Cherry blossoms

 

Meguro River cherry blossoms

Hanami season has just ended in Yokohama, so I thought I'd do a post about cherry blossoms.

Japan is famous for cherry blossoms, and rightly so. They're everywhere! While the trees are in bloom, ordinary, drab landscapes suddenly transform into visions of beautiful. You suddenly realise how many cherry trees there are about. Most parks have them, because a popular social event in Japan is the 'hanami' or 'cherry blossom viewing party'. These can be as simple as three or four people sitting in a park with beers, or a huge company group all gathering with masses of supplies and food and booze. (Booze is a pretty consistent factor in hanami. ^_^)

Cherry trees are usually at their peak for about a week, but the total window of possible hanami is usually 2-3 weeks. It varies; for example, if the blossoms start to come out, and then the weather turns super cold, they will bloom more slowly and last longer. If the blossoms start to bloom and then it's very warm, or there's a lot of rain and wind, naturally the life of the blossoms will be sped up.

Also, even within a city, different locations may have trees blooming at different times.

If you want to go to Japan for cherry blossom season, it's difficult to time perfectly, but it's well worth it. It changes from year to year, but usually the last week of March and the first two weeks of April are prime cherry blossom times for Tokyo and Yokohama.

I'm going to list the places I have been for hanami or just taking pictures of cherry trees. Any of these places could be wonderful if you go when the sky is blue and the trees are at their peak, but here are my thoughts.

In Kawasaki city There are a couple of places I know; firstly, right next to the train station rails, between Kawasaki Le-Front and the tracks, there's a row of trees which are rather pretty. Also, if you walk from Keikyu Kawasaki toward the race course, you'll find a small shrine, and there are a few cherry trees here. I wouldn't particularly recommend these spots, but they're good if you happen to be in the city.

Kawasaki Daishi and surrounds Kawasaki Daishi is a large, popular shrine to visit. The park nearby is large and full of cherry trees, so it's a popular hanami spot in spring. It's nice, and you may even be able to tie it in with a visit to the, erm, unique Kanamara festival.

Kawasaki Daishi

Odawara Castle If you travel south of Yokohama, you can hit Odawara, a small castle town. The castle itself is a reconstruction, but still pretty. This is quite a famous cherry blossom viewing spot, and no wonder. On the grounds is a lake (?river) with a street lined with cherry trees; very picturesque.

Mitsuike Park It's in Tsurumi - you'll have to take a bus or taxi - but it was one of the most impressive cherry blossom displays I saw; the park is large, and the park was full of them. This place is popular for hanami, but because it's so large, you should be able to find a place. There's a lot of nature in general, too - it's not just a small, stunted city park with lots of asphalt. I wrote a little more about this park (with pictures) in my next blog post.

Yumemigasaki This park, in Kawasaki, is not all that impressive for cherry trees. There are a few, but not many. Still, I've been there for hanami a couple of times; I think my friends choose it because it's not very popular for hanami and we can always get a good place. There's also a small, free zoo nearby.

Ueno Park This famous park in Tokyo is a famous hanami spot. This is where you see the junior businessmen sadly sitting in the rain on their tarps, protecting the prime hanami spots for their company. The corridors of cherry trees are very beautiful though. You can also buy festival food here.

Ueno Park

Meguro Along the Meguro river in Meguro, Tokyo, are masses of cherry trees. This is another of those places that made me just stare and go 'wow!' I wouldn't come here for hanami - the pavements are not that wide, and it's a bit urban - but it's a great place to walk.

Sakuragicho In Minato Mirai, Yokohama (well, 'Sakuragicho' means 'Cherry tree town', after all). This is not a great place for cherry trees, but there *are* a bunch of them along the bridge to World Porters/Cosmo World. Also a few near the Landmark Tower.

Okurayama A park in Yokohama (Okurayama is on the Tokyu Toyoko line, and the park is right near the station). The cherry blossoms are quite good - not great - but actually this park is more known for its plum blossoms. Plum blossoms come out earlier than cherry blossoms.

Okurayama

Of course there are other famous hanami spots around Tokyo and Yokohama, but these are the ones I have personally visited in the three springs I spent in Japan. ^_^ As for my personal recommendations... I think Mitsuike Park is the most impressive, but you should also visit the Meguro River and Ueno (Ueno's hanami are a bit of a Tokyo institution). If you'd like a day trip, Odawara is also nice.