: Winter bloom usually mid November to mid December, with the Sakurayama Festival every December 1; the remaining buds open in early to mid April, alongside some 3,000 Somei Yoshino.

Akagi Nanmen Senbonzakura, Maebashi赤城南面千本桜Gunma

Over three years from 1956 local people planted about 1,400 Somei Yoshino along 3.5 km of road climbing the southern slope of Mount Akagi, and in festival weeks the lower 1.3 km is kept free of cars so you can walk the tunnel. Those trees are ageing, so beside them the community has planted a second grove, Miyagi Senbonzakura no Mori, with 500 cherries of 37 kinds, among them varieties Japan once sent to Washington's Potomac that have since come home, above some 150,000 moss phlox.

Getting there: 20 min by taxi from Ogo Station on the Jomo Electric Railway; on festival weekends in 2026 a day-pass tour bus (¥2,000) ran from the south exit of JR Maebashi Station, 48 min via Gunma Flower Park Plus. Best: Usually early to mid April: over the last ten years the avenue reached full bloom between March 29 and April 17 (April 6 in 2026), by Maebashi City's records. The 2026 Akagi Nanmen Senbonzakura Festival ran April 4–19, lit from sunset to 21:30. Our Maebashi guide

Nagatoro長瀞Saitama

Nagatoro's 3,000-odd cherries line lanes and footpaths around the town rather than party lawns, so this is one to walk or cycle; the classic stretch is Kita-sakura-dori, 400 trees over 2.5 km from Nagatoro Station along the Arakawa to Takasago Bridge. The flowering comes in three waves, from the pale pink Iwata-zakura, named after a district of the town and first studied as a new variety, to 500 double-flowered cherries on the hill behind Fudoji.

Getting there: 45–57 min by Chichibu Railway from Kumagaya (Joetsu Shinkansen, JR Takasaki Line), or 20–23 min from Ohanabatake by Seibu-Chichibu Station, to Nagatoro Station, where Kita-sakura-dori begins. Best: Late March to late April in three waves: Iwata-zakura and the weeping cherries of Hozenji in late March, Kita-sakura-dori in late March and early April, the double-flowered trees in early to mid April. The 2026 Nagatoro Sakura Festival ran March 20 to April 26, with the Iwata-zakura lit until 21:00. Our Saitama guide

Omiya Park, Saitama大宮公園Saitama

Omiya Park opened in 1885 on part of Hikawa Shrine's grounds, and its cherries crowd the Jiyu Hiroba, where hanami groups spread their sheets beneath them; at peak, food stalls line the paths, and after dark the trees along the boating pond are lit. The oldest Somei Yoshino date from the 1920s, and since 2023 the prefecture has been felling hollow-rooted ones and planting saplings its volunteer tree-keepers raised from the park's own trees.

Getting there: 10 min walk from Omiya-koen Station on the Tobu Urban Park Line, or 20 min on foot from the east exit of JR Omiya Station. Best: Usually late March to early April; in 2026 the park declared first bloom on March 19 and full bloom on March 28, and the trees were lit 18:00–21:00 from March 27 to April 5. Our Saitama guide

Kumagaya Sakura Tsutsumi熊谷桜堤Saitama

Five minutes' walk south of Kumagaya Station, about 500 Somei Yoshino line 2 km of the Arakawa's flood bank, with a paved path along the top and a city road beside it that is shut to traffic for the festival. Kumagaya's cherry-bank tradition began on an older dike north of here, named a national Place of Scenic Beauty in 1927 and levelled by postwar land readjustment; a cross-section of it survives in Manpei Park.

Getting there: 5 min walk south from the south exit of Kumagaya Station (Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen, JR Takasaki Line, Chichibu Railway). Best: Usually late March to early April; in 2026 Kumagaya's benchmark tree opened on March 23 and was in full bloom on April 3. The Kumagaya Sakura Festival ran March 25 to April 7, 2026, with lanterns, a light-up from 18:00 to 21:00 and hot-air balloon rides on a few days.

Izumi Nature Park, Chiba泉自然公園Chiba

Izumi is a wooded valley park on the rural eastern edge of Chiba City, and its cherries gather on two open spaces: the Sogen, its biggest lawn, ringed by some 300 Somei Yoshino, yamazakura, Oshima and satozakura, and the Ohanami Hiroba, whose 100 or so trees, many of them large, began with Somei Yoshino from the Shimousa imperial stock farm at Sanrizuka. A big uwamizu-zakura grows there too, a bird cherry that flowers in bottlebrush spikes.

A downpour on August 13, 2026 and then Typhoon No. 25 brought landslides and fallen trees into the park, and Chiba City has closed the valley of ponds (the iris field, the upper, middle and bird ponds, and Izumi Bridge) and several paths. The Sogen and the Ohanami Hiroba lie outside the closed area (city notice, September 24, 2026).

Getting there: 30 min by bus from the east exit of JR Chiba Station (stop 10, for Naruto Station or Nakano Sosajo) to Izumi-koen-iriguchi, then a 10 min walk. Best: Usually late March to mid April (Japan Weather Association); the park's 2026 Sakura Festival ran March 7 to April 12, but the park reported the last of the blossom on April 6.

Shimizu Park, Noda清水公園Chiba

A soy-sauce brewer, Mogi Shichirozaemon of the Kashiwaya house, opened this park in 1894 as Shurakuen, a garden then known for its peach blossom; the first recorded cherry planting came in 1927, and two years later Honda Seiroku, the man called the father of Japan's parks, laid out its extension. About 2,000 cherries grow in the privately run park now, and 170 more line the road from Shimizu-koen Station.

Getting there: 8 min walk (600 m) from Shimizu-koen Station on the Tobu Urban Park Line, along the cherry-lined approach. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association); the 2026 Sakura Festival ran March 14 to April 5, with food stalls and the trees lit at night.

Inokashira Park井の頭恩賜公園Tokyo

About 200 cherries lean out over Inokashira Pond, and from Nanai Bridge across its middle you see the blossom run along both shores; when it falls, the petals cover the water and the rowing boats push through them. The park opened in 1917 as Japan's first onshi park, on land the imperial household gave to the city of Tokyo, and the Ghibli Museum stands inside its grounds.

Getting there: 1 min walk from Inokashira-koen Station on the Keio Inokashira Line, or 5 min from Kichijoji Station (JR Chuo Line). Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association), with later kinds in the west garden into mid April. Our Tokyo guide

Koganei Park小金井公園Tokyo

Some 50 kinds of cherry take turns for a month in Koganei Park, so it is still in flower after central Tokyo has finished; about 400 of its 1,400 trees fill the Sakura no Sono, a 2.9-hectare garden by the west gate, most of them planted for the park's opening in 1954. Next door, the yamazakura avenue on the bank of the Tamagawa aqueduct goes back to the shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune's time and became a national Place of Scenic Beauty in 1924.

Getting there: JR Chuo Line to Musashi-Koganei (22–26 min from Shinjuku), then a Seibu bus from the north exit (stops 2 and 3) to Koganei-koen-nishiguchi, by the Sakura no Sono; or a 2.8 km walk. Best: Late March to late April, one kind after another (Japan Weather Association).

Sumida Park隅田公園Tokyo

Sumida Park lines both banks of the Sumida River between Azuma Bridge and Sakura Bridge, so from under one bank's cherries you look across the water at the other's, with Tokyo Skytree behind the Mukojima side. That bank's 340 or so trees stand where, by tradition, the shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune first had cherries planted; the Asakusa bank has about 400 of 20 kinds, among them a weeping offspring of Miharu's Takizakura, planted in 2013.

Getting there: 3 min walk from Asakusa Station (Ginza Line, Tobu) to the Asakusa bank; the Mukojima bank is 5 min from Tobu Asakusa's north exit across the Sumida River Walk. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association); in 2026 the Asakusa bank's Sumida Park Sakura Festival ran March 15 to April 5, and the Mukojima bank's Bokutei Sakura Festival ran March 20 to April 5, lit 18:30–21:00. Our Tokyo guide

Shinjuku Gyoen新宿御苑Tokyo

Something is in flower in this former imperial garden from the kanzakura of February to the Kanzan of late April, because its 900 or so cherries span some 70 kinds; the 300 Somei Yoshino peak in late March or early April, best seen reflected in Naka-no-ike pond. The land was once the Edo estate of the Naito lords of Takato, and in 2025 Ina City sent Takato kohigan-zakura to be planted by their old pond garden.

Entry costs ¥500 (¥250 for students and over-65s, free for junior high age and under), and alcohol may not be brought in. In 2026 timed tickets had to be bought online in advance for certain weekends and holidays in March and April, except by annual pass holders, free entrants, parents with children of junior high age or under, and pregnant women. Since April 21, 2026 the area round Tamamo Pond, where the Takato cherries were planted, has been closed while a Japanese pavilion is built.

Getting there: 10 min walk from the south exit of Shinjuku Station to the Shinjuku Gate, or 5 min from Shinjuku-gyoemmae Station (Marunouchi Line). Best: Somei Yoshino usually late March to early April, Ichiyo in early to mid April and Kanzan in mid to late April. The garden opens every day, Mondays included, from March 25 to April 24. Visitor guide · Our Tokyo guide

Ueno Park上野恩賜公園Tokyo

By tradition the priest Tenkai, founder of Kan'eiji, brought the first cherries here from Mount Yoshino 400 years ago, and the temple's old precinct now holds about 1,200, flowering over two months from the early kanzakura to the Somei Yoshino. In front of the Dr Bauduin statue at the fountain plaza grows Ueno's own weeping cherry, Ueno-shirayuki-shidare, named by public vote in 2022.

Getting there: 2 min walk from Ueno Station (JR, Ginza and Hibiya lines) or 1 min from Keisei Ueno; the park is open 5:00–23:00. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association); the 77th Ueno Sakura Matsuri ran March 14 to April 5, 2026, with paper lanterns and the trees along Shinobazu Pond lit 17:00–22:00. Visitor guide · Our Tokyo guide

Kinugasayama Park, Yokosuka衣笠山公園Kanagawa

From Kinugasayama Park the view runs out over Tokyo Bay and down across Kinugasa, home ground of the Miura warrior clan, framed by about 2,000 cherries on the hilltop. They grew from trees planted in 1907 around a memorial to the dead of the Russo-Japanese War, and a hiking trail carries on from the park through the hills toward Mount Okusu.

Getting there: 20 min by bus (for Hayashi) from Yokosuka-chuo Station to Kinugasa-koen, then a 10 min walk, or 20 min on foot from JR Kinugasa Station; no car access in the festival weeks. Best: Late March to early April, when the Kinugasa Sakura Festival is held (March 26 to April 5 in 2026, with the trees lit at night).

Odawara Castle Park and Shiroyama Park小田原城址公園・城山公園Kanagawa

Somei Yoshino ring the moats below Odawara Castle, whose keep was rebuilt in 1960 and strengthened against earthquakes in 2016, and in cherry season the trees are lit after dark; by Tokiwagi Bridge, on the way up to the keep, stands a podocarpus put at more than 520 years old. Shiroyama Park is a hill on the other side of the station, where trees round a war memorial were cut in 2016 to open a view of the castle and Sagami Bay.

Getting there: 11 min walk (800 m) from the east exit of Odawara Station (Tokaido Shinkansen, JR and Odakyu lines) to the Tokiwagi Gate; Shiroyama Park is 15 min from the west exit. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association); the castle's own flower calendar gives late March to mid April for the Somei Yoshino, with Kawazu-zakura in February and Oshima-zakura in early April.

Mitsuike Park, Yokohama県立三ツ池公園Kanagawa

Mitsuike means 'three ponds', and the park is built round three old irrigation ponds in the woods of Yokohama's Tsurumi ward; more than 1,000 cherries of about 70 kinds flower in turn around the water, beginning with kanzakura in the last weeks of winter.

Getting there: Rinko Bus route 07 from the west exit of JR Tsurumi Station to Koen-seimon, at the main gate; or Yokohama City Bus 104 from Shin-Yokohama to Mitsuike-koen-kitamon, then a 3 min walk. Best: Mid February to mid April, variety by variety (Japan Weather Association). Our Yokohama guide

Muramatsu Park, Gosen村松公園Niigata

Nearly nine in ten of Muramatsu Park's 3,000 or so cherries are Somei Yoshino, so they open almost together around the pond and the sports grounds at the foot of Atagoyama; among the rest is a rare double-flowered kind, Hozaki-higan-yaezakura. Paths lined with red pines climb Atagoyama to a lookout over the Kanbara plain, and in early to mid April rape flowers cover the Niigata University farmland across the road.

Gosen City reports sightings of bears and wild boar around Atagoyama, the wooded hill in the park, and asks visitors to take care (city notices of May and July 2026).

Getting there: 15 min by car or taxi from Gosen Station on the JR Ban'etsu West Line; in 2026 a free shuttle bus ran on festival weekends from a temporary car park. Best: Usually early to mid April; the 2026 Muramatsu Park Sakura Festival ran April 1–12, with the trees lit 18:00–21:30 from April 3.

Takada Castle Site Park, Joetsu高田公園Niigata

Takada Castle was built in 1614 with neither a keep nor stone walls, so the show here is on its broad inner and outer moats: about 4,000 cherries, most of them Somei Yoshino, line the water, and after dark some 3,000 paper lanterns and the lit three-storey turret are doubled in it. The first 2,200 trees were planted in 1909 to welcome the army's 13th Division, and the organisers count the night view here among Japan's three finest, with Ueno's and Hirosaki's.

Getting there: 22 min walk (1.6 km) from Takada Station on the Echigo Tokimeki Railway, 5–7 min from Joetsu-Myoko on the Hokuriku Shinkansen; at peak a shuttle bus (¥300) runs from Takada Station. Best: Usually early to mid April: full bloom came between March 29 and April 13 in 2020–2025 (festival organiser's records). The 101st Takada Castle Site Park Kanoukai ran April 3–19, 2026, with the lanterns and the turret lit 18:00–21:00.

Okozu Bunsui Cherry Avenue, Tsubame大河津分水Niigata

Okozu Bunsui is a man-made river that takes part of the Shinano off to the Sea of Japan before its floods can reach the Echigo Plain, and the Somei Yoshino on its dikes were planted in gratitude for the work, which first carried water in 1922. About 1,500 still stand between the Okozu museum and Okozu Bridge, and on a Sunday around April 10 an oiran in full costume parades beneath them with her attendants.

In 2016 the national river office began widening the dike on the channel's right bank against seepage, and cherries standing on it had to be felled; those that could be moved were replanted at the former Kugami Elementary School. In 2022, the centenary of the channel's opening, Tsubame City began a project to bring the avenue back with a planting by the Okozu museum.

Getting there: 25 min walk (1.9 km) from Bunsui Station on the JR Echigo Line to the avenue. Best: Usually early to mid April, a little later than in town; in 2026 the 81st Bunsui Oiran Dochu came down the avenue at 14:00 on April 12, during the Tsubame Sakura Festival (March 20 to April 19).

Matsukawa Park, Toyama松川公園Toyama

The Matsukawa is what remains of the old Jinzu River course that once guarded Toyama Castle, and 530 Somei Yoshino line its banks through the city centre, so the best view is from the water: small boats leave the castle park for a 30-minute cruise under the branches. The upstream trees at Isobe were planted in 1913 and mostly came through the air raid of August 1945; those downstream burned and were replanted from 1950.

Toyama Prefecture is repairing about 700 m of the Matsukawa's embankment walls, cracked and bulging since the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake; stretches of the riverside path close while the work goes on, one more cherry is to be felled and replaced with a young tree, and the work is due to finish in late March 2027. The boats stopped for the year on September 27, 2026 so that the work could resume.

Getting there: 11 min walk (840 m) from Toyama Station (Hokuriku Shinkansen) to the Matsukawa Chaya boat landing in Toyama Castle Park. Best: Usually early to mid April; Toyama's benchmark tree was in full bloom on April 2 in 2026. The cruise boats' 2027 spring season is planned for March 20 to April 25. Our Toyama guide

Takaoka Kojo Park高岡古城公園Toyama

Takaoka Castle stood for only six years before it was abandoned in 1615, but its moats were never filled in, so about 1,800 cherries of 18 kinds, Koshi-no-higan and Somei Yoshino among them, now hang over water that Maeda Toshinaga's builders laid out in 1609. During the festival paper lanterns light the paths after dark; the site survived because townspeople had it made a park in 1875 rather than see it sold off.

Getting there: 10 min walk from Takaoka Station (Ainokaze Toyama Railway; 3 min from Shin-Takaoka on the JR Johana Line). Best: Usually early to mid April (Japan Weather Association); the 2026 Takaoka Sakura Festival ran April 1–12, with lanterns lit 18:30–22:00.

Kenroku-en兼六園Ishikawa

Kenroku-en, the old garden of the Kaga lords, has opened free at cherry time since 1977, and for about a week at peak it now stays open into the evening, with its 420 or so cherries of some 40 kinds lit after dark. Stand on Hanami-bashi, the wooden 'flower-viewing bridge' over the winding stream, and if you are in Kanazawa in late April, look for the garden's own Kenroku-en Kikuzakura, with more than 300 petals to a flower.

Getting there: 12 min by bus from Kanazawa Station to Kenrokuen-shita/Kanazawa-jo, then a 5 min walk to the Katsurazaka gate. Best: Usually early to mid April (Japan Weather Association), the Kenroku-en Kikuzakura late April to early May. The free week is announced right after Kanazawa's official bloom declaration; in 2026 it ran April 2–8, 7:00–21:30, lit from sunset. Visitor guide · Our Kanazawa guide

Kasumigajo Park (Maruoka Castle)霞ヶ城公園Fukui

Maruoka Castle's small keep, roofed entirely in stone tiles, is one of the twelve in Japan still standing from before the Meiji era, and about 400 Somei Yoshino grow on the low hill below it. The 1948 Fukui earthquake brought it down, stone base and all, and within seven years it was put back up with more than 70 per cent of its old pillars and beams.

The keep is under seismic and roof repair until about November 2027. Since summer 2026 it has stood inside scaffolding whose sheeting carries a life-size print of it, so in spring 2027 the real keep will not show above the blossom; you can still go inside except on closure days, which Sakai City posts a month or two ahead. Part of the Honmaru round the keep is fenced off, and the rest of the park is open.

Getting there: 18–19 min by Keifuku bus (routes 86 and 87) from Awara-Onsen Station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen to the Maruoka-jo stop, then a 5 min walk. Best: Usually early to mid April (Japan Weather Association); the 2026 Maruoka Castle Sakura Festival ran March 24 to April 17, with the trees lit 18:00–22:00. Visitor guide · Our Fukui guide

Asuwa River and Asuwayama Park, Fukui足羽川・足羽山公園Fukui

A 2.2 km footpath on the Asuwa River's south bank runs under about 600 Somei Yoshino, and Asuwayama, the 116 m hill park just above, holds 3,500 more. Citizens' donations paid for the avenue in the early 1950s, a memorial of Fukui's recovery from the 1948 earthquake; the law does not allow fallen trees to be replaced on the dike, so the city is hard-pruning about 220 of the old ones to keep them going.

Getting there: 10 min walk (800 m) from Fukui Station (Hokuriku Shinkansen) to the avenue at Saiwai Bridge; Asuwayama is 25 min on foot, or 10 min from the Asuwayama-koen-shita stop of the Keifuku bus Shimizu Green Line. Best: Usually late March to early April by the river and early to mid April on Asuwayama (Japan Weather Association); in 2026 Fukui's official tree opened on March 29 and was in full bloom on March 31. The 41st Fukui Sakura Festival ran March 21 to April 12, 2026, with the avenue lit 18:00–22:00 from March 27. Our Fukui guide

Oboshi Park, Fujikawa大法師公園Yamanashi

Oboshi Park's 2,000 cherries cover a small hilltop on the south-west edge of the Kofu Basin, planted over the years since the town began buying the land in 1967, and from under them you look straight across to Mount Fuji, with the basin's towns below and the Yatsugatake range far to the north. At festival time they are lit until 22:00 and set to music twice a night.

Getting there: 45–51 min by JR Minobu Line local from Kofu to Kajikazawaguchi, then 3 km (6 min) by taxi across the Fuji River; on festival weekends a free shuttle runs from a car park in the town centre. Best: Usually late March to early April; in 2026 the park's sample tree opened on March 18 and the hill was in full bloom when the 45th Oboshi Sakura Festival opened on March 28. The festival ran to April 5, with a light-and-sound show at 19:30 and 20:30.

Garyu Park, Suzaka臥竜公園Nagano

Ryugaike, the pond in Garyu Park, was dug in 1931 to give work to people left jobless when the Depression hit Suzaka's silk mills, and the 160 of the park's 600 or so cherries that ring its edge, mostly Somei Yoshino, are mirrored in it. Two yellow-green cherries that originated in Suzaka, Sonosato-kizakura and Sonosato-ryokuryu, open by the pond in late April, and from April you can take a boat out on it.

Getting there: 25–29 min by Nagano Electric Railway local from Nagano to Suzaka, then 7 min by city bus to Garyu-koen-iriguchi and a 3 min walk, or 5 min by taxi. Best: Usually early to mid April; full bloom came between April 3 and April 14 in 2020–2025 (Shinshu Suzaka Tourism Association). In 2026 the trees were lit 18:00–22:00 from April 3 to 15.

Takato Castle Ruins Park高遠城址公園Nagano

Takato's castle hill turns pale pink in April under about 1,500 Takato kohigan-zakura, a cherry smaller and redder than the Somei Yoshino, recognised in 1990 as Takato's own variety. Former samurai of the domain planted the first shoots here in 1876, dug from their old riding ground; the trees were cut for food plots in the war and replanted after it, and the park's tree keepers now nurse an ageing stand, most of it planted more than 80 years ago.

Entry costs ¥600 (children ¥300) from the day after Takato's bloom declaration until the petals have fallen, and was raised to ¥1,000 for the peak weekend of April 4–5 in 2026; the rest of the year the park is free.

Getting there: 21–25 min by JR Bus Kanto (Takato line) from Ina Bus Terminal, beside Ina-shi Station on the JR Iida Line, to Takato Station, then a 20 min walk uphill or 5 min by taxi; extra buses run in bloom season (April 4–12 in 2026). Best: Usually early to mid April: over ten years the trees have opened on April 2 on average and been at their best about a week later. In 2026 they opened on March 28 and peaked April 3–8; the festival ran March 28 to April 13, lit 18:00–21:00 until April 11.

Kaikoen (Komoro Castle Ruins)小諸城址懐古園Nagano

The moss-grown stone walls round the old Honmaru of Komoro Castle, now the park called Kaikoen, overlook the former riding ground, filled with cherries. The Somei Yoshino come first; later in April the Komoro yae-beni-shidare follows, a deep pink double weeping cherry that began here, dwindled to three old trees and has since been planted round the town by local people.

Getting there: 3 min walk from Komoro Station, 21–24 min by Shinano Railway from Karuizawa on the Hokuriku Shinkansen; entry to the grounds costs ¥300 (¥500 with the museums and zoo). Best: Somei Yoshino usually from mid April, the Komoro yae-beni-shidare from late April (Komoro Tourism Bureau); in 2026 the park declared first bloom on April 5, and the Kaikoen Sakura Festival ran April 1–25, lit from sunset to 21:00.

Neodani Usuzumi-zakura根尾谷・淡墨公園Gifu

The Usuzumi-zakura is a single Edohigan, 17.3 m tall, that by tradition the future Emperor Keitai planted more than 1,500 years ago: its buds are pale pink, its full bloom white, and its petals take on a faint ink-grey as they fall, the 'pale ink' of its name. In 1948 a Ministry of Education survey gave it less than three years to live; the next spring 238 young yamazakura roots were grafted onto its surviving ones, and props now hold up its branches.

Getting there: 63–73 min by Tarumi Railway from Ogaki (JR Tokaido Line) to Tarumi, the end of the line, then a 15 min walk (1.2 km); trains are infrequent. By car, 30 min from the Motosu IC, with a 700-space city car park. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association): full bloom began between March 25 and April 11 in 2016–2025, by Motosu City's records. In 2026 the tree was lit 18:40–21:00 from March 13 to April 19.

Kamagatani, Ikeda霞間ヶ渓Gifu

About 1,500 cherries of seven or eight kinds, yamazakura, oyamazakura and Edohigan among them as well as Somei Yoshino, line the stream through Kamagatani, a valley at the foot of Mount Ikeda that has been a national Place of Scenic Beauty and Natural Monument since 1928. They were first planted to hold slopes prone to landslides, when the valley's name was written with the character for 'sickle'; seen from afar they hung over it like haze, and the name was rewritten with the character for haze but kept its sound.

Getting there: 16 min by Yoro Railway from Ogaki to Ikeno, then a 30 min walk west to the valley; 50 free parking spaces. Best: Usually late March to early April (Ikeda Town); in 2026 the town called the trees at their best on March 24, and the park road and the weeping cherry at the Sakura Kaikan were lit 18:00–21:00 from March 23 to April 5.

Shin-Sakaigawa (Hyakujuro-zakura), Kakamigahara新境川堤Gifu

The Somei Yoshino that lean over both banks of the Shin-Sakaigawa, more than 1,000 of them, are called Hyakujuro-zakura after Ichikawa Hyakujuro, a kabuki actor born in what is now Kakamigahara, who made his name mixing stage and silent film and gave cherry saplings for the banks of the new floodway in 1931. His trees were felled in the war; the ones you see were planted to mark Kakamigahara becoming a city in 1963, and its cherry festival fills the civic park beside them.

Getting there: 16 min by Meitetsu Kakamigahara Line from Meitetsu Gifu to Shimin-koen-mae, 3 min from the river; JR Naka Station (Takayama Line) is 10 min on foot. Best: Usually late March to early April (Kakamigahara City; Japan Weather Association); the 50th Kakamigahara Sakura Festival ran March 28 to April 5, 2026, 9:00–17:00.

Sakura no Sato, Itoさくらの里Shizuoka

Some 40 kinds of cherry grow at Sakura no Sato, on the lava plain below Mount Omuro, so that something is in flower from September to late May: Jugatsu-zakura and the winter cherries named after Kenroku-en and Sanbagawa in autumn, then Okan-zakura and Kawazu-zakura, the Somei Yoshino, and Sano-giku last of all. In the grounds lies the scoria raft, a lump of lava from Omuro's eruption some 4,000 years ago wrapped round volcanic cinders like an omelette over rice.

Getting there: 12 min by car or taxi from Izu-Kogen Station (Izukyu Line), 30 min from JR Ito Station; buses for Shaboten Koen take 20 min from Izu-Kogen or 40 min from Ito. Best: The Somei Yoshino usually late March to early April (Shizuoka Prefecture); in 2026 they were lit 18:00–21:00 from March 20 to April 5, free.

Fuji Reien Cemetery, Oyama冨士霊園Shizuoka

Fuji Reien is a cemetery, 211 hectares of it at the eastern foot of Mount Fuji, planted with about 1,000 Somei Yoshino and 7,000 yamazakura, and its main road climbs through a tunnel of them. The road gains height as it goes, so the trees higher up open later than those below and the tunnel stays in flower for longer, and on a clear day Fuji rises above the blossom.

Getting there: 25 min by bus from Suruga-Oyama or Gotemba Station on the JR Gotemba Line: the cemetery's free shuttle on weekdays (from Gotemba only on Tuesdays and Fridays), Fujikyu buses at weekends and on holidays. A daily highway bus runs from Busta Shinjuku. The cemetery and its shuttles close on Wednesdays. Best: Usually early to mid April (Japan Weather Association; the cemetery gives mid April); the grounds are open 9:00–16:30.

Gojo River cherry banks (Iwakura, Konan, Oguchi)五条川Aichi

The Gojo River runs between lines of Somei Yoshino through Oguchi, Konan and Iwakura, just north of Nagoya: Iwakura alone has about 1,200 along 7.6 km of dike-top path, and Oguchi, upstream, 7.8 km of its own. During Iwakura's festival, dyers wade into the river by Toyokuni Bridge to rinse the paste out of freshly dyed carp streamers, the nonbori-arai, under the blossom.

Getting there: 14–22 min by Meitetsu Inuyama Line from Meitetsu Nagoya to Iwakura, then a 6 min walk to the festival square on the river; for Oguchi's stretch, Kashiwamori Station and a 10 min community bus. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association); in 2026 Oguchi's sample tree opened on March 23 and was in full bloom on April 1. The Iwakura Sakura Festival ran March 27 to April 5, 2026, lit 18:00–20:30, and Oguchi lit its banks until April 15.

Tsuruma Park, Nagoya鶴舞公園Aichi

Tsuruma Park opened in 1909 as the first park built by the city of Nagoya, and the cherries to see are in the grove just north of the Fountain Tower, a Roman-style stone fountain that Suzuki Teiji designed for the exhibition held here in 1910. About 750 cherries flower across the park, and in festival weeks food trucks park round the fountain and a beer garden opens under the avenue of Himalayan cedars.

Getting there: Beside JR Tsurumai Station (Chuo Line, 6 min from Nagoya), also on the Tsurumai subway line. Best: Usually late March to early April; the Japan Weather Association starts the window in mid March. The 2026 Sakura Festival ran March 20 to April 12, with the grove lit 18:00–22:00. Our Nagoya guide

Yamazaki River Shiki-no-Michi, Nagoya山崎川四季の道Aichi

Shiki-no-Michi, 'the path of the four seasons', is the name for 2.5 km of the Yamazaki River, from Ishikawa Bridge down to Ochiai Bridge, where some 550 cherries line both banks; a local land-readjustment association of 1927–35 planted the first of them. The best stretch is round Kanae-kobashi, a small wooden footbridge, and near Tanabe Park you can go down to the water's edge; since 2020 the city has been replacing weak Somei Yoshino with young Jindai-akebono.

Getting there: 18 min by subway (Sakura-dori Line) from Nagoya to Mizuho Kuyakusho, then a 13 min walk (1 km) east to Kanae-kobashi. Best: Usually late March to early April; in 2026 the trees by Kanae-kobashi were lit 18:30–21:00 from March 25 to April 3. Our Nagoya guide

Okazaki Castle Park岡崎公園Aichi

Okazaki Castle, where Tokugawa Ieyasu was born, rises white over some 800 Somei Yoshino that spread from the castle park along the Iga River and down to the Oto River, whose riverside park fills with food stalls during the festival. The keep itself is a 1959 rebuild; for the prettiest view, walk round to the north side of the Ieyasu-kan museum, where the blossom hangs over white walls and tiled roofs.

Getting there: 11 min walk (850 m) from Okazaki-koen-mae Station (Meitetsu Nagoya Line) or Naka-Okazaki (Aichi Loop Line), past the Iga River cherries; from Higashi-Okazaki, 32 min from Meitetsu Nagoya by limited express, it is 20 min on foot across the Oto River. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association); the 79th Okazaki Sakura Festival ran March 25 to April 5, 2026, with the trees lit 18:00–21:00 and the castle open until 20:00.

Miyagawa Embankment, Ise宮川堤Mie

Ise's Miyagawa dike has been known for its cherries since the Edo period, and about 700 trees now line 1 km of the river's east bank on either side of Watarai Bridge, a 30-minute walk west of the Outer Shrine. Mie Prefecture lists the bank as a Place of Scenic Beauty, and in most years the trees are lit at peak.

Getting there: 7 min by Mie Kotsu bus from Iseshi Station (JR, Kintetsu) to Watarai-bashi, beside the bank, or 15 min on foot from Yamada-kamiguchi Station (JR Sangu Line). Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association). Ise City held no light-up and no stalls in 2026 because of the Okihiki, the townspeople's hauling of timber for Ise Shrine's rebuilding, which has its second round from May to August 2027.

Mitake cherry avenue, Misugi三多気Mie

Mitake's cherries line the 1.5 km approach from the old Ise-Honkaido road up to Shinpuku-in, a mountain temple on the flank of Mount Obora; most are yamazakura, which open their flowers and leaves together, and in April the rice terraces below reflect them. By tradition the first were planted around 899, and the Kitabatake lords of Ise later lined 8 km of road to the temple gate with cherries.

Getting there: Realistically a car trip: 70 min from the Hisai IC on the Ise Expressway, then an hour's walk, steeply uphill, from the car parks to the temple. By train, 84–87 min on the JR Meisho Line from Matsusaka to Ise-Okitsu (trains are infrequent), then 10 min by Tsu City community bus. Best: Usually mid April (Tsu City); the Japan Weather Association's window runs from early to late April.

Hoko Park (Nagahama Castle), Nagahama豊公園Shiga

Hoko Park spreads over the site of Nagahama Castle, which Toyotomi Hideyoshi built on the shore of Lake Biwa after he became a daimyo in 1573, and its 600 or so cherries crowd round a keep-shaped museum put up in 1983 with townspeople's donations; climb to its lookout to see them from above. Down by the lake, a stone marks the Taiko Well, a well from the castle found in 1939 when drought lowered the water.

Getting there: 7 min walk (550 m) from JR Nagahama Station, 70 min from Kyoto on the JR Biwako Line. Best: Usually early to mid April (Nagahama City); in 2026 the trees opened on March 28 and were in full bloom on April 3, with paper lanterns lit through the viewing season.

Kaizu Osaki, Lake Biwa海津大崎Shiga

Kaizu Osaki is a rocky cape at the north end of Lake Biwa, and about 800 Somei Yoshino, the oldest well over 80 years, follow the shore round it for 4 km, with many visitors coming by boat to see them from the lake. The cape's reefs in the dawn mist are one of the Eight Views of Lake Biwa, with Chikubu Island out in the lake beyond.

Getting there: 65–75 min from Kyoto by JR Kosei Line to Makino, then 2 km on foot to the start of the avenue (4 km, an hour, to Osaki-ji at the far end), or a rental bike or community bus. In bloom season Biwako Kisen boats sail from Imazu (30 min) and Nagahama (75 min), some landing for half an hour, and Ohmi Marine sails from Hikone; the lakeside road is one-way on the peak weekend. Best: Usually early to mid April, about a week after Kyoto city: full bloom began between March 31 and April 13 in 2016–2025 (Biwako Takashima Tourism Association). Biwako Kisen's 2026 cherry cruises ran from March 28 and stopped on April 15 with the blossom over; the 2027 sailings are not yet announced.

Kasagiyama Natural Park, Kasagi笠置山自然公園Kyoto

From the windows of the one- or two-car Kansai Line trains, the cherries round Kasagi Station close in like a tunnel, and the Somei Yoshino and yamazakura carry on along the Kizu River to the riverside camping ground. Above them rises 289 m Kasagiyama, where Emperor Go-Daigo made his stand early in the Genko War; at the temple near its top, only the halo is left of a Maitreya once carved into a 15 m rock.

Getting there: 7–8 min by JR Kansai Line from Kamo, which is 14 min from Nara on the JR Yamatoji Line; trains from Kamo to Kasagi run about once an hour. The riverside camping ground is a 5 min walk from Kasagi Station. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association); the one-day Kasagi Sakura Festival was held at the riverside camping ground on March 28, 2026.

Daigo-ji, Kyoto醍醐寺Kyoto

Hideyoshi had 700 cherries brought in from the provinces round the capital for the great flower-viewing party he held here in the spring of 1598, and Daigo-ji still has about 700, spread over its grounds from the foot of the mountain to the temples at the top. They flower in turn over a month, weeping cherries first, and the one to find is the 180-year-old Daigo great weeping cherry by the Reihokan museum, its branches spreading 24 m.

From March 20 to the third Sunday of April, Sanbo-in, the Garan and the Reihokan cost ¥800 each for adults, or ¥1,800 for all three (¥1,300 for junior high and high school students). Picnic sheets, food brought in from outside and alcohol are not allowed, and the car parks cannot be booked.

Getting there: 19–23 min from Kyoto Station by JR to Yamashina and the Tozai subway line to Daigo, then a 10 min walk from exit 2 to Sanbo-in; or about 30 min on the Kyoto Daigo-ji Line bus from stop H4 at Kyoto Station's Hachijo exit. Best: Weeping cherries usually late March to early April, Somei Yoshino early April and the double-flowered kinds mid April (Daigo-ji); the Japan Weather Association gives late March to early April. The Hotaiko Hanami procession, normally held on the second Sunday of April, was cancelled in 2026. Our Kyoto guide

Omuro cherries, Ninna-ji御室桜Kyoto

The Omuro cherries grow short, so at Ninna-ji you walk among the flowers rather than under them: about 130 clumps of Omuro-ariake crowd a grove just inside the middle gate, with the five-storey pagoda of 1644 rising behind them. They open a week or more after the Somei Yoshino, so they are Kyoto's late show, and Kaibara Ekiken's Edo-period guide to the city already ranked the temple's double cherries first in and around the capital, a match for Yoshino's.

During the Omuro Hana Matsuri the cherry grove has its own entry fee, raised in 2026 from ¥500 to ¥800 for adults (free for high school age and under) to cover rebuilding its viewing decks and making them step-free. In season it opens 8:30–17:30; there is no night viewing, and picnics under the trees are not allowed.

Getting there: 3 min walk from Omuro-Ninnaji Station on the Randen Kitano Line; from Kyoto Station, about 30 min by JR Bus (Takao-Keihoku line) to Omuro Ninnaji. Best: Usually early to mid April (Japan Weather Association): full bloom began between April 2 and April 12 in 2021–2025, by Ninna-ji's records. The 2026 Omuro Hana Matsuri ran March 27 to May 6. Our Kyoto guide

Arashiyama, Kyoto嵐山Kyoto

Almost all of the mountain you see behind Togetsukyo, the 155 m bridge over the Katsura River, is national forest, and in spring its wild yamazakura show pale among the pines and evergreens; the hanami crowds gather under the cherries on Nakanoshima, the island park at the bridge's south end. The evergreens are shading those yamazakura out, so in 1982 the Forestry Agency and local people began planting young ones on the slopes.

Getting there: 5 min walk from Randen or Hankyu Arashiyama Station to Togetsukyo; from Kyoto Station, 11 min by JR San'in Line rapid to Saga-Arashiyama, then 15 min on foot. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association); Kyoto's official tree opened on March 23 and was in full bloom on March 30 in 2026. Our Kyoto guide

Expo '70 Commemorative Park, Suita万博記念公園Osaka

Higashi-oji, the avenue running east from the Tower of the Sun, Okamoto Taro's theme pavilion for the 1970 fair (an Important Cultural Property since 2025), is the centre of the park's 5,500 or so cherries of 12 kinds. Kanhizakura and Kawazu open from mid March, then the Somei Yoshino and Jindai-akebono, and the late double satozakura carry the season into mid April.

Getting there: Osaka Monorail to Banpaku-kinen-koen, then 5 min on foot to the central gate; 36–40 min from Umeda via the Midosuji subway line to Senri-Chuo. Entry to the Natural Cultural Garden and Japanese Garden costs ¥450 (free for junior high age and under); they close on Wednesdays in March but open daily from April 1 to May 2. Best: Mid March to mid April, one kind after another; the Somei Yoshino usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association). SAKURA EXPO 2026 ran March 20 to April 5, and at peak the Higashi-oji avenue was lit until 21:00.

Japan Mint Cherry Passage (Sakura no Torinuke), Osaka造幣局Osaka

Since 1883, when its director decided the blossom was wasted on the staff alone, the Japan Mint has opened the riverside road through its Osaka head office for one week each April. You walk its 560 m one way, south gate to north gate, past 331 trees of 140 kinds (the 2026 count), most of them late double satozakura; look for the Ote-mari and Ko-temari, whose flowers crowd together into balls.

Entry has been by advance online booking only since 2022: you reserve a 30-minute slot, up to five people per booking, first come first served, and show the QR code from the confirmation email at the gate. In 2026 bookings opened on March 18 and stayed open until the last day while slots remained, and a phone line took bookings for people without internet access.

Getting there: 15 min walk from Temmabashi Station (Tanimachi subway line, Keihan) to the south gate, where the passage starts; it ends at the north gate, 15 min on foot from JR Sakuranomiya. No parking. Best: Usually early to mid April (Japan Weather Association); the Mint fixes the week in mid March from a bloom forecast. In 2026 it ran April 9–15, 10:00–19:15 on weekdays and from 9:00 at the weekend. Our Osaka guide

Osaka Castle Park大阪城公園Osaka

Osaka's official cherry tree, the Somei Yoshino the Meteorological Agency watches to start the city's season, grows in the Nishinomaru Garden west of the keep, and on the evening it is declared open the keep is lit cherry pink until midnight. The park's 3,000 or so cherries are about 70 years old, and some 300 of them, mostly Somei Yoshino, fill the Nishinomaru lawn; the double-flowered trees by the Tamatsukuri entrance are the last to open.

Getting there: 11 min walk from Tanimachi 4-chome Station (Tanimachi and Chuo subway lines) to the Nishinomaru Garden gate, or 22 min through the park from JR Osakajokoen Station. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association); Osaka's official tree opened on March 26 and reached full bloom on April 3 in 2026. From March 20 to April 12, 2026 the Nishinomaru Garden stayed open until 21:00 with the trees lit, for ¥350 (¥300 the rest of the year). Visitor guide · Our Osaka guide

Shukugawa Park, Nishinomiya夙川公園（夙川河川敷緑地）Hyogo

What sets the Shukugawa apart is its pines: about 1,300 cherries, most of them Somei Yoshino, line 2.8 km of the river's banks among some 1,200 pines, the survivors of a riverside forest saved in 1937 when the riverbed was laid out as a parkway. The first 1,000 cherries were planted in 1949 at the mayor's suggestion; for the view, stand on Kurakuenguchi or Oide Bridge, or by Katahoko Pond.

Nishinomiya bans hanami parties of five or more with drinking (families excepted) and, because houses line the banks, closes both banks between Hankyu Shukugawa Station and Oide Bridge to blossom viewing from 18:00 until the next morning. On busy weekends the paths between Hagoromo and Korogi bridges are one-way; there are no bins, no stalls and no smoking.

Getting there: 15 min from Osaka-umeda by Hankyu Kobe Line limited express to Shukugawa Station, beside the river; Oide Bridge is 600 m north on foot, and Kurakuenguchi Station, one stop up the Koyoen Line, is by Kurakuenguchi Bridge. No parking. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association).

Akashi Park (Akashi Castle)明石公園Hyogo

Akashi Castle's two surviving turrets stand on the walls of its Honmaru, and just north of it cherries ring Go-no-ike, a 2.9-hectare pond that once served as an outer moat; in season you can take a boat out among them. Local volunteers opened the castle site as a park in 1883, and at Fujimi-ike, a smaller pond with the park's sample cherry and weeping cherries, the water reflects a turret.

Getting there: 5 min walk from JR and Sanyo Akashi Station; 15 min from Sannomiya by JR Special Rapid. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association).

Himeji Castle姫路城Hyogo

From Sannomaru Square, the lawn below Himeji Castle and outside its ticket gates, you see the white main keep framed by cherries, some of the 1,000 or so Somei Yoshino, weeping and double-flowered trees that grow around the castle. The castle declares its own season from a sample tree at the square's south-west corner, and beyond the gates, weeping cherries fill the Nishinomaru garden, where Princess Sen once lived.

Scaffolding stands round the Ni-yagura, the Mizu gates and walls beside the main keep from July 2026 to about late July 2027, so it shows in views of the keep and disrupts the night lighting in spring 2027; the keep stays open. The paid grounds, the Nishinomaru included, cost ¥2,500 for adults who are not Himeji residents (under 18 free).

Getting there: 20 min walk from JR Himeji Station (Sanyo Shinkansen), or a Shinki bus to Otemon-mae and a 5 min walk; Sannomaru Square is free. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association): full bloom came between March 30 and April 7 in 2021–2025 (Himeji City). In 2026 the trees opened on March 24 and were in full bloom by April 3, and the Nishinomaru garden was lit March 27 to April 5, 18:30–21:00 (¥600). Our Himeji guide

Koriyama Castle Ruins Park, Yamato-Koriyama郡山城址公園Nara

An upside-down Jizo is built into the north face of Koriyama Castle's keep base, one of many stone Buddhas and gravestones gathered for its walls, and the city's spring festival began in 1961 as a memorial service for them. Climb the base, repaired and opened as a lookout in 2017, and you look out over some 600 Somei Yoshino and other cherries round the moats, the Goten-zakura, to the Nara basin beyond.

Getting there: 7 min walk from Kintetsu Koriyama Station (Kashihara Line; 18–19 min from Kintetsu Nara, changing at Yamato-Saidaiji), or 15 min from JR Koriyama (Yamatoji Line). Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association); the 65th Yamato-Koriyama Oshiro Matsuri ran March 24 to April 7, 2026, with the goldfish show that has been held at blossom time since 1907.

Mount Yoshino (Yoshinoyama)吉野山Nara

Yoshino's cherries were never planted to be looked at: the faithful gave them to the mountain for centuries as offerings, because by tradition the founder of Shugendo, En no Gyoja, carved its deity, Zao Gongen, from cherry wood. Most are shiro-yamazakura, a wild white cherry, and they flower in four belts, Shimo, Naka, Kami and Oku Senbon, so the bloom climbs the ridge through April to where the poet Saigyo kept a hut.

In the 2026 season (March 20 to May 10) the roads round the mountain were under traffic control: one-way stretches, a car-free main street 8:00–21:00, roads closed to private cars 9:00–17:00 on busy days and no roadside parking. The car parks charged a cooperation fee of ¥2,000 a car (¥1,500 from April 15), private cars could not book a space, and the park-and-ride shuttle planned for the peak weekends ran only on April 5. Come by train.

Getting there: 76–78 min by Kintetsu limited express from Osaka-Abenobashi to Yoshino Station, then the ropeway up to Yoshinoyama (¥500 one way) or, in season, a bus to Naka-senbon Park (¥500). Best: Late March to late April, the lowest belt first (Japan Weather Association); in 2026 full bloom came on April 1 at Shimo Senbon, April 2 at Naka Senbon, April 4 at Kami Senbon and April 9 at Oku Senbon, and Shimo and Kami Senbon were lit 18:00–22:00 from March 20 to April 19.

Nara Park奈良公園Nara

Nara Park's cherries flower among the deer and the temple halls over a long season: the Somei Yoshino come first, and then the park's own two late kinds, Nara-no-yaezakura, the prefectural flower, and Nara-no-kokonoe-zakura, both seldom seen elsewhere, carry it into early May. As early as 1850 the Nara magistrate Kawaji Toshiakira set up a stone here to mark a planting of cherries and maples.

Getting there: Kintetsu Nara Station stands at the park's western edge; the Kasugano lawn, looking across to Todai-ji's Nandaimon gate, is 20 min on foot. Best: Somei Yoshino usually late March to early April, Nara-no-yaezakura late April to early May (Japan Weather Association); Nara's official tree opened on March 24 and reached full bloom on March 31 in 2026. Visitor guide · Our Nara guide

Shichikawa Dam Lake, Kozagawa七川ダム湖畔Wakayama

Local people planted about 3,000 Somei Yoshino round the Shichikawa dam lake when the dam was finished in 1956, and they now line 5 km of shore, with National Route 371 running beneath them and, during the festival, carp streamers flying over the water. Kumanozakura have been planted round the lake as well: a wild cherry of the Kumano area, described in 2018 as the first new wild cherry species found in Japan in about a century.

Getting there: Realistically a car trip: 23 km, 30 min by road, from JR Koza Station (Kisei Line) to the lakeside at Sata. Best: Usually late March to early April (Wakayama Prefecture; Japan Weather Association); the 2026 Kozagawa Sakura Fair ran March 20 to April 5 at the Sakura Plaza in Sata, with lanterns lit 18:00–21:00. Kumanozakura usually flowers in early March (Shichikawa community council).

Negoro-ji, Iwade根来寺Wakayama

About 7,000 cherries grow across Negoro-ji's grounds, and they flower round the Daito, a great pagoda 37 m tall finished in 1547, which came through Hideyoshi's burning of the temple in 1585 and is the only National Treasure daito in Japan you can go inside. A walk through the whole precinct, down to the great Daimon gate of 1852, takes about an hour and a half.

Getting there: Iwade City's loop bus from JR Iwade Station (Wakayama Line) to the Negoroji stop (¥150; a few runs a day); entry to the temple costs ¥500. Best: Usually late March to early April (Negoro-ji); in 2026 the cherries opened on March 26 and were in full bloom on April 2.

Kimii-dera, Wakayama紀三井寺Wakayama

Kimii-dera, stop 2 of the Saigoku Kannon pilgrimage, is where Wakayama's cherry season is declared: the Meteorological Observatory's benchmark Somei Yoshino grows in the temple grounds, and its staff come up to count the flowers. To reach the main hall you climb Kechienzaka, 231 steep stone steps up from the gate, or take the cable car, and from the top the view runs out over the Wakanoura inlet to Awaji Island and Shikoku.

Getting there: 10 min walk from JR Kimiidera Station (Kisei Line), two stops south of Wakayama. Best: Usually late March to mid April (Japan Weather Association); in 2026 the observatory declared Wakayama's cherries open at the temple on March 24 and in full bloom on April 2, and the trees were lit at night. Our Wakayama guide

Utsubuki Park, Kurayoshi打吹公園Tottori

At the entrance to Utsubuki Park, cherries lean over Hagoromo Pond and its red bridge, and when the blossom drops, the petals float on the water. The park was laid out in 1904 at the foot of 204 m Mount Utsubuki for a visit by the Crown Prince, the future Emperor Taisho, and 1,000 cherries were planted in 1966; Hiryukaku, the house built for his stay, still stands among them.

Getting there: 17 min by bus (Park Square route) from stand 2 at JR Kurayoshi Station to Shiyakusho/Utsubuki-koen-iriguchi, or 12 min on the town route to Akagawara/Shirakabe Dozogun; buses run every 5–10 min for most of the day. Best: Usually from the second half of March to early April (Kurayoshi Tourism MICE Association); in 2026 the park's sample tree opened on March 27 and was in full bloom on April 1, and lanterns lit the park 18:00–22:00 from March 19 to May 6.

Kyusho Park (Tottori Castle ruins)久松公園Tottori

Kyusho Park sits on the ruins of Tottori Castle, which Hideyoshi starved into surrender in 1581, and it holds the benchmark Somei Yoshino from which the Meteorological Observatory declares Tottori's season. About 200 cherries, mostly Somei Yoshino, line the moat, crossed by the rebuilt Giboshi bridge to the wooden Nakanogomon gate of 2025, and fill the Ninomaru at the top of the stone steps, which looks out over the city.

Getting there: 8 min by the Kururi loop bus (green course) from JR Tottori Station to Jinpukaku-Kenritsu-Hakubutsukan, at the park. Best: Usually late March to early April (Tottori City; Japan Weather Association); the park's benchmark tree opened on March 28 and reached full bloom on March 31 in 2026, and every year paper lanterns light the moat and the Ninomaru at blossom time. Our Tottori guide

Hii River cherry embankment, Kisuki斐伊川堤防桜並木Shimane

Step out of JR Kisuki Station and you are at the Hii River embankment, where about 800 cherries, Somei Yoshino, Edohigan and Jindai-akebono, close over the path for 2 km. They were planted in earnest in the early Showa years and came through war and floods; the oldest are past 80, and Unnan City keeps a professional sakura-mori, a tree keeper, to look after them and raise new ones.

Getting there: 34–38 min by JR Kisuki Line from Shinji (19–28 min from Matsue on the San'in Line) to Kisuki Station, beside the embankment; Kisuki Line trains are infrequent, so check the connection before you set out. Best: Usually late March to early April (Unnan Tourism Association); in 2026 the avenue was in full bloom on March 31, and it is lit from sunset to about 23:00 while in flower.

Matsue Castle and Jozan Park松江城山公園Shimane

Above the cherries of Jozan Park, which fills the old castle grounds, rises Matsue's keep, finished in 1611, a National Treasure since 2015 and the only original castle keep left in the San'in region. During the Oshiro Matsuri the keep and the trees are lit and paper lanterns glow among them, the Honmaru stays open until 21:00, and a procession in armour re-enacts Horio Yoshiharu, the founder of Matsue, entering the castle with his retainers.

Spring 2027 is unaffected, but the keep's roof repair runs from June 2027 to December 2030, so in the springs of 2028 to 2030 it will stand under a protective shelter (it can still be climbed). Since early 2026 the woodland path round the north of the grounds has been closed for fallen trees after heavy snow (until March 2030), and the path by the North Gate stays shut while its stone walls are checked after the January 2026 earthquake.

Getting there: 2 km from JR Matsue Station: 27 min on foot, or 10 min on the Lake Line loop bus (every 30 min) to Kokuho Matsue-jo (Otemae). Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association); Matsue's official tree opened on March 27 and reached full bloom on March 31 in 2026. The 2026 Oshiro Matsuri ran March 25 to April 8, with the samurai procession on April 4. Visitor guide · Our Matsue guide

Kakuzan Park (Tsuyama Castle), Tsuyama鶴山公園Okayama

Tsuyama Castle was abandoned in 1873 and every building pulled down, but its stone walls still climb the hill tier on tier, with about 1,000 cherries on the terraces between them, so from the upper walls you look down on the blossom rather than up at it. The Bitchu turret, rebuilt in 2005, rises among the trees, and the climb pays: in 2026, when the lower trees began to shed on April 6, the Ninomaru and Honmaru were still in flower.

A 12–13 m stone wall under the site of the Nagae turret, at the south-west corner of the Ninomaru, collapsed in a downpour on July 15, 2024. Tsuyama City is still clearing the fallen stones and studying the collapse before it designs and rebuilds the wall, and has given no finish date; parts of the grounds stay closed meanwhile. Entry to the castle grounds costs ¥310 for adults (high school age and up); younger children are free.

Getting there: 15 min walk (1.1 km) from JR Tsuyama Station, which is 69–71 min from Okayama on the Kotobuki rapid of the JR Tsuyama Line. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association); in 2026 the trees were in full bloom on March 31. The Tsuyama Sakura Festival ran March 28 to April 12, 2026, with the park open 7:30–22:00 and the trees lit after dark.

Ueno Park, Shobara上野公園Hiroshima

Ueno Pond in Shobara, 2 km round, is ringed by about 600 Somei Yoshino, with forsythia and yukiyanagi flowering yellow and white beneath them, and after dark the lanterns along the bank double in the water. Shobara lies in the hills of north-east Hiroshima, so the trees open a little later than in Hiroshima city; on the hill north of the pond stand an early Kofun-period keyhole tomb and a monument to the Shobara-born writer Kurata Hyakuzo.

Getting there: 18 min walk (1.4 km) from JR Bingo-Shobara Station on the Geibi Line, 34–36 min from Miyoshi; trains are few, so plan around the timetable. Best: Usually early to mid April (Japan Weather Association); in 2026 the first flowers opened on March 27 and the trees were at their best April 2–6. Lanterns were lit 18:00–22:00 from March 20 to April 19 during the Ueno Park Sakura Festival.

Senkoji Park, Onomichi千光寺公園Hiroshima

Senkoji Park covers the top of 144 m Senkojiyama, the hill right behind Onomichi Station, and its 1,500 or so cherries, Somei Yoshino, weeping and double-flowered kinds among them, frame the view over the town and the Onomichi Channel to the islands of the Inland Sea. Ride the ropeway up over the temple roofs, then walk down the Path of Literature, where lines by 25 writers and poets tied to the town are cut into natural stones.

Getting there: 3 min by ropeway (¥500 one way, ¥700 return) from Sanroku Station at Nagaeguchi, a 3 min bus ride or 16 min walk east of JR Onomichi Station; walking up the hill takes about 30 min. Best: Usually late March to early April (Onomichi Tourism Association); in 2026 lanterns lit the park at night from March 21 to April 19. Our Hiroshima guide

Tokiwa Park, Ube常盤公園Yamaguchi

Of the roughly 3,500 cherries in Tokiwa Park, about 3,100 are Somei Yoshino, massed thickest on Sakurayama by the lakeside hall, round a lake that was dammed in 1698 to water Ube's rice fields. Watanabe Yusaku and other local businessmen bought up the shore from 1924 and gave it to the city, and about 100 sculptures from the open-air shows held here since 1961 stand in the grounds.

Getting there: 20 min walk from JR Tokiwa Station on the Ube Line, or by city bus from Ube-Shinkawa Station (Kosui Hall Iriguchi is the stop for Sakurayama) or from Shin-Yamaguchi on the Shinkansen (Tokiwa Koen Iriguchi); entry is free. Best: Usually late March to mid April (Tokiwa Park); in 2026 Sakurayama was lit 18:30–22:00 from March 20 to April 12.

Kikko Park and the Kintaikyo, Iwakuni吉香公園・錦帯橋Yamaguchi

The Kintaikyo crosses the Nishiki River in five timber spans, the middle three arched, and about 1,500 cherries line the banks round it; on the west bank, Kikko Park is laid out where the Kikkawa lords of Iwakuni lived. The first bridge, of 1673, soon washed away and its successor stood until the flood of 1950; today's went back up in wood in 1953 and had its timbers renewed in 2002–04.

Crossing the Kintaikyo costs ¥500 return for junior high school age and up and ¥250 for elementary school children (there are no one-way tickets), or ¥1,550 with the ropeway and Iwakuni Castle. The toll booth is staffed 8:00–17:00 (later in the tourist season and in summer); the bridge stays open round the clock, and outside those hours you drop the toll in the box. It can be closed when the river runs high or in storms.

Getting there: 15 min by bus from JR Shin-Iwakuni (Sanyo Shinkansen, 13–14 min from Hiroshima) or 20 min from JR Iwakuni to the Kintaikyo stop; 50 min by highway bus from Hiroshima Bus Center (¥950). Best: Usually late March to early April (Iwakuni City); the bridge is lit every night until 22:00. Our Hiroshima guide

Seibu Park, Tokushima西部公園Tokushima

Halfway up Mount Bizan, on the west side of Tokushima, a shelf of level ground that the army once kept as a cemetery for its war dead became Seibu Park from 1952, and the city replanned it round its cherries in 1986–88. About 500 Somei Yoshino flower there now, lit by paper lanterns and floodlights until about 23:00 in blossom season.

Getting there: 5–7 min by JR from Tokushima to Kuramoto, then about 30 min on foot up the mountainside; on hanami-season weekends private cars cannot enter the park and its car park closes. Best: Usually late March to early April (Tokushima City; Japan Weather Association). Our Tokushima guide

Kotohiki Park, Kan-onji琴弾公園Kagawa

Kotohiki Park runs from the wooded hill of Kotohiki-yama down to the white sand of Ariake beach, and its 200 or so Somei Yoshino stand among old black pines, several of them round Kotoji Pond and its vermilion arched bridge, with paper lanterns set out beneath them for the evenings. From the hilltop lookout you see the Zenigata, a coin 122 m by 90 m drawn in the sand; by local belief, whoever sees it will stay healthy, live long and never want for money.

Getting there: 22 min walk (1.7 km) or 3 min by taxi from JR Kan-onji Station on the Yosan Line. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association).

Matsuyama Castle and Shiroyama Park城山公園Ehime

Matsuyama's keep of 1854 stands at the top of 132 m Katsuyama, and below it the Honmaru plaza fills with hanami parties under some 200 cherries, mostly Somei Yoshino, with early Tsubaki-kanzakura and late Oshima, Shiogama and Botan-zakura to stretch the season. At the foot of the hill, Horinouchi, the castle's old third bailey, has a cherry lawn of its own, the Sakura Hiroba.

Getting there: 13 min by Iyotetsu tram from JR Matsuyama Station to Okaido, 5 min on foot to Shinonome-guchi, then the ropeway or chairlift and a 10 min walk to the Honmaru plaza. Best: Around the start of April (Matsuyama Castle), late March to early April by the Japan Weather Association's reckoning; in 2026 the Honmaru plaza and Horinouchi's Sakura Hiroba were lit 18:00–20:50 until April 12. The ropeway does not run after dark. Visitor guide · Our Matsuyama guide

Makino Park, Sakawa牧野公園Kochi

Makino Tomitaro, the Sakawa-born botanist whose life inspired NHK's 2023 morning drama Ranman, sent Somei Yoshino saplings home from Tokyo in 1902, and townspeople planted them on the banks by Seigenji temple. The war took every tree for farmland, the cherries replanted from 1956 have grown old, and the town is renewing the park: about 350 trees of some 30 kinds now flower from February to mid April, round the hillside grave where part of his ashes lie.

Getting there: 10 min walk from JR Sakawa Station, 24–27 min from Kochi by limited express on the JR Dosan Line (50–75 min by local train). Best: Somei Yoshino usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association), with the Usuzumi-zakura before them and the double Shogetsu into mid April; the 2026 Makino Park Sakura Festival ran March 19 to April 7, with lanterns lit 18:00–21:00.

Kagamino Park, Kami鏡野公園Kochi

Kagamino Park, on the edge of Tosa-Yamada in Kami, has about 600 cherries, Somei Yoshino and double-flowered kinds among them, and the stretch to walk is the tunnel of branches, about 200 m long, that joins it to the campus of Kochi University of Technology next door. While the festival is on, food stalls set up among the trees, and in the evenings paper lanterns glow along the paths.

Getting there: 9–11 min by JR Shikoku Bus (Otochi line, towards the Anpanman Museum) from JR Tosa-Yamada Station to Igenoki or Kokadai-nishiguchi, then 6–8 min on foot. Best: Usually late March to early April (Kami Tourism Association), the weeks of the Kagamino Park Sakura Festival.

Nishi Park, Fukuoka西公園Fukuoka

On Aratsuyama, a wooded hill above Hakata Bay near the centre of Fukuoka, Nishi Park's 1,300 or so cherries, Somei Yoshino and Yoko-zakura among them, grow among pines and evergreen oaks; the park was laid out with cherries and maples in 1885. Its office follows the season on a Somei Yoshino at the foot of the steps to Terumo Shrine, and a 360-degree lookout, opened in July 2026, looks out across the bay towards Shikanoshima.

Getting there: 15 min walk from Ohorikoen Station on the Fukuoka subway Kuko Line, or 10 min from the Nishitetsu bus stop Ohori Koen; in festival weeks cars are banned from the park roads and the car parks close. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association); in 2026 the park's sample tree opened on March 25 and was in full bloom on April 2, and the Nishi Park Sakura Festival ran March 27 to April 10, with the trees lit 18:00–22:00. Our Fukuoka guide

Ogi Park, Ogi小城公園Saga

Ogi Park grew out of the garden that the first two lords of the Ogi domain laid out in the 17th century, and an Edo-period tradition counts its cherries as the 'hitomi sanzenbon', the 3,000 that filled the eye from the hill; about 3,000 grow here today. After dark, lanterns light the trees round the pond, and in early April geisha from Nagasaki open the town's festival with a dance beside a stone carved with the song 'Harusame', written by the Ogi-born Shibata Hanamori.

Getting there: 6 min walk (450 m) from JR Ogi Station on the Karatsu Line, 15–18 min from Saga. Best: Usually late March to early April (Ogi City Tourism Association), with the lanterns lit 18:00–21:00; the 63rd Ogi Harusame Matsuri was held on April 4, 2026.

Omura Park, Omura大村公園Nagasaki

For over 270 years the Omura lords ruled from Kushima Castle, on a cape in Omura Bay, and in its ruins 2,000 or so cherries of more than 20 kinds flower in turn into mid April. Save a visit for the end: some 300 Omura-zakura, among them the national natural monument in front of Omura Shrine, open pink from maroon buds after the Somei Yoshino, each flower a second flower stacked inside the first, with 60 to 200 petals.

Getting there: 10 min by bus from JR Omura Station to Shiyakusho-mae, or 26 min on foot (1.9 km). Best: Late March to mid April, kind after kind: Somei Yoshino usually late March to early April, Omura-zakura and Kushima-zakura early to mid April (Omura City). The 2026 Omura Hana Matsuri ran March 20 to June 20, into the iris season, with the park lit at night.

Minamata Cherry Line (Yunoko Cherry Line)水俣市チェリーラインKumamoto

Some 500 cherries line about 5 km of the coast road to Yunoko Onsen beside the Shiranui Sea; the planting began here in 1957, and the city has since carried its cherry line inland to Nakaoyama in the hills. Stop at Wadamisaki Park on the way, at the tip of a ria headland, for the view over the hot-spring town to the islands of Amakusa and Nagashima.

Getting there: 23 min by the city's Minakuru bus (Yunoko line, five a weekday and three at weekends) from Minamata Station to Yunoko along the coast road; by car or taxi it is 6 km from Shin-Minamata Station on the Kyushu Shinkansen. Best: Usually late March to early April (Kumamoto Prefecture).

Ichifusa Dam Lake, Mizukami市房ダム湖畔Kumamoto

The Ichiman-bon-zakura, the 'ten thousand cherries', ring the 13.4 km shore of the lake behind Ichifusa Dam, high on the Kuma River, and the road round the lake runs beneath them; planting began in November 1961, a year after the dam was finished. At blossom time Mizukami village holds its Yuyama Onsen Sakura Matsuri on the lakeside festival plaza, with fireworks after dark in 2026.

Getting there: Realistically by car or taxi: 7 km from Yunomae, the end of the Kumagawa Railway (44–46 min from Hitoyoshi-Onsen; the whole line reopened on September 20, 2026), or 33 km east of Hitoyoshi. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association); the trees were in full bloom for the 55th festival on March 21–22, 2026, and the lakeside is lit while it runs.

Kumamoto Castle熊本城Kumamoto

Kumamoto Castle's cherries grow round its walls and along the approaches: the Somei Yoshino avenue up Gyoko-zaka is the classic hanami, and the statue of Kato Kiyomasa stands ringed by Chihara-zakura, a cherry with large white flowers first found in the city's west. In a corner of the Ninomaru the city found a red-and-white cherry that fits no known cultivar; in 2026 a public vote named it Yasohime, after Kiyomasa's Kumamoto-born daughter.

The earthquake of July 28, 2026 brought down walls again: Kumamoto City counted collapses or damage at 40 places in the walls, the Nishi-demaru walls among them, and at 11 in the keep and other buildings. The castle reopened on August 13 on the same visitor route as before the quake and was running normally in September 2026; repairs from the 2016 earthquakes were already planned to run to fiscal 2052, and some cherry areas lie inside fenced-off zones. The keep and the raised viewing route cost ¥800 for adults (high school age and up).

Getting there: 15–18 min by tram from JR Kumamoto Station to Kumamotojo-Shiyakusho-mae, then a 5 min walk to Gyoko-zaka; or about 20 min by bus to the Ninomaru car park. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association; Weathernews); Kumamoto's official tree opened on March 23 and reached full bloom on April 2 in 2026. Our Kumamoto guide

Oka Castle Ruins, Taketa岡城公園Oita

Nothing stands on Oka Castle's clifftop plateau but its stone walls, every building gone since 1874, so in spring the cherries flower against bare stone high above the Inaba and Shirataki gorges, with Aso and the Kuju range on the skyline. Taki Rentaro, who played here as a boy, took these ruins as his model for 'Kojo no Tsuki'; on festival day in April a daimyo procession sets off from the castle down into the old town.

Getting there: 59–68 min by Kyushu Odan limited express from Oita to Bungo-Taketa (74–92 min by local train), then 5 min by taxi or 30 min on foot; entry ¥300 for adults (high school age and up). Best: Usually late March to early April (Oka Castle). The 78th Oka Castle Sakura Matsuri went ahead on April 4, 2026, but with rain forecast its 50th daimyo procession and the armoured warriors' parade were called off.

Mochio Park and Sekinoo, Miyakonojo母智丘関之尾公園Miyazaki

Mochio Park's cherry avenue climbs 2 km to Mochio Shrine, and from the shrine you look down over the whole park and its 2,600 or so Somei Yoshino and double-flowered trees; at festival time local folk performers and food stalls fill it. The listed park also takes in Sekinoo, a short ride away, where more than a thousand potholes, a national natural monument, pit the riverbed above Sekinoo Falls.

Getting there: 25 min by Takasaki Kanko bus (towards Kirishima Jingu) from JR Miyakonojo Station to Yokoichi, by the park, and 15 min more to Sekinoo Falls; six buses a weekday, three at weekends and on holidays. By taxi, 6 km from JR Nishi-Miyakonojo Station. Best: Usually late March to early April (Miyakonojo City), when the Miyakonojo Mochio Sakura Matsuri is held; the 76th had its main days on March 28–29, 2026.

Tadamoto Park, Isa忠元公園Kagoshima

At blossom time more than a thousand paper lanterns are lit beneath Tadamoto Park's Senbon-zakura, the 'thousand cherries', which run 2 km through the park on its low hill above Okuchi, in Isa, and carry on down the road into town. The park is named after Niiro Tadamoto, the Shimazu general who held Okuchi Castle and whose shrine stands on the hill; 2026 marked 500 years since his birth.

Getting there: 61–80 min by Nangoku Kotsu bus from Kagoshima Airport to Okuchi (six a day), then 22 min on foot (1.6 km); by car, 39 km from the airport. Best: Usually late March to early April (Japan Weather Association); in 2026 the park was in full bloom by the end of March (Isa City).

Nago Castle Park (Nangusuku), Nago名護城公園Okinawa

Nago's cherries are not Somei Yoshino but Ryukyu kanhizakura, a deep-pink kind that opens in late January, and by the end of the month they cover the hillside of the park on the edge of town. They crowd the Sakura no Sono at its highest point, where an arbour looks over Nago to the East China Sea; lower down, the park takes in the site of Nago Gusuku, a castle of the late 12th to early 15th centuries.

Getting there: 1 km north-east of central Nago; drivers come from the Kyoda IC at the end of the Okinawa Expressway along Route 58 through town to the north entrance, which has the car and bus parks; the castle site is reached by steps from the south car park. Best: Late January to mid February (Nago City Tourism Association); JMA's benchmark tree in Naha opened on January 18 and reached full bloom on February 3 in 2026. The Nago Sakura Festival is held on the last weekend of January (January 31 to February 1 in 2026). Our Naha guide