One of the most highly anticipated season in Japan is Sakura or Cherry Blossom season on spring, in this post AnakJajan are going to share with you list of Best Cherry Blossom/ Sakura Spots or Places for Hanami/ Cherry Blossom viewing in Japan. You will know where is the best and most popular place to see Cherry Blossom in Tokyo, Japan.
Check our VLOG 002 above for Cherry Blossom hunting diary in Tokyo, Japan.
Famous for its beauty, lots of people including ourselves have a dream to visit Japan during the peak season of Sakura/ Cherry Blossom in Japan and lucky us our dreams came true last year, we were lucky to visit Tokyo during its peak blooming time, every corner of the city was painted with soft delicate pink color of sakura petals, and AnakJajan cannot agree more that Cherry Blossom season is indeed fascinating and a MUST SEE at least once in a lifetime.
WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO SEE CHERRY BLOSSOM??
Spring season is easily the most favorite season in Japan, I guess many of you have planned to visit Japan this spring? By the way, you can check our previous post CHERRY BLOSSOM (SAKURA) in JAPAN SCHEDULE/ BLOOMING DATE FORECAST for complete date forecast of first and peak bloom dates in Japan.
Last year, AnakJajan visited Tokyo and Osaka for cherry blossom and since we have so many recommended places to visit, we decided to split the blogpost into two parts, Tokyo and Osaka, so the first one would be one of our most favorite cities, Tokyo.
As the capital of Japan, Tokyo the metropolitan city is the place to be adventurous, you can get various unique Japan experience here from the modern busy part, the charming old town, traditional culture to calming blissful nature, and it certainly has THE BEST SAKURA SPOTS.
First of all, here are some important tips:
– Please take this important note, Sakura only has short life span of about 10 days from the day 1 of blooming, after that the delicate petals will fall, so be sure to check the blooming forecast for best timing. Check the blooming forecast HERE.
– Since it’s high season, it is highly recommended to book the hotel and flight ticket long before your travel date to avoid overbooking and expensive price. It’s safer to book it at least half a year before. Not to mention there are tons of travel fair where you can get amazing promo.
– Bring jacket or light coat since the weather is still quite cold around 15 to 20 Celsius.
– It’s highly suggested to visit the sakura spot as early as possible to avoid the crowd.
– For more info about airport, transportation, vending machine, restaurant, etc, check our Complete Japan Guide & Tips on the following link anakjajan.com/2014/08/14/ultimate-japan-travel-guide-tips/.
Here are some of the best spots for cherry blossom in Tokyo:
1. Chidori-Ga-Fuchi – 千鳥ヶ淵
Best cherry blossom viewing time: early April.
A spot that cannot be missed during cherry blossom season, the instagenic Chidorigafuchi with the most outstanding view of hundreds cherry trees at Chidorigafuchi Pedestrian Path and Hanzo Moat around Kitanomaru Park.
This place offers a magical atmosphere like no other places. You can enjoy the view by renting row boat. During the night, the trees are lit up and it offers yet another spectacular and different scene.
Access:
Kudanshita Station
Fees: free
Address:
Chidori-ga-fuchi (千鳥ヶ淵)
Japan, 〒102-0083 Tōkyō-to, Chiyoda-ku, 千代田区Kitanomarukōen, 1, 九段南2丁目から三番町先
2. Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden – 新宿御苑
Best cherry blossom viewing time: early April.
Out of many places in Tokyo, what makes Shinjuku Gyoen special is the EARLY AND LATE BLOOMING SAKURA TREES! So in case you visit Tokyo too early or too late from the peak blooming season, you can try your luck to see Cherry Blossom trees here.
Me and Mr. Jajan visited Tokyo for the first time at the end of April 2014 for our honeymoon, a few weeks too late from the peak blooming season, but lucky us there were still several cherry blossom trees blooming in Shinjuku Gyoen.
Shinjuku Gyoen is certainly one of the best and most popular spots in Tokyo for cherry blossom viewing with more than 1,000 trees with over a dozen of different varieties, from the soft pink till vibrant red flowers. For more info about the park, you can check our previous blogpost about Shinjuku Gyoen on the following link anakjajan.com/2014/05/23/shinjuku-gyoen-park-tokyo-japan/.
Access:
Shinjuku Gyoen has 3 entrance gate, Shinjuku Gate, Sendagaya Gate and Okido Gate.
Shinjuku Gate (near Takashimaya), 10 mins walk east from New South Exit – JR Shinjuku Station or 5 mins walk from Shinjukugyoenmae Station – Marunouchi Subway Line
Sendagaya Gate, 5 mins walk from JR Sendagaya Station – Sobu/Local Chuo line
Okido Gate, 5 mins walk from Shinjukugyoenmae Station – Marunouchi Subway Line
Hours: 9:00 to 16:30 (last entry 16:00)
Fees: JPY 200 for adult and JPY 50 for children under 15
Address:
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden (新宿御苑)
11 Naitōmachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tōkyō-to 160-0014, Japan
3. Ueno Park – 上野恩賜公園
Best cherry blossom viewing time: early April.
Being one of the most crowded, popular and touristy spots for cherry blossom viewing in Tokyo, Ueno Park has more than 1,000 trees around Shinobazu Pond and along the street leading towards the National Museum.
After visiting AnakJajan can totally understand why it’s sooo popular. At first, me and Mr. Jajan were not too excited to visit Ueno Park since the park is usually crowded and noisy but it turned out that Ueno Park has the MOST MEMORABLE cherry blossom scene for AnakJajan personally.
It may not be the most photogenic but the sakura scene is seriously MAGNIFICENT when seen directly with your eyes. The walking street inside the park is surrounded by luxuriant cherry blossom trees on the both left and right sides.
When the wind blows, the cherry blossom petals will fall and create a mind blowing romantic pink “rain”. A must visit spot indeed!
PS: you can find Sakura flavored soft ice cream inside the park.
Access:
JR Ueno Station, “Park Exit”
Hours: 9:00 – 17:00
Fees: free
Address:
Ueno Park (上野恩賜公園)
Japan, 〒110-0007 Tokyo, 台東区Uenokoen, 5−20
4. Inokashira Park – 井の頭恩賜公園
Best cherry blossom viewing time: early April.
Inokashira Park is a public city park that features large pond with hundreds of cherry blossom trees.
The unique experience that you can get from this park is the boat rental, from row boat, pedal boat to the iconic swan boat. From 09.30 to 17.50, visitors can rent the boat for 30 minutes for JPY 300 (row boat)/ JPY 600 (pedal boat)/ JPY 700 (swan boat).
Unfortunately there was a light rain during our visit so the boat rental was closed, so make sure to check the weather forecast before going here.
Access:
Kichijoji Station, south exit
Hours: 09.30 – 17.50
Fees: free
Address:
Inokashira Park (井の頭恩賜公園)
1 Chome-18-31 Gotenyama, Musashino-shi, Tōkyō-to 180-0005, Japan
5. Naka Meguro River – 目黒川の桜並木
Best cherry blossom viewing time: early April.
Another favorite and instagenic spot with exceptional sight. More than 800 cherry blossom trees line along the concrete canal of Meguro River. Being able to enjoy this amazing view every year, AnakJajan really envy the apartment residents here.
Along the rivers, there are tons of street food vendors offering scrumptious looking snacks so you an satisfy both your eyes with the scenery and your tummy with the food.
Don’t forget to try Hanami Dango or the Tricolor Dango with pink, white and green colors, the traditional sweet delicacy is commonly enjoyed during sakura viewing season.
During the blooming season, the trees are lit up on the evening to offer different scene. AnakJajan highly recommend you to visit this place in the afternoon so you’ll get both day and night scenes.
Access:
Nakameguro Station
Hours: always open
Fees: free
Address:
Naka Meguro River (目黒川の桜並木)
Japan, 〒152-0000 Tōkyō-to, Meguro-ku, 目黒区Nakameguro, 2 Chome−2, 目黒川沿道
6. Yoyogi Park (Yoyogi Koen) – 代々木公園
Best cherry blossom viewing time: early April.
Yoyogi Park is one of the largest parks in city of Tokyo with great landscape. You can find large ponds, lush green forest in the wide lawns. Many visitors come to this park for sightseeing, it’s also a great park for various outdoor activities such as picnicking, jogging, etc.
During Spring, Yoyogi Park makes a great picnic spot with more than 600 cherry blossom trees planted in the spacious area. Compared to other places, AnakJajan really love the fact that it’s less crowded so it has more relaxed and peaceful feel.
Access:
Located next to Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi Park is around 5 minutes walk from Harajuku Station by JR Yamanote Line.
Hours: always open
Fees: free
Address:
Yoyogi Park (代々木公園)
2-1 Yoyogikamizonocho, Shibuya, Tokyo 151-0052, Japan
7. ETC
Other than the 6 magnificent spots above, there are a few of nice to visit places too during cherry blossom seasons. Here are the spots:
– Showa Kinen Memorial Park
Best cherry blossom viewing time: early to mid April.
Tokyo’s lagest public park located in the suburb area of Tokyo has more than 1,500 cherry blossom trees. You can explore the park by renting bicycle since the park is very spacious. Besides cherry blossoms, Showa Kinen also features wide range of seasonal flowers such as tulip and poppy flowers. For more info about the park, check the our review on the following link anakjajan.com/2015/04/01/japan-spring-memories-at-showa-kinen-park-tachikawa-tokyo/
Access:
Tachikawa Station
Address:
Showa Kinen Park
3173 Midori-machi, Tachikawa-shi, Tokyo, Japan
Hours: 09.30 – 17.00
Fees: 410 Yen for adult, 80 Yen children and 210 Yen senior
– Tokyo Midtown
Best cherry blossom viewing time: end of March.
Tokto Midtown offers an urban cherry blossom scene with around 150 trees. It’s a convenient cherry blossom spots for shopping mall lovers, during the night the threes will be lit up from 17.00 to 23.00.
Access:
Roppongi Station – Oedo Subway Line
Address:
Tokyo Midtown
Japan, 〒107-0052 Tokyo, 港区Akasaka, ９−７−１
– Onibus Coffee Nakameguro – オニバスコーヒー 中目黒店
Not far from Naka Meguro River, Onibus Coffee has the best cherry blossom view since the coffee shop is located right next to cherry blossom trees, the coffee is amazing as well.
Address:
Onibus Coffee Nakameguro (オニバスコーヒー 中目黒店)
Japan, 〒153-0051 Tōkyō-to, Meguro-ku, 目黒区Kamimeguro, 2 Chome−2−14−1
Each spot has its own unique different atmosphere and charm therefore AnakJajan must say that all of them are worth to visit.
Overall, visiting Japan during the peak blooming season of sakura certainly is one of the most memorable experiences in our life, the soft delicate pink color, the falling petals, the scenery, it was surreal. We’re very grateful that our dreams finally came true. We wish that you all can experience it at least once in a lifetime. Thank you for reading. If you have any question, you can leave the comment below. Let’s Travel!!
Check link below for more Japan Travel posts https://anakjajan.com/category/location/japan-location/
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cherry blossom cantik sekali. Thanks for recommendation….
You’re welcome 🙂
Hello Mr & Mrs.Jajan!
Thank you so much for your sharing. I love your blog, very detail and all of your pictures are very nice. You are a sweet couple as well 🙂
Thank you, we really appreciate your sweet comment 🙂
Hello, thank you very much for your sakura blog. All of your pictures are very nice, i love it so much. I’m planning to visit Tokyo end of March to early April 2019, hopefully i may able to see and take the lovely sakura pictures like yours. If I visit Asakusa and Ueno park in one day, should i go Asakusa in the morning (around 8.00am) then after Ueno park? Is it good to take nice picture in afternoon Ueno park? Thank you.
I think it’s better to go to the park earlier first, then you can do sight seeing at Asakusa afterwards when all the shops are open.